Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Cubs 5, Braves 1: The Cubs get a four-run third inning thanks to homers from Javier Baez and Willson Contreras while John Lackey and four relievers tie up Atlanta’s bats. Chicago wins its fifth in a row, pulling to within 2.5 games of Milwaukee, because . . .
Pirates 4, Brewers 3: . . . Milwaukee dropped its third in a row to the surging Pirates. This despite taking a 3-0 lead in the third on a Travis Shaw three-run homer. It didn’t hold up, though, thanks to Francisco Cervelli and Josh Harrison going deep in the sixth which tied it, followed by a go-ahead RBI single by David Freese. Three of those six inning runs came with two outs. The inning was extended by a Starling Marte walk. Marte also singled and made a nifty diving catch in left. Welcome back, Mr. Marte.
Cardinals 5, Mets 0: The Cardinals likewise gain ground on the Brewers as Michael Wacha twirled a three-hit, complete game shutout, striking out eight. He also had a hit and knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice. Matt Carpenter went 4-for-5. The best play in the game for the home team came via New Jersey governor Chris Christie but he got booed like crazy for it.
Yankees 6, Twins 3: Bartolo Colon’s debut with the Twins looked a lot like his time with the Braves. The big man was eminently hittable, giving up four runs on eight hits in four innings of work. The Yankees knocked him out of the game in the fifth after he gave up two hits to start the inning. Both of those runners and three more scored. That included Aaron Judge who singled in a run and then was knocked in on a Didi Gregorius homer. Judge went 2-for-4 and drew a walk, so can we maybe stop acting like the Home Run Derby took away all of his mojo? In other news, the Yankees got some new players.
Dodgers 1, White Sox 0: Cody Bellinger singled in a run in the first inning and Clayton Kershaw tossed seven shutout innings, scattering seven hits, making that one run stand up. That’s ten straight wins for the Dodgers, who now lead the west by 10.5 games and have a +173 run differential. They have won 30 of their last 34. They are the first team to do that in 40 years.
Orioles 12, Rangers 1: Baltimore jumped all over Tyson Ross, scoring six in the first before making an out and adding four more in the fourth. The bloodbath featured two homers from Chris Davis — one of which was a grand slam — and bombs from Trey Mancini and Seth Smith. Davis knocked in six runs in all. It wasn’t just the Davis show, though, as Baltimore rattled off 16 hits in all.
Diamondbacks 11, Reds 2: The Dbacks also had a six-run inning — the fifth — as the Reds pitching continues to be an absolute horror show post-All-Star break. Nine players had extra base hits. On the mound: Ray beat Romano. Everybody loves run support. In other news, the Dbacks will have a new outfielder report for duty today.
Phillies 5, Marlins 2: It was a 2-2 game until the eighth when Maikel Franco hit a solo homer. Philly added two more in the final frame with a two-run homer from Nick Williams. Williams has played 15 games since his callup. He’s hitting .302/.333/.547 with three homers and ten driven in.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 4: Boston had a long weekend in which they played a marathon game followed by a Sunday day-night doubleheader. They lost on Monday and looked like they were dragging, so the last thing they needed was to go 15 innings last night. I guess 15 innings as more tolerable when you win in the end, however, and that they did as Hanley Ramirez hit a walkoff homer. Dustin Pedroia helped get them to extras, as he homered and hit an RBI double in the sixth and seventh, respectively, to tie things up after Toronto took a 3-1 lead in the fifth.
Astros 6, Mariners 2: Houston got bad news yesterday when they learned they’d be without shortstop Carlos Correa for eight weeks, but they didn’t let it faze them on the field. Evan Gattis homered twice and Brad Peacock allowed one run on three hits and struck out nine in seven innings.
Tigers 9, Royals 3: Trading away J.D. Martinez is probably a good place to mark the beginning of a new, rebuilding (or at least reshuffling) era for the Tigers, but they started that era off well enough, as Nick Castellanos homered twice, singled, tripled and drove in five, Victor Martinez drove in two and the Tigers notched 16 hits in all. Castellanos after the game:
“We’re playing with a chip on our shoulder now.”
Maybe if you did that from April through Monday they wouldn’t have traded away Martinez?
Rockies 9, Padres 7: Gerardo Parra went 3-for-3 with two walks, scoring three times, Mark Reynolds hit a three-run homer and Carlos Gonzalez knocked in three. Colorado has won three in a row, scoring 31 runs in those games.
Rays 4, Athletics 3: Tampa Bay was down by one in the ninth and rallied for two. Both runs scored with two out as Adeiny Hechavarria and Shane Peterson hit consecutive RBI singles. The Rays remain two back of the Sox.
Nationals 4, Angels 3: Bryce Harper homered over Mike Trout‘s head in the first inning and Trout homered to center in the second. That would be Trout’s only hit, however, while Harper ended up going 4-for-4 and scoring twice. Edwin Jackson made his debut for the Nats and he was good, allowing two runs on three hits in seven innings of work. Edwin Jackson has to have the weirdest career in living memory. He’s going to disappear in a few months and then show up with yet another team in, like, three years and pitch well again. Then he’s just gonna roam the Earth like Caine from “Kung-Fu,” getting into adventures and making spot starts and stuff.
Giants 2, Indians 1: Eduardo Nunez scored the tying run in the sixth when Buster Posey knocked him in and he hit a walkoff RBI single in the 10th. The win was set up by Conor Gillaspie hitting a pinch-hit double to start the rally. It was also his 30th birthday, so nice day for him. Ty Blach got a no-decision but allowed only one run on seven hits over seven innings of work.
