And That Happened: Sunday’s scores and highlights

By Jun 16, 2014, 5:00 AM EDT
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Rockies 8, Giants 7: The sweep. All due to late comebacks against the Giants’ pen. Here it was Justin Morneau with an eighth inning double on Javier Lopez to drive in two of the Rockies’ four runs during the rally. The Giants sell out all of their games these days, but no one except Colorado expatriates left happy this weekend.

Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 3: Paul Goldschmidt and Miguel Montero homered which, combined with some dumb plays by the Dodgers, helped the Dbacks overcome an abbreviated-by-elbow-pain Bronson Arroyo start. Maybe it’s best that it was abbreviated. I had this one on for three innings and Vin Scully told us the “Arroyo knows 150 songs on the guitar” story twice. If he had gone the distance I’m afraid Vin would’ve had go do his “Uggla means ‘owl’ in Swedish” story even though the Braves weren’t in town.

Mariners 5, Rangers 1: Hisashi Iwakuma overgame some pregame neck stiffness to help the Mariners end a five-game losing streak.Kyle Seager had four hits and three RBI. Seager kills the Rangers. This season he’s 19 for 48 with three home runs and 12 RBI against Texas.

Cardinals 5, Nationals 2: Not a bad weekend for Matt Adams. He hit a solo shot off of Jordan Zimmermann in the second inning on Friday, a solo shot off of Stephen Strasburg in the seventh inning on Saturday, and a two-run homer off of Doug Fister in the second inning on Sunday afternoon.

Athletics 10, Yankees 5: Derek Norris and Coco Crisp each hit three-run homers early in the game to make this one a laugher. Between that and Jesse Chavez carrying a shutout into the sixth, Oakland was up 10-0 after four innings. Also: Carlos Beltran was called out for abandoning his base pursuant to Rule 7.08 at one point. Dude thought there were three outs when there were only two and he was walking back to the dugout. That’s always special to see.

Reds 13, Brewers 4: When Billy Hamilton leads off the game with a dinger you know you’re in for a long day. Ryan Ludwick went 4 for 5 with three doubles. Todd Frazier and Brandon Phillips went deep too. Marco Estrada was on the mound for Milwaukee, so that should explain things. He’s given up a major league-high 23 homers in 84 innings, with 18 coming since May 1.

Rays 4, Astros 3: David Price struck out 10 and the Rays got their first series win in weeks. Bo Porter did that “move Tony Sipp to the outfield for one batter and then move him back to the mound” thing. Amazingly, that doesn’t ensure victory.

Cubs 3, Phillies 0: Travis Wod had a n0-hitter into the sixth and pitched eight shutout innings in all. This was the Cubs’ first road series win since last September.

Royals 6, White Sox 3: A three-run homer for Sal Perez and a series sweep for the Royals. That’s seven straight wins for Kansas City and eight of nine. A couple weeks ago we were wondering whether Ned Yost would be fired. Now they’re one and a half back of the Tigers.

Marlins 3, Pirates 2: Casey McGehee tied the game in the eighth inning with a two-out, two-run double, then drove home the winning run with a walkoff sacrifice fly in the 10th. Meanwhile, Gregory Polanco, had two hits and his hitting  .387 since being called up. Which is kind of fun.

Indians 3, Red Sox 2: Two days, two 3-2 comeback wins for the Indians. This courtesy of a Nick Swisher homer in the 11th. The Red Sox left a ton of runners on base.

Mets 3, Padres 1: When the Mets face the Padres and four runs are scored, it’s officially an offensive outburst. Bobby Abreu had an RBI double in this battle between two deadball era teams.

Blue Jays 5, Orioles 2: J.A. Happ allowed one run in six innings and Dioner Navarro had three hits and two RBI to help the Jays earn the split. And since they were in first place in front of Baltimore, a split is kind of a win. Or something.

Tigers 4, Twins 3: The second walkoff sac fly of the day. This one wouldn’t have happened if Oswaldo Arcia hadn’t dropped the previous fly ball, which allowed Torii Hunter to go from first to third and set up for J.D. Martinez’ subsequent game-winner. Arcia had a horrible defensive weekend overall, messing up some on Saturday too.

Braves 7, Angels 3: The Angels jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but that’s all they’d get as the Braves put up a four-run sixth inning and then won it going away. Tommy La Stella was 3 for 3 with two RBI. He’s hitting .411 in the 16 games since he’s been called up. Been nice knowing ya, Dan Uggla. Which means “owl.”

Olson blasts two HRs, Acuña has 4 hits as Strider, Braves overpower Phillies 11-4

Associated PressMay 29, 2023, 12:12 AM EDT
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
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ATLANTA – Given a seven-run lead in the first inning, Atlanta right-hander Spencer Strider could relax and keep adding to his majors-leading strikeout total.

“That game felt like it was over pretty quick,” Strider said.

Ronald Acuña Jr. drove in three runs with four hits, including a two-run single in Atlanta’s seven-run first inning, and the Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-4 on Sunday night to split the four-game series.

“Getting a lead first is big, especially when you get that big of a lead,” Strider said. “… When we’re putting up runs, my job isn’t to be perfect. My job is to get outs.”

Following the game, Braves manager Brian Snitker announced right-hander Michael Soroka will be recalled to make his first start since the 2020 season on Monday night at Oakland.

Matt Olson hit a pair of two-run homers for Atlanta, and Strider became the fastest pitcher in modern history to reach 100 strikeouts in a season.

“It’s incredible,” said Acuña through a translator of Strider. “Every time he goes out to pitch it seems like he’s going to strike everybody out.”

Acuña hit a run-scoring triple in the fifth before Olson’s second homer to center. Acuña had two singles in the first when the Braves sent 11 batters to the plate, collected seven hits and opened a 7-0 lead. Led by Acuña and Olson, who had three hits, the Braves set a season high with 20 hits.

Strider (5-2) struck out nine while pitching six innings of two-run ball. The right-hander fired a called third strike past Nick Castellanos for the first out of the fourth, giving him 100 strikeouts in 61 innings and topping Jacob deGrom‘s 61 2/3 innings in 2021 as the fastest to 100 in the modern era.

“It’s cool,” Strider said, adding “hopefully it’ll keep going.”

Olson followed Acuña’s leadoff single with a 464-foot homer to right-center. Austin Riley added another homer before Ozzie Albies and Acuña had two-run singles in the long first inning.

Phillies shortstop Trea Turner and left fielder Kyle Schwarber each committed an error on a grounder by Orlando Arcia, setting up two unearned runs in the inning.

Strider walked Kody Clemens to open the third. Brandon Marsh followed with a two-run homer for the Phillies’ first hit. Schwarber hit a two-run homer off Collin McHugh in the seventh.

LEAPING CATCH

Michael Harris II celebrated the one-year anniversary of his major league debut by robbing Schwarber of a homer with a leaping catch at the center-field wall in the second. As Harris shook his head to say “No!” after coming down with the ball on the warning track, Strider pumped his fist in approval on the mound – after realizing Harris had the ball.

“He put me through an emotional roller coaster for a moment,” Strider said.

SOROKA RETURNING TO ROTATION

Soroka was scratched from his scheduled start at Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday, setting the stage for his final step in his comeback from two torn Achilles tendons.

“To get back is really a feather in that kid’s cap,” Snitker said.

Soroka will be making his first start in the majors since Aug. 3, 2020, against the New York Mets when he suffered a torn right Achilles tendon. Following a setback which required a follow-up surgery, he suffered another tear of the same Achilles tendon midway through the 2021 season.

Soroka suffered another complication in his comeback when a hamstring injury slowed his progress this spring.

Acuña said he was “super happy, super excited for him, super proud of him” and added “I’m just hoping for continued good health.”

Soroka looked like an emerging ace when he finished 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA in 2019 and placed second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and sixth in the NL Cy Young voting.

The Braves are 0-3 in bullpen committee games as they attempt to overcome losing two key starters, Max Fried (strained left forearm) and Kyle Wright (right shoulder inflammation) to the injured list in early May. Each is expected to miss at least two months.

RHP Dereck Rodriguez, who gave up one hit in two scoreless innings, was optioned to Gwinnett after the game to clear a roster spot for Soroka.

QUICK EXIT

Phillies right-hander Dylan Covey (0-1), claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 20, didn’t make it through the first inning. Covey allowed seven runs, five earned, and six hits, including the homers by Olson and Riley.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: 3B Alex Bohm was held out with hamstring tightness. … LHP José Alvarado (left elbow inflammation) threw the bullpen session originally scheduled for Saturday. Manager Rob Thomson said there was no report that Alvarado, who was placed on the injured list on May 10, had any difficulty.

UP NEXT

Phillies: Following an off day, LHP Ranger Suárez (0-1, 9.82 ERA) is scheduled to face Mets RHP Kodai Senga (4-3, 3.94 ERA) in Tuesday night’s opener of a three-game series in New York.

Braves: Soroka was 1-2 with a 4.33 ERA in eight games with Triple-A Gwinnett. He allowed a combined four hits and two runs over 10 2/3 innings in his last two starts. RHP Paul Blackburn (7-6, 4.28 ERA in 2022) is scheduled to make his 2023 debut for Oakland as he returns from a finger injury.