Mike Napoli followed Manny Ramirez’s footsteps by going fifth deck in Toronto

By Aaron GleemanAug 27, 2014, 11:19 AM EDT
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Red Sox designated hitter Mike Napoli smacked a three-run homer in the 11th inning last night against the Blue Jays and it was a particularly monstrous blast: 451 feet.

Napoli became just the eighth visiting player to hit a homer into the fifth deck at Rogers Centre in the ballpark’s 26-year history.

Red Sox television announcer Don Orsillo deserves some credit for immediately saying Napoli’s homer reminded him of a Manny Ramirez homer in Toronto “some years ago.” It was 2001, to be exact, and the Ramirez homer he remembered is the longest in the ballpark’s history at 491 feet.

Max Scherzer, with broken nose, strikes out 10 Phillies over seven shutout innings

Patrick Smith/Getty Images
By Bill BaerJun 19, 2019, 10:10 PM EDT
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Nationals starter Max Scherzer bunted a ball into his face during batting practice on Tuesday, breaking his nose in the process. He ended up with a gnarly looking shiner around his right eye, making him appear a bit like Terminator. Scherzer still took the ball to start the second game of Wednesday night’s doubleheader against the Phillies.

Despite the injury, Scherzer was incredibly effective, limiting the Phillies to four hits and two walks across seven shutout innings, striking out 10 batters in the process. He might even have had some extra adrenaline going, as he averaged 96.2 MPH on his fastball, his highest average fastball velocity in a game since September 2012, per MLB.com’s Jamal Collier. The Nationals provided Scherzer with just one run of support, coming on a Brian Dozier solo home run off of Jake Arrieta in the second inning, but it was enough.

Wander Suero worked a scoreless top of the eighth with a pair of strikeouts. Victor Robles added a solo homer off of Pat Neshek in the bottom half. Closer Sean Doolittle took over in the ninth, working a 1-2-3 frame to give the Nats their 2-0 victory.

Over his last six starts, Scherzer now has a 0.88 ERA with a 59/8 K/BB ratio across 41 innings. He has gone six innings, struck out at least nine batters, and held the opposition to two or fewer runs in each of those six starts.