The defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves are not playing good baseball right now. The team lost 10-5 to the Phillies on Wednesday, allowing Philadelphia to complete their first sweep in Atlanta since the final series of the 2011 season. For the month, the Braves are just 6-10 with a -22 run differential – that record is worse than all NL teams but the Mets, Rockies, and Padres, and that run differential is worse than just the Padres this month. The team is somehow still tied with the Marlins for second place behind the Nationals in the NL East, but the wheels are falling off.
Game of the Day: Red Sox 2, Twins 1 (ten innings). Kyle Gibson and John Lackey traded zeroes through regulation in this one, and we went into extras with no score. In the tenth inning, Chris Pamelee homered off of Koji Uehara to make it a 1-0 Twins game. With closer Glen Perkins unavailable, Casey Fien game in for the save. He got Dustin Pedroia to fly out for the first out, but then allowed a solo homer to David Ortiz to tie the game at one. Fien then promptly allowed a second solo homer, this time to Mike Napoli, to pull defeat from the jaws of victory or the Twins.
Pitching Lines of the Day: We’re gonna have more on this later today, but Clayton Kershaw was a dynamo in the Dodgers’ 8-0 win over the Rockies – he threw a no-hitter, striking out 15 and walking none. That’s simply absurd. In that Red Sox-Twins pitchers duel, John Lackey allowed three hits over nine shutout innings, walking one and striking out nine, while Kyle Gibson gave up just one hit over seven scoreless frames, punching out eight and walking none. Felix Hernandez got saddled with a no decision in Seattle’s 2-1 loss to San Diego, despite allowing just one run on three hits in seven innings, striking out ten without a walk. Jake Arrieta dominated the Marlins in the Cubs’ 6-1 win, allowing one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out 11 and walking one. Bartolo Colon pitched the Mets to a 3-2 win over the Cardinals, giving up one run on four hits in eight innings, walking none while only punching out one. Jeremy Guthrie pushed the Royals to a 2-1 win in Detroit, allowing one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out nine.
Hitting Lines of the Day: The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 7-3 thanks to Brian McCann putting together a 2/3 day with a triple, a homer, five RBI, and a walk. In the Phillies’ 10-5 win over the Braves, Marlon Byrd went 3/5 with a homer, two runs, and three RBI. In the loss for the Braves, Ryan Doumit went 3/4 with a homer, three RBI, and a stolen base. Starlin Castro starred in Chicago’s win in Miami, going 3/5 with two doubles, two runs, and two RBI. In Minnesota’s loss to Boston, Chris Parmelee went 3/4 with a solo homer. In the Dodgers’ win over the Rockies, Matt Kemp went 3/4 with two doubles, a run, and two RBI. Chris Owings helped the Diamondbacks beat the Brewers 4-3, going 3/4 with a run, an RBI, a double, and a triple.
Other Games: The Orioles shut out the Rays 2-0. The White Sox held on to beat the Giants 7-6. The A’s doubled up the Rangers 4-2. Washington rallied to beat Houston 6-5. The Reds smashed the Pirates 11-4. The Angels and Indians were rained out.
Today’s Games: C.J. Wilson and Justin Masterson will once again try to tango in Cleveland. Homer Bailey starts for the Reds in Pittsburgh. Anibal Sanchez and the Tigers host Danny Duffy and the first-place Royals. Yovani Gallardo starts for the Brewers in Arizona. Gavin Floyd and Jordan Zimmermann will duel in Washington. Drew Hutchison starts for the Blue Jays in the Bronx. Collin McHugh gets the nod for the Astros in St. Pete against Chris Archer and the Rays. Zack Wheeler starts for the Mets in Miami against Andrew Heaney, making his major league debut for Miami. Jose Quintana starts for the White Sox in Minnesota. Shelby Miller and the Cardinals host the Phillies. Scott Kazmir and the A’s welcome the Red Sox to Oakland.
National TV: Reds-Pirates (12:30 PM, MLB Network), Royals-Tigers (1 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
