The Pirates were left for dead earlier this week. The Cardinals were too good. There was no way they could catch them. But after the last two night, Pittsburgh has a hope. On Wednesday, they beat the Cardinals 5-0, their second straight shutout. Pedro Alvarez homered again, his third in the last two games and seven this season against the Cardinals. Maybe, just maybe, rumors of the Pirates' demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Game of the Day: Reds 6, Diamondbacks 2. Arizona jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, scoring a run in the first on a Mat Latos balk and another in the fourth on an RBI double by Jacob Elmore. And then in the seventh, things collapsed. Chris Heisey hit a monstrous two-run homer to tie the game, and Dioner Navarro followed two batters later with a solo shot to give the Reds a 3-2 lead. In the eighth, Matt Albers was on the hill for the Reds, and he promptly allowed a two-run homer by Brandon Phillips. After a pair of groundouts, Heisey homered again to make it 6-2. JJ Hoover and Jose Arredondo finished the final two innings, and the Reds continued to roll on.
Pitching Lines of the Night: In a 10-0 Twins win over the Mariners, Minnesota rookie Samuel Deduno threw seven scoreless frames, allowing just two hits and striking out nine Seattle hitters without a walk. The Royals stunned the Tigers 1-0, with Bruce Chen throwing eight shutout innings, allowing four hits, striking out four, and wakling just one. Mike Fiers was great again for the Brewers in their 3-1 win over the Cubs, allowing one run on four hits over seven 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking only one. The White Sox beat the Orioles 8-1, and rookie Dylan Axlerod allowed only one run on three hits in seven 1/3 innings, walking four and striking out five.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Yunel Escobar powered the Blue Jays to an 8-5 win over the Yankees, going 4/5 with two runs, five RBI, three doubles, and a homer. In that Reds win in Arizona, Heisey ended up going 2/4 with two homers and three RBI. Evan Longoria went 2/4 in Tampa Bay's 8-4 win over Texas, homering twice and driving in three. The Nationals beat the Marlins 8-4, with Bryce Harper going 2/5 with two homers and three RBI. Trevor Plouffe gave the Twins all the offense they needed against the Mariners, going 2/4 with two runs, four RBI, a walk, a double, and his 20th homer of the year. Dodgers catcher AJ Ellis led his team to 10-7 win over the Rockies, going 2/4 with two runs, four RBI, and a homer. In the Angels' 10-3 win over the Red Sox, Kendrys Morales went 2/4 with two runs, two RBI, a walk, a double, and a homer.
Other Games: The Padres beat up on the Braves 8-2 to win their ninth game in their last ten. The A's continued to churn out wins, beating the Indians 8-4. Matt Harvey and the Mets beat the Phillies 3-2 in rookie Tyler Cloyd's first career start. The Astros lost to the Giants 6-2, giving them 90 losses and making their elimination number in the NL Wild Card race one.
Today's Games: Five of 11 games today are day games. Jarrod Parker starts in Cleveland against Justin Masterson. Jose Quintana takes on Zach Britton of the Orioles, who's been pretty good since being summoned from the minors. Shaun Marcum makes his second start since coming off the DL in Chicago. Jaime Garcia takes on Edwin Jackson in Washington in a key battle between playoff contenders. Matt Moore starts for the Rays in Toronto. Ryan Vogelsong starts for the Giants in Houston. Ian Kennedy and the Diamondbacks travel to Los Angeles to take on Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers, in possibly a last grasp at a playoff run for Arizona. Jon Lester takes on Zack Greinke in Anaheim.
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
