Prof: Happy Monday everyone. Hope you had a great weekend!
Cardinals 6, Cubs 4 – Cardinals picked up 5 runs in the 8th off the Cubs bullpen. I hear a certain Mr. Papelbon is available…
Rockies 6, Phillies 7 – Jimmy Paredes was a triple shy of a cycle as the Phillies complete the sweep of the Rockies. Colorado mounted a bit of a comeback in the 9th, but fell a run short.
Orioles 8, Giants 7 – Jonathan Schoop and the Baltimore Orioles absolutely stun the Giants with 7 runs scored in the final three innings, including a three run go ahead homer with two outs in the 9th to cap the comeback. Zach Britton picks up his 37th save. Matt Wieters goes 5-5 with a triple.
Braves 1, Nationals 9 – Prof: Washington scores on every hit generated off of the Braves. Anthony Rendon went 1-4, but his only hit was an important one – a three run homer.
Reds 3, Brewers 7 – Prof: Ryan Braun smashes two homers in this win over Cincinnati.
Royals 11, Twins 4 – KC picked up 6 in the 4th and 4 to put a hurting on the Twins.
Tigers 7, Rangers 0 – Prof: The Historio special. V-Mart hits a two run homer in this shutout win over Texas.
Rays 12, Yankees 3 – Prof: My goodness, there were some high scoring games. Tampa Bay scored six in the fourth inning alone. Evan Longoria went 3-4, with 4 RBI.
Astros 2, Blue Jays 9 – Toronto got homers from Tulowitzki, Martin, and Encarnacion to hold their lead in the AL East.
Angels 4, Indians 5 – Prof: Jason Kipnis hits his 20th home run of the season in this victory over the Angels.
Padres 1, Mets 5 – Prof: Did you know that the Padres and the Mets both have never had no hitters? Well, sadly, both didn’t get one yesterday, either. Stephen Matz tried his hardest, though, and did a great job through seven innings.
White Sox 4, Marlins 5 – The Marlins get to Sale, who hasn’t quite been the same since the jersey incident.
Diamondbacks 2, Red Sox 16 – Prof: Yes, that score is correct. Zack Greinke has his worst outing ever in today’s game against Boston. In 1.2 innings, ZG gave up 10 hits and 9 runs. For the Sox, Rick Porcello pitched seven solid innings giving up only three hits and one run. Mookie Betts went 4-6 with three home runs.
Mariners 8, Athletics 4 – Kyle Seager picks up 4 RBI’s and Wade LeBlanc held down the Athletics.
Pirates 11, Dodgers 3 – Prof: Five runs in the first inning was all Pittsburgh needed to get the win, but they added one in the fourth and fifth innings, as well as four in the ninth to seal the deal.
Fan Interference 
Nothing like returning from vacation to wake up to Mandatory Monday Metallica; needs more Fade to Black, but I took care of that below.
Nats completed a 5-3 homestand which may not look great on its face, but that’s a .625 winning percentage, and I’ll take that all season long. In personnel news, Papelbon got cut loose on Saturday, and the bullpen gave up four runs in the ninth that night in tribute or protest, turning a 7-2 laugher into a 7-6 win. Meanwhile, Bryce Harper returned to the lineup yesterday (he said pretty please to talk his way into playing) after being out a week with a stiff neck. While some might worry that a player being out so long would need time to get his rhythm back, here’s a telling paragraph from today’s WaPo game story:
‘It was Harper’s first appearance since leaving after six innings Aug. 6. An eight-day absence would stymie most hitters. They are creatures of habit. Time to rediscover a swing and restore rhythm would seem necessary. But Harper was consistently lost at the plate for the three months before his week off. His mechanics and results were out of whack. Since May 1, he was hitting .219 with a .727 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. As Baker said Thursday: “It’s not like he had his stroke in the first place.”‘
Brutal honesty; gotta love it. Harper doubled, drove in a run, walked, and scored twice. I keep waiting for him to snap out of his funk and unleash hell on the rest of the league, or at least some semblance of it; baby steps.
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Gah! Link post fail! Meant to post the location where Fade to Black started, but for some reason it didn’t take; sorry ’bout that.
Fast forward to 16:33, or listen to the whole damn album.
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Prof, the Mets have had 1 no-hitter by Johan Santana in 2012, in which he made 134 pitches and was never the same since. He was terrible the rest of the season, had shoulder surgery and hasn’t pitched in the majors since that season. This was an issue yesterday as to what Collins would do if Matz got out of the 8th without a hit.
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Michael Fulmer threw the first shut out by a Tiger rookie since JV in 2006. He now leads the league in ERA and WAR and is .01 off the WHIP lead. He’s not only the leading contender for AL RoY, but could be in the mix for Cy Young.
Having said all that, the Tigers have said they are keeping an eye on his innings (no stated limit) this year, so did it really make sense to send him out in the 8th & 9th yesterday? I know the Tiger bullpen is not a sure thing some days, but it seems like they should be able to hold a 6 run lead.
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You would think, but remember what happened in Seattle…
/shudder
Also, his pitch count wasn’t that high. We need some wins after falling back. Plus, his folks were there, so let him show off a little in front of moms.
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PS Mini-Mart got his 100th HR. Awwww.
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If you ask me, Detroit is the team with the most say on how the playoffs get seeded. Baltimore, Toronto, and Boston will all be beating up on each other, and Detroit is the team that has the ability to bounce one of those out of the hunt…..If they can manage to win most of their remaining games.
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Reality addict. Contributing a quality start along with pulling down the aggregate ERA and WHIP of the now third place cellar dwellers with seven scoreless, leaving his arm that much fresher for his next start against high scoring Boston would have been much better. Beautiful Brad you selfish prig!
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I’m sure he will beat out Zach Britton, because the old fogey voters hate relievers.
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Well Prof, I dare say it was quieter outside my window than yours the last two nights – even with the toads mating.
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I’m guessing that toads mate with their eyes closed, not sure how that would effect the sound of it though.
The Feesh seem to be doing well enough that you might consider calling them the Marlins. Gotta a Marlins recipe? Gotta a Borneo related Loria recipe?
I am feeshing for a recipe (hic).
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