Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Rays 12, Yankees 3: Evan Longoria was 3-for-4 with a couple of doubles and four driven in. Dude just rakes at Yankee Stadium. The Rays rocked Luis Severino for seven runs on eight hits in less than four innings. Friday night was a nice farewell, Saturday afternoon was a nice hello, but rebuilding is hard.
Blue Jays 9, Astros 2: A two-run shot and an RBI single for Troy Tulowitzki. Russel Martin went back-to-back with Tulo in the fifth inning, becoming the fourth Blue Jay to top 20 homers this year. Toronto has feasted on the Astros, taking two of three in this series and eight of the last ten matchups between them.
Indians 5, Angels 4: The Angels have lost ten straight. This one after holding a 4-1 lead. It wasn’t even a fun way to get swept: three of the four games were rain delayed, totaling nearly five hours of sitting around time. In other news, there probably aren’t actually fun ways to get swept in a four game series.
Mets 5, Padres 1: Steven Matz took a no-hitter into the eighth before Alexi Ramirez broke it up. Neil Walker and Wilmer Flores homered as the Mets took two of three, taking some of the heat off of their super crappy last week.
Marlins 5, White Sox 4: A pitcher, Tom Koehler, drove in two with an infield single. Ichiro drove in a runner from second with a bunt. The game ended when Christian Yelich nailed a runner at the plate. Not the most typical way to win, but if the Marlins are gonna live life without Giancarlo Stanton, they’re gonna have to get a little weird sometimes.
Red Sox 16, Diamondbacks 2: Mookie Betts was 4-for-6 with three homers and eight driven in. Jackie Bradley Jr. homered and drove in three. Dustin Pedroia had five hits. It was the second time this season Betts hit three out in a game. Zack Greinke was the Dbacks’ starter too, so it’s not like they were feasting on scrubs. At least until after the chased Greinke. What a nightmare of a season for Arizona, who many thought might contend this year.
Nationals 9, Braves 1: Anthony Rendon homered and drove in four runs and Bryce Harper hit an RBI double, walked and scored twice in his return to the lineup after a five game absence. Dusty Baker didn’t originally have him in the lineup but he said Harper came to him before the game and asked in, saying “please.” Yes, Dusty said he really said “please” and that’s what swayed him:
“I was going to give him another day, but he came in and told me he wanted to play. I told him no and he told me `Please.’ How do you tell a grown man no that says so politely that he wants to play? So, I put him back in the lineup. He actually sounded like a little kid when he said so and you know I’m partial to kids sometimes.”
The Nats clubhouse: better this year than it was last year.
Phillies 7, Rockies 6: Colorado was gettin’ kind of frisky for a while but then they get swept by Philly of all teams. Jimmy Paredes singled, doubled, homered and drove in three. He doesn’t play much and doesn’t hit all that much when he plays, but we all have good days sometimes.
Brewers 7, Reds 3: Ryan Braun homered twice, doubled and drove in six. Braun is hitting .328/.391/.571 with 22 homers and 65 driven in. Given how little he’s talked about these for a superstar of his caliber these days, I imagine most non-Brewers fans think he was killed in a junta or something three years ago.
Royals 11, Twins 4: Paulo Orlando continued his torrid post-All-Star break hitting, homering, tripling, hitting a couple of singles and driving in three. Lorenzo Cain had four hits and drove in three as well. Edinson Volquez was solid over six innings. Chris Young got a three inning save. Those are always fun.
Tigers 7, Rangers 0: Michael Fulmer tossed a four-hit complete game shutout with nine strikeouts. Nuff said. Well, not completely nuff: it was the second straight day the Tigers held the Rangers scoreless.
Mariners 8, Athletics 4: Kyle Seager doubled twice and drove in four. The Mariners have won eight of nine and now sit only five and a half games behind Texas and two back in the Wild Card.
Orioles 8, Giants 7: The Giants led 7-1 after five innings but blew it, with the killing blow being Jonathan Schoop‘s three-run blast in the ninth off of Santiago Casilla. The Giants are 9-18 since the All-Star break and their division lead is down to one. It could’ve been worse, but . . .
Pirates 11, Dodgers 3: . . . The Dodgers lost too. This thanks to Pittsburgh’s five-run first inning against Brett Anderson in his disappointing season debut. Josh Harrison and Adam Frazier each had four hits, Sean Rodriguez homered and had four RBI. Anderson left with a sprained wrist. In two days the Dodgers lost starting pitchers Brandon McCarthy and Anderson after an inning and two-thirds and an inning, respectively. L.A.’s rotation has somehow persevered despite injuries to its biggest names, but now they need someone to suck up some serious innings to give that bullpen a breather.
Cardinals 6, Cubs 4: The Cubs led 3-1 entering the top of the eighth when the Cards opened up the floodgates, led by Stephen Piscotty‘s three-run homer and followed up with a Brandon Moss solo shot. Randal Grichuk doubled in a run to cap it off.
