The Philadelphia Phillies are on the struggle bus. At 15-18, they’re last in the National League East, only the Astros, Padres, and Diamondbacks have a worse run differential than their -31. Their offense has been pitiful as of late, scoring just 12 runs in their last five games, with eight of those 12 runs coming in two innings. Their pitching staff has also been just shy of a trainwreck too – Jonathan Papelbon’s 2.03 ERA leads the team, and the only other pitcher with an ERA under 3.50 is A.J. Burnett with his 2.98 mark. It’s looking like it may be a long season in the City of Brotherly Love.
Game of the Night: Marlins 3, Padres 1 (11 innings). This game was all tied up at one heading into extras after each team got a solid start from their starter – Ian Kennedy for the Padres, and Jacob Turner for the Marlins. In the 11th, it looked like another scoreless inning would be put in the books after Dale Thayer easily retired the first two hitters, but Derek Dietrich reached on an error by Jedd Gyorko. That brought up Giancarlo Stanton, who deposited an 0-2 fastball from Thayer over the right center field fence to give Miami a 3-1 lead. Steve Cishek shut San Diego down in order in the bottom of the inning, and Miami earned another great win.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Hisashi Iwakuma dazzled the Royals in Seattle’s 1-0 win, allowing just four hits over eight shutout innings, striking out seven without a walk. In the loss, Danny Duffy pitched well for Kansas City, giving up one run on two hits in six innings, striking out four an walking three. Ian Kennedy was awesome for the Padres in their loss to the Marlins, giving up one run on four hits in seven innings, walking a pair and punching out a dozen. Dallas Keuchel led the Astros to a 6-2 win over the Tigers, allowing two runs on six hits in 7 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking none.
Hitting Lines of the Night: In Cleveland’s 9-4 win over Minnesota, Asdrubal Cabrera went 4/5 with two doubles, a homer, two runs, and three RBI. Teammate Michael Brantley went 3/5 with a double, a homer, two runs, and three RBI. In Toronto’s 12-6 win over Philadelphia, Edwin Encarnacion went 3/4 with two homers and three RBI, while Juan Francisco (the best) went a perfect 3/3 with a double, a solo homer, a walk, and three runs. Anthony Rizzo helped the Cubs smash the White Sox 12-5, going 3/5 with a double, a homer, three runs, two RBI, and a walk.
Other Games: The Orioles beat the Rays 3-1. The Rangers shut out the Rockies 5-0. The Giants topped the Dodgers 3-1 in ten innings.
What You Missed: Two Marlins minor leaguers got in a bar fight. The best defense of the week. A breakdown of stud A’s starter Sonny Gray.
Today’s Games: Scott Feldman starts for the Astros in Baltimore against Wei-Yin Chen. Garrett Richards gets the nod for the Angels in Toronto. Michael Wacha and the Cardinals take on Francisco Liriano and the Pirates. Justin Verlander and the Tigers host the Twins. Johnny Cueto and the Reds host Jhoulys Chacin and the Rockies. Corey Kluber starts for the Indians in Tampa Bay. Julio Teheran starts for the Braves against the Cubs. Yu Darvish and the Rangers host Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox. Masahiro Tanaka starts for the Yankees in Milwaukee against Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers. Madison Bumgarner and the Giants take on the Dodgers. Doug Fister makes his season debut for the Nationals against the A’s. Jose Fernandez starts for the Marlins in San Diego.
National TV: Cardinals-Pirates (MLB Network, 7 PM), Rockies-Reds (MLB Network, 7 PM)
MLB.tv Free Game: TBA
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
