Prof: Today’s musical selections are more about a feeling than a real genre or anything. A kind of sun dappled Southern California kind of feeling, a sort of Bakersfield Sound, but not really. Just laid back, harmonious, and beautiful. Let’s relax a little bit with some good music and some great baseball.
Royals 1, Orioles 4 – Prof: What’s that, you say? Baltimore won a game? Well, I’ll be! What’s funny is that the winner of the game was not starter Dylan Bundy, who went seven innings, but Hunter Harvey, who came in relief and was pretty much lights out. Harvey had been touted as The Next Big Thing in Oriole pitching, much like Bundy was. And while Bundy has been struggling on and off for a few years now, Harvey has never really had a chance to get out of the minors due to injuries and other setbacks. However, with the pitching staff among the weakest and thinnest in the majors, it’s finally Harvey’s chance to show what he’s got. The big offense push was provided by Hanser Alberto, who hit a three run homer in the eighth inning to break up the tie game.
Nationals 1, Pirates 4 – Scouts: The Nats have been hitting the cover off the ball lately, and when the Bucs lost starter Chris Archer in the first inning to a shoulder injury, it looked like they were primed to continue that success, but the Bucs bullpen had a thing or two to say about that.
White Sox 4, Twins 14 – Scouts: Now this is the sort of break out performance the Twins have been needing lately. Nelson Cruz led the way with a 4-5 performance totaling 3 RBI’s including a homer to left in the 5th.
Spiders 2, Mets 9 – Prof: Feels like it’s a rare occasion when Shane Bieber gets the loss but he did last night. Your winner was Steven Matz. What’s funny is that both Bieber and Matz had very similar stat lines – 6 innings (6.1 for Matz), seven strikeouts. 1 walk for Bieber, two for Matz. The only difference was that Matz only gave up one run and the Biebs gave up two. That was all the Mets needed to get rolling. Both J.D. Davis and Michael Conforto hit two run bombs, while Super Rookie Pete Alonso hit a two run double.
Phillies 3, Red Sox 2 – Scouts: Aaron Nola kept Boston in check allowing just a pair of runs and 4 hits over 7 strong innings. Philly did all their scoring in the top of the first, but it was all Nola needed.
Padres 2, Reds 3 – Prof: I personally would have been excited to see this pitching matchup, and it appears that it would have held up to my expectations. Sonny Gray went six innings, struck out ten, while Cal Quantrill also went six innings, and struck out nine. Gray gets the win, thanks to Freddy Galvis and his two run homer.
Marlins 1, Braves 5 – Prof: FREDERICK! CHARLES! FREEMAN!!!!! That’s right, y’all, FF5 went HAM on the Feesh. If Freddie could have pitched, he probably would have been lights out, that’s how next level he was. Freeman hit two solo home runs, plus had a two run single in the seventh inning. The Braves first baseman went 3-4.
Brewers 4, Cardinals 9 – Scouts: The Brew Crew continues to miss out on golden opportunities while the Cards are able to capitalize when it matters most. A pair of 4 run innings in the 6th and 7th broke this game wide open and dropped the Brewers to just 2 games over .500.
Angels 5, Rangers 1 (Game 1) – Prof: In game one of a doubleheader brought forth by the unfortunate passing of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs earlier in the season, the Angels had a pretty good day. Mike Trout – the modern day Colossus himself – hit his career best 42nd home run and is now tied for the league lead with Cody Bellinger (and as of my writing, Christian Yelich is only one behind them). Meanwhile, Andrew Heaney also had a career high with 14 strikeouts in eight innings and didn’t even give up a walk.
Angels 2, Rangers 3 (Game 2) F/11 – Scouts: The Rangers used the second game of the day/night double header to give a pair of rookies their shot at the bigs. Nick Solak homered in the 5th, and reached on an error in the 11th that resulted in the winning run. Meanwhile Brock Burke held the Angels scoreless across 6 innings to open the game.
Mariners 7, Rays 4 – Scouts: The M’s are on another hot streak, and as we saw in the beginning of the year, when they get hot, they are very dangerous. Kyle Seager homered and doubled and Tom Murphy homered, and the pair were responsible for 5 of the teams 6 RBI’s.
Giants 3, Cubs 5 – Scouts: Anthony Rizzo homered twice and Nicholas Castellanos pitched in one of his own as the Cubs put away the Giants pretty easily.
Tigers 3, Astros 6 – Scouts: A pair of first inning homers by George Springer and Jose Altuve set the tone for this one, as Detroit drops another game.
Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 8 – Scouts: Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado did their best to get the team a win, picking up a combined 5 RBI’s, but it wasn’t enough to stem the tide that was Arizona’s offense. The key hit that broke this one open was a two run triple by Eduardo Escobar in the 6th.
Yankees 2, Athletics 6 – Scouts: Well, look at the Yankees dropping a rare game to Oakland. Matt Olson continues his recent surge and Mark Canha threw in a homer to help back him up.
Blue Jays 3, Dodgers 16 – Scouts: I mean ouch, Toronto never really had a chance here. Clayton Kershaw survived one of his “worst starts in months” which amounted to 3 runs on 3 homers in 6 innings. Of course it didn’t even matter when his offense absolutely exploded for 16 runs, including 5 homers. Christ Taylor alone had 4 RBI’s on 3 hits.
Fan Interference 