You know, I think most of us expected the Phillies to be pretty bad in 2014. But on the morning of June 6th, I don’t think any of us expected this – the only teams in baseball with a worse record than Philadelphia are the Cubs and Rays (which is a completely different topic, by the way). That’s right – every other team in the majors are better than the Phillies, including the Astros (who just made their third straight first overall draft pick on Thursday) and the Diamondbacks (who were 8-22 at one point in April). And it’s not going to be getting any easier for the Phillies, either – from now until the All-Star Break, they only have 12 games against teams with losing records, and by the time they play the Pirates, they might not even be below that mark. This one is going to get ugly, folks.
Game of the Night: Cubs 7, Mets 4. Travis Wood was done after five-plus innings on Thursday night, handing the ball to the Cubs bullpen with a 4-1 lead. They promptly blew it, as Brian Schlitter allowed one of the runners Wood bequeathed him to score and Justin Grimm gave up a two-run homer by Anthony Brown in the seventh to tie the game at four. The Cubs didn’t take this lying down, as Anthony Rizzo pushed them back in front with a solo homer in the seventh inning. After the Mets couldn’t score in the eighth, Chicago put a stamp on the game after at two-run triple by Junior Lake made it 7-4. Rookie Neil Ramirez sat New York down in order in the ninth to pick up his first career save, and hand the Cubs a sweep over the Mets.
Pitching Lines of the Day: Madison Bumgarner dominated the Reds in a 6-1 Giants win, allowing one run on three hits in eight innings, striking out five without a walk. In Washington’s 4-2 win over Philadelphia, Doug Fister gave up two runs on four hits in seven innings, punching out five and walking none. Drew Pomeranz pitched very well for the A’s in their 2-1 loss to the Yankees, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out seven.
Hitting Lines of the Night: In Arizona’s 12-7 win over Colorado, Chris Owings went 3/5 with a double, a homer, two runs, and four RBI. Marcell Ozuna pushed the Marlins to an 11-6 win over the Rays, going 3/5 with a a homer, three runs, and four RBI. Casey McGehee also chipped in by going 4/5 with a double and four runs scored. In the loss for Tampa Bay, Kevin Kiermaier went 3/3 with a double, a solo homer, a walk, and a stolen base. Adam Jones played well for the Orioles despite their 8-6 loss to the Rangers, going 2/4 with a double, a homer, two runs, and three RBI.
Other Games: The Blue Jays beat the Tigers 7-3 to complete a three-game sweep in Detroit. The Astros topped the Angels 8-5. The Royals edged the Cardinals 3-2. The Brewers defeated the Twins 8-5.
Today’s Games: Nate Eovaldi and Jason Hammel will duel in Chicago. Kyle Lohse gets the nod for the Brewers in Pittsburgh. Cole Hamels and Johnny Cueto will face off in Cincinnati. Yu Darvish and the Rangers host the Indians. Dallas Keuchel starts fro the Astros in Minnesota. Eddie Butler makes his major league debut for the Rockies, hosting Hyun-Jin Ryu and the Dodgers. Julio Teheran starts for the Braves in Arizona. Tyson Ross and the Padres host the Nationals. Jered Weaver and the Angels welcome the White Sox to SoCal. Jon Niese and Matt Cain will square off in San Francisco.
National TV: Red Sox-Tigers (7 PM, MLB Network), Athletics-Orioles (7 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
