And That Happened
White Sox 2, Rays 1: Chris Sale: 15Ks and three hits in seven and a third. Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer.
Red Sox 7, Tigers 4: Jim Leyland said that we saw what we saw and should write what we saw, so let’s do that: The Red Sox’ second inning rally never should have happened but did because with two outs, the umpire said that Mike Aviles hit a foul tip that the catcher didn’t catch. Except replays showed it was a clean swing and miss that was caught. So, per Jim Leyland’s instructions, let us have some sort of robot/cyborg/android umpires now. That aside, Doug Fister did get beat up a bit, which serves him right for me having the parody song “Hey Doug Fister” in my head all weekend. It wasn’t his fault, but it makes wish I had actual Train songs in my head.
Indians 8, Royals 5: Jose Lopez and Jason Kipnis combined for five RBI, which is exactly how we expected the middle of the Indians order to roll this season.
Cubs 11, Padres 7: The Cubs’ losing streak finally ends with an offensive ‘aslposin. Three RBI a piece for Starlin Castro, Alfonso Soriano and Ian Stewart. Big winds blowing out helped the teams combine for eight home runs. Chase Headley had two of ’em.
Rockies 9, Astros 7; Rockies 7, Astros 6: Wandy Rodriguez had been pitching really well. I guess all good things must come to an end, because he got tattooed in the early game of the twin bill (5 IP, 10H, 7 R, 4 ER). In the late game, Dexter Fowler tripled home Michael Cuddyer in the 10th. Fourteen pitchers were used between the teams in the nightcap.
Giants 4, Diamondbacks 2: Barry Zito, seven innings, seven hits two earned runs. Gregor Blanco doubled twice. It was Kirk Gibson’s 55th birthday yesterday. On Sunday it as Siouxsie Sioux’s 55th birthday. Why I knew both of those things is a mystery to me too.
Pirates 4, Reds 1: James McDonald pitched eight five-hit shutout innings. How the Pirates are at .500 with their cruddy offense is beyond me, but there they are.
Twins 5, Athletics 4: Justin Morneau drove in a couple, Joe Mauer went two for three and scored twice and Matt Capps got a save despite being greeted into the game by a chorus of boos. Just like the season was supposed to go.
Marlins 5, Nationals 3: Logan Morrison and Giancarlo Stanton homered, Carlos Zambrano pitched six strong innings and Heath Bell got a 1-2-3 save. Just like the season was supposed to go.
Phillies 8, Mets 4: Ty Wigginton drove in six and Cole Hamles won his eighth.
Cardinals 8, Braves 2: Lance Lynn also won his eighth. Matt Adams drove in three. And the Braves will apparently never win a game again. They have fallen all the way from first to last place in a little more than a week.
Rangers 4, Mariners 2: Mike Napoli with a three-run homer and Matt Harrison with eight strong innings.
Blue Jays 6, Orioles 2: Drew Hutchison struck out nine in seven shutout innings and the Jays snapped their losing streak. the Orioles have lost three in a row and six of eight. For all the drama in the AL East this year, it’s still anyone’s division.
Brewers 3, Dodgers 2: The game was interesting, but to me the most interesting part was hearing Vin Scully explain how home plate umpire Brian Gorman’s father — also an umpire — was buried in full umpire regalia with a ball-strike counter in his hand, set to 3-2. I’m sure that’s not proprietary information, but I’m also sure that only Vin Scully is gonna talk about that stuff during a game. And it’s awesome. Oh, and Jerry Hairston is hitting .394/.474/.530 in 66 plate appearances. The most useful bench dude in the majors this year?
Angels 9, Yankees 8: Picked a wrong morning to have to wake up for an early as hell flight, because it meant I didn’t stay up to watch Mark Trumbo hit a walkoff homer to end this wild one. The Angels blew a three-run lead and suffered the early loss of Jered Weaver to win their seventh straight. Perseverance? I think so. And definitely a team turning things around.
