You can say a lot about Yusmeiro Petit’s freshly-set record of 46 consecutive retired batters. It’s a bizarre record, because I don’t think anyone expected a guy like Petit to set the record – a long reliever and spot starter? OK then. Considering that the former record-holder was Mark Buerhle, who threw a perfect game in the midst of his streak to account for 27 of the outs, it’s not a stretch to say that Petit breaking the record is a shocker. Petit’s record is incredible because 46 outs in a row is tough to do – that’s 15 1/3 perfect innings from a reliever. Think about how good someone like Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, or Greg Holland is, and think about any of those players not allowing a man on base for what amounts to 25% of their season, without getting one mulligan in between. Petit’s record is also largely meaningless, because it’s not like his dominance was helping the Giants win games – excluding the first out in Petit’s streak (which was the last out in a five run, five inning spot start by him), the Giants lost every game during his streak before yesterday’s outing against the Rockies. Think about that – he was that good for the Giants, and it didn’t matter at all.
Game of the Night: Angels 4, Athletics 3 (ten innings). This battle between division rivals didn’t end without controversy. The Angels put three runs on the board in the second inning, but the A’s rallied to score two in the fifth and one in the sixth to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Anaheim had an ideal situation lined up to win the game, but failed. Erick Aybar was called safe on what is listed a Dan Otero error, but was actually called interference on the field when Otero collided with Aybar running up the first base line. John McDonald bunted to reach and move Aybar up to second, and Efren Navarro bunted both Aybar and McDonald into scoring position. Otero then intentionally walked Gordon Beckham to load the bases for the top of the lineup, but Fernando Abad got Kole Calhoun to pop up for the second out, and Ryan Cook got Mike Trout to ground into a fielder’s choice to send the game into extras. The bottom of tenth was brief for the Angels – Cook walked Albert Pujols to lead off the inning, then allowed a single to Josh Hamilton that moved Pujols to third. Howie Kendrick then followed up with a walk off sac fly to end the game and move the Angels to two games up in the AL West.
Pitching Lines of the Night: In Atlanta’s 6-1 win over the Mets, Mike Minor allowed one run on four hits in seven innings, striking out five without a walk. The aforementioned Yusmeiro Petit led the Giants to a 4-1 win over the Rockies, allowing one run on four hits in six innings, punching out nine without a walk. In Cleveland’s 3-2 win over the White Sox, Carlos Carrasco gave up one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out seven. Dylan Axelrod helped the Reds to a 7-2 win over the Cubs, allowing two hits in five scoreless innings, walking three and striking out eight.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Emilio Bonifacio went 4/5 with a triple, a run, two RBI, and a stolen base for the Braves in Flushing. The man Bonifacio replaced, Jordan Schafer, went 3/5 in the Twins’ 11-5, ten inning win over the Royals, doubling, scoring twice, driving in four, and stealing a base. Brian Dozier chipped in by also going 3/5 with a double, two runs, three RBI, and a walk. In Houston’s 4-2 win over Texas, Jason Castro went 2/3 with a walk and a grand slam. In Cincinnati’s win over the Cubs, Zack Cozart went 3/4 with a double, three runs, an RBI, and two steals.
Other Games: The Tigers walked off on the Yankees 3-2. The Orioles edged the Rays 5-4. The Indians topped the White Sox 3-2.
Today’s Games: Mike Leake starts for the Reds in Pittsburgh. Mark Buehrle and the Blue Jays host Chris Capuano and the Yankees. Chris Archer and the Rays host the Red Sox. Jacob deGrom and the Mets take on the Phillies. Ervin Santana and the Braves host the Braves. Justin Verlander returns to the hill for the Tigers against the White Sox. Jason Vargas and the Royals take on the Indians. Jon Lester and Jered Weaver will duel in Anaheim. Andrew Cashner and the Padres battle the Dodgers. Jordan Zimmermann and Felix Hernandez will square off in Seattle. Wily Peralta and the Brewers take on Ryan Vogelsong and the Giants.
National TV: Yankees-Blue Jays (7 PM, MLB Network), Reds-Pirates (7 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
