You typically don’t see the defending World Champions get eliminated from the playoff race this early in the season…but then again, the 2014 Red Sox are anything but ordinary. Not only have the Sox clinched their second sub-.500 season in the last three years, they’re also on pace to finish last in the AL East and will have just their third top-ten draft pick in the last 45 seasons. That my friends, is insane.
Game of the Night: White Sox 2, Athletics 1. The A’s are just pathetic. Jeff Samardzija dominated the White Sox for seven innings, and only had a slim 1-0 lead. He turned it over to Luke Gregerson in the eighth, and he immediately struggled, allowing Carlos Sanchez to reach on an infield single and Adam Eaton to reach on an error by Nate Freiman. Gregerson sandwiched a pair of strikeouts around a wild pitch that moved pinch runner Leury Garcia and Eaton into scoring position, then intentionally walked Conor Gillaspie to load the bases for Avisail Garcia. The former Tiger helped his own club once again, singling in Garcia and Eaton to give Chicago a 2-1 lead. Jake Petricka set the A’s down in order in the ninth, moving Oakland to 1-6 in one-run games this month.
Pitching Lines of the Night: James Shields ran through the Tigers in Kansas City’s 3-0 win, allowing three hits over seven shutout innings, striking out eight while walking one. Dan Haren shut down the Padres in the Dodgers’ 4-0 win, tossing seven shutout innings, allowing four hits, walking one, and striking out five. Aaron Harang helped the Braves beat the Nationals 6-2, giving up one unearned run on six hits in seven innings, striking out nine without a walk. Wei-Yin Chen dominated the Red Sox in Baltimore’s 10-4 win, allowing one run on three hits in seven innings, walking none and punching out four. Drew Hutchison helped the Blue Jays to an 11-1 win over the Cubs, giving up one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out ten and walking one. In Oakland’s loss to the White Sox, Jeff Samardzija tossed seven shutout innings, allowing six hits, walking two, and striking out six. Ryan Vogelsong led the Giants to a 5-0 win over Arizona, giving up two hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings, walking five and striking out three.
Hitting Lines of the Night: In the Dodgers’ win over the Padres, Carl Crawford went 4/4 with three doubles, a run, and two RBI. Chris Young went 3/4 with a double, a homer, two runs, and two RBI in the Yankees’ 8-5 win over the Rays. Teammate Brian McCann chipped in by giong 2/3 with a homer, two runs, and three RBI. In Baltimore’s 10-6 win in Boston, Caleb Joseph went 3/5 with a homer and three RBI, Ryan Flaherty went 4/5 with a double, a run, and two RBI, and Adam Jones went 3/5 with two doubles, a run, and two RBI. In the Angels’ 8-1 romp over the Rangers, Albert Pujols went 3/6 with a double, a triple, two runs, and an RBI.
Other Games: The Pirates doubled up the Phillies 6-3. The Reds beat the Cardinals 4-2. The Mets shut out the Rockies 2-0. The Brewers beat the Marlins 4-1. The Astros beat the Mariners 5-2. Rain forced the Indians and Twins into a doubleheader today.
Today’s Games: Corey Kluber starts for the Indians in game one of their doubleheader with the Twins. Johnny Cueto and the Reds host Lance Lynn and the Cardinals. Scott Kazmir starts for the A’s in Chicago against Chris Sale and the White Sox. Francisco Liriano and A.J. Burnett will duel in Philly. Alex Cobb and Michael Pineda face off in the Bronx. Bartolo Colon and the Mets host the Nationals. Nate Eovaldi gets the nod for the Marlins in Milwaukee against Mike Fiers.
National TV: Cardinals-Reds (12:30 PM, MLB Network), Athletics-White Sox (2 PM, MLB Network), Rays-Yankees (7 PM, MLB Network), Pirates-Phillies (7 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
