"Mike Trout is a flash in the pan," they said. "Mike Trout's 2012 was a fluke," they said. "Mike Trout is going to really regress in 2013," they said. And through April, "they" were right, as Trout hit just .261/.333/.432 with two homers and four steals in April. A month later, Trout's overall statline has been pushed to .293/.373/.558 with nine homers and nine stolen bases. Trout has also boosted his fWAR to 2.3 after that rough April, and is now fourth in the AL in the stat. On Tuesday, Trout had possibly the finest game of his pro career in the Angels' 12-0 smashing of the Mariners when he hit for the cycle. Yeah…maybe that sophomore slump talk was completely wrong.
PIC OF THE DAY
Wilin Rosario has apparently been traded to the A's, because he's got the Bernie lean down pat. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Night: Braves 5, Twins 4 (ten innings). Atlanta led 3-2 after four, but it was after that where their new-look bullpen would come into play. In the eighth, Luis Avilan put the first two men he faced on before getting a pop up and being replaced by Cory Gearrin. Gearrin then promptly allowed a pair of RBI singles to put the Twins in front 4-3. In the ninth, Minnesota closer Glen Perkins got the first two outs pretty quickly, but the legend of Evan Gattis continued to grow, and the backup catcher hit a pinch hit homer to tie the game. In the bottom of the tenth, the Braves got a two out double from Jason Heyward, and after an intentional walk to Justin Upton, Heyward scored on a broken bat single by Freddie Freeman to give the Braves an improbable win.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Max Scherzer led the Tigers to a 5-1 win over the Indians, allowing one run on two hits in eight innings, walking one and stirking out seven. Dan Straily dazzled the Rangers in a 1-0 A's win, giving up just two hits in seven innings, striking out five without a walk. Angels starter Jerome Williams pitched very well in their blowout win against Seattle (not that he needed to), throwing eight shutout frames and allowing six hits and two walks while tallying six strikeouts. Mike Leake threw seven shutout innings for the Reds in their 4-0 win over the Mets, giving up three hits, striking out four, and walking two. Adam Wainwright continued his dominant year in the Cardinals' 10-2 blowout win over the Padres, giving up one run on four hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking one.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Mike Trout added two runs, five RBI, and a stolen base to his cycle in a 4/5 game. Daniel Descalso had a good game for the Cardinals in their big win in San Diego, going 3/3 with three runs, five RBI, a walk, a double, and a homer. Little-known Chris Dickerson helped lead the Orioles to a 3-2, ten inning win over the Yankees, going 3/4 with two solo homers. Jimmy Paredes had a good game for the Astros in their 7-3 loss to the Royals, going 3/3 with three RBI, a walk, and a homer. Darwin Barney had a good game for the Cubs in their 5-4 loss to the Pirates, going a perfect 4/4 with a triple, two runs, and an RBI.
Other Games: The Rays edged the Blue Jays and held off a late rally to win 4-3 at Rogers Centre. The Phillies used a four run seventh to beat the Marlins 7-3. The Whie Sox beat the Red Sox 3-1 after 6 1/3 no-hit innings from Jose Quintana. The Brewers beat the Dodgers and former teammate Zack Greinke 5-2. The Rockies walked off on the Diamondbacks in ten, 5-4. A two-run walkoff homer from Pablo Sandoval gave the Giants a 4-2, ten inning win over the Nationals.
Today's Games: Hyun-Jin Ryu starts for the Dodgers in Milwaukee. Mat Latos takes on Matt Harvey in New York. Trevor Cahill takes on Jorge de la Rosa in Denver. Gio Gonzalez takes on Madison Bumgarner in San Francisco. Hiroki Kuroda starts for the Yankees in Baltimore. CJ Wilson and the Angels host the Mariners. Justin Verlander and Ubaldo Jimenez will duel in Cleveland. Jeff Samardzija takes on Francisco Liriano in Pittsburgh. Clay Buchholz starts for the Red Sox in Chicago. Cliff Lee starts for the Phillies in Miami. James Shields get the nod for the Royals in Houston.
What You Missed: Garrett looks at how MLB should implement more replay. Amanda recaps the Pepsi MAX Field of Dreams Game. Ian examines Ryan Vogelsong's injury and its effect on the Giants' rotation. Matt Kemp is donating $1000 per homer to OKC tornado relief. The Lennay Kekua bobblehead has been revealed!
National TV: Reds-Mets (1 PM, MLB Network), Dodgers-Brewers (1 PM, MLB Network), Yankees-Orioles (7 PM, ESPN)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
