Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Brewers 10, Cardinals 7: The season is young but so far Christian Yelich seems intent on being the first guy to win back-to-back MVP Awards since Miguel Cabrera did it in 2012-13. He was a one-man gang against the Cardinals yesterday, hitting three homers and driving in seven. The first one turned a 3-2 game into a 6-2 game. The second was also a three-run shot, breaking a 6-6 tie. The third was a “mere” solo homer. Have yourself a day, Mr. Yelich.
Oh, and have yourself a day Mr. Cain:
Dodgers 4, Reds 3: Yasiel Puig returned and hit a big, bat-flipping homer off of Clayton Kershaw. That was quite a moment for Puig and, I presume, for the Dodgers fans who remember him fondly. Matt Kemp was also making his return to Dodger Stadium and he hit an RBI single in the ninth which gave the Reds a late lead, so again, nice homecoming. In the end, though, things went better for the men in blue, as (a) Kershaw was otherwise effective in his 2019 debut, allowing only two runs in seven; and (b) Joc Pederson broke that 3-3 tie with a two-run, walkoff homer:
Between that and the Clippers win, it was a big night for L.A. comebacks, eh?
Orioles 8, Red Sox 1: Yesterday I said that the Red Sox were making progress. Then they went out and pinched off this performance against the O’s. Dwight Smith Jr. and Chris Davis — Chris Davis! — each hit two-run homers. The Sox only scratched across one run against Dan Straily. Renato Núñez had three hits, including an RBI single. The O’s have seven wins on the year. The Red Sox have six. The O’s have won two series this year. The Red Sox have won no series this year.
Mets 7, Phillies 6: Aaron Nola and Noah Syndergaard both allowed five runs which was super cool in that it turned a cold and crappy night into a long night as well, with this thing going four and a half hours. But hey, more baseball is better, right? [someone whispers to me] I’m sorry, I am told that the game also featured 14 walks, thereby validating my choice to watch several episodes of “Schitt’s Creek” instead of this schitt. In the end, Juan Lagares scored from second base on a hot shot to first base by Michael Conforto that ate Rhys Hoskins alive in the top of the 11th inning. Edwin Díaz saved it. Of course, the game may have only gone nine if Mickey Callaway had used Díaz earlier. The Phillies, down a run, loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and rather than bring in his best reliever to get a four-out save — or, at the very least, to put out that fire — he brought in Robert Gsellman who issued a four-pitch walk, tying the game up and eventually forcing extras. Asked about it later, Callaway said they only want to use Díaz for three-out saves. We’re allegedly in the Golden Age of Relief Pitching™ yet some managers’ brains are still stuck in 1995.
Cubs 7, Marlins 2: Yu Darvish struck out eight and allowed two runs while pitching into the sixth and picking up his first win of the year. Willson Contreras homered, drove in three and reached base four times. David Bote drove in three. Miami has the worst record in baseball and the worst run differential too.
Blue Jays 5, Twins 3: Teoscar Hernández had three hits and hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning. He also got picked off first base when he started jogging to second on what he thought was ball four to a batter but it was only ball three. You can laugh about that kind of stuff when you hit go-ahead three-run homers, of course. C.J. Cron hit a three-run homer in the losing cause.
Rangers 12, Angels 7: Joey Gallo hit a homer in the third that went a mile and registered a 115.1 m.p.h. exit velocity. Gallo also snuck an RBI single through the left side of the infield, beating the shift and giving the Rangers a lead they’d never surrender. He also stuck out once, leaving him a walk short of a “Joey Gallo Cycle,” which is a thing I just made up. Mike Trout came back and went 0-for-2 with three walks.
White Sox 5, Royals 4: Kansas City built a 3-0 lead early, lost it, went back up 4-3 in the seventh on a Whit Merrifield single but then Wellington Castillo hit a two-run homer off of Brad Boxberger in the bottom of the eighth to give Chicago it’s first and final lead. The Royals have played seven one-run games this year. They have lost six of ’em.
Rockies 5, Padres 2: Ian Desmond homered, doubled and drove in three and Nolan Arenado homered too as the Rockies won their [gasp] second game in a row. Crazy.
Indians 6, Mariners 4: Trevor Bauer allowed one run in 6.2 innings and Cleveland prevailed despite a barely averted Mariners rally after he left in the seventh and then a minor bullpen meltdown in the eighth, featuring back-to-back homers from Edwin Encarnación and Omar Narváez which pulled Seattle close. It would’ve been worse if it wasn’t for Greg Allen playing Superman:
Seattle has lost four straight. It sounds like they looked pretty dang sloppy losing this one too.
