When the Mets are involved in a walk off win, chances are that it won’t be normal. Last Saturday, Ike Davis hit a grand slam to push New York past the Reds. Last night, Jeurys Familia had a chance to allow the same walk off to Hank Conger – but instead, he surpassed all of that drama and just plunked Conger instead to give the Angels a 5-4, 11 inning win. That’s right – a walk off hit by pitch. That led to a restrained celebration by the Angels, but one that was truly earned…I guess.
Game of the Night: Braves 7, Nationals 6 (ten innings). There was too much crazy crap that happened in this game outside of the score sheets, but we’ll pick things up in the eighth inning after Denard Span singled in Bryce Harper, giving Washington their first lead of the night at 6-5. In the bottom of the inning, Justin Upton continued to haunt the dreams of Tyler Clippard, homering again to tie the game at six. After a flawless ninth for both clubs, Washington put two on with two outs in the tenth, but couldn’t score. In the bottom of the inning, Chris Johnson hit a two out single and was replaced by Jordan Schafer, who proceeded to draw three pickoff throws and took off for second on the 2-2 pitch to Justin Upton. Upton hit a blooper into right field, and Schafer scored all the way from first on the play to give Atlanta their third win in four tries against the Nationals this season.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Andrew Cashner did some gross stuff to the Tigers in San Diego’s 6-0 win, giving up one hit in a complete game shutout, striking out 11 and walking two. Yu Darvish was also disgusting for the Rangers in their 1-0, 12 inning win over the Astros, allowing one hit of his own in eight scoreless innings, walking one and punching out nine. David Price ran roughshod over the Reds in Tampa Bay’s 2-1 win, giving up one run on four hits in 8 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out ten. Hyun-Jin Ryu led the Dodgers to a 6-0 win over the Diamondbacks, spinning seven shutout innings while allowing two hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts. Chris Tillman was a hard luck loser in Baltimore’s 2-0 loss to Toronto, allowing two unearned runs on three hits in eight innings, striking out six and walking one.
Hitting Lines of the Night: In the Dodgers’ win in Arizona, Adrian Gonzalez went 3/4 with a homer and five RBI, while Hanley Ramirez went 3/4 with three runs, an RBI, and two doubles. Justin Upton carried the Braves to their win over the Nationals, going a perfect 3/3 with a homer, two runs, two RBI, and a walk. Chase Headley gave Cashner all the offense he needed in the Padres’ dominant win over the Tigers, going 2/4 with a homer and three RBI. And then, there’s Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who turned in an iffy performance on the mound but went 1/1 at the plate with five RBI and a grand slam to carry San Francisco to a 6-5 win over the Rockies.
Other Games: The Phillies solved the Jose Fernandez puzzle and beat the Marlins 6-3. The Red Sox doubled up the Yankees 4-2. The White Sox got a disappointing start from Chris Sale, but still beat the Indians 9-6. The Brewers beat the Pirates 4-2. The Twins smashed the Royals 10-1. The Cubs beat the Cardinals 6-3 in 11 innings. The Mariners topped the A’s 6-4 behind the arm of Felix Hernandez.
What You Missed: Ryan Howard, who actually played pretty well on Friday, thinks the 4-6 Phillies have played well this year. Andrew McCutchen, commercial star. The Staten Island Yankees are parodying Game of Thrones to hype ticket sales. The longest homers from the week that was. Mark Melacon isn’t a fan of replay. The Mariners hate humanity and are giving away a Macklemore bobblehead this year.
Today’s Games: Hiroki Kuroda and the Yankees host the Red Sox. Alex Cobb starts for the Rays in Cincinnati. Justin Masterson takes the hill for the Indians in Chicago. Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals host the Cubs. James Shields starts for the Royals in Minnesota against the Twins. Matt Cain and the Giants host the Rockies. Yovani Gallardo gets the nod for the Brewers, hosting the Pirates. Jered Weaver and the Angels host Jon Niese and the Mets. Zack Greinke toes the rubber for the Dodgers in Arizona. Justin Verlander starts for the Tigers in San Diego.
National TV: Red Sox-Yankees (well duh, 1 PM, Fox Sports 1), Rockies-Giants (4 PM, MLB Network), Dodgers-Diamondbacks (8 PM, MLB Network), Astros-Rangers (8 PM, MLB Network)
MLB.tv Free Game: Dodgers-Diamondbacks (8 PM)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
