And That Happened: Wednesday’s scores and highlights

By Sep 27, 2012, 5:40 AM EDT
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Orioles 12, Blue Jays 2: Bombs away. Chris Davis and Manny Machado each had two homers and the O’s hit seven in all, keeping pace with the Yankees, who maintain their one and a half game lead.

Yankees 8, Twins 2: CC Sabathia looks to be back on his game, and that will be huge for the Yankees in the playoffs. The big guy struck out ten over eight innings.

Tigers 5, Royals 4: Andy Dirks broke up what would have been an inning-ending double play in the eighth inning which allowed Don Kelly to score. Little things can make all the difference between winning the division and sitting at home in October.

Nationals 8, Phillies 4: Bryce Harper became only the second teenager to hit 20 homers in a season. Tony Conigliaro was the other. Ryan Howard got booed. Jayson Werth got booed. Lotta booing in Philly last night.

Astros 2, Cardinals 0: Norris. Bud Norris. He gave up two hits over seven and a third.

Dodgers 8, Padres 2: Matt Kemp was 4 for 5 with four driven in. Too little too late, of course.

Mets 6, Pirates 0: Jeremy Hefner shuts out the Pirates for seven innings and Ruben Tejada has four hits, eliminating Pittsburgh from playoff contention. Nice run for a while Buccos. But:

Brewers 8, Reds 1: Ryan Braun hot a homer — he leads the National League — keeping the Brewers on life support for another day. Cincinnati falls a game back of Washington for the best record in the NL and home field advantage in the NLCS, should they make it there.

Braves 3, Marlins 0: Martin Prado homered and drove in another run with a single. Dan Uggla stole home (what?) and Paul Maholm was sharp. The Marlins, of course, have given up, so whatever.

Rays 4, Reds Sox 2: Know what? The White Sox have to play four games against the hot-and-spoiling-to-spoil Rays this weekend. That seems like it bodes poorly.

Athletics 9, Rangers 3: Oakland jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Rangers even got to bat and Martin Perez couldn’t even make it out of the inning.

Indians 6, White Sox 4: And the Sox fall out of first place for the first time since July 23. They had a 3-1 lead after the first, but Hector Santiago couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning.

Giants 6, Diamondbacks 0: Matt Cain shut ’em out for seven innings and worked out of a couple of jams. He hasn’t lost in nine starts.

Rockies 6, Cubs 0: Drew Pomeranz shut looked sharp and the Rockies won their third in a row.

Angels 4, Mariners 3: L.A. just has to keep winning and hope that the Rangers take care of the A’s over the next week.  The Angels did their part at least, and remain two back in the wild card. Torii Hunter tied it with an RBI single in the seventh and won it with a walkoff RBI single in the ninth.

Orioles sign OF Aaron Hicks, put Cedric Mullins on 10-day IL with groin strain

Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 11:07 AM EDT
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
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BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles signed outfielder Aaron Hicks less than 24 hours after Cedric Mullins went down with a strained right groin.

Mullins went on the 10-day injured list, but the Orioles are hoping Hicks can help defensively in the spacious outfield at Camden Yards. Hicks was released last week by the New York Yankees with more than 2 1/2 seasons left on his contract.

“We had noticed that he was a free agent even before the injury,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said. “When the injury occurred and it became pretty clear this was going to be an IL, it seemed like a good fit even more so at that time.”

The Orioles are responsible for paying Hicks just $483,871, a prorated share of the $720,000 minimum salary. The Yankees owe him the rest of his $10.5 million salary this year, plus $9.5 million in each of the next two seasons and a $1 million buyout of a 2026 team option.

The 33-year-old Hicks hit just .188 in 28 games for the Yankees this year.

“We have stuff that we look at from a scouting and evaluation perspective,” Elias said. “It’s very different from just looking at the back of a baseball card, and we hope that we get a bounceback from anyone we bring here.”

Hicks batted .216 last season.

“Hopefully that’s a good thing for him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the Baltimore deal. “A lot of time here and a lot of good things happened for him here. I know the last couple of years have been a struggle. But hopefully it’s a good opportunity for him and certainly wish him well. Not too well being in our division and a team we’re chasing, but hopefully it’s a really good fit for him.”

Mullins left a loss to Cleveland after he pulled up while running out an infield grounder. Outfielder Colton Cowser – the fifth pick in the draft two years ago – is hitting .331 at Triple-A Norfolk, but he went on the IL in the past couple weeks.

“Certainly he was building a case towards promotion consideration prior to his injury and prior to Cedric’s injury,” Elias said. “We’ll just see where we’re at.”

Hicks was active for the game but not in the starting lineup. Austin Hays, normally Baltimore’s left field, was in Mullins’ usual spot in center.

When the wall in left at Camden Yards was pushed significantly back before last season, it made left field a bigger challenge defensively.

“In this park … you really need two center fielders,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Aaron’s got a lot of center-field experience. Played left field here before also. Brings the defensive aspect and then the switch-hitting.”