Orioles 9, Red Sox 6: Just your standard seventeen inning affair in which a first baseman is the winning pitcher, after throwing two shutout innings and and outfielder is the losing pitcher after giving up a three-run homer . Chris Davis shut out the Red Sox for the 16th and 17th innings, striking out two. Of course he did. Darnell McDonald gave up a three-run homer to Adam Jones. Of course he did. J.J. Hardy had two homers. The game took six hours and seven minutes. Mercy.
Angels 4, Blue Jays 3: Albert Pujols hit a homer, so we can quit keeping track of that I suppose. Guess now we can see how long it takes for his average to get above the Mendoza Line.
Indians 4, Rangers 2: Yu Darvish struck out eleven Indians but still got the loss because, strikeouts aside, walking four and giving up six hits in six innings while throwing 112 pitches isn’t a study in efficiency. The Indians three-run third inning started when a Johnny Damon popup fell in after getting lost in the sun. Here’s Darvish, after the game through an interpreter:
I’d like to think that he listened to “A Saucerful of Secrets” right before this game, but I kinda doubt it.
Braves 7, Rockies 2: The sweep. What a nutso series. I thought they had a humidor or something, but by the time yesterday’s game got started I was totally of the mindset that a six run deficit didn’t matter any. Overall the Braves scored 29 runs in this three-game series. On the pitching side, some order was restored in this one with Brandon Beachy allowing only a couple of runs in six and a third.
Marlins 6, Padres 3: Tied at two until the Fish put up a four-run eighth inning. Thankfully, however, the Padres scored one in the bottom of the inning, creating a save situation and allowing us to watch someone besides Heath Bell handle the ninth. Edward Mujica gets the save.
Mariners 5, Twins 2: Hector Noesi took a shutout into the seventh and Jesus Montero hit a two-run double. If you told this to a Yankees fan a year ago ...
Cardinals 8, Astros 1: Tyler Greene hit two homers, the Cardinals salvaged one in the series and, more importantly, Adam Wainwright looked good, with good command for really the first time all season.
Yankees 10, Royals 4: Robinson Cano hit a grand slam, Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run shot and Nick Swisher hit a solo homer, breaking the Yankees offense out of a slump. We knew the offense was going to figure it out soon enough. We were less sure of Phil Hughes, but he turned in his best start of the season, allowing three runs over six and two thirds and striking out seven.
Reds 5, Pirates 3: This is why the Reds traded so much talent for Mat Latos: six innings, two hits, no runs and eleven strikeouts.
Athletics 9, Rays 5: Of course Brandon Inge hit a three-run homer and drove in four. We all know he’d do that against Matt Moore. Who we also predicted would give up eight runs. We all talked about this during the big pregame show. It was my Master Lock “Lock of the Week.”
Mets 3, Diamondbacks 1: R.A. Dickey was on point (8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER). Assuming knuckleballers have points. I think of them as having weird concave places and a lot of swirly bits.
Giants 4, Brewers 3: Matt Cain struck out ten in seven innings but the bullpen couldn’t hold the one-run lead. Tim Dillard walked two and gave up two hits to blow the game in the 11th. Because -- all together now! -- you can’t use your closer in a tie game on the road!
Tigers 3, White Sox 1: The Tigers offense still isn’t clicking, but solo homers by Austin Jackson, Prince Fielder and Andy Dirks were all Rick Porcello (6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) and four relievers needed to take care of the Sox.
Cubs 4, Dodgers 3: A walkoff walk to David DeJesus in the 11th. By the way: is it just me, or are there an inordinate number of extra inning games this year? Seems like a lot. Someone who has some research-fu, tell me if I’m nuts.
Phillies 9, Nationals 3: True fact: Natitude is still only 66.6% effective. Hunter Pence had four RBI. Cole Hamels allowed one run in eight innings and struck out eight. And likely got himself a suspension for admitting that he’s kind of a jerk.
