The major story yesterday was, of course, Biogenesis. Alex Rodriguez got a 211 game suspension. A dozen players got suspended for 50 games, including Nelson Cruz and Jhonny Peralta. Former MLB pitcher Dan Meyer went after Antonio Bastardo, one of the suspended players. A-Rod made his season debut for the Yankees on Monday night, was lustily booed by the White Sox faithful, and went 1/4 with a strikeout in New York's 8-1 blowout loss on the South Side. Welcome to the post-Biogenesis era, I guess.
PIC OF THE DAY
Look who's back…guess who's back…A-Rod's back…tell a friend.. (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Night: Tigers 4, Indians 2. Cleveland held a 2-0 lead going into the ninth, and Terry Francona handed the ball over to closer Chris Perez. And for the third straight August 5th, Perez laid an egg. The Tribe's closer at least made the pain quick, like ripping off a band-aid in one fell swoop. Perez's inning started with him allowing a double to Prince Fielder and a single to Victor Martinez to cut the lead to one. After walking Andy Dirks, Perez gave up a three-run homer to Alex Avila to put the Tigers in front. And…that was it for Perez, after just 13 pitches. He faced four batters, gave up three hits and four runs, and was saddled with the loss after a perfect bottom of the ninth from Joaquin Benoit. What a very painful loss for the Indians.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Jeremy Guthrie dominated the Twins in the Royals' 13-0 blowout win, allowing four hits in a complete game shutout, walking one and striking out seven. Anibal Sanchez pitched very well for the Tigers in their win in Cleveland, giving up two runs on four hits in 7 2/3 innings, striking out 11 and walking a pair. Corey Kluber matched Sanchez pitch for pitch, allowing six hits over 7 1/3 shutout frames, striking out six and walking one. Brett Oberholtzer dominated the Red Sox in a 2-0 Astros win, giving up four hits in seven scoreless innings, walking two and striking out two. Finally, Stephen Strasburg pitched very well for the Nationals, but earned yet another no-decision in their 3-2 loss to the Braves, allowing two runs on five hits in seven innings, punching out nine and walking one.
Hitting Lines of the Night: The duo of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas gave Guthrie and the Royals all the offense they needed, as Hosmer went 3/5 with two runs, five RBI, a double, and a homer, while Moustakas went 4/5 with a run, two RBI, and a double. Alexei Ramirez had a good night for the White Sox in their win over the Yankees, going 4/5 with a run, two RBI, and a double. Justin Upton sparked the Braves in their win in Washington, going 3/4 with a solo homer, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Juan Francisco played well for the Brewers in their 4-2 loss to the Giants, going 2/3 with a double, a homer, two RBI, and a walk.
Other Games: The Dodgers won their 15th straight road game, topping the Cardinals 3-2. The Rangers beat the Angels 5-2 in the first game of the post-Cruz era. The Blue Jays beat the Mariners 3-1.
Today's Games: Julio Teheran and Gio Gonzalez will duel in DC. Justin Masterson and the Indians host Justin Verlander and the Tigers. Jeff Locke and the Pirates host the Marlins. Mat Latos starts for the Reds, hosting Dan Straily and the A's. James Shields and the Royals host the Twins. Hiroki Kuroda and Chris Sale will face off in Chicago. Clayton Kershaw gets the nod for the Dodgers in St Louis. Yu Darvish starts for the Rangers in Anaheim. Josh Johnson and Felix Hernandez square off in Seattle. Bud Norris starts for the Orioles in San Diego. Matt Cain and the Giants host the Brewers.
National TV: Braves-Nationals (7 PM, MLB Network), Marlins-Pirates (7 PM, MLB Network)
MLB.tv Free Game: Athletics-Reds (7 PM)
Pitching Matchup of the Day: Hiroki Kuroda vs Chris Sale (Yankees vs White Sox, 8 PM)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
