Royals 3, Athletics 2; Pirates 11, Tigers 6: Put those two scores together and you have the Kansas City Royals in first place in the American League Central. It’s a half game, but at the rate the Royals are going they’re never going to lose a baseball game again. They’ve won eight in a row. They were eight games back three weeks ago. This is simply amazing. And with their bullpen and yet another injury to a Tigers starter, you have to give serious consideration to the fact that, yup, it’s sustainable.
Mets 5, Phillies 3: Anthony Recker hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh to break and 0 for 18 slump. Jon Niese gave up two runs on five hits in seven to break a pretty lousy stretch of play of his own. A Phillies’ fan sitting in the outfield seats tried to make this one 5-4 by snagging a ball hit by Chase Utley with his cap, causing the drive to originally be called a two-run homer, but on review it was changed to a ground rule double, scoring only the one run. Probably didn’t matter as Ben Revere flew out to end the game right after that, but good effort, dude.
Orioles 11, Yankees 3: The Orioles won. That’s good! But Manny Machado went out with a sprained knee. That’s bad. But Chris Davis came off the bench to play third and managed to go 2 for 3 with a two-run homer. That’s good! But the home run contained potassium benzoate . . . [blank stare] . . . that’s bad.
Dodgers 6, Braves 2: Speaking of bad, that’s what the Braves are anymore. They have now dropped 10 of 12 and are four games behind Washington in the increasingly non-competitive NL East. This after new Dodger Kevin Correia allowed just one run over six innings. L.A., meanwhile, is five games up in the West.
Rays 7, Rangers 0: Drew Smyly picks up his first win as a Ray, tossing seven and two-thirds shutout innings while striking out nine. Less than two weeks ago he was the expendable guy in the David Price trade. Depending on how Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez go health-wise in the next couple of weeks, he’s going to be sorely missed in Detroit. Colby Lewis walked a lot of dudes. The Rangers threw the ball around and allowed three earned runs. It’s just ugly baseball in Texas these days.
Marlins 6, Cardinals 5: Giancarlo Stanton hit two homers. He also had a nice diving catch on the warning track in the fifth inning. Lazy dude didn’t pitch a shuout, though, so what good is he?
Twins 4, Astros 2: Joe Mauer had two hits, including an RBI single in the ninth to break a 2-2 tie. After the game Ron Gardenhire said Mauer could “get out of bed” and hit. Or, in this case, come off a 34-day stint on the disabled list.
Brewers 3, Cubs 1: Yovani Gallardo allowed one run over seven and struck out six. Asked after the game what was the difference here vs. his last not-so-good start: “Just command, to be honest.” I’m glad he’s being honest now. We’ve lived with your lies far too long, Yovani. It has to feel better to finally come clean about this. You weren’t fooling anyone. *hugs*
Mariners 11, Blue Jays 1: Felix Hernandez: seven innings, one run, three hits, 8Ks. Dude is clockwork. Plus he had 11 runs of support which is something he probably had to have someone explain to him for he is so unfamiliar with the concept.
Padres 4, Rockies 3: Yangervis Solarte hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh. The Padres bullpen struck out the last seven Rockies hitters of the game and nine of the final 12. Either the Rockies were seriously overmatched or else they all wanted to get back to their hotel to watch Shark Week.
