And That Happened: Monday’s scores and highlights

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Rangers 6, Rays 5: Adrian Beltre was last week’s player of the week after hitting for the cycle one night and hitting three bombs on another. He’s off to a good start for that award again, going 3 for 3 with a homer a double and four RBI. David Price had one of his worst outings of the season (4 IP, 10 H, 6 ER).

Cardinals 4, Pirates 3: Also continuing his hot streak: Matt Holliday. He hit his 24th homer, breaking a 2-2 tie in the sixth. The Pirates have dropped six of their last seven. Are we allowed to talk about them playing to break the streak of sub-.500 seasons yet, or do we still have to act like they’re in the wild card hunt?

Mariners 1, Twins 0: Felix Hernandez is ridiculously good (CG SHO, 5 H, 5K). Later this morning we’ll hear more about how the Yankees should trade for him. His fifth shutout of the year, by the way. Tough luck loss for Liam Hendricks who allowed one run over nine innings.

Athletics 3, Indians 0: Brett Anderson’s return continues to be stellar. He shut the Tribe out over seven, allowing only two hits. Oakland has won 9 of 11.

Padres 3, Braves 0: Casey Kelly’s major league debut: fantasitc (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER). He also hit a single. I think it’s now officially safe to say, if it wasn’t already, that the Padres won the first Adrian Gonzalez trade. Yasmani Grandal accounted for all of the Padres’ runs, with a homer and a single. San Diego has won eight straight.

Blue Jays 8, Yankees 7: Colby Rasmus put his hair in some seriously stupid looking cornrows recently. He took them out before this game, however, and hit a three run homer with two outs in the ninth to put the Blue Jays in front. There’s a lesson in there for you kids. Of course, Derek Jeter tied it in the bottom half, so there’s a lesson in there too. Basically, just don’t be a total douche and instead be a professional and good things will happen. In extras, Derek Lowe threw a ball away putting the go-ahead run on third, which eventually scored. Darren Oliver beats Derek Lowe, because it’s 1999 or something. Oh, and Mark Teixeira left with a calf strain and he’s gonna miss a couple of weeks.

Orioles 4, White Sox 3: Baltimore wins another one-run game their 13th straight. And Nate McLouth hit a two-run homer. They should be called the Batlimore Oh Reallys?

Red Sox 5, Royals 1: Dice-K with his first win since the Cold War or thereabouts. Forgive me if I assume this had more to do with the Royals bats than Matsuzaka’s skillz.

Rockies 10, Dodgers 0: Josh Beckett’s debut for the Dodgers looked a lot like most of his starts for the Red Sox. Inefficient, deliberate and, while not a total disaster, not particularly effective either. Didn’t matter much, though, given that Jeff Francis and the bullpen didn’t allow a run. And even if they had, the Dodgers’ pen got violated for seven runs in the eighth.

Brewers 15, Cubs 4: Five homers for the Brewers including two from Aramis Ramirez. Ryan Braun had four hits and drove in five.

Reds 3, Diamondbacks 2: Bronson Arroyo pitched well and hit a home run to put the Reds ahead. Sometimes you gotta do everything yourself.

Padres claim 2-time All-Star catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from Mets

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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SAN DIEGO — The scuffling San Diego Padres claimed catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from the New York Mets.

The two-time All-Star was designated for assignment after playing in three games for the Mets. He went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts and an RBI, looking shaky at times behind the plate.

With the disappointing Padres (24-29) getting meager offensive production at catcher, they hope Sánchez can provide a boost. Austin Nola is batting .131 with three extra-base hits and a paltry .434 OPS in 39 games. His part-time platoon partner, second-stringer Brett Sullivan, is hitting .170 with four extra-base hits and a .482 OPS in 21 games since getting called up from the minors April 16.

Luis Campusano has been on the injured list since April 17 and is expected to be sidelined until around the All-Star break following left thumb surgery.

San Diego is responsible for just over $1 million in salary for Sánchez after assuming his $1.5 million, one-year contract.

The star-studded Padres have lost seven of 11 and are 3-3 on a nine-game East Coast trip. They open a three-game series at Miami.

San Diego becomes the third National League team to take a close look at the 30-year-old Sánchez this season. He spent time in the minors with San Francisco before getting released May 2 and signing a minor league contract a week later with the Mets, who were minus a couple of injured catchers at the time.

After hitting well in a short stint at Triple-A Syracuse, he was promoted to the big leagues May 19. When the Mets reinstated catcher Tomás Nido from the injured list last week, Sánchez was cut.

Sánchez’s best seasons came early in his career with the New York Yankees, where he was runner-up in 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting and made the AL All-Star team in 2017 and 2019.

He was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season and batted .205 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 128 games last year.

With the Padres, Sánchez could also be a candidate for at-bats at designated hitter, where 42-year-old Nelson Cruz is batting .245 with three homers, 16 RBIs and a .670 OPS, and 37-year-old Matt Carpenter is hitting .174 with four homers, 21 RBIs and a .652 OPS.