Kansas City lost again last night, falling 3-0 to the Twins. The Royals have now lost 11 in a row at home, and are nine games under .500 on the season. Furthermore, their record is better than just the Astros (of course) and Blue Jays (by a half game) in the American League. Yet, the Royals are just 7.5 games out of first place in the AL Central, just a half game more behind the Tigers than the second place Nationals are behind the Braves in the NL East. Only the White Sox have scored fewer runs in the AL this year than the Royals. So, about that Wil Myers trade…
PIC OF THE DAY
John Mayberry Jr connects on a walkoff grand slam against the Marlins. (Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Night: Phillies 7, Marlins 3 (11 innings). The Phillies trailed 2-0 heading into the seventh, tying the game up on RBI doubles by Delmon Young and Erik Kratz. The game went into extras, and Juan Pierre put the Marlins in front by scoring on a wild pitch by Phillies reliever Antonio Bastardo. In the bottom of the inning, John Mayberry Jr hit a solo homer off of Miami closer Steve Cishek to tie the game. In the 11th, Edgar Olmos allowed Domonic Brown to reach on an error, and then walked Freddy Galvis and Erik Kratz to bring up the aforementioned Mayberry…who hit a walkoff grand slam. Holy wow.
Pitching Lines of the Night: There were several great performances by starters last night. Anibal Sanchez picked up the win in Detroit's 10-1 thrashing of the Rays, allowing one run on four hits over seven innings, striking out nine and walking one. AJ Griffin pitched very well for the A's in their 4-3, ten inning loss to the Brewers, giving up four hits in seven shutout innings, walking one and punching out five. David Phelps got the win for the Yankees in their 4-3 victory over Cleveland, allowing just one hit in six scoreless innings, walking four to go along with seven strikeouts. Jordan Zimmermann stymied the Mets in Washington's 3-2 win, allowing a pair of unearned runs on four hits in eight innings, walking one and striking out four. Tim Lincecum had a vintage Big Game Timmy Jim start in San Francisco's 2-1 win over Toronto, giving up one run on three hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking one.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Game two of Yasiel Puig's career saw him go 3/4 with five RBI, a double, and two homers in the Dodgers' 9-7 win over the Padres. Stephen Drew led the Red Sox to a 17-5 blowout win over the Rangers, going 4/5 with three runs, two RBI, two doubles, and a homer, but the highlight of the night for either team came on Mike Carp's fifth inning homer. Carp ended up finishing his night by going 3/4 with three runs, three RBI, a walk, and that homer. John Mayberry Jr went 2/3 with two homers and five RBI for the Phillies, and he didn't even start the game! Yoenis Cespedes had a good game for Oakland in their loss to Milwaukee, going 3/5 with two homers and three RBI.
Other Games: The Braves beat the Pirates 5-4 in ten innings. The Rockies edged the Reds 5-4. The Orioles beat the Astros 4-1. The Angels rallied late to beat the Cubs 4-3. The Diamondbacks beat the Cardinals 7-6 in 14 innings. The Mariners beat the White Sox 7-4.
What You Missed: More Biogenesis garbage, now with frivolous suspensions! Did we overrate the Nationals, who made three roster moves yesterday? How will we remember Josh Beckett if he ends up retiring this year?
Today's Games: Wandy Rodriguez and Julio Teheran will duel in Atlanta. CC Sabathia and the Yankees host the Indians. Cole Hamels and the Phillies look for the sweep of the Marlins and Jacob Turner. Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers host Bartolo Colon and the A's. Hisashi Iwakuma and the Mariners host the White Sox. RA Dickey starts for the Blue Jays in San Francisco. Alexi Ogando returns for the Rangers in Boston against John Lackey. Matt Garza starts for the Cubs in Anaheim against Jason Vargas. Alex Cobb and the Rays take on Doug Fister and the Tigers in Detroit. Johnny Cueto starts for the Reds against the Rockies. Jeremy Guthrie and the Royals host the Twins. Clayton Kershaw starts for the Dodgers against the Padres.
National TV: Marlins-Phillies (1 PM, MLB Network), Indians-Yankees (1 PM, MLB Network), Rangers-Red Sox (7 PM, ESPN2)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
