A month ago on May 7th, the Rockies were on top of the world. After thrashing the Rangers 9-2 on May 7th, the team was 22-14 and tied for first place in the NL West. Since then, they’ve been a disaster. Colorado is 6-16 in their last 22 games, and have fallen to 9.5 games back of the Giants in the division. Sure, they’ve had a lot of their games on the road during this 22 game stretch, but they’re also just 3-4 at home. Wednesday night may have been the low water mark – they got stomped by the Diamondbacks 16-8, their eighth loss in their last nine games. It doesn’t get any easier once Arizona leaves town, as the Rockies will welcome the Dodgers and Braves to Coors Field. This stretch could determine the final fate of their season.
Game of the Night: Cardinals 5, Royals 2 (11 innings). Talk about a drastic swing of emotions. St. Louis led this one 2-0 coming into the ninth, and Mike Matheny was content to led Adam Wainwright try for the complete game shutout. Wainwright led the inning off by striking out Eric Hosmer, but Hosmer reached on a wild pitch. Billy Butler followed up with a single, and that was all for Wainwright. Trevor Rosenthal wasn’t much better though, walking Alex Gordon to begin his outing and allowing an RBI fielders choice to Sal Perez, making it a 2-1 game. Lorenzo Cain then singled in a run to tie the game, but the Royals couldn’t take the lead in the inning. We moved into extras, and the Cardinals struck in the 11th. Kelvin Herrera walked Peter Bourjos with one out, and after Bourjos stole second, Matt Carpenter doubled him in to put St. Louis in front. Jon Jay followed up with a single, and Tim Collins replaced Herrera on the hill. Collins promptly plunked Matt Holliday, and allowed a two-run single to Allen Craig to make it 5-2. Pat Neshek set the Royals down in order in the ninth, and this one was over.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Garrett Richards dominated the Astros in the Angels’ 4-0 win, allowing four hits over eight shutout innings, punching out nine without a walk. John Danks controlled the Dodgers in the 2-1 win by the White Sox, giving up one run on two hits in 7 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out five. Hisashi Iwakuma baffled the Braves in Seattle’s 2-0 win, allowing six hits over seven shutout innings, walking none and striking out seven. In the loss for Atlanta, Mike Minor gave up one run on five hits in seven innings, punching out ten while walking three. Wainwright’s final line for the Cardinals saw him allow two runs on four hits in eight innings, walking three and striking out ten.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Texas fell to Baltimore 6-5, but you can’t blame Adrian Beltre, who went 2/4 with a pair of homers and five RBI. Carpenter was the offensive star for the Cardinals, going 5/5 with two doubles, two runs, two RBI, and a walk. Miguel Montero dominated the Rockies in Arizona’s 16-8 win, going 3/4 with a homer and six RBI. Yoenis Cespedes pushed the A’s to a 7-4 win in the Bronx, going 3/5 with a pair of solo homers. In Toronto’s 8-2 win over the Tigers, Melky Cabrera went 3/5 with a double, a homer, three runs, and two RBI.
Other Games: The Indians walked off on the Red Sox 7-4 in 12 innings. The Padres notched just one hit, but beat the Pirates 3-2. The Nationals doubled up the Phillies 8-4. The Giants edged the Reds 3-2. The Marlins topped the Rays 5-4, sending Tampa Bay to their ninth straight loss. The Cubs beat the Mets 5-4. The Twins earned a 6-4 win over the Brewers.
Today’s Games: Day games are in vogue today, folks. Madison Bumgarner and Mike Leake will face off in Cincinnati. Masahiro Tanaka and the Yankees host the A’s. Justin Verlander and the Tigers conclude their series with the Blue Jays. Doug Fister starts for the Nationals against the Phillies. Travis Wood and the Cubs host the Mets. Young studs Michael Wacha and Yordano Ventura will fire bullets in Kansas City. Wily Peralta will toe the rubber for the Brewers in Minnesota.
National TV: Athletics-Yankees (1 PM, MLB Network), Blue Jays-Tigers (1 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
