Welcome to the second installment of the Box Score Blitz, reviewing the games of Saturday, August. There was a full slate plus two so let’s get right to it.
TOR 2, NYY 0 WP Drew Hutchison (9-11) LP Michael Pineda (3-3) SV Aaron Sanchez (1)
Hutchison is backing up his contention that his struggles earlier in the month were not due to fatigue with his second straight quality outing, this time surrendering only one knock in seven frames, fanning nine while walking only two along the way…Sanchez notched his first career save, retiring all six batters he faced. While he likely won’t be handed the closer role full-time since management prefers not to use Sanchez two days in a row, if he has a clean 8th, he may get more chances to close things out down the stretch…Jose Bautista left the yard for the fourth consecutive game…a double by Mark Teixeira was the only Yankees’ hit…albeit a losing effort, Pineda has his third straight solid outing since returning from the disabled list, allowing just two earned in six strong.
CWS 6, DET 3 WP Chris Sale (11-3) LP Max Scherzer (15-5) SV Jake Petricka (10) GAME 1
In the opener of a day-night twin bill, Sale prevailed in a battle of AL Central aces with a 7-inning, 13-strikeout performance…Adam Dunn and Tyler Flowers both took Scherzer deep…with Petricka’s tenth save, the White Sox became the last team to have a closer reach double digits…Ian Kinsler and Victor Martinez both went yard off Sale in the first inning.
CHC 5, STL 1 WP Felix Doubront (3-4) LP Justin Masterson (6-9) GAME 1
In the afternoon half of a double header, Doubront made it look easy in his Cubs debut, tossing seven strong while allowing just one earned on seven hits, fanning four and walking one…the Cubs continued their power barrage sending three out of Busch Stadium with Logan Watkins, Chris Valaika and Starlin Castro all touching Masterson up with a homer…Matt Holliday had a rough game for the Cards, going 0-for-4 while stranding four runners. Spoiler alert: he took it out on the Cubs in the nightcap.
PIT 3, CIN 2 WP Vance Worley (6-4) LP Alfredo Simon (13-9) SV Mark Melancon (26)
Neil Walker’s 3-run cannonball in the first inning was all the Pirates needed to raise the Jolly Roger…that makes 16 of Walker’s 17 homers hit swinging left-handed…Worley wasn’t particularly sharp, but he did what he had to do, get into the 7th and let the bullpen take over…Todd Frazier accounted for the only Reds run with a solo blast…Alfredo Simon didn’t pitch poorly, holding the Bucs scoreless after Walker cleared the deck, tossing seven stanzas with seven punch outs.
BAL 3, MIN 2 WP Andrew Miller (4-5) LP Jared Burton (2-2) SV Zach Britton (30)
Newcomer Jimmy Paredes was the hero with a 2-for-4 performance, scoring once and driving in a pair of teammates…Paredes was in the lineup as a replacement for Steve Pearce who could be out awhile with an abdominal strain…to that end, the Orioles acquires Kelly Johnson from the Red Sox, sending Jemile Weeks to Boston in a 4-player deal…Chris Tillman only lasted five frames…no one talks about them, but with Miller, Darren O’Day and Britton, the Orioles have one of the best bullpens to protect a lead…The Twins had their chances, especially early on but they were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11.
TB 7, BOS 0 WP Jake Odorizzi (10-11) LP Allen Webster (3-3)
Odorizzi had trouble locating last Monday so he did some tinkering between starts and the Red Sox paid the price. Odorizzi hurled seven scoreless, allowing just one hit with seven whiffs and three walks…the Rays scores a touchdown despite their first two hitters going 0-for-10…with Desmond Jennings still out, Brandon Guyer again filled in and again contributed with pair of knocks, scoring twice…Dustin Pedroia took a forearm shiver to the head attempting to tag Logan Forsythe and left the game in the second inning with a possible concussion. His availability for weekly leagues tomorrow is up-in-the-air.
CLE 3, KC 2 WP Josh Tomlin (6-8) LP Scott Downs (0-4)
Cleveland carried out their game plan perfectly – wait out James Shields, Wade Davis, Greg Holland and Kelvin Herrera and then win it in the 11th…Michael Brantley added to his exceptional campaign with two hits, a run and the go-ahead ribbie…Shields was his usual self, tossing seven innings of 1-run ball, fanning four with one walk…Davis, Holland and Herrera then combined for six whiffs as they each tossed an inning.
DET 8, CWS 4 WP Kyle Ryan (1-0) LP Chris Bassitt (0-1) GAME 2
Ryan helped the Tigers salvage a split as he bested Bassitt as both made their MLB debuts…Ryan tossed six scoreless, scattering five hits, two walks but just one whiff…Ian Kinsler, Don Kelly and Ezequiel Carrera were the hitting stars each collecting three knocks…Kinsler also plated three teammates…Miguel Cabrera tweaked his bothersome ankle trying to leg out a hit. He left the game early. His status is uncertain…Dayan Viciedo made it a 1-run game in the 8th with a 3-run shot but the Tigers iced it with 3 in the 9th.
MIA 4, ATL 0 WP Jarred Cosart (12-8) LP Aaron Harang (10-9)
Cosart twirled seven stellar stanzas, surrendering seven hits, with five whiffs and just one walk…Donovan Solano supplied all the Marlins needed with a home run in the first and also knocked in some insurance later…Jason Heyward had three hits in the losing effort.
PHI 7, NYM 2 WP Jerome Williams (5-5) LP Bartolo Colon (12-11)
Williams wasn’t especially sharp, walking three while fanning just three in 6 2/3rds but it was enough to even his record…Marlon Byrd hit his 25th homer while Jimmy Rollins swiped his 28th bag in the victory…Ryan Howard knocked in three while Cody Asche had three hits for the winners…set-up man Ken Giles threw another clean frame, dropping his ERA to a sparkling 1.30…though he didn’t issue any walks Colon’s location was off as he served up nine hits in five frames, leading to six earned…Matt den Dekker had a pair of hits for the losers.
HOU 2, TEX 0 WP Scott Feldman (8-10) LP Phil Klein (0-2)
Feldman silenced the Rangers with a 3-hit, complete game shutout, fanning five while walking only one…Robbie Ross matched Feldman pitch for pitch for five scoreless frames but had to be removed as he was on a pitch count…it’s hard to highlight an offensive hero when both teams totaled a combined seven hits but Jesus Guzman was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored for the Astros…Jake Marisnick collected the sole RBI for either side.
COL 2, ARI 0 Tyler Matzek (4-9) LP Vidal Nuno (2-9) SV LaTroy Hawkins (22)
The Rockies mustered only three hits but two left the yard, Matt McBride and Charlie Blackmon doing the honors…Matzek tossed seven shutout frames before handing it off to a quartet of bullpen mates that held the Diamondbacks scoreless for the duration…Nolan Reimold made his debut for the Diamondbacks which means he’s likely to miss games due to injury for his third team this season. Saying he’d hit the DL for his third team may be a little funnier, but some tool out there will no doubt point out teams don’t put players on the DL once rosters expand. Wait – I didn’t really mean to call one of you a tool. That would never happen here. My Twitter account, however, is a different matter entirely.
STL 13, CHC 2 WP Marco Gonzales (1-2) LP Tsuyoshi Wada (4-2) GAME 2
As hinted earlier, Matt Holliday had a big game in the nightcap, knocking a pair of balls out of the yard en route to a 5-RBI evening…Gonzales was the beneficiary, earning his first career win with six innings of 3-hits, 2-walk ball, fanning five while allowing just one earned…Jorge Soler continued to impress, smacking an RBI double in the losing effort.
SD 2, LAD 1 WP Tim Stauffer (6-2) LP Jamey Wright (4-4)
For the third consecutive contest, the Padres were able to run on the field after a walkoff victory, gathering around the hero doing the goofy jumping up and down circle jerk that has become the tradition, regardless of how the game was won or how important it is…starters Zack Greinke and Ian Kennedy had nearly identical lines as both allowed four hits and one earned, punching out eight. Greinke walked two over his eight frames while Kennedy issued three free passes in his seven frames of work…Adrian Gonzalez had the only home run for either squad as he knocked his 19th of the season out of his old digs…Alexi Amarista knocked in Will Venable for the game-winner with Venable in scoring position after swiping second.
SF 3, MIL 1 WP Jake Peavy (4-13) LP Mike Fiers (4-2) SV Santiago Casilla (13)
Jake Peavy carried a no-hitter into the 8th before Mark Reynolds broke it up…for the game, Peavy went 7 1/3rd, allowing just the sole hit, fanning eight including the 2000th of his career…on a different night, Fiers threw well enough to get a win as he went seven strong, whiffing nine of his own…Mike Morse provided the offensive difference-maker, a 2-run double…it won’t show up in the box score but Brandon Crawford made a couple of dazzling defensive plays including a sparkling double play that had the feel of the kind of play that is remembered as the one that saved the no-hitter.
LAA 2, OAK 0 WP Yoslan Herrera (1-1) LP Jeff Samardzija (6-11) SV Huston Street (35)
After Wade LeBlanc came up short in his audition to replace Garrett Richards, the Angels turned to Cory Rasmus, knowing he wasn’t stretched out sufficiently to go deep into the contest. No matter, Mike Scioscia would turn it over to his bullpen. Eight relievers later, the Halos extended their division lead over the A’s to 4 games…Erick Aybar continued his quietly effective season with two hits and an RBI…Josh Donaldson had two of the Athletics' three hits.
WSH 3, SEA 1 WP Stephen Strasburg (11-10) RP Roenis Elias (9-12) SV Rafael Soriano (30)
Strasburg’s numbers on the road aren’t nearly as impressive as those at home but you’d never know it after he silenced the Mariners with 7 2/3rds innings of 1-run ball, allowing eight hits, nary a walk and eight strikeouts…Jayson Werth provided all the runs the Nats would need with a first inning, 2-run blast…Dustin Ackley made it interesting late with an 8th inning bomb off Strasburg…Soriano’s save was typically eventful as he gave up a couple hits before retiring the side for his 30th.