Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Mets 6, Marlins 2; Mets 5, Marlins 4: New York takes both ends of the doubleheader, with Jacob deGrom allowing two runs in seven in the first game to get the win and a three-homer, three-run seventh inning — bombs by J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso — to give them a come-from-behind win in the nightcap. That makes for their third and fourth straight victories and their 11th win in their last 12 games. It also puts them only two and a half out of the Wild Card with the Cardinals, Brewers and Phillies in between them and playoff position. Not saying it’s likely, but it’s certainly doable.
The Marlins lost both of ’em, but they had one of the better highlights of the day when rookie Isan Díaz made his big league debut and, as the TV crew was in the stands interviewing his dad he socked his first big league homer, making his dad go absolutely and wonderfully apes**t crazy:
Brewers 9, Pirates 7: Christian Yelich had four hits, two of which were solo bombs, pushing his big league-leading total to 39 on the season. He hits homers. It’s what he does. A little less expected was Jordan Lyles holding his recently former team to three runs — only one earned — on two hits in five innings after being traded a little over a week ago. If he had been starting for the Pirates, Bucco fans would’ve been reasonable to assume he’d give up six in four innings. Changes of scenery are nice.
Yankees 9, Orioles 6: Jonathan Villar hit for the cycle in a losing cause, but Mike Tauchman hit two of the Yankees’ five homers on the night, going 3-for-4. The other dingers came from Brett Gardner, Austin Romine, and Mike Ford. The Yankees really don’t need superstars to beat ya. They just plug in basically anyone, anywhere and boom goes the dynamite.
White Sox 7, Tigers 4: Lucas Giolito picked up his first win since the end of June after allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings. Streaky kid. He made the All-Star team after rattling off wins in eight straight stats in May and June. Detroit has lost 10 of 12 and are 10-34 since June 1. They’re currently on a pace to lose 113 games. That would tie them for the sixth-most losses in a season in the modern era. They have a chance to do even worse than that, though, if they keep the current rate of futility. The 2003 Tigers (119 losses) and the 1962 Mets (120) are certainly within striking distance.
Red Sox 7, Royals 5: Boston breaks the eight-game losing streak thanks to a strong start from Rick Porcello (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5K) a two-run homer from Sam Travis and a solo shot from Rafael Devers. From the AP gamer:
The music was blaring in the clubhouse and Boston utility player Brock Holt was holding a microphone, acting like a DJ.
Radio DJ’s don’t hold mics, they have mics suspended from a boom or something. Club DJs rarely if ever pic up a mic. They’re using one or both hands to cue up beats and/or hold the headphones to one ear. I think the writer means he was holding the mic like an MC. No one asks me these things, of course.
Rangers 1, Indians 0: Mike Minor with seven innings of bupkis with two relievers completing the eight-hit shutout. Texas’ only run came on a sac fly in the fourth. Everyone went home after less than three hours of play. What year is this?
Blue Jays 2, Rays 0: Jacob Waguespack with six innings of bupkis with three relievers completing the five-hit shutout. Toronto’s only runs came on Cavan Biggio RBI single and a Bo Bichette solo homer. Everyone went home after less than three hours of play. What year is this? And I ask that not for the nature of the game but because a Biggio and a Bichette were the stars of the game. If it’s the 90s again I have to go tell young Craig a great many things. And maybe commit a time heist, “Avengers: Endgame”-style. Or maybe I’d just set something right that was wrong, Sam from “Quantam Leap”-style. Probably more doable.
Reds 7, Angels 4: Luis Castillo was staked to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and went on to strike out 13 dudes in seven innings of two-run work. The Angels have lost five in a row and have scored a combined 12 runs in those five games. Mike Trout homered in a losing cause. He has done more in a losing cause than any player since Ernie Banks, I guess.
Cubs 6, Athletics 5: Javier Báez of the Cubs and Marcus Semien of the A’s each hit two homers in a wild one. Ian Happ and Nicholas Castellanos also homered for the Cubs who took an early lead, found themselves in a hole later, came back to take a comfy lead and then held on for dear life as their bullpen faltered and the A’s mounted a rally that fell short when Semien hit a fly ball that came just a few feet away from being his third homer on the night. Phew.
Twins 5, Braves 3: Miguel Sanó came up as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning with the game tied at three and blasted the first pitch he saw over the fence for a two-run homer and a walkoff win. The homer came off of Chris Martin, who the Braves acquired at the deadline. Between him and Shane Greene their bullpen improvements have been Bustville, U.S.A. so far. The Twins have won four in a row and nine of 11 to stretch their lead over Cleveland in the AL Central to four games. Atlanta has lost three of four.
Phillies 7, Diamondbacks 3: Vince Velasquez — pitching, rather than playing left field — allowed two runs in seven innings of work, Scott Kingery homered and Jean Segura drove in two. Philly scored their final two runs on two throwing errors, a walk, stolen base and wild pitch.
Nationals 4, Giants 0: Erick Fedde tossed six shutout innings and three Nats relievers completed the seven-hit shutout. Anthony Rendon knocked in a run and later stole home, though it was one of those double steal jobs that says way worse things about the opposing defense than it says about the guy stealing home:
Not that the Giants didn’t have at least one defensive highlight. Get this Kevin Pillar grab:
Dodgers 8, Cardinals 0: Rookie Tony Gonsolin tossed six shutout innings as well, allowing only two hits, one walk and striking out seven. It seems like it doesn’t matter who the Dodgers trot out there and in what role, they just rake or throw bullets or do whatever it takes to push them to victory. This was their 75th victory, which was a win total they’ve reached nearly a month earlier than last year. They lead the division by 18 games. They have almost two months to, basically, set themselves up for the playoffs. History has shown that that makes little difference when the playoffs actually come around — the postseason graveyard is littered with the teams who had the best regular seasons and many a hot-in-October-only teams have won it all — but if you had to pick whether you cruised through the regular season or backed into the playoffs, I think most people would choose to be in the Dodgers’ shoes.
