And That Happened: Monday’s Scores and Highlights

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Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:

Giants 8, Dodgers 4: Four wins in a row for the Giants. They had a four-run fourth inning off of Brandon McCarthy, partially due to hitting him well, partially due to a brain lock he had, cutting off a Corey Seager throw intended to nail a runner who was dead to rights at home. We all have bad days at the office, I guess. Sometimes we misplace a file. Sometimes we lose a sale. Sometimes we lose track of a baserunner. Sometimes we intentionally reveal classified secrets to foreign agents which seriously jeopardize national security and intelligence-gathering. You just shake it off and try again tomorrow, ya know?

Diamondbacks 7, Mets 3Yasmany Tomas, Jeff Mathis and Daniel Descalso homered in a six-run eighth inning as the Mets lost their fifth straight. When the Noah Syndergaard injury fiasco and the Matt Harvey fiasco were going down and I was saying the Mets were in trouble, a non-trivial number of you said stuff like “they’ve won their last couple of series” or “they’re in second place.” I suppose that was technically correct at the time, but as I wake up and look at the news today, I am somewhat less impressed with people making technical arguments than I normally am.

Braves 10, Blue Jays 6: The Jays’ five-game winning streak comes to an end. Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer, somehow not passing out with shock first at seeing actual men on base when he came to the plate. Nick Markakis homered and drove in three.

Angels 5, White Sox 3Mike Trout hit a solo shot off of Mike Pelfrey, breaking a 3-3 tie. It’s the fourth consecutive game in which Trout has homered, leaving him one shy of the Angels’ record. He’s at .352/.450/.752 and is on a pace to hit 47 homers. He will also never get the full-court promotional press from MLB the way a guy who has been retired for three years just did.

Mariners 6, Athletics 5Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager each hit a two-run homer and reliever Tony Zych put out a ninth inning fire to stop a would-be A’s comeback. The fire was started by M’s closer Edwin Diaz who walked four of the five batters he faced. There were 15 walks overall in this game. Sounds riveting.

Indians 8, Rays 7: Indians starter Carlos Carrasco exited in the fourth inning because of tightness in his left pectoral muscle, but at least the Indians had a three-run lead when he did. The Cleveland bullpen allowed an inherited runner to score and Andrew Miller and Cody Allen of all people gave up two more later, but for the most part  they didn’t break over the final five innings.

Astros 7, Marlins 2: Yuli Gurriel hit a grand slam and Jose Altuve homered and drove in three as the Astros win despite not getting to their hotel in Miami until 5am yesterday morning. And despite the “momentum” the Marlins were supposed to have after winning on Sunday. Momentum is not a thing in baseball. Often sleep isn’t a thing either.

Padres 6, Brewers 5: This one went to extras and Eric Sogard put Milwaukee up with a 10th inning homer. Hunter Renfroe did him one better, though, smacking a two-run walkoff homer in the bottom half. Renfroe drove in four runs overall.

Padres claim 2-time All-Star catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from Mets

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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SAN DIEGO — The scuffling San Diego Padres claimed catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from the New York Mets.

The two-time All-Star was designated for assignment after playing in three games for the Mets. He went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts and an RBI, looking shaky at times behind the plate.

With the disappointing Padres (24-29) getting meager offensive production at catcher, they hope Sánchez can provide a boost. Austin Nola is batting .131 with three extra-base hits and a paltry .434 OPS in 39 games. His part-time platoon partner, second-stringer Brett Sullivan, is hitting .170 with four extra-base hits and a .482 OPS in 21 games since getting called up from the minors April 16.

Luis Campusano has been on the injured list since April 17 and is expected to be sidelined until around the All-Star break following left thumb surgery.

San Diego is responsible for just over $1 million in salary for Sánchez after assuming his $1.5 million, one-year contract.

The star-studded Padres have lost seven of 11 and are 3-3 on a nine-game East Coast trip. They open a three-game series at Miami.

San Diego becomes the third National League team to take a close look at the 30-year-old Sánchez this season. He spent time in the minors with San Francisco before getting released May 2 and signing a minor league contract a week later with the Mets, who were minus a couple of injured catchers at the time.

After hitting well in a short stint at Triple-A Syracuse, he was promoted to the big leagues May 19. When the Mets reinstated catcher Tomás Nido from the injured list last week, Sánchez was cut.

Sánchez’s best seasons came early in his career with the New York Yankees, where he was runner-up in 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting and made the AL All-Star team in 2017 and 2019.

He was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season and batted .205 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 128 games last year.

With the Padres, Sánchez could also be a candidate for at-bats at designated hitter, where 42-year-old Nelson Cruz is batting .245 with three homers, 16 RBIs and a .670 OPS, and 37-year-old Matt Carpenter is hitting .174 with four homers, 21 RBIs and a .652 OPS.