During blowouts, when position players get thrown on the mound, it's a beautiful thing. The great part about yesterday is that it happened *twice*. In game one of the Indians-White Sox doubleheader, with Cleveland won 19-10, Casper Wells pitched the ninth inning for Chicago. Wells threw a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one, and he actually showed some decent stuff. His fastball touched 94, and he also threw a changeup, getting a whiff on each pitch while mixing speesd pretty well. Then later in the evening, Skip Schumaker got on the mound for the Dodgers in their 16-1 blowout loss to the Phillies. Schumaker has pitched before this year, and is actually a rather experienced hand when it comes to position players on the hill. He walked two and allowed one hit in his scoreless inning, and tallied a strikeout for the Dodgers. Both Wells' and Schumaker's teams got destroyed, but it's an absolute blast to see position players jump on the hill.
PIC OF THE DAY
Kurt Suzuki's got HOPS…but it didn't matter on this play. (The Star-Ledger-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Night: Indians 9, White Sox 8 (game two). While game one of the Cleveland-Chicago doubleheader was just wacky, game two was simply insane. The Tribe jumped all over Jose Quintana in the first inning, taking a 4-0 lead right off the reel. The White Sox then proceeded to go on an 8-1 run, and Addison Reed attempted to close the game in the ninth with an 8-5 lead. Reed allowed three straight singles to start the inning and cut the lead to 8-6 before a wild pitch cut it to 8-7. After Jason Giambi flied out for the first out, Jason Kipnis hit a sac fly to drive in Michael Bourn to tie the game. Nick Swisher followed up by punishing his former team with a go-ahead solo homer. Vinnie Pestano struck out the side in the ninth to shut the door and hand the Indians a big doubleheader sweep.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Matt Harvey obliterated the Nationals in the Mets' 6-4 loss (thanks, bullpen!), allowing one run on three hits in seven innings, striking out 11 without a walk. Jhoulys Chacin pitched well for the Rockies in their 4-1 win over the Giants, giving up three hits, three walks, and striking out three hitters in eight scoreles inning. Julio Teheran torched the Diamondbacks in Atlanta's 3-0 victory, allowing only four hits over six shutout innings, punching out ten and walking one. Bud Norris strengthened his trade deadline stock for the Astros in their 4-2 loss to the Angels, allowing just one unearned run in seven innings on four hits, striking out five while walking one. Finally, Bartolo Colon led the A's to a 6-1 win over the Cardinals, giving up one run on six hits in eight innings, walking one and striking out five.
Hitting Lines of the Night: We bow before Miguel Cabrera, who carried the Tigers to a 6-3 win over the Rays by going 4/4 with three runs, three RBI, a double, and two homers. Eric Hosmer flipped the switch for the Royals in their 9-3 win over the Twins, going 3/4 with three runs, three RBI, and a pair of homers. Teammate Billy Butler went 3/4 with two runs, three RBI, and a homer. In game one of the Indians-White Sox doubleheader, Jason Kipnis went 3/4 with four runs, two RBI, three walks, a stolen base, and three doubles. Michael Young and Delmon Young were the key contributors for the Phillies in their blowout win in LA, as Michael went 4/6 with three runs, two RBI, and a homer, while Delmon went 3/6 with a run, a double, and six RBI. Andrew McCutchen helped the Pirates to a 10-3 win over the Brewers, going 3/5 with three RBI, a double, and a homer. Finally, I'd like to give a nod to Jeff Keppinger of the White Sox, who combined to go 6/8 with two runs, four RBI, two walks, a triple, and a homer in Chicago's doubleheader loss to the Indians, raising his OPS from .507 to .567 over the course of the day.
Other Games: The Orioles rallied late to beat the Yankees 4-3. The Red Sox blew a lead, but survived to beat the Blue Jays 7-5. The Padres crushed the Marlins 9-2 in a disappointing start for Ricky Nolasco pre-deadline. The Rangers shut out the Reds 4-0, and Johnny Cueto left the game with lat tightness. The Mariners beat the Cubs 5-4 in ten innings.
What You Missed: Watchability rankings for this week. The Diamondbacks are looking at Jeff Samardzija and Yovani Gallardo. Ricky Nolasco's trade market is HOT HOT HOT.
Today's Games: Taylor Jordan makes his major league debut for the Nationals at Citi Field. Adam Wainwright starts for the Cardinals in Oakland against Jarrod Parker. Matt Cain and Jorge de la Rosa will duel in Denver. Kyle Gibson gets the nod for the Twins in his first career start, against the Royals. Jordan Lyles starts for the Astros, hosting the Angels. Eric Stults and Jacob Turner will duel in Miami. Francisco Liriano and the Pirates host the Brewers. Jeff Samardzija starts for the Cubs in Seattle. Mike Leake starts for the Reds in Texas. Justin Verlander starts in Tampa Bay against hte Rays. Cliff Lee and Hyun-Jin Ryu will duel in Los Angeles.
National TV: Nationals-Mets (1 PM, MLB Network), Brewers-Pirates (7:15, Fox), Yankees-Orioles (7:15, Fox), Cubs-Mariners (7:15, Fox), Reds-Rangers (7:15, Fox), Tigers-Rays (7:15, Fox)
MLB.tv Free Game: Diamondbacks vs Braves (4:15)
Pitching Matchup of the Day: Cliff Lee vs Hyun-Jin Ryu (Phillies vs Dodgers, 10:15 PM)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
