And That Happened
Marlins 6, Dodgers 2: Jose Fernandez vs. Yasiel Puig in a potential Rookie of the Year matchup. Advantage: Fernandez, who allowed one earned run (two total) in six innings of work with eight strikeouts. He’s 9-5 with a 2.41 ERA and 156 Ks. The Dodgers dropped their second straight. Which hasn’t happened very often lately.
Mets 6, Twins 1: Dillion Gee with no earned runs and nine strikeouts over seven and a third, thanks in part to some amazing defense from Juan Lagares in center.
Phillies 5, Rockies 4: Homers from John Mayberry and Carlos Ruiz. Jonathan Papelbon got his first save since before the All-Star break, which is kinda nuts when you think about it.
Reds 5, Diamondbacks 3: The Reds win their seventh of nine. That pushes Arizona six back in the race for the final Wild Card slot, currently occupied by these same Reds.
Rays 4, Orioles 3: Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce homered and David Price, while certainly not sharp, toughed out a win. Tampa Bay stays one back of Boston.
Rangers 16, Astros 5: You don’t lose many games when you put up an 11-run third inning. Indeed, that was the biggest single inning any team has put up in the majors this year. It started with a bunt single, the first couple of runners were put into scoring position with a no-out sac bunt and only one batter had an extra base hit.
Cubs 11, Nationals 1: Nate Schierholtz was non-tendered last season and spent a good deal of the winter looking for work. He hit two homers last night, drove in six and is hitting. .277/.330/.524 on the year with 18 homers. Funny how that works.
Indians 5, Angels 2: Lonnie Chisenhall hit a two-run homer, Nick Swisher homered and Zach McAllister pitched into the seventh on the first day of the rest of the season without Albert Pujols. Anaheim has lost 11 of 15 and if you could just put up a white flag and end your season early, I figure they would.
Cardinals 8, Brewers 5: Kolten Wong got his first two major league hits after 10 hitless at-bats to start his big league career, so that’s nice. He stole a couple of bases too. The Cards have won nine of 11.
Athletics 2, Mariners 1: Brandon Moss with a walkoff solo shot. Jarrod Parker with a complete game in which he scattered eight hits, struck out eight and allowed one run. A crisp 2:19 for this one.
Red Sox 7, Giants 0: When Tim Lincecum has been good this year he’s been very, very good but when he’s been bad he’s been horrid. The Sox rung him up for five runs on nine hits in five innings. Jon Lester, meanwhile, shut out the Giants for eight and a third.
Pirates 3, Padres 1: The best pitching award of the night goes to Francisco Liriano, who had 13 strikeouts in seven shutout innings. Not sure what one wins for the best pitching award of the night. Maybe some steak knives.