Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Red Sox 5, Royals 4: As I wrote yesterday, this was a continuation of a suspended game from earlier this month. As I also wrote, it lasted 12 minutes, kids got in free, concessions were cheap and everyone left happy despite the complete lack of fireworks on the field. Which is to say, it’s exactly like the way old people claim baseball used to be all the time.
Cubs 1, Giants 0: Kyle Hendricks pitched seven shutout innings and Chicago won despite only getting two hits on the day. Both were singles, both in the fourth inning, with Jason Heyward reaching on one, advancing to third on an error and a double play and then getting knocked home when Anthony Rizzo singled to center. Two hours and twenty-nine minutes to give you the same about of offensive action the Red Sox and Royals gave people in 12 minutes, but baseball has never been about efficiency.
Rays 5, Orioles 2: Austin Meadows hit a homer early. It was the 259th homer allowed by the O’s this year, which gives them the all-time record for homers allowed in a season. Willy Adames later hit number 260. Later than that, after an over two-hour rain delay that left about 200 people in the park when play resumed, Adames knocked two more runs to give the Rays a lead they’d hold on to. A fun time was had by literally tens of people:
Nationals 7, Pirates 1: Max Scherzer finally made his return from the injured list. They’re easing him back into things so he only went four innings, tossing 71 pitches and giving up one run, but some Max is better than no Max. Howie Kendrick and Anthony Rendon homered for the Nats. Kendrick definitely seemed to enjoy his homer more:
Washington won for the ninth time in 11 games. The Pirates are 8-30 since the break.
Mets 2, Indians 0: Noah Syndergaard was perfect into the sixth and ended up with six shutout innings. It would’ve been more if not for a rain delay. Wilson Ramos doubled in two runs in the fourth for all of the game’s scoring. They ended this one after eight thanks to a second rain delay. The Mets complete the three-game sweep of Cleveland and have won five in a row overall. The Indians, however, have lost seven of nine.
Braves 3, Marlins 2: Freddie Freeman tied the game with a solo homer in the 8th and then Ronald Acuña Jr. delivered a walk-off single in the ninth as the Braves beat the Marlins for the 15th time this year. Shocked the Marlins didn’t just plunk him, frankly, as that’s their usual approach. He knows he’s living rent-free in the Marlins’ heads too, saying after the game, “I would have much rather hit a home run against them.” This kid is going to be burying that team for the next decade and it’s gonna be a treat to watch.
Cardinals 6, Rockies 5: Colorado led 2-0 after two, but a Marcell Ozuna two-run homer tied it in the fourth. Nolan Arenado answered with a three-run homer in the next inning but the Cards answered back with a Paul DeJong two-run shot in the sixth to make it 5-4, followed in the seventh by a two-run shot from Dexter Fowler to give the Cards the 6-5 lead that’d prove to be the final score. More homers, more runs, more wins.
Astros 6, Tigers 3: Gerrit Cole struck out 12 in seven shutout innings with the Tigers managing only two hits off of him. Alex Bregman hit a two-run shot in the fourth to open the scoring and later Michael Brantley had a two-run single which extended his hitting streak to 15 games. Yordan Álvarez and Yuli Gurriel each knocked one in as well. The Astros’ streak of not wrongly denying reporters access to the clubhouse after the game was extended to one.
White Sox 6, Rangers 1: Ross Detwiler allowed one run over six, but I was much more taken with the performance of his counterpart, Ariel Jurado, who tossed your standard-issue, six-run, ten-hit complete game. Not the sort of thing you see every day, but even in a loss it was useful for the Rangers as their bullpen was taxed and everyone was tired after a late night flight in from Arlington the night before. Actually, that morning. On offense, Yoan Moncada made his return from the injured list and hit a two-run homer and doubled, James McCann hit a solo shot and doubled, and José Abreu, Tim Anderson and Matt Skole each plated a run.
Athletics 5, Yankees 3: Masahiro Tanaka wasn’t fooling anyone, giving up five runs in six innings. Actually five runs in three innings, even though he worked three more after that. Tanner Roark, meanwhile, gave up only two while pitching into the seventh. What does it say about the Yankees staff right now that, if they could do it, they’d happily take Roark and, like, Homer Bailey off the A’s hands to improve their rotation?
Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 2: More ninth inning magic in Chavez Ravine. Down 2-0, Corey Seager tied the game with a two-run double and then Enrique Hernandez walked it off with an RBI single to lead the Dodgers to yet another last at-bat victory:
How you feelin’ about that Kiké?
