It’s official – the Oakland Athletics have free fallen their way into a mess. Oakland is tied with both the Mariners and Royals in the loss column, and the three teams are battling for two playoff spots. And don’t forget about the Tigers, who also have 66 losses and are fighting the Royals tooth and nail for the AL Central title. This is just a complete disaster for the A’s, but it’s not unexpected, given how poorly they’ve played over the last month and a half. Imagine if they don’t make the playoffs after trading for Jon Lester, Jeff Samardzija, and Jason Hammel. It would be a complete and utter disaster.
Game of the Night: Orioles 2, Yankees 1 (11 innings). Orioles magic, and all that. After both teams posted zeroes for ten innings, the Yankees broke through in the tenth after Chris Young homered off of Brad Brach. Adam Warren relieved closer David Robertson for the save and hit a wall. He walked Nelson Cruz to lead off the inning, and Ryan Flaherty bunted pinch hitter David Lough over to second. Warren then hit J.J. Hardy to put the winning run at first, but struck out Kelly Johnson for the second out. Warren walked Steve Clevenger to load the bases, and Jimmy Paredes hit the first ball out of the infield for the Orioles in the inning, scoring Lough and Hardy to end another comeback for Baltimore.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Nate Karns outdueled J.A. Happ 1-0 in his first appearance of the year for the Rays, allowing two hits in seven shutout innings, striking out eight and walking two. Happ allowed one run on two hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking one. The Orioles swept the Yankees in a doubleheader, winning 2-1 in 11 innings in game one and 5-0 in game two. Bud Norris tossed seven three-hit, shutout innings in game two, striking out ten and walking a pair, and Kevin Gausman shut out the Yankees for seven innings of his own in game one, giving up seven hits, walking two, and punching out seven. Madison Bumgarner pitched like the ace he is in the Giants’ 9-0 win over the Dodgers, allowing three hits over seven shutout innings, striking out nine and walking two. Brandon McCarthy pitched well opposite Gausman, allowing four hits in seven scoreless innings, striking out six without a walk. Adam Wainwright pitched the Cardinals to a 5-1 win over the Rockies, giving up one run on six hits in eight innings, punching out eight without a walk. In Atlanta’s 2-1 loss to Texas, Alex Wood gave up one run on four hits in seven innings, striking out nine and walking two.
Hitting Lines of the Night: A.J. Pollock went 3/4 with a homer and four RBI in the Diamondbacks’ 6-5 loss to the Padres. In Detroit’s 7-2 win over Cleveland, J.D. Martinez went 2/4 with a triple, a homer, and four RBI. Brandon Crawford went 2/3 with a double, a homer, two runs, three RBI, and a walk for the Giants in their win over the Dodgers. Anthony Rendon went 3/5 with a double, a solo homer, and two runs in Washington’s 4-3 loss to the Mets. Matt Holliday shined in the Cardinals’ win over the Rockies, going 2/4 with a homer, two runs, three RBI, and a stolen base. The Angels romped the Astros 11-3, and Kole Calhoun went 3/4 with three runs and two RBI, whole Mike Trout went 2/4 with a double, a triple, two runs, and two RBI.
Other Games: Cody Asche and the Phillies walked off on the Marlins 3-1 in ten innings. The Pirates thumped the Cubs 7-3. The Brewers earned a 3-1 walk off win over the Reds. The Red Sox doubled up the Royals 4-2. Seattle beat Oakland 4-2. The Twins and White Sox fell victim to Mother Nature.
Today’s Games: Julio Teheran starts for the Braves in Texas. R.A. Dickey and the Blue Jays host the Rays. Jose Quintana and Phil Hughes battle in game one of the White Sox-Twins doubleheader. Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers host the Reds. Doug Fister and Zack Wheeler will duel in Flushing. Tyson Ross starts for the Padres in Arizona. Zack Greinke and Tim Hudson will duel in San Francisco. Jered Weaver and the Angels host the Astros. Sonny Gray and Felix Hernandez will battle in Seattle.
National TV: Braves-Rangers (1 PM, Fox), Yankees-Orioles (1 PM, Fox), Padres-Diamondbacks (8 PM, Fox Sports 1), Athletics-Mariners (10 PM, MLB Network, joined in progress), Astros-Angels (10 PM, MLB Network, joined in progress)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
