The Milwaukee Brewers…man, what a mess. They lost again to the Cardinals on Thursday night, and are now tied with the Braves for the NL’s second Wild Card spot. Milwaukee has lost an incomprehensible nine in a row, and have dropped an unreal 5.5 games in the standings to the Cardinals over that time period. They’re now barely hanging on to a playoff spot, and have six more games with the Cardinals over the next two weeks. If there’s one saving grace for the Brew Crew, it’s this – there isn’t a lot of competition for that second Wild Card spot. The Pirates are falling victim to plenty of bad luck lately, and the Braves can’t hit their way out of a wet paper bag. The Brewers aren’t done yet, not by a long shot – but obviously, winning last night’s game would have done a lot to improve their chances.
Game of the Night: Yankees 5, Red Sox 4. The zombie Yankees continue to do their thing. Shocking. New York trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, and Koji Uehara took the hill for Boston. His save attempt ended poorly. The first batter he faced was Mark Teixeira, who took a 3-2 pitch deep into the Bronx evening to tie the game at four. After Brian McCann lined out, Chase Headley stepped in, and he did the same thing as Teixeira – 3-2 pitch, over the right field wall. Yankees win, Yankees win. Poor Boston.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Not much tonight, folks. In Toronto’s 1-0, ten inning win over Tampa Bay, Mark Buehrle allowed five hits in eight shutout innings, walking one and striking out four, while Jake Odorizzi gave up three hits in 7 1/3 scoreless frames, punching out three without a walk. Randall Delgado helped the Diamondbacks beat the Padres 5-1, allowing two hits in five shutout frames, striking out a pair without a walk. And that is about it for your great pitching lines of the evening…yikes.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Baltimore rallied to beat Cincinnati 9-7, but Devin Mesoraco went 4/4 with a double, a homer, two runs, and four RBI for the Reds. Nelson Cruz went 2/3 with a homer, two RBI, and a walk in the Orioles’ victory. David Ortiz went 2/4 with a pair of homers and three RBI for the Red Sox in their loss to the Yankees. Chris Denorfia helped the Mariners beat the Rangers 10-2 and eliminate them from playoff contention, going 2/3 with a double, a solo homer, three runs, and two walks. Detroit beat Cleveland 11-4 in 11 innings, going 1/3 with a homer, two runs, three RBI, and three walks.
Other Games: The Angels edged the Twins 5-4.
Today’s Games: Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals host the Phillies. Chris Sale and the White Sox take on the Indians. Jarred Cosart gets the nod for the Marlins against the Braves. James Shields and Michael Pineda will duel in the Bronx. Rick Porcello and Jake Peavy will square off in Detroit. Alfredo Simon and the Reds host the Mets and Bartolo Colon. Wei-Yin Chen and Alex Cobb will battle in Tampa Bay. Hisashi Iwakuma starts for the Mariners in Arlington. Matt Shoemaker and the Angels take on the Twins. Jeff Samardzija and the A’s host the Astros.
National TV: Diamondbacks-Dodgers (10 PM, MLB Network), Astros-Athletics (10 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
