August 1st, 2013. The Pittsburgh Pirates are a major league best 65-42, and are first place in the NL Central by 2.5 games over the St Louis Cardinals. To put those 65 wins inn perspective, Pittsburgh won their 65th game last year on August 16th, a full two weeks later than this year. They also had 53 losses at the top, significantly more than they do now. To finish above .500 for the year, the Pirates need to finish 17-38, which translates to a .309 winning percentage. Barring a massive collapse, that'll happen.
PIC OF THE DAY
Paul Goldschmidt gets some air to tag out Wil Myers (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Night: Indians 6, White Sox 5 (ten innings). What a wild game. Cleveland jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but promptly allowed three runs on the sixth inning to allow the White Sox to tie the game up. In the ninth, Cody Allen gave up a two-run single to Jeff Keppinger to put Chicago ahead after Corey Kluber couldn't finish the inning. The Indians loaded the bases with none out in the bottom of the inning, primed to tie the game or take the lead, but managed just a pair of sacrifice flies off of Addison Reed to send the game to extras. After an uneventful top of the tenth, Carlos Santana led the bottom of the inning off against Dylan Axelrod with a solo homer to give the Tribe the win.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Mike Minor dominated the Rockies in a 9-0 Braves win, giving up two hits over seven scoreless innings, walking none and punching out six. Astros rookie Brett Oberholtzer picked up his first career win as Houston rolled Baltimore 11-0, with Oberholtzer allowing three hits over seven shutout innings, walking none and striking out six. Clayton Kershaw dominated the Yankees, allowing only five hits in eight shutout innings along with five strikeouts and no walks, but the Dodgers gave up three in the ninth to fall 3-0. Hiroki Kuroda nearly matched Kershaw pitch by pitch, allowing five hits in seven shutout innings, walking one and striking out eight. Homer Bailey got back on the winning track as the Reds topped the Padres 4-1, giving up six hits and one unearned run in 8 1/3 innings, striking out seven without a walk.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Torii Hunter carried the Tigers to an 11-1 smashing of the Nationals, going 4/5 with two runs, three RBI, two doubles, and a homer. The duo of Jason Castro and Matt Dominguez brought the heat in Baltimore's blowout loss to Houston, with Castro going 3/4 with two runs, four RBI, a walk, two doubles, and a homer, and Dominguez going 4/5 with three runs, two RBI, and a homer. Brett Pill led the Giants to a 9-2 romp in Philly, going 3/5 with two runs, four RBI, and a homer. Freddie Freeman was perfect in Atlanta, going 4/4 with two runs, two RBI, and a walk.
Other Games: The Blue Jays topped the A's 5-2 in ten innings. The Pirates won again, besting the Cardinals 5-4. The Red Sox beat the Mariners 5-4 in 15 innings. The Marlins edged the Mets 3-2. The Diamondbacks doused the red hot Rays, winning 7-0. The Cubs beat the Brewers 6-1. The Rangers walked off *again* on the Angels 2-1. The Royals won their eighth in a row, beating the Twins 4-3.
What You Missed: Bud Norris is an Orioles. Snake Eyes threw out the first pitch in Oakland. Ian Kennedy is a Padre. The Cardinals need catching help due to Yadier Molina's DL stint, and actually ended up signing Kelly Shoppach after not being able to swing a deadline deal.
Today's Games: Chris Sale and Justin Masterson will square off in Cleveland. Matt Harvey gets the nod for the Mets in Miami. James Shields and the Royals take on the Twins. Bud Norris makes his Orioles debut against his former team, the Astros, and Jordan Lyles. Charlie Morton starts for the Pirates, looking to complete a five game sweep of the Cardinals. Yu Darvish starts for the Rangers, hosting the Diamondbacks. Matt Cain and Cole Hamels will face off in Philly. Felix Hernandez starts for the Mariners in Boston. Ricky Nolasco gets the nod for the Dodgers in Chicago. Josh Johnson starts for the Blue Jays in Anaheim.
National TV: Cardinals-Pirates (7 PM, MLB Network), Rockies-Braves (7 PM, MLB Network)
MLB.tv Free Game: White Sox-Indians (12 PM)
Pitching Matchup of the Day: Chris Sale vs Justin Masterson (White Sox vs Indians, 12 PM)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
