A rare full-slate of Monday games. Here are the scores, here are the highlights:
Dodgers 8, Yankees 2: How to feel old: read a game story in which Corey Seager talks about how great it was to get a couple of hits at the home stadium of his “childhood hero,” Derek Jeter. Or maybe that just makes Seager young. I dunno. Also making me feel old is that when I hear “Jose DeLeon” I think of the one from the Dominican Republic, who pitched for the Cardinals back in the 80s, not the rookie from Puerto Rico who gave the Dodgers five decent innings and picked up his second career win last night.
Nationals 8, Mets 1: The Nats scored six runs off of Rafael Montero before most fans finished their first beer. That helped ease the sting of Mat Latos going down with some hamstring trouble in the fifth. The Nats bullpen came in and tossed four and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief, however. Latos homered before he left. Anthony Rendon hit a three-run shot.
Phillies 6, Pirates 2: Yesterday I wrote a post about the five guys who are still playing who debuted in the 1990s. In it, I mentioned the debut dates of the players. Most were in September. So many players debut in September due to the roster rules and, at the time, you don’t really know who will be good, who won’t, who will last and all of that. It’s part of what makes September baseball fun. Phillies fans are getting a look at rookie Roman Quinn right now. He played in his second game and had two doubles, two RBI and a stolen base. Quinn could be a guy who, in the 2030s, we’re marveling at for still being around. Or he could be having the best week he’ll ever have as a pro and be selling insurance in 2025. You never know at the time.
Blue Jays 3, Rays 2: Four homers scored all of this game’s runs. Jose Bautista’s two-run shot in the sixth, Evan Longoria and Brad Miller’s solo shots in the seventh and pinch-hitter Ezequiel Carrera’s solo shot in the eighth. That’s two plus one plus one plus one. Wait, maybe there was only one shot that got the chandelier. That’s *one* plus one, plus one, plus one . . .
Okay, fine. One plus two plus one... Shut up! The point is, there is one bullet left in this gun and guess who’s gonna get it!
Red Sox 12, Orioles 2: David Price started the season on uneven footing but he has found it late in the year. He gave up a couple of solo shots, but the Orioles are gonna get their dingers. That was all he gave up, though, as he picked up his seventh straight win, pitching eight innings and striking out nine. Hanley Ramirez homered and drove in three. David Ortiz and Chris Young also homered. One of their homers caused its hitter to tie Mickey Mantle on the all-time homer list. Pretty sure it was Ortiz’s, not Young’s, but I don’t have time to look right now.
Tigers 4, Twins 2: Miguel Cabrera and Ian Kinsler homered and the Tigers plated two via a double and a sac fly in the seventh to bring the Tigers back from behind and to pull within a game of the second Wild Card. Daniel Norris struck out 11 while pitching into the seventh.
Braves 12, Marlins 7: The Braves had a 7-0 lead, blew it, and then scored five more unanswered runs. Well, they probably weren’t completely unanswered. Don Mattingly probably swore under his breath a lot. As did Dansby Swanson, most likely, when he was hit in the junk with an errant throw of a warmup toss from the catcher in between innings, which is about the most Braves thing ever:
[mlbvideo id="1160824683" width="600" height="336" /]
The announcers on the video say it hit his “shin,” but he left the game with a groin contusion.
Reds 3, Brewers 0: Four Reds pitchers combined to shut out the Brewers, and the starter didn’t even get the decision. Keyvius Sampson got the start but was taken out with two down in the fifth despite not allowing any runs. He was at 89 pitches though and the Brewers were threatening. After that Blake Wood, Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias tossed up more goose eggs, allowing the Reds 3-0 first inning lead stand.
Athletics 16, Royals 3: The A’s got 17 hits and Royals pitchers issued ten walks. Surprised they only scored 16 runs to be honest. Khris Davis and Marcus Semien hit three-run homers. It’s not dark yet for the Royals, but it’s gettin’ there.
White Sox 11, Indians 4: Chicago scored at least one run in every inning. That has only happened 17 times in baseball history. Todd Frazier, Avisail Garcia and Adam Eaton homered, but this was really death by a thousand cuts. Or 11 cuts, actually.
Rangers 4, Astros 3: Rougned Odor: clutch god. The Rangers second baseman had three hits and three RBI, including a solo homer in the 12th inning to break the tie and give the Rangers yet another win over the Astros this year. Texas is 14-3 against their cross-state rivals in 2016, which is just kinda crazy.
Cubs 4, Cardinals 1: Kyle Hendricks has looked like Greg Maddux recently. Which should make Hendricks feel better about losing his no-hitter in the ninth as Maddux never tossed one either. Ben Zobrist and Dexter Fowler homered, but Hendricks was the story. He’s 15-7 with a 2.03 ERA on the year and has walked only 43 guys.
Diamondbacks 12, Rockies 9: The Dbacks had a 5-0 lead turn into a 9-6 deficit, but then Yasmany Tomas hit a grand slam in the sixth and the rest was academic. Tomas drove in five in all
Mariners 8, Angels 1: Leonys Martin went 4-for-4 with three doubles and three runs, and Robinson Cano went 3-for-5 and homered. Ariel Miranda tossed six shutout innings. Seattle picks up its sixth straight win.
Padres 4, Giants 0: Six Padres pitchers combine to shut out the Giants, who fall back to four behind the Dodgers. Paul Clemens took care of five of those innings and got the win. Yangervis Solarte drove in two to support him and Hector Sanchez homered for the third.