TOR 4, NYY 3 WP J.A. Happ (9-8) LP Brandon McCarthy (8-14) SV Casey Janssen (20)
It was like old times as the Jays smashed three homers with Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista doing the damage…it was the fifth game in a row with a Joey Bats blast…J.A. Happ went seven strong, fanning six with no walks. He scattered nine hits allowing three earned…Janssen was back in the 9th after whining he didn’t get the save opportunity the previous game…Brett Gardner finished a single short of the cycle…Dellin Betances racked up another four whiffs in two innings of work.
NYM 6, PHI 5 WP Dillon Gee (6-6) LP A.J. Burnett (7-15) SV Jenrry Mejia (21)
Anthony Recker had the big blow with a 3-run shot off Burnett in the 6th…Wilmer Flores had three knocks and is looking more comfortable at shortstop…Gee wasn’t all that sharp, walking three in six frames but he did fan seven…Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown went yard for the losers…Brown had four hits, setting a career high…Jimmy Rollins had a pair of knocks with a run…ben Revere swiped his 40th.
CIN 3, PIT 2 WP Johnny Cueto (16-8) LP Phil Hughes (6-5) SV Aroldis Chapman (29)
This day belonged to Chris Heisey as he hit a pair of homers accounting for all three runs...Cueto was touched for a pair of solo shots but was otherwise up to his old tricks, tossing eight frames with six whiffs…Chapman continues to reward those that picked him up at a discount back in the spring, recording save number 29 and strikeouts 86 and 87…Josh Harrison continued to amaze with a leadoff smash with Jordy Mercer touching them all as well…Liriano had a typical game with three walks and five whiffs in seven stanzas.
BAL 12, MIN 8 WP Wei-Yin Chen (14-4) LP Ricky Nolasco (5-10) SV Zach Britton (31)
The Orioles added three onto their league-leading home run total with Nelson Cruz, Ryan Flaherty and J.J. Hardy doing the honors…every Orioles starter had at least one hit with Caleb Joseph’s four, Nick Markakis’ four and David Lough’s three leading the way…Chen did what he’s supposed to do with a big lead as he threw strikes, fanning seven with no walks in 6 2/3rd frames…Ubaldo Jimenez didn’t fare so well coming out of the bullpen, walking three with a hit and three earned while recording just one out…Trevor Plouffe and Danny Santana hit homers for the Twins…need some steals down the stretch? Jordan Schafer snagged his 26th and is likely available. Forget value, it’s all about categories now.
BOS 3, TB 0 WP Clay Buchholz (6-8) LP Alex Cobb (9-7)
Buchholz channeled his best Greg Maddux with a 98-pitch, 3-hit complete game effort, striking out six with no walks…Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts each had a pair of hits and a run with Bogaerts adding an RBI as well…Dustin Pedroia remained out of the lineup as he’s undergoing the league concussion protocol…Alex Cobb was solid in a losing effort, tossing 6 1/3rd innings with six whiffs and a walk.
CWS 6, DET 2 WP Jose Quintana (7-10) RP Rick Porcello (15-9)
Quintana went seven strong, scattering five hits with three whiffs…with two more knocks, Adam Eaton has hit in all seven games since coming off the DL, going 12-for-28 (.429)…the White Sox were aided by four Tigers errors, leading to three unearned runs…while the errors hurt, Porcello did serve up 11 hits in 6 2/3rd innings…to be fair, he also fanned seven with just one walk.
HOU 3, TEX 2 WP Jose Veras (3-1) LP Neal Cotts (2-8) Chad Qualls (16)
Jose Altuve continued his march to 200 hits with four more including the game-winner…Matt Dominguez hit his 15th…Dallas Keuchel didn’t figure in the decision but was solid, tossing seven stanzas of five-hit, two run ball…Alex Rios was the only Ranger to have multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run and RBI.
STL 9, CHC 6 WP Pat Neshek (7-1) LP Carlos Villanueva (5-7) SV Trevor Rosenthal (40)
With a homer and four RBI, Matt Holliday brought his two-game total to three homers and nine RBI…talk about a holiday weekend…what, you thought I’d pass that up?...Matt Carpenter chipped in with 1-for-2 effort, walking thrice while scoring three as well…Jhonny Peralta had three hits and a pair of RBI…John Lackey was hit for a five-spot early, surrendering a three-run bomb to Luis Valbuena in the 2nd…Kolten Wong left the game after a collision and is being treated for concussion symptoms…Arismendy Alcantara smacked another homer late in the losing cause.
LAA 8, OAK 1 WP Matt Shoemaker (14-4) LP Scott Kazmir (14-7)
Mike Trout and Chris Iannetta both went deep as the Halos swept the Athletics… For the third straight game, Shoemaker pitched at least seven scoreless innings before being lifted…Kazmir couldn’t find the zone, issuing six walks en route to allowing six earned in only 1 1/3rd innings, bringing his ERA versus the Halos to 27.02 this season…it’s 2.73 versus the rest of the league…in an effort to spark their dormant offense, the A’s acquired Adam Dunn.
SF 15, MIL 5 WP Madison Bumgarner (16-9) LP Kyle Lohse (12-8)
The Giants offensive explosion allowed the club to lift Bumgarner after six which was nice seeing that he averaged eight innings his previous five outings…Pablo Sandoval was 3-for-4 with the only Giants homer, scoring and knocking in three…Hunter Pence had a huge day with a 4-for-5 effort, scoring three while plating two more…back-up catcher Andrew Susac got in on the fun with a three-hit effort, driving in three…Tim Lincecum struggled in his first appearance since being made a reliever…Carlos Gomez left the game with a wrist injury, his status for the upcoming week is unclear…Milwaukee picked up Jonathan Broxton in a waiver deal to bolster the bridge to Francisco Rodriguez.
ARI 6, COL 2 WP Chase Anderson (8-6) LP Jorge De La Rosa (13-10)
Anderson silenced the Rockies for six stanzas, scattering five hits while allowing one run. He whiffed eight with no walks…Nolan Reimold hit a pinch-hit 2-run homer...Aaron Hill was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI…Ender Inciarte had two knocks and a steal, giving him seven swipes since August 13…Charlie Blackmon was the lone bright spot for the Rockies, going 2-for-4 with a solo shot.
LAD 7, SD 1 WP Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-6) WP Eric Stults (6-15)
It was like he never left as Ryu was triumphant in his return, stifling the Padres over seven frames, allowing just four hits with one earned, fanning seven while issuing no bases on balls…Juan Uribe’s return was also a success as he went 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI…Adrian Gonzalez had four hits…Yangervis Solarte had two of the four hits for the Friars…Kevin Quackenbush is likely going to assume the closer role as Joaquin Benoit rests a sore shoulder.
SEA 5, WSH 3 WP Hisashi Iwakuma (13-6) LP Tanner Roark (12-9) SV Fernando Rodney (39)
Iwakuma surrendered a trio of solo shots to the Nationals but that was about it, working six innings with six whiffs…Dustin Ackley supplied the offense with two hits including a homer and four RBI…Austin Jackson and Brad Miller each had three hits for the victors…Bryce Harper had two of the Nationals’ homers with newcomer Nate Schierholtz supplying the other.
ATL 1, MIA 0 WP Alex Wood (10-10) LP Nathan Eovaldi (6-10) SV Craig Kimbrel (41)
Wood spun a gem, hurling eight frames of five-hit, no walk shutout ball, fanning 12 along the way…Evan Gattis was responsible for the only run of the game as he took Eovaldi out of the yard in the 2nd…Eovaldi scattered nine hits over 6 2/3rd with the only run being Gattis’ solo-shot.
CLE 4, KC 2 SUSPENDED in 10TH
The Indians and Royals will pick up this contest on September 22 as the game was suspended after a rain delay in the middle of the 10th inning…The Tribe went ahead in the top half on a Lonnie Chisenhall two-bagger…T.J. House was on his game, twirling seven frames of five-hit, one run, zero walks ball while punching out five Royals…Yan Gomes had four hits that his fantasy owners will be eagerly waiting for in three weeks…Danny Duffy wasn’t as sharp as usual but he held the Indians to just two runs, one earned over 6 2/3rd frames…Alex Gordon hit his ninth August homer, which is as many as he had coming into the month.