Tuesday night was *not* a good night for MLB teams in the northeast. Rain wiped out four games on the evening, from Detroit to New York. One of those games will be made up today, as the Yankees and Cubs will be playing a day/night doubleheader. We’ll see about the rest, but if there’s one positive about the postponements, it’s this – the other three games that were rained out were all interdivisional games, making them just a little easier to make up later in the year.
Game of the Night: Athletics 10, Angels 9 (11 innings). With all due respect to the other matchup between the Bay Area and SoCal, this game was wild. The Angels led 6-3 after four and were on cruise control. Garrett Richards started to labor in his final inning of work, allowing two runs to cut the lead to 6-5. In the eighth, Joe Smith was awful, facing five batters and letting four of them score to make it a 9-6 game in favor of the A’s. Then it was the Angels’ turn to battle back, scoring one in the eighth after a David Freese single and tying the game at nine after a two-run homer by Mike Trout off of Sean Doolittle. The game remained tied until the 11th, when Josh Donaldson doubled in Jed Lowrie to put Oakland in front. Jim Johnson put the winning run on base with one out, but got a pair of ground outs to end the game and give Oakland the victory.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Not only did Tom Koehler outduel Stephen Strasburg, his Marlins dominated the Nationals 11-2. Koehler allowed one hit in seven shutout innings, walking five and striking out three. Erik Johnson pitched the White Sox past the Red Sox 2-1, giving up one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking a pair and punching out nine. Jake Peavy pitched pretty well for Boston, giving up one run on three hits in six innings while walking four and striking out eight. Robbie Ross and the Rangers beat the Mariners 5-0, thanks to loss giving up only five hits in 7 2/3 scoreless frames, striking out two without a walk. Yordano Ventura pitched well for the Royals in their 4-2 win over the Astros, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits in seven innings, walking three and striking out seven. Shelby Miller broke out of his slump in the Cardinals’ 6-1 win over the Brewers, allowing one run on three hits in six innings, walking three and striking out seven.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Kevin Kouzmanoff was the force behind Texas’ offense on Tuesday night, going 3/4 with two doubles, a homer, two runs, and three RBI. Giancarlo Stanton had another Stanton-like game in Miami’s win over Washington, going 2/4 with a double, a homer, three runs, five RBI, and a walk. The Angels duo of Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout each went 3/6 in Anaheim’s loss to Oakland, with Calhoun doubling, homering, scoring three times and driving in two, and Trout doubling, homering, scoring twice, driving in three, and stealing a base. In the Dodgers’ 3-2, 12 inning loss to the Giants, Juan Uribe went 3/5 with a double, a homer, and two runs scored. Kirk Nieuwenhuis led the Mets to a 9-0 laugher over the Diamondbacks, going 3/5 with a homer and three RBI.
Other Games: The Pirates beat the Reds 8-7 in the completion of their game from Monday, while the Reds won 9-7 in the full game on Tuesday. The Blue Jays stomped the Twins 9-3, though Brandon Morrow was not sharp and didn’t even make it through the fourth inning. Juan Nicasio pitched the Rockies to a 3-2 win in San Diego.
What You Missed: Walk offs of the week! Matt Moore is officially getting Tommy John. A Seinfeld-themed Keith Hernandez bobblehead is happening. The transfer rule is causing all sorts of instant replay issues.
Today’s Games: Francisco Liriano and Johnny Cueto will duel in Cincinnati. Joe Kelly and Wily Peralta will face off in Milwaukee. In a Cubs-Yankees doubleheader, Masahiro Tanaka starts game one for New York, while Michael Pineda starts game two. Anibal Sanchez and the Tigers host the Indians. Cliff Lee and the Phillies take on Julio Teheran and the Braves. Jose Fernandez and the Marlins host the Nationals. Felix Hernandez and Yu Darvish will square off in Texas. R.A. Dickey starts for the Blue Jays in Minnesota. Andrew Cashner starts for the Padres against Jorge de la Rosa and the Rockies.
National TV: Pirates-Reds (12:30, MLB Network), Cardinals-Brewers (1 PM, MLB Network), Cubs-Yankees (7 PM, MLB Network), Indians-Tigers (7 PM, MLB Network)
MLB.tv Free Game: Rays-Orioles (12:30 PM)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
