What’s going on in the American League Wild Card race is nothing short of amazing. The Oakland A’s have continued their terrible collapse, and are now just one game ahead of the Mariners for the AL’s top Wild Card spot, with the Tigers looming just a game behind Seattle. This isn’t just a bad stretch – this is a terrible, awful, no good, very bad stretch for the A’s that could cost them a playoff spot and might end up costing several people their jobs in Oakland. But while the struggles of the A’s are clearly a major factor towards this collapse, we need to give the Mariners some love. They went 17-10 in August, picking up six games on the A’s, and are 6-2 so far in September, picking up another 3.5 games. Seattle has the third-best run differential in baseball, and their 79 wins are already their most in a season since 2009. There are plenty of things to criticize Lloyd McClendon and Jake Zduriencik about, but the success of the Mariners this year has been incredible.
Game of the Night: Mets 3, Rockies 2. Let’s go ahead and kick some dirt on the Rockies while they’re down, shall we? In the eighth inning, Nolan Arenado hit a solo homer off of Vic Black to put Colorado ahead 2-1. The Rockies pitched around a two-out double in the bottom of the eighth, and LaTroy Hawkins came in to save the game in the ninth. The former Met struggled though, immediately allowed a double to Travis d’Arnaud and a triple to Curtis Granderson, scoring pinch hitter Eric Young Jr. to tie the game at two. Wilmer Flores followed up with a sac fly to bring in Granderson and end the game in favor of the Metropolitans.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Marcus Stroman threw a complete game shutout in Toronto’s 8-0 win over the Cubs, allowing three hits, striking out eight, and walking none. Jeff Locke steamrolled the Phillies in Pittsburgh’s 6-4 win, giving up one run on three hits in seven innings, punching out nine without a walk. In the Cardinals’ 5-0 win over the Reds, Shelby Miller tossed seven shutout innings, allowing three hits, zero walks, and striking out four. Clayton Kershaw pitched like, well, Clayton Kershaw in the Dodgers’ 9-4 win over the Padres, giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits in eight innings, striking out eight and walking two. Doug Fister pitched the Nationals to a 2-1 win over the Braves, allowing two his in seven scoreless frames, striking out three and walking three.
Hitting Lines of the Night: In the White Sox 5-4, 12 inning win over the A’s, Tyler Flowers went 3/4 with a walk and two solo homers – one to tie the game in the ninth, and one to win it in the 12th. In the Angels’ 12-3 thumping of the Indians, Albert Pujols went 3/5 with a homer, three runs, and three RBI, Kole Calhoun went 3/3 with a homer, two runs, two RBI, and two walks, and Howie Kendrick went 3/5 with a homer, two runs, and two RBI. Carl Crawford went 3/4 with a homer, two runs, three RBI, and a walk in the Dodgers’ win over the Padres. In Pittsburgh’s win in Philly, Starling Marte went 3/5 with a double, a homer, and two RBI.
Other Games: The Tigers topped the Royals 9-5. The Orioles shut out the Red Sox 4-0 to continue rolling in the AL East. The Marlins beat the Brewers 6-4. The Mariners rallied late to beat the Astros 4-1.
Today’s Games: Trevor Bauer and the Indians host the Twins. Chris Archer and Hiroki Kuroda will duel in the Bronx. Jordan Zimmermann and Ervin Santana battle in Washington as the Braves look to hang on to their slim playoff chances. Michael Wacha starts for the Cardinals in Cincinnati. Jake Arrieta starts for the Cubs in Toronto. Jacob deGrom and the Mets host the Rockies. Max Scherzer and the Tigers take on the Royals. Chris Tillman starts for the Orioles in Boston. Matt Garza starts for the sliding Brewers against the Marlins. Jon Lester gets the nod for the A’s against the White Sox. Andrew Cashner starts for the Padres in Los Angeles.
National TV: Royals-Tigers (7 PM, MLB Network), Braves-Nationals (7 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
