And That Happened: Monday’s scores and highlights

By Jun 14, 2011, 6:04 AM EDT
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I had every recap done this morning, hit “save” and then just as that happened something barfed on itself in Google Chrome and I lost it all. So if these recaps seem superficial, it’s only because I’m trying to type them with one fist punched in the monitor.

Tigers 2, Rays 1: A wilder one than the score suggests, with Ramon Santiago plating the winning run with an RBI triple in the tenth. A key play: Magglio Ordonez nailing Justin Ruggiano at the plate to complete a double play with the bases loaded. Watch for yourself. No great angles on that clip, but he looked safe to me on the second view following the Maddon argument.

Indians 1, Yankees 0: Four Indians pitchers — led by Carlos Carrasco — combine to toss a five-hit shutout. Well, seeing as though Carrasco gave up all five hits, I guess it wasn’t totally equitable. The bigger deal than the Yankees failure to generate any offense was Derek Jeter’s early exit due to a sore calf.

Pirates 3, Mets 1: Paul Maholm pitched seven shutout innings — and Mike Pelfrey was nearly as good — but Maholm had at least a bit of support. The Mets and Pirates split the series. Both of these teams are seeking .500 baseball like it’s the Holy Grail, and each time they get close it slips through their fingers. So totally expect a Pirates loss tonight.

Reds 6, Dodgers 4: Bronson Arroyo and Hiroki Kuroda met a couple of weeks ago and had a pitcher’s duel. They met last night and had … something else. Still, since Arroyo drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh, I’d say it’s safe to say that he won the pitchers-helping-their-own-cause duel.

Padres 3, Rockies 1: Anthony Bass wins his major league debut after throwing 5.1 strong innings in Coors Field of all places. Then he’s promptly demoted. Life’s hard out there for a spot starter.

Astros 8, Braves 3: Four RBI for Hunter Pence, who extended his hitting streak to 23 games.  Derek Lowe follows up his near no-hitter by laying this moderate-sized egg. Which is quite a Derek Lowe thing to do.

Cubs 1, Brewers 0: Randy Wolf and Ryan Dempster put up a bunch of zeroes but the Cubs break through with the game’s only run on a fielder’s choice in the eighth. How very 2011 of them.

Diamondbacks 12, Marlins 9: Teams combine for 30 hits and 21 runs. How very 2001 of them.

Angels 6, Mariners 3: Vernon Wells with two homers. He credited his game to watching hours of video earlier in the day. I bet he was watching old “Monty Python” episodes. Those always put me in a good mood too.

McCutchen’s sacrifice fly lifts Pirates to 5-4 win, extends Athletics’ road losing streak to 15

Associated PressJun 6, 2023, 12:19 AM EDT
Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
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PITTSBURGH – Andrew McCutchen’s tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning lifted Pittsburgh to a 5-4 victory over Oakland on Monday night, extending the Pirates’ win streak to six games and sending the Athletics to their record-tying 15th consecutive road loss.

The 15 straight defeats away from home matches the Athletics’ record since they moved from Kansas City in 1968. Oakland set that mark in 1986.

The major league-worst Athletics (12-50) have lost five games in a row overall. They are on pace to finish the season exactly 100 games under .500 at 31-131.

“It’s tough,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “Tonight’s game, we didn’t play well enough to win the game. I don’t want to say we gave the game away but there were a lot of instances where we had a chance to capitalize on opportunities and didn’t do it.”

McCutchen also singled and drew three walks to go with two RBIs. The 2013 NL MVP now has 1,998 career hits.

With the score tied at 4, Ji Hwan Bae led off the decisive eighth inning with a single off Sam Moll (0-3) and advanced to third on Austin Hedges’ one-out single. McCutchen’s sac fly plated Bae.

“I was just trying to get the job done. I understand the situation there,” McCutchen said. “We just need to get the run. I was trying to bear down against a hard thrower and trying to get that run in as much as I can, and I was able to do it and have a good at-bat.”

Angel Perdomo (1-0) retired both hitters he faced. and Colin Holdeman pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first career save. It was an eventful inning for Holderman as the first three batters reached base, but he struck out Carlos Perez with runners on the corners to end it.

“I began my career as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues but ever since I was switched to relief, this has been the goal, to get a save in the big leagues,” Holderman said.

Pittsburgh starter Johan Oviedo gave up three runs and four hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Oakland left-hander JP Sears did not allow a hit until Mark Mathias’ leadoff single in the fifth but was unable to make it through the inning. Sears was charged with one run in 4 2/3 innings while allowing two hits, walking five and striking out six.

Sears has not allowed more than two runs in five consecutive starts. His nine no-decisions are the most in the major leagues.

Ryan Noda and Brent Rooker had two hits each for the Athletics.

The Athletics tied the score at 4-4 in the eighth inning on pinch-hitter Aledmys Diaz’s run-scoring double. Oakland left the bases loaded, though, when Nick Allen hit an inning-ending flyout.

Consecutive bases-loaded walks keyed a three-run sixth inning that put the Pirates 4-3. McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds each worked bases on balls off Shintaro Fujinami to tie the score at 3-all and pinch-hitter Jack Suwinski followed with a sacrifice fly.

The Athletics opened the scoring in the first inning when rookie Esteury Ruiz reached on catcher’s interference, stole his MLB-leading 30th base of the season and scored on Noda’s single. Seth Brown doubled in a run in the third and came home on Perez’s sacrifice fly to push Oakland’s lead to 3-0.

Connor Joe hit an RBI double for the Pirates in the fifth.

The Pirates drew 10 walks, their most in a game in nearly two years.

“We had a bunch of opportunities that we didn’t capitalize (on), but the thing I think I was most proud of is we got down and we didn’t rush to get back,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. “We were still patient.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: LHP Kirby Snead (strained shoulder) is expected to pitch in the Arizona Complex League on Tuesday, which will be his first game action since spring training. … RHP Freddy Tarnok (strained shoulder) will throw a bullpen on Tuesday.

TOP PICK PROMOTED

Pirates catching prospect Henry Davis was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis from Double-A Altoona. In 41 games at Double-A this season, the 23-year-old hit .284 with 10 home runs and seven stolen bases.

“He was performing offensively at a level where we felt like he was more than ready to meet the challenges,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “He improved as an offensive player even since spring training, focusing on the things we were challenging him on. Defensively, he’s made strides too.”

Davis was the first overall selection in the 2021 amateur draft from the University of Louisville.

UP NEXT

Athletics RHP James Kaprielian (0-6, 8.12 ERA) will make his first start in June after taking the loss in all four starts in May and face RHP Mitch Keller (7-1, 3.25). Keller has eight or more strikeouts in seven consecutive starts, the longest streak by a Pirates pitcher in the modern era (since 1901).