Less than 24 hours after the Red Sox traded Kevin Youkilis, and an advertisement went out to Sox fans promoting the White-Sox vs. Red Sox series of July 16-19 as the first time Youkilis is back in Fenway Park following his trade to Chicago.
Quick thinking, that.
Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Rockies 8, Yankees 4: James Paxton is no dummy. It was hotter than Hell’s hinges yesterday so he — I assume — decided to pitch like garbage and get to a cool shower and an air conditioned clubhouse early. He allowed seven runs — four earned — on five hits and was hosing off his frothy lather before the fourth inning was over. You just can’t teach good sense like that. Germán Marquez, meanwhile, has some learning to do. Again, it was hotter than a hay harvest and Marquez went out there and pitched really well, allowing only two runs on three hits, which meant that he was out there for seven miserably hot innings. He’s only 24, though. He’ll learn. Trevor Story, Nolan Arenado, and David Dahl each drove in two and Charlie Blackmon, who went 4-for-5, was allowed to hit a leadoff homer by the savvy Paxton.
Orioles 5, Red Sox 0: Special Agent Andrew Cashner carried out the orders he was apparently given when he was sent undercover to Boston nine days ago by tossing a couple of meatballs to former comrade Trey Mancini — he hit two homers — and allowing four runs in six innings. Orioles starter Asher Wojciechowski, in contrast, carried out his duties loyally by shutting out the Sox on one hit into the eighth inning while striking out 10. OK, I know that’s not really how it works — they all try to win for the teams that currently employ them — but I feel like baseball would be way more interesting if baseball had double agents and intrigue and crap.
Rays 4, White Sox 2: Travis d'Arnaud hit a grand slam in the second for all of the Rays’ runs and Blake Snell tossed six shutout innings, striking out ten. It’s like the Rays know I recap all these games every morning and know that, sometimes, I just need a straightforward narrative to make one of ’em really easy to wrap up, especially on 15-game days. Thanks, dudes.
Indians 5, Royals 4: Kansas City jumped out to a 2-0 lead but Francisco Lindor‘s two-run homer tied it up in the third. Cleveland added three more in the sixth, led by Jose Ramírez’s tie-breaking homer. That’s all good for a win for Cleveland, but it was clouded by an injury to a three-year-old boy who was hit by a Lindor foul ball. He was sitting well past the dugout, past where the netting at Progressive Field ends but before where a handful of teams have either extended it or have committed to extending it. Including the Royals, by the way, who just announced they were extending theirs to the foul poles after a fan was injured. Now I’d bet a fair amount of money that the Indians will announce they’ll extend the netting too, sooner rather than later. What a world we’d live in if these teams decided to do this BEFORE young children were injured. But I suppose things are impossible to foresee, eh?
Tigers 4, Blue Jays 3: I was in Detroit Saturday and yesterday and I had given serious thought to going to this game before heading back home. I decided against it at the last minute because (a) I was out until like 2AM on Saturday night, almost got into a fight with a belligerent Scottish guy, among other things, and was exhausted; (b) I had a three and a half hour drive home; and (c) it was, again, hotter than a basted turkey yesterday, so I gave it a pass. So of course they go and play what looked to be a pretty fun game and now I sit here with regret. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to tie things up at three and to force extras and then Nicholas Castellanos hit a walkoff homer. Could be Castellanos’ last big moment as a Tiger given that he’s a prime trade candidate and the deadline is nine days away. I probably shoulda been there. Dang it.
Dodgers 9, Marlins 0: Forfeit score which, as we like to mention around here, means that the Marlins would’ve been better off simply not showing up and taking their flight to Chicago for their series against the White Sox earlier in the day. Walker Buehler tossed seven shutout innings, striking out 11 and A.J. Pollock hit a three-run homer and an RBI single. Max Muncy and Joc Pederson went deep too.
Lest you think I’m a bad person for not going to the Tigers game yesterday, know that I’m taking my family to Los Angeles tomorrow for a little vacation that’ll go through the weekend and we are going to Dodger Stadium on Wednesday to see the Angels-Dodgers game. Can’t wait to show my kids Mike Trout, the best player in the game, and the Dodgers, the best team in the game, only to have them tell me “whatever,” but that’s what having teenagers is all about, I suppose.
Cardinals 3, Reds 1: Yairo Muñoz singled, tripled and homered and drove in two. Jack Flaherty shut the Reds out into the fifth and all they ended up getting off of anyone was a solo homer by Phillip Ervin. The Cards take three of four from Cincy.
Phillies 2, Pirates 1: The Phillies signed Drew Smyly after he tanked in Texas and couldn’t get a callup to Milwaukee. When we wrote about the Phillies probably signing him last week a bunch of people made jokes and/or lamented Philly’s desperation and all that jazz. So of course he goes out and allows one run in six innings and strikes out eight. We all saw that coming, right?
Astros 5, Rangers 3: Michael Brantley hit two homers, a two-run shot and a solo shot, and José Altuve went deep as well. Rogelio Armenteros allowed one run and two hits with six strikeouts in five innings. That’s a three-game sweep of the Rangers and five wins in all for Houston.
Twins 7, Athletics 6: Minnesota led 4-0 and blew it but Max Kepler but the Twins on his back with a four-RBI day, including a walkoff single. He doubled and homered too. The walkoff was set up by Ehire Adrianza tripling in the tying run just prior. Minnesota split the four-game set with Oakland.
Padres 5, Cubs 1: Francisco Mejía homered, Fernando Tatís Jr. drove in three as the Padres avoided a sweep. Cal Quantrill didn’t start — San Diego used an opener for two and two-thirds innings — but he tossed five and two-thirds of scoreless relief.
Giants 3, Mets 2: Mike Yastrzemski hit a walkoff homer in the 12th. It was the Giants’ first hit since the fourth inning. Which makes that a couple of games in the past week in which Mets relievers were, actually, really good for a long time but just not, you know, at the end. Progress? The Giants have won 15 of 18, which, proportionally, is one better than seven of nine.
Brewers 7, Diamondbacks 4: Arizona took a 4-0 lead and Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff left the game with an oblique injury that’ll send him to the IL. But the Brewers’ pen tossed six shutout innings of relief, Tyler Saladino hit a grand slam to tie things up in the fourth and Milwaukee plated three more in the eighth to win it and take their third of four in the series.
Angels 9, Mariners 3: Brian Goodwin hit two homers for the Angels and Mike Trout and Albert Pujols each added a longball of their own as they win this one easily. Trout’s homer was his 32nd, which leads the AL, and the RBI was his 78th, which also leads the AL. He also leads the league in WAR and OPS by A LOT. Can’t wait to see who the writers twist themselves into knots to argue is a better choice for MVP this fall. Should be awesome.
Braves 7, Nationals 1: Not sure I’d have bet even a buck on Kevin Gausman allowing one run over seven innings in his first game back since early June but that’s baseball for ya. Josh Donaldson and Ronald Acuña hitting homers? Well, sure, I’d have bet on that. That’s baseball too. Those two and Nick Markakis each drove in a couple while Freddie Freeman went 3-for-5 and scored twice as Atlanta splits the four-game series with the Nats and keep their division lead at six and a half.
