Tigers 4, Yankees 3: David Price didn’t get the decision in his Tigers debut but he pitched just fine, thank you. Eight and two-thirds innings, three runs ten strikeouts and no walks. Alex Avila had an RBI single off of Hiroki Kuroda n the seventh to force extras and then smacked the go-ahead and, eventually, game-winning homer in the top of the 12th. Joba Chamberlain pitched and retired all four batters he faced, but he was booed like crazy by Yankees fans. Which I totally get. I mean, he had the nerve to have his career in New York screwed up by injury, by the Yankees taking three years to figure out a role for him and by being far too overhyped and then over-criticized by the New York press. How dare he?
Reds 9, Indians 2: This was . . . odd. The Indians were starting a little rally in the seventh on an RBI double by Yan Gomes that sent baserunner David Murphy toward third. Murphy tried to score when he saw the ball rolling on the field but it turned out it was merely a ball, not the ball. Specifically a ball that had gotten loose from the Reds bullpen, fooling Murphy into thinking it was the ball in play. Meanwhile, the ball in play was relayed to third where Murphy was tagged out. Not sure why the umpires didn’t call the play dead once the second ball came onto the field or why they didn’t use their handy-dandy replay in order to set this right, but they didn’t. Terry Francona’s comments after the game suggest that he did not have too big an issue with all of this so if he’s not mad I guess we shouldn’t be. But still: bizarre.
Rangers 16, White Sox 0: Adam Dunn pitched. ADAM DUNN PITCHED. That’s all you really gotta know, dudes. Robinson Chirinos homered twice, J.P. Arencibia drove in four and Colby Lewis pitched a six-hitter. He coulda pitched a six runner and been fine. Maybe the most amazing part of this was that a sixteen-run game with position players pitching took less than three hours.
Cubs 6, Rockies 5: Welcome to the big leagues, Javier Baez! He hit the go-ahead homer in the top of the 12th that proved to be the game winner. Before that he struck out in three of his five at bats, but no one will remember that. Heck, given where the Cubs and Rockies are in the standings, no one will remember anything about this game other than the Baez bomb.
Orioles 9, Blue Jays 3: Chris Davis, Caleb Joseph and Jonathan Schoop all homered for the O’s and afterward O’s pitcher Bud Norris called it a “big statement game.” Whatever. As O’s manager Earl Weaver once said, “we do this every day.” There are 162 of these things, man. None of them are ever really statements.
Twins 3, Padres 1: Kennys Vargas — which is also the proper plural form for when there are mutiple men named “Kenny Vargas” around — hit a three-run homer in the sixth which is all the Twins needed.
Phillies 2, Astros 1: This one took 15 innings but ended on a Ryan Howard RBI single. He had some incentive to do some damage too, as they walked Chase Utley to get to him. I mean, I know he’s not what he used to be, but Ryan Howard still has some pride, dammit, and he made ’em pay.
Marlins 6, Pirates 3: A five-run eighth inning rally which featured a based loaded walk to Marcell Ozuna, who drove in two on the night. Tough for Charlie Morton who pitched seven sharp innings allowing only one run before having to witness his bullpen cough it all back up.
Brewers 4, Giants 3: This one ended on an overturned 4-3 play n which the Giants runner was originally called safe. After the game Bruce Bochy grumbled about the call, saying that he wasn’t sure how what he saw on the video could be called “conclusive.” Oh wells. Gerardo Parra had a nice game, with a go-ahead homer in the seventh and a sweet catch on a foul ball that was slicing away from him in the eighth.
Cardinals 3, Red Sox 2: Jon Jay hit an RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning to break the tie and put the Cards up for good. The rally that inning was started by recent Red Sox and current Cards catcher A.J. Pierzynski, how smacked a two-out hit. The Cards have won three and a row and four of five. The Sox have lost three straight. The World Series was a long time ago.
Mets 6, Nationals 1: Zack Wheeler started didn’t have his best stuff and started slowly but got on track and ended up winning his fourth straight. He’s now 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA in his last seven appearances.
Athletics 3, Rays 0: Jason Hammel had lost four straight starts and had an ERA pushing ten since coming to Oakland from Chicago and had even been subject to trade and/or waiver rumors, but he tossed five and two-thirds shutout innings here. Drew Smyly was not so effective in his Rays debut, allowing three over five and a third. Coco Crisp had an RBI single in his first start in a week and a half.
Royals 12, Diamondbacks 2: Billy Butler had a three-run homer and had four hits and Nori Aoki hit a grand slam, giving Danny Duffy all the run support he needed. Wade Miley was forced to wear this one a good while before coming out, having given up ten runs.
Mariners 4, Braves 2: Ho-hum, the Braves lose again. It’s cool, I wasn’t too invested in having strong personal emotions about baseball this October anyway. To be honest, I wasn’t all that invested in the Braves winning this one either given that they had to face Felix Hernandez. The King struck out eight over eight innings allowing one run. He has now made 15 straight starts in which he has gone at least seven innings and allowed two runs or fewer, which a record. Speaking of records, his is now 12-3, which projects out to 17-4. Which for him is insane. Just give him the Cy Young now and save all the waiting.
Dodgers 5, Angels 4: Clayton Kershaw was human — he gave up three runs over seven innings and walked a couple dudes — but the Dodgers prevailed thanks to an errant David Freese throw to the plate in the ninth which allowed Juan Uribe to score the winning run. If Freese’s throw is on target he probably gets Uribe too. It just took Chris Ianetta out of position too far to handle it, let alone snag it and make the tag.
