BOS 9, NYY 4 WP Joe Kelly (3-3) LP Shane Greene (4-2)
Xander Bogaerts Kelly wasn’t particularly sharp but his 6 2/3rd inning effort was good enough for his first win for the Red Sox…it was a strange night as five spots went 0-for-19 for Boston but the other four were 12-for-18...Xander Bogaerts led the way with a four hit effort that included a home run and two RBI…Mookie Betts and Yoenis Cespedes had three hits with one of Betts’ leaving the yard…Daniel Nava also went deep…Martin Prado and Brian McCann both had two hits and with a homer in the losing effort…Brett Gardner doth protest too much and was ejected in the sixth after slamming his helmet in disagreement with the home plate umpire.
BAL 5, CIN 4 WP Bud Norris (11-8) Mat Latos (5-3) Zach Britton (32)
Bud Norris Baltimore staked Norris to an early lead and he did his part with six scoreless frames, fanning seven…Darren O’Day gave up three earned, ballooning his ERA all the way up to 1.34…Alejandro De Aza had a pair of knocks in his Orioles debut…Jonathan Schoop’s 13th homer turned out to be the difference-maker…Jay Bruce hit a grand slam…Billy Hamilton swiped his 55th.
DET 4, CLE 2 WP Phil Coke (3-2) LP Chad Allen (5-4) SV Joe Nathan (29)
In his second career start, Lobstein fanned ten in 5 1/3rd but also walked three, driving his pitch count to 101…Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Rajai Davis and J.D. Martinez all had three hits...J.D. Martinez had the big blow, a go-ahead three-run blast in the ninth off of Allen…Carlos Santana touched up Lobstein with his 23rd homer while Jason Kipnis snagged his 21st and 22nd bags…Carlos Carrasco worked 5 1/3rd, serving up 10 hits but he also fanned 10.
NYM 8, MIA 6 WP Jon Niese (8-10) LP Brad Penny (1-1) SV Jenrry Mejia (22)
Niese has his offense and bullpen to than for his eighth win as he allowed six earned in his six stanzas…Juan Lagares had four hits, scoring three, plating two and swiping two…David Wright had a pair of doubles, his first extra-base hits since August 7…Giancarlo Stanton’s 35th home run put him over 100 RBI for the first time in his career…Christian Yelich had three hits.
PHI 4, ATL 0 WP Kyle Kendrick (8-11) LP Mike Minor (6-9)
The Phillies shut the Braves out again but did give up three hits this time…Kyle Kendrick went the first seven, scattering all three hits…Ken Giles and Antonio Bastardo wrapped it up by fanning five of the six batter they faced…Carlos Ruiz gave the Phils all they needed with a solo shot…Ben Revere had two hits and two more pilfers, giving him 42…Jason Heyward had two of the Braves hits.
TOR 8, TB 2 WP R.A. Dickey (11-12) LP Jeremy Hellickson (1-3)
R.A. Dickey had the floater dancing as he tossed seven frames, fanning six, walking three while allowing two hits and two earned…Jose Reyes put the Jays ahead to stay with three-run blast in the fifth…Danny Valencia opened the scoring with s solo-shot while Dioner Navarro provided some insurance with a pinch-hit two run dinger…Hellickson was racked for eight hits and five earned in only 3 1/3rd innings…with one each, James Loney and Ryan Hanigan had the only safeties for the Rays.
CHC 7, MIL 1 WP Jake Arrieta (8-5) LP Yovani Gallardo (8-8)
Arrieta was solid with six frames of five-hit ball, allowing one earned while whiffing four…Luis Valbuena had two hits with a pair of runs and an RBI…Arismendy Alcantara hit his eighth bomb…Starlin Castro hurt his ankle with an awkward slide into home. The severity is unknown though a break has been ruled out…Ryan Braun knocked in the only run for the losers…Carlos Gomez could miss two weeks with his sore write.
HOU 8, LAA 3 WP Brad Peacock (4-8) LP C.J. Wilson (10-9)
Peacock didn’t dazzle but he threw well enough to snap the Angels’ six-game winning streak, hurling 6 1/3rd, fanning five while allowing two earned, three runs total…Jose Altuve had another monster game with four more hits, including a four-bagger, two runs and two RBI…oh yeah, he also stole his 50th, becoming the first American Leaguer to reach the mark this season…Robbie Grossman had three hits while Dexter Fowler and Jason Castro chipped in with a pair each…C.J. Wilson was touched for five earned on eight hit in only 3 1/3rd innings…but at least he has great smelling hair…Gordon Beckham had three hits in the losing effort.
CWS 6, MIN 3 WP Daniel Webb (6-4) LP Lester Oliveros (0-1) SV Jake Petricka (11)
Hector Noesi threw seven solid, scattering nine hits with three earned, fanning five…Tyler Flowers was the star with a pair of two homers including the go-ahead blast in the 10th…Dayan Viciedo followed that with an exclamation point, smacking his 18th…Kennys Vargas hit his fifth for the Twins
KC 2, TEX 1 WP Jason Frasor (4-1) LP Michael Kirkman (0-1) SV Aaron Crow (3
Starters Jeremy Guthrie Guthrie and Derek Holland pitched to a stalemate as both went seven frames, allowing just a run…this was Holland’s first appearance of the year as he’s been rehabbing a surgically repaired knee all season…the southpaw was sharp, whiffing six with no bases on balls…Salvador Perez plated the game-winner…the usual shutdown trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland were given the night off so Crow picked up the save…Alex Rios tallied three hits and a steal in the losing effort.
STL 6, PIT 4 WP Adam Wainwright (16-9) Jeff Locke (6-4) SV Pat Neshek (5)
Wainwright’s arm was not sharp, it’s a good thing his bat was smoking as he helped his cause with three RBI…on the hill Wainwright scuffled a bit, allowing four earned on seven hits including three homers while only punching out three…Peter Bourjos was 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and a steal…Russell Martin, Jordy Mercer and Starling Marte all took Wainwright deep…Trevor Rosenthal worked the previous two games so Neshek got the call to seal the deal.
SF 12, COL 7 WP George Kontos (4-0) LP Matt Belisle (4-7)
The Rockies soared to a 6-0 lead but the Giants stormed, tallying three in the sixth and six in the decisive seventh inning…Buster Posey lead the charge with a 3-for-5 evening, scoring three and plating four, buoyed by a solo shot that got things going in the sixth…Andrew Susac smashed a three-run shot in the seventh…Hunter Pence, Gregor Blanco and Joe Panik all had multiple hits for the winners…DJ LeMahieu had two hits with a homer…Drew Stubbs and Corey Dickerson also had a pair of hits in the losing cause.
SEA 6, OAK 5 WP James Paxton (4-1) LP Sonny Gray (13-7) SV Fernando Rodney (40)
Paxton tossed 7 2/3rds innings of two-run ball, scattering four hits, two walks with four whiffs…Austin Jackson, Kyle Seager and Endy Chavez all plated a pair, Seager’s coming on his 21st big fly…Sonny Gray wasn’t his usual self, working just five frames…Craig Gentry had three hits with a pair of RBI while Derek Norris had two hits and scored a pair…Rodney recorded his 40th save, the second time he’s reached that mark in his career.
SD 2, ARI 1 WP Kevin Quackenbush (2-3) LP Brad Ziegler (5-2)
The walkoff kids did it again, this time rookie Cory Spangenberg stepped up as a pinch-hitter in the ninth, having made his MLB debut the night before. Spangenberg, not known for his power, promptly deposited one over the fence and the goofy bouncing up-and-down circle jerk ensued…Prior to Spangenberg’s heroics, Wade Miley and Odrisamer Despaigne pitched to a draw, each working seven strong, allowing a run each.
LAD 4, WSH 1 WP Clayton Kershaw (16-3) LP Doug Fister (12-5) SV Kenley Jansen (39)
The marquee matchup of the evening took place in Dodger Stadium where Kershaw put another notch in his Cy Young belt with another stellar outing, twirling eight frames of one-run ball, fanning eight while allowing just five base runners…Juan Uribe had the big blow on offense with a two-run dinger…Carl Crawford had two hits and his 22nd steal…that could be the quietest 22 steals in the league this year…by striking out the side, Jansen now has 90 whiffs for the season…Fister wasn’t on his game as he surrendered ten hits in five innings.