The Phillies and Mets found themselves forced into playing a five-game series this weekend because of a rain out earlier in the season. Unfortunately for both teams, three of their first four games in the series have gone to extra innings, meaning that the teams have already played the equivalent of five games, with one more to go. Seriously – from Thursday through Sunday, the Phillies and Mets played a total of 48 innings, an average of 12 per game. A nine inning game today will give them 57 innings played, and if the final game they play goes extras, they could end up with 60 innings played over the course of five days. After spending all this time together, it’s a good thing that the clubs won’t play again until
Game of the Day: Pirates 5, Dodgers 3. Pittsburgh led this game wire to wire, but almost went ahead and pissed it all away in the ninth. With a 5-2 lead, closer Jason Grilli came in for the Pirates and started playing with fire after striking out both Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp to lead off the inning. Grilli then walked Justin Turner (after getting him down in the count 0-2), and followed that up with a walk of Jamie Romak to bring up the tying run in the form of Scott Van Slyke. Van Slyke blooped a hit in front of a diving Starling Marte in left, scoring Turner and making it a 5-3 game. Dee Gordon came up in the form of the winning run, but promptly lined out to Clint Barmes to end the game and send the Pirates to San Diego with a three out of four game series win in LA under their belts.
Pitching Lines of the Day: It’s Sunday, which has apparently turned into “awesome pitching day”. Roenis Elias threw a complete game shutout for the Mariners in their 4-0 win over the Tigers, allowing three hits, striking out nine, and walking one. Chris Sale threw a complete game while allowing one run on two hits in Chicago’s 4-1 win over the Padres, striking out nine without a walk. Kyle Lohse did him one better in Milwaukee’s 9-0 win over the Cubs, throwing a three-hit complete game shutout while striking out six and walking none. The Rangers shut out the Nationals 2-0, thanks to Yu Darvish giving up just five hits over eight scoreless frames, striking out a dozen and walking a pair. In Boston’s 4-0 win over Tampa Bay, Jon Lester threw seven shutout innings, walking one and giving up four hits while adding a dozen strikeouts. Tim Hudson pitched the Giants to an 8-0 win in St. Louis, spinning seven shutout, three-hit innings along with adding six strikeouts and two walks.
Hitting Lines of the Day: In Boston’s win over the Rays, Brock Holt went a perfect 4/4 with four doubles, a run, two RBI, a walk, and a stolen base. Scooter Gennett played well for the Brewers in their win against the Cubs, going 3/4 with two doubles, a homer, and three runs scored. In Baltimore’s 9-4 win in Houston, Manny Machado went 2/4 with a double, a homer, two runs, four RBI, and a stolen base, while David Lough went 2/3 with a homer, two runs, and three RBI. Paul Konerko supplied all the offense that the White Sox needed, going 2/3 with a double, a homer, and three RBI.
Other Games: A two-run homer by Evan Gattis in the ninth pushed the Braves to a 4-2 win and three-game sweep against the Marlins. Michael Bourn hit a two-run walk off homer for the Indians in their 6-4 win over the Rockies. The Twins stomped the Yankees 7-2. The Mets beat the Phillies 4-3 in 11 innings. The Blue Jays shut out the Royals 4-0, giving Mark Buehrle his tenth win of the season. The Reds edged the Diamondbacks 4-3. The A’s doubled up the Angels 6-3 to finish a sweep and get some breathing room in the AL West.
Today’s Games: Alex Cobb starts for the Rays in Miami. John Lackey and Justin Masterson will duel in Cleveland. Bartolo Colon starts for the Mets in Philly. Felix Hernandez gets the nod for the Mariners in the Bronx. Danny Duffy and Shelby Miller will square off in St. Louis. Jose Quintana takes on Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles. Charlie Morton starts for the Pirates in San Diego.
National TV: Royals-Cardinals (8 PM, ESPN)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
