And That Happened: Sunday’s scores and highlights

By Jun 9, 2014, 6:47 AM EDT
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Nationals 6, Padres 0: Jordan Zimmermann struck out 12 Padres in the course of a two-hit shutout. The Nationals have won seven of their past nine and are now tied for first place with both Miami and Atlanta. This is the Washington team we all expected last year. Now we’re getting them this year.

Giants 6, Mets 4: Curtis Granderson hit two homers, but that’s still five wins in a row for the Giants and 14 of 17 overall. Gregor Blanco doubled, singled and drove in three runs. They already have a nine and a half game lead in the NL West and it’s not even Flag Day. What? You’re not aware of the traditional “once Flag Day comes it’s OK to not say ‘it’s early, but . . .'” rule?

Mariners 5, Rays 0: Striking out 15 dudes in seven shutout innings is usually enough to get you the win, but Felix Hernandez is used to no decisions in games like that. The M’s scored all five of their runs off Grant Balfour in the ninth. His ERA is now 6.46. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that stuff about the Orioles flunking him on his physical this past offseason was not as much b.s. as Balfour made it out to be at the time.

Reds 4, Phillies 1: Homer Bailey pitched eight one-run innings and drove in the Reds’ first two runs with an RBI single. Billy Hamilton added an insurance two-run homer. They say you shouldn’t let the other team’s best hitters beat you, and Philly definitely took that to heart.

Athletics 11, Orioles 1: The A’s kicked the O’s butt, with John Jaso and Brandon Moss each driving in four, but Manny Machado’s bat-throwing baloney dominated the day. He’s going to wind up getting a suspension out of this I would presume. And it will be well-deserved.

Angels 4, White Sox 2: C.J. Wilson was battling flu symptoms but still allowed only one run while pitching into the seventh. Josh Hamilton drove in three. Hamilton is 8 for 23 and has driven in five since coming off the DL.

Indians 3, Rangers 2: Lonnie Chisenhall singled and scored in the fifth and sixth innings. Granted he’s got 80+ fewer at bats than most of the league leaders, but Chisenhall is now hitting .365/.413/.538 on the year.

Dodgers 6, Rockies 1: Rain shortened this one to six innings, with Matt Kemp and someone named Jamie Romak — filling in for the injured Puig — each drove in two.

Astros 14, Twins 5:Chris Carter and Jon Singleton each hit grand slams. Bud Norris thinks Singleton should’ve hit a five-run homer instead. Dexter Fowler and George Springer also homered. It’s amazing what power will do to make a joke of a team into a respectable team.

Marlins 4, Cubs 3: Chicago lost for the first time in six games. Henderson Alvarez pitched well for the fish, but left the game early after stepping/reaching/landing awkwardly while covering first base in the sixth. He should be back for his next start, however.

Royals 2, Yankees 1: A passed ball put a runner on third and a groundout scored him. That was the only offense the Yankees could muster against James Shields and the Royals’ pen.

Brewers 1, Pirates 0: Yovani Gallardo outduels Jeff Locke. Both went seven and all that really separated them was the RBI single Locke surrendered.

Editor’s Note: Hardball Talk’s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $35,000 Fantasy Baseball league for Monday night’s MLB games. It’s $25 to join and first prize is $6,000. Starts at 7:05pm ET on Monday. Here’s the FanDuel link.

Diamondbacks 6, Braves 5: Chase Anderson has five major league starts. He has won all five of them. David Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt each hit two-run homers in the Dbacks’ six-run seventh innings. The Braves have fallen back into a first place tie with the Nats and Marlins.

Cardinals 5, Blue Jays 0: Seven shutout innings for Jaime Garcia led to the Cards shutting out one of the most explosive offenses in baseball for two straight games with identical 5-0 scores. Even in a loss on Friday Cardinals pitchers held the Jays to three runs. Nice effort.

Red Sox 5, Tigers 3: David Ortiz hit a three-run homer in the ninth to put the Sox ahead. The blast came off Joba Chamberlain, not Joe Nathan, so the Tigers’ bullpen woes continue in widespread, as opposed to limited and specific fashion.

Trevor Bauer pulls on No. 96 for Yokohama’s BayStars

Associated PressMar 24, 2023, 12:35 PM EDT
Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images
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YOKOHAMA, Japan – Trevor Bauer apparently was shunned by every major league team, so he’s signed a one-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

Before about 75 reporters in a Yokohama hotel, he slipped on the BayStars uniform – No. 96 – on Friday and said all the right things. Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the reasons surrounding it.

The only question about it came from The Associated Press. Bauer disputed the fact the question suggested he was suspended from the major leagues.

“I don’t believe that’s accurate,” he said of the suspension. “But I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to pitch again. I’ve always wanted to play in Japan.”

He said the suspension dealt technically with matters of pay, and he said he had contacted major league teams about playing this year. He said he would have been eligible, but did not say if he had offers.

The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jan. 12, three weeks after an arbitrator reduced his suspension imposed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 to 194 games.

The penalty followed an investigation into domestic violence, which the pitcher has denied.

Manfred suspended Bauer last April for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, after a San Diego woman said he beat and sexually abused her in 2021.

Bauer has maintained he did nothing wrong, saying everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual. He was never charged with a crime.

Bauer joined his hometown Dodgers before the 2021 season and was 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before being placed on paid leave.

Bauer said his goal with the BayStars was to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph – hence his uniform number. He said he is also working on a better change-up pitch.

He said he hoped to play by mid-April – about two weeks after the Japanese season begins – and said he has been training for the last 1 1/2 years.

“I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and throwing,” he said. “I didn’t really take any time off. So I’ve had a year and a half of development time. I’m stronger than ever. More powerful than ever.”

Yokohama has not won a title in 25 years, and Bauer said that was his goal in the one-year deal.

“First and foremost, I want to help the Stars win a championship,” he said. “That involves pitching well. That involves helping teammates and learning from them. If they have questions – you know – share my knowledge with them.”

He also repeated several times about his desire to play in Japan, dating from a collegiate tournament in 2009 at the Tokyo Dome. He said playing in Japan was on his mind even before winning the Cy Young – and also immediately after.

“The Tokyo Dome was sold out,” he said. “I’d never played in front of that many people – probably combined in my life. In the United States, college games aren’t very big, so seeing that amount of passion. How many people came to a college game in Japan. It really struck me.”

He said he’d been practicing with the Japanese ball, which he said was slightly softer with higher seams.

“But overall it just feels like a baseball and the pitches move the same. The velocity is similar. I don’t notice much of a difference.”

Other teams in Japan have made similar controversial signings before.

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna – who received a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy – signed last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

He has signed for this season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

In 1987, Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, who had a career plagued with drug problems, tried to sign with the Seibu Lions. But he did not play in the country after the Japanese baseball commissioner disqualified Howe because of his history of drug abuse.

Bauer was an All-Star in 2018 and went 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 seasons for Arizona (2012), Cleveland, (2013-19), Cincinnati (2019-20) and the Dodgers. He won the NL Cy Young Award with Cincinnati during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.