Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Marlins 10, Rockies 7: Congratulations to Ichiro for his 3,000th major league hit. A triple no less, showing that at least some dudes over 40 still have great wheels. He’s also only the second guy to have his 3,000th hit be a triple, with Paul Molitor being the other. Molitor was Ichiro’s hitting coach in Seattle for a time and after the game Ichiro have Molitor a nod. He’ll be joining Molitor in Cooperstown the first time he’s eligible for induction. Lost in the history and in the loss was the fact that the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado homered twice and drove in five.
Yankees 3, Indians 2: A-Rod announced his retirement (or whatever it is) but doesn’t get into the game. Fellow short timer Mark Teixeira, however, hit an RBI double. He’s had extra-base hits in four of his past five games, actually, and is hitting quite well for a guy who is hanging it up. Maybe this means A-Rod will get a big hit, like, Tuesday or something.
Mets 3, Tigers 1: Neil Walker hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to break a 1-1 tie and give the Mets the win. He hit it off of Francisco Rodriguez who, despite getting the save on Saturday night, was shaky as hell doing it, requiring a putout on a play at the plate in order to stave off disaster. All of which is to say that the Tigers usual trouble -- the bullpen -- will likely be a source of problems as they try to make up those two games the Indians have on ‘em.
Twins 6, Rays 3: Miguel Sano was rumored to be on his way back to the minors late last week. Here he homered twice. He also became the first player to hit a ball off the roof at Tropicana Field. Many have hit catwalks, but none have hit the roof. It ended up being an F-5, though, because Evan Longoria caught it.
Nationals 1, Giants 0: A tough luck loss for Madison Bumgarner, who went the distance yet gave up one run while Tanner Roark and two Nats relievers combined for a five-hit shutout. Bumgarner’s only blemish: A solo homer to Wilson Ramos in the 7th. Ramos is hitting .338/.387/.556 with 18 homers and 62 RBI. Ramos is a free agent this offseason. I feel like someone is gonna give him a really bad contract based on what looks like a fluke season. Kind of like Javy Lopez after the 2003 season.
Reds 7, Pirates 3: The Reds may be the most entertaining bad team in baseball. Billy Hamilton is a big part of that and yesterday he was particularly fun: four stolen bases, three hits and three runs scored. He also made a leaping catch. I sure hope he figures out how to get on base more than he does so that this kind of fun can happen more often. Maybe that’s too much to ask for a nearly 26-year-old player, but even if we just get one breakthrough season in which some balls find their way through the infield and he hits .315 or something with a .355 OBP, man, that would be something.
Orioles 10, White Sox 2: Manny Machado hit three homers in three innings and drove in seven. He didn’t get any hits for the rest of the day but if you come in and get all your work done early, you’re allowed to loaf by the water cooler all afternoon. Dylan Bundy didn’t need to pitch well with all of the run support he got but he did anyway, allowing two runs and striking out nine dudes over six innings.
Rangers 5, Astros 3: The manner in which the Rangers won was new -- Ian Desmond and Rougned Odor hits in the 11th inning -- but the fact that they beat the Astros was not. that’s 11 of 13 from Houston on the year, which explains at least part of their seven and a half game lead over Houston in the AL West. Only seven over Seattle, who has gotten past the Astros. Houston has lost 8 of 10 overall, so maybe it’s not just about their divisional foes. “Anytime I leave this podium after a loss I hate it,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said after the game. Give the man credit for knowing the difference between a podium and a lectern. 95% of people get that one wrong.
Royals 7, Blue Jays 1: It was close until the seventh when Kendrys Morlaes hit a grand slam. A decent start for Yordano Ventura, who hasn’t had many decent starts lately.
Braves 6, Cardinals 3: Atlanta took two of three from the Cards, and took them pretty decisively. This is not technically the Cardinals’ low point of the season -- they’re 11.5 back now and were 12.5 back for a day in late June -- but it may be their low point cosmically speaking. Matt Kemp had two hits and an RBI, Nick Markakis and Erick Aybar had two RBI each and Mike Foltynewicz allowed one run over six innings.
Cubs 3, Athletics 1: Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while pitching into the eighth. Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler homered. The Cubs sweep the A’s. Their seventh straight win gives them 69 on the season. Nice.
Mariners 3, Angels 1: James Paxton allowed one run -- unearned -- while pitching into the ninth. He only left because he took a line drive off his arm. X-Rays were negative, though, which is positive. Mike Trout struck out four times, but he also saved four runs by stealing a grand slam with a spectacular catch.
Diamondbacks 9, Brewers 3: Jake Lamb and Phil Gosselin each hit two-run homers. The Dbacks had five extra-base hits in their five-run fifth inning. Speaking of, does anyone else remember 5 from “Peanuts?” I used to get all of the old “Peanuts” compilations and treasuries from the entire run of the strip and I loved 5. He was a pretty damn subversive character for the comics in the early 1960s.
Phillies 6, Padres 5: Tommy Joseph hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the top of the seventh inning, but Maikel Franco and the Phillies D helped hold that slim lead with a triple play in the bottom half of the inning:
[mlbvideo id="1024252883" width="600" height="336" /]
A nice around-the-horn job too, not one of those weird ones with a line drive and a couple of boring runners-getting-doubled-off deals.
Dodgers 8, Red Sox 5: Rob Segedin made his major league debut for the Dodgers, playing left field, and all he did was go 2-for-4 with a double and four RBI. Adrian Gonzalez his his 300th career homer. Howie Kendrick and Justin Turner hit homers too.
