Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Yankees 14, Twins 12 (10 innings): The game of the year was played last night in Minnesota. The final three innings featured 12 runs scored and five lead changes. The two teams combined for 26 runs on 35 hits and 14 walks. The action began in the top of the eighth when the Yankees rallied for five runs to take a 10-9 lead. The Twins immediately regained the lead when Miguel Sanó absolutely crushed a two-run home run to left-center. In the top of the ninth, with two outs, Aaron Hicks swung the game back in the Yankees’ favor with a two-run blast of his own. The game was already ridiculous, but it got even more ridiculous. Closer Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. Fortunately for the Yankees, he was able to wriggle out of the jam after allowing only a sacrifice fly to Jorge Polanco, so the game went into extras tied at 12-12. Facing Kohl Stewart, the Yankees strung together three one-out singles to take a 13-12 lead. Stewart would shortly thereafter uncork a wild pitch to allow another run to score to make it 14-12. Adam Ottavino and his 1.62 ERA took the mound for the bottom of the 10th. Easy-peasy, right? Ottavino issued two one-out walks and another two-out walk to load the bases. Having seen enough, manager Aaron Boone brought in Chad Green to relieve Ottavino. Green got Max Kepler to line out to left-center, just barely within the reach of a diving Hicks.
How back-and-forth was this game? Check out the Twins’ win probabilities after each half-inning late in the game, according to FanGraphs:
- Bottom of the 7th: 96.2%
- Top of the 8th: 31.6%
- Bottom of the 8th: 83.0%
- Top of the 9th: 21.1%
- Bottom of the 9th: 50.0%
- Top of the 10th: 9.8%
Didi Gregorius, by the way, had seven RBI. It’s the ninth seven-RBI game in baseball this season. He’s the first Yankee to knock in seven in one game since he himself did it on April 3, 2018 against the Rays.
Cardinals 4, Pirates 3: Paul Goldschmidt was once again a difference-maker. The Pirates went up 3-0 after the first inning, but he hit a game-tying two-run home run in the third inning. José Martínez hit a solo homer in the fifth to give the Cardinals a lead they would not relinquish. Goldschmidt is now up to 20 homers on the season, giving him his fifth consecutive 20-homer season and his seventh total in nine seasons in the bigs.
Blue Jays 2, Indians 1: It appeared to be a 1-0 loss for the Blue Jays, but Justin Smoak hit a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the ninth off of Brad Hand. He then sent everybody home in the bottom of the 10th with a walk-off RBI single. The Indians wasted a stellar performance from Trevor Bauer, as he twirled 7 2/3 scoreless frames with nine strikeouts. Aaron Sanchez held the Indians to a lone run in five innings of work.
Nationals 11, Rockies 1: Trea Turner now has two cycles in his career, both have come against the Rockies. The Nats’ shortstop drilled a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first, singled in the second, tripled to lead off the fifth, and hit an RBI double in the middle of an eight-run seventh inning. That was way more run support than Stephen Strasburg needed, as he turned in six shutout innings with eight strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 3.37 ERA and improved his record to 13-4 in the process.
Phillies 3, Tigers 2 (15 innings): 15 innings of baseball nobody asked for. The Phillies’ and Tigers’ offenses both struggled, combining for only 16 hits and eight walks in 15 innings. The Phillies finally broke through in the top of the 15th when Scott Kingery led off with a triple and promptly scored on a Rhys Hoskins single. José Álvarez, who cleaned up Juan Nicasio‘s mess in the 14th, pitched the bottom half of the 15th to close out the game. Aaron Nola didn’t factor into the decision, but tossed seven strong innings, limiting the Tigers to two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. Matthew Boyd, making what may be his last start as a Tiger, held the Phillies to two runs over six innings with eight strikeouts.
Red Sox 5, Rays 4: The Red Sox barely held off the Rays, as Brandon Workman got into trouble in the bottom of the ninth attempting to protect a 5-2 lead. He allowed a leadoff single followed by a walk, a single, and another two-out walk. Marcus Walden came in and walked another batter to force in a run to make it 5-4, but he was able to get Austin Meadows to ground out to end the game. Chris Sale still picked up the W, going six innings and allowing two runs on four hits with three walks while striking out 10. J.D. Martinez picked up three more hits, all singles.
Royals 5, Braves 4: Danny Duffy and Dallas Keuchel had quite the pitchers’ duel. Duffy held the Braves to a run on five hits and a walk while striking out 11. Keuchel gave up two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out 12. It wasn’t until the starters were out that the offense came to life. The Braves tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on Freddie Freeman‘s RBI single. THe Royals stormed for three runs in the top of the eighth. The Braves fought back for a run in the eighth and ninth innings, but came up just short.
Mets 5, Padres 2: This was the Robbie Canó show. Canó accounted for all five Mets runs with three home runs: a solo homer in the fourth and a two-run homer in the sixth off of Chris Paddack, and a two-run home run in the seventh off of Logan Allen. Jason Vargas blanked the Friars over six frames on one hit and four walks while fanning eight. Who’d have thought that, at the end of July, Vargas would be the Mets’ second-best starter?
Athletics 4, Astros 3 (11 innings): Wade Miley was terrific for the Astros, but ran out of steam in the ninth inning. He put up goose eggs for eight innings, then started the ninth by issuing a walk and allowing a single. Closer Roberto Osuna relieved Miley but promptly gave up a go-ahead three-run home run to Matt Olson. The Astros staved off defeat in the bottom half of the ninth when Aledmys Díaz tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Ramón Laureano knocked in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th with a ground-rule double to left field, scoring Olson. It was a nice redemption game for the A’s, who were trampled 11-1 on Monday.
Marlins 5, White Sox 1: Caleb Smith flirted with perfection, setting down the first 17 White Sox batters he faced. However, with two outs in the sixth, Smith would issue back-to-back walks before allowing an RBI single to Jon Jay, ending bids for the perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout in short order. He ultimately went seven innings, yielding the one run on two hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. The Marlins don’t get much press, but Smith has quietly turned in a terrific year as his ERA is down to 3.30. On offense, Curtis Granderson and Harold Ramirez homered.
Reds 14, Brewers 6: The Reds have the Brewers’ number all of a sudden, having now won their last five head-to-head contests. Eugenio Suárez, Jesse Winker, and Joey Votto homered. Suárez had homered in three consecutive plate appearances, having done so in his final two trips to the plate on Monday and his first on Tuesday. Votto, Suárez, Winker, Scooter Gennett, José Iglesias, and Ryan Lavarnway each picked up multiple hits. The Brewers had very little going for them, but catcher Manny Piña hit a three-run homer and an RBI single.
Diamondbacks 7, Orioles 2: Dylan Bundy returned from the injured list, tossing six innings of two-run ball. The Orioles shellacked Merrill Kelly, scoring three times in the second inning and four times in the third to chase him from the game. Renato Núñez, Anthony Santander, and Dwight Smith Jr. each homered.
Giants 5, Cubs 4 (13 innings): Another barn-burner in a night seemingly full of them. This one wasn’t decided until Pablo Sandoval swatted a walk-off solo home run to left-center field off of Brad Brach. The Giants keep winning. They’re now 16-3 in July.
Madison Bumgarner, who was as good as gone at the start of the month, held the Cubs to three runs over seven innings of work. If the Giants are feeling good about their chances in the NL Wild Card race, they may decide not to trade him.
Rangers 7, Mariners 2: Rougned Odor hit a pair of homers on a 3-for-4, three-RBI night. He’s had a pretty forgettable year, but he now has back-to-back three-hit games at least. Pedro Payano pitched five innings after Brett Martin opened. Payano limited the Mariners to a run on three hits and a walk with seven punch-outs.
Angels 5, Dodgers 4: The final game of the night ended when Kole Calhoun threw out Cody Bellinger, representing the tying run, at home plate. Calhoun also homered in a three-hit night. Mike Trout swatted his 33rd homer of the season. He now has 11 home runs this month, including three separate streaks of homering in three consecutive games (July 3-5, 7-13, 20-22). The runaway leader for the AL MVP Award, Trout is now hitting .298/.445/.666 with the 33 homers, 80 RBI, 78 runs scored, and eight stolen bases. Trout is so consistently elite that we hardly remark at what he does anymore, but please take a minute to look at his Baseball Reference page and appreciate that we are watching one of the greatest to ever play the game.
