Cardinals 5, Diamondbacks 0: Adam Wainwright with the one-hitter ,allowing nothing but a double to Paul Goldschmidt in the fourth. No walks either, with nine strikeouts. If you’re into game scores, this one game in at a 94, which tied him with Andrew Cashner for the best pitching performance of the year (Cashner tossed a one-hitter with 11 Ks and 2 walks against the Tigers on April 11). Even if you’re not into game scores, I hope you can appreciate this.
Cubs 6, Yankees 1: Of all the teams to finally beat Tanaka I never would’ve guessed it’d be the Cubs. But they touched him for four runs — three earned — while the offense couldn’t get much going against Jason Hammel. It was Tanaka’s first loss in nine major league starts and, including his NPB record, his first loss in 42 starts overall.
Orioles 9, Pirates 2: Chris Davis went 4 for 5 with three homers and five driven in. Davis had only had three homers in his first 30 games. Either he just guessed right three times yesterday or else that oblique muscle of his is feeling better.
Indians 6, Tigers 2: The Tigers have no won since their Zubaz caused their airplane to break down. Just sayin’.
Braves 5, Brewers 0: Julio Teheran bounces back in a big way from his cruddy start against the Giants last week. Here he tossed a six-hit shutout. He also tossed 128 pitches which, eh, but OK. Justin Upton hit a two-run homer and drove in another run with a single. The Brewers have lost four in a row. Their lead in the central is down to 2.5 games. I feel like we’re seeing the end of their surprise story of 2014.
Phillies 6, Marlins 5: Not pretty — Phillies pitcher walked eight dudes and both A.J. Burnett and Jonathan Papelbon were shaky at best — but a W anyway. Mike Redmond was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. I didn’t see it so maybe he had a point, but on a night when your guys walk eight times I feel like any bad strike zones are helping your guys out a good deal too.
Dodgers 9, Mets 4: The good: Adrian Gonzalez homered and had three hits overall and Yasiel Puig reached base five times. The bad: Juan Uribe strained his hamstring in the ninth innings. The ugly: It was a Josh Beckett game in which he threw 99 pitches in five innings, Mets starter Rafael Montero was less efficient than Beckett and we also had a Daisuke Matsuzaka appearance. All of that helped set a four hour, eight minute pace. For a nine inning game. Which is just brutal.
Mariners 6, Rangers 2: Kyle Seager had three hits and drove in two while Robinson Cano, Dustin Ackley and Nick Franklin added two hits each. Hisashi Iwakuma tossed eight drama-free innings. This comment from Seager about Iwakuma was fun too:
“He’s phenomenal,” Seager said of Iwakuma. “He’s got great tempo and seduces ground balls.”
I hope that is a typo by the AP reporter. Otherwise, it’s a bit too much information about Iwakuma’s personal life.
Athletics 3, Rays 0: Drew Pomeranz tossed five shutout innings, won his third in a row and lowered his ERA to 0.94. It’s almost like him leaving Colorado was a good thing. All three of his starts have been five-inning, zero runs affairs.
Nationals 9, Reds 4: Yesterday in an HBT video I said that Johnny Cueto would give up two runs in a game before Masahiro Tanaka got his first loss. I’m pretty sure the sixth inning of this game happened before the decision in the Cubs-Yankees game was final, so I’m gonna claim victory. Cueto as rocked for six earned runs — eight overall — in five and a third innings of work. Denard Span was 5 for 5. Doug Fister allowed two runs in seven innings.
Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 4: Two home runs for Edwin Encarnacion as the Jays hand the Sox their fifth straight loss. The Jays have won six of eight. Encarnacion has nine homers in May. The Boston media should be reaching a nice frothy lather of panic around now.
Editor’s Note: Hardball Talk‘s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $40,000 Fantasy Baseball league for Wednesday night’s MLB games. It’s $25 to join and first prize is $6,000. Starts at 7:10pm ET on Wednesday. Here’s the FanDuel link.
Twins 5, Padres 3: Kevin Correia allowed three runs over six innings. Correia, who is from Del Mar, said “It’s always nice to sleep in your own bed.” That’s the second “sleep in your own bed” quote I’ve seen from players visiting the Padres this year. I wonder if the Chamber of Commerce is offering payola to natives as a part of some “Come home to San Diego” campaign. Worth looking into. Anyway, the Twins have beat the Padres seven straight times, which is something to keep in mind when they inevitably meet in the World Series this year.
Rockies 5, Giants 4: Nolan Arenado hit a walkoff two-run double. Second walkoff in a row for Colorado. The Rockies are now two games behind the Giants in the West.
Angels 9, Astros 3: David Freese drove in four. Mike Trout drove in three, but left with a sore leg. He said after the game that it’s not serious, but that’s definitely worth watching.
White Sox 7, Royals 6: Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer and the Sox withstood the Royals’ late comeback attempt. Konerko hit a three-run homer the day before so, with Jose Abreu out, it’s like the platonic ideal of the 2011 White Sox have come out to play.
