Hyun-Jin Ryu was flirting with history on Monday night. A day after Josh Beckett no-hit the Phillies, Ryu set the first 21 Reds he faced down in order. Then, things spiraled out of control – quickly. Todd Frazier led off the inning with a double to break up Ryu’s bid at perfection, and Ryan Ludwick followed that up with a single. A Chris Heisey sac fly ended Ryu’s shutout bid, and Brayan Pena singled after that to bring the tying run to the plate in a game where no Reds reached base just a few minutes earlier. Brian Wilson allowed two runs, but Kenley Jansen recorded a four-out save to protect the 4-3 lead.
Game of the Day: Pirates 5, Mets 3. This game was such a brutal loss for the Mets that they fired their hitting coach and released Jose Valverde less than an hour afterwards. That says something. Anyway, the Mets led 2-0 going into the eighth inning, and the wheels came off as soon as Scott Rice came out of New York’s bullpen. The first batter Rice faced was Gaby Sanchez, who hit a solo homer to make it a 2-1 game. After Rice recorded the next two outs, Valverde relieved him and allowed a double to Starling Marte and a single to Jose Tabata to tie the game at two. In the ninth, Valverde was still on the mound for whatever reason. Josh Harrison popped up a bunt for the first out, and Valverde thanked the Pirates by giving up a single to Neil Walker and walking Andrew McCutchen. Sanchez singled in Walker to give the Pirates the lead, and a throwing error on Curtis Granderson allowed McCutchen to score to make it 4-2. Carlos Torres relieved Valverde and gave up a Russell Martin double, and it was all of a sudden 5-2. Torres got out of the jam, and Lucas Duda made the ninth look pretty with a solo homer. But Mark Melacon got the next three hitters in order, and Mets fans went home grumpy.
Pitching Lines of the Day: Tommy Milone pitched the A’s to a 10-0 win over the Tigers, allowing four hits over 6 2/3 shutout innings, walking two and striking out six. Chris Young silenced the Angels’ bats in a 5-1 Angels win, giving up one run on two hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking three. The aforementioned Ryu finished his night by allowing three runs on three hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out seven without a walk. Nate Eovaldi led the Marlins to a 3-2 win in Washington, giving up two runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out five. In that ugly Mets loss to the Pirates, Jacob deGrom went 6 2/3 scoreless frames, allowing five hits while walking five and striking out four.
Hitting Lines of the Day: George Springer stayed hot for the Astros in their 9-2 win in Kansas City, going 4/4 with two doubles, a homer, five runs, three RBI, and a walk. Ryan Howard had a nice game for the Phillies as they whomped the Rockies 9-0, going 3/4 with a homer, two runs, and five RBI. Jonathan Schoop pushed the Orioles to a 7-6, ten inning win in Milwaukee, going 3/5 with a pair of solo homers. In the loss, Khris Davis went a perfect 4/4 with a a double, solo homer, a walk, and two runs. Conor Gillaspie was perfect for the White Sox in their 6-2 win against the Indians, going 4/4 with three doubles, two runs, and an RBI.
Other Games: The Red Sox rallied back from a 6-1 deficit to beat the Braves 8-6. The Rangers beat the Twins 7-2. The Blue Jays doubled up the Rays 10-5. The Yankees topped the Cardinals 6-4 in 12 innings. The Cubs finally got Jeff Samardzija a win, beating the Giants 8-4. The Diamondbacks walked off on the Padres 7-5.
Today’s Games: Jon Lester starts for the Red Sox in Atlanta against Aaron Harang. Henderson Alvarez takes the hill for the Marlins in Washington. Alex Cobb and Mark Buerhle will duel in Toronto. Cole Hamels and the Phillies host Jorge de la Rosa and the Rockies. Jon Niese starts for the Mets against the Pirates. Wei-Yin Chen and Matt Garza will square off in Milwaukee. Justin Masterson and Chris Sale will tango in Chicago. Yu Darvish starts for the Rangers in Minnesota. Zack Greinke and the Dodgers host Alfredo Simon and the Reds. Tim Hudson and the Giants host the Reds. Max Scherzer and Sonny Gray will lock horns in Oakland. Jered Weaver takes the hill for the Angels in Seattle.
National TV: Red Sox-Braves (7 PM, ESPN), Reds-Dodgers (10 PM, ESPN)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
