One of the most disappointing 2014 seasons came to an end on Sunday as the Atlanta Braves were knocked out of playoff contention, less than a week after the Washington Nationals clinched the NL East at Turner Field. Amazingly, the Braves may bring manager Fredi Gonzalez back in 2015 while relieving GM Frank Wren of his duties. Gee, that sounds about right – remove the man who gave the manager the tools he needed to succeed, replace him with someone else, and force the new GM to carry a terrible, lame duck manager into the 2015 season. Way to be progressive, Braves!
Game of the Day: Athletics 8, Phillies 6 (ten innings). This game is a simple one to summarize. Both starting pitchers got blasted early on, each allowing six runs and exiting before the end of the sixth inning. The contest turned into a battle of the bullpens, and the A’s couldn’t push another run across before extras despite putting a man on base in innings six through nine. But in the tenth, they finally broke through. Nate Freiman singled with one out off of Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, and Josh Donaldson launched a walk off two-run homer to give the A’s the victory and some extra breathing room in the AL Wild Card race.
Pitching Lines of the Day: Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee 1-0 to move one step closer to the playoffs, and Vance Worley allowed four hits over eight shutout innings, walking none and striking out five. In Washington’s 2-1 win over Miami, Stephen Strasburg gave up three hits in seven scoreless frames, walking two and striking out five. Corey Kluber gave up two runs on seven hits in eight innings, striking out 14 and walking one in Cleveland’s 7-2 win over Minnesota. Jacob deGrom led the Mets to a 10-2 win in Atlanta, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits in six innings, striking out ten while walking three. In the Rangers’ 2-1 win over the Angels, Nick Tepesch gave up one run on four hits in seven innings, walking a pair and striking out three.
Hitting Lines of the Day: Jay Bruce went 3/4 with two homers and three RBI in Cincinnati’s 7-2 win over the Cardinals. Matt Kemp went 4/5 with a homer and four RBI in the Dodgers’ 8-5 win over the Cubs. The White Sox beat the Rays 10-5, thanks in large part to Avisail Garcia going 3/5 with two solo homers. Brian McCann went 2/3 with two homers, three RBI, and a walk in the Yankees’ 5-2 win over the Blue Jays. Mark Trumbo went 2/4 with two homers and three RBI in Arizona’s 8-3 loss to Colorado. In Oakland’s win over the Phillies, Josh Donaldson went 3/5 with a homer, three runs, two RBI, and a walk. Mets catcher Anthony Recker went 3/3 with a double, two runs, three RBI, and a walk in their win over the Braves.
Other Games: The Red Sox edged the Orioles 3-2. The Royals topped the Tigers 5-2 to. The Astros pummeled the Mariners 8-3. The Padres topped the Giants 8-2.
Today’s Games: The Indians and Royals will complete their suspended game from three weeks ago before Danny Duffy and Carlos Carrasco duel at Progressive Field. Wei-Yin Chen and Michael Pineda will face off at Yankee Stadium. James Paxton starts for the Mariners in Toronto. Francisco Liriano gets the nod for the Pirates in Atlanta. Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals take on the Cubs. Derek Holland and the Rangers host the Astros. Jake Peavy and the Giants battle the Dodgers. C.J. Wilson and Jeff Samardzija will duel in Oakland.
National TV: Pirates-Braves (7 PM, MLB Network), Royals-Indians (7 PM, MLB Network), Giants-Dodgers (10 PM, MLB Network), Rockies-Padres (10 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
