We all thought that the Marlins were going to fall apart about Jose Fernandez’s Tommy John surgery. And for a moment, they did, losing five straight games on their current eleven-game West Coast road trip, a streak that started with Fernandez’s last start before he hurt his elbow. But the Marlins have rebounded, smashing the Dodgers in the finale of their series on Wednesday and taking two out of three from the Giants. They can win the four game series with San Francisco and go back to Miami with an impressive 5-6 road trip in two with a win today, and really, that would be more impressive than anything that the other NL East teams have done this week.
Game of the Night: Blue Jays 4, Rangers 2. There wasn’t a lot going on Saturday night, so I gave this contest the nod. It was knotted at one through six innings, but Toronto took a 2-1 lead in the seventh after an RBI ground out by Melky Cabrera. Texas proceeded to immediately tie the game in the bottom of the inning after Luis Sardinas singled in Robinson Chirinos. In the eighth, Jose Reyes doubled in Kevin Pillar to push the Blue Jays in front 3-2, and Toronto added another run in the ninth after a Dioner Navarro sac fly. Casey Janssen set the Rangers down in order in the bottom of the inning, and the Rangers fell to seven games behind the Athletics in the AL West.
Pitching Lines of the Night: C.J. Wilson had possibly his finest start as an Angel in their 6-0 win over the Rays, twirling a complete game shutout while allowing five his, two walks, and punching out seven hitters. Edwin Jackson pitched the Cubs to a 3-0 win over the Brewers, giving up four hits over seven shutout innings while striking out 11 and walking one. Danny Duffy dazzled the Orioles in Kansas City’s 1-0 win, allowing two hits in seven scoreless innings, striking out a pair without a walk. Cole Hamels dominated the Reds in a 12-1 Phillies thrashing, giving up one run on three hits in seven innings, striking out ten while walking two. Tom Koehler pitched the Marlins to a 5-0 win over the Giants, allowing four hits over seven shutout frames, walking a pair and striking out seven. Shelby Miller helped the Cardinals beat the Braves 4-1, giving up one unearned run on five hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking two.
Hitting Lines of the Night: In Arizona’s 18-7 win over the Dodgers, three players starred. Paul Goldschmidt went 4/5 with two doubles, two homers, a walk, five runs, and six RBI. A.J. Pollock went 4/6 with a triple, a homer, three runs, two RBI, and a stolen base. Chris Owings added to the hit parade by going 3/5 with a double, a triple, a homer, a walk, four runs, and two RBI. In non-Diamondbacks news, Domonic Brown went 2/5 with a double, a homer, two runs, and five RBI for the Phillies in their win. Josh Donaldson helped the A’s beat the Indians 6-2 by going 3/4 with two doubles, two runs, and three RBI. Dexter Fowler pushed the Astros to a 6-5 win over the White Sox, going 3/4 with a homer, two runs, two RBI, and a walk.
Other Games: The Yankees hit five homers in a 7-1 victory over the Pirates. The Mets topped the Nationals 5-2. The Tigers shut down the Red Sox 6-1. The Padres beat the Rockies 8-5. The Twins edged the Mariners 4-3.
Today’s Games: Jesse Chavez starts for the A’s in Cleveland against Justin Masterson and the Indians. Charlie Morton and Hiroki Kuroda will duel in game one of the Pirates-Yankees doubleheader, while Gerrit Cole gets the nod for Pittsburgh in game two. Zack Wheeler starts for the Mets in Washington against Jordan Zimmermann and the Nationals. Cliff Lee and the Phillies host the Reds and Tony Cingrani. Jaime Garcia makes his season debut for the Cardinals, looking to sweep Gavin Floyd and the Braves. Ubaldo Jimenez and James Shields will duel in Kansas City. Felix Hernandez takes the hill for the Mariners in Minnesota. R.A. Dickey starts for the Blue Jays in Texas. David Price starts for the Rays in Anaheim. Anibal Sanchez and Jake Peavy will square off in Boston.
National TV: Pirates-Yankees (1 PM, MLB Network), Athletics-Indians (1 PM, MLB Network), Tigers vs Red Sox (8 PM, ESPN)
MLB.tv Free Game: TBA
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
