Early Game Recap

The Royals defeated the Yankees 10-5: Kansas City had no issue with superstar pitcher Luis Severino as they were able to tag him for eight hits and six earned runs en route to the win. Whit Merrifield picked up a hit and also stole a base. It was his fifth steal in the last five games and he now has 22 on the season. Lucas Duda hit his ninth home run and drove in three on the afternoon. New Royal Brian Goodwin hit his first home run as a member of KC and, like Duda, drove in three. Over on the Yankees side, they had one home run and it came off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton , it was his 24th home run of the year. Neil Walker finished 3-for-4 with a RBI and he now has eight hits in his last 12 at-bats, raising his average from .196 to .223 in a four-game span. Greg Bird collected two hits, a walk, and scored a run. He is 20-for-73 (.274) in July with three home runs and 16 RBI. These two teams play again later tonight for the second part of their double-header and the probable pitchers are Heath Fillmyer for the Royals and CC Sabathia for the Yankees.

 

That Just Happened

The Cardinals are currently leading over the Cubs 6-2 in the eighth inning. Marcell Ozuna is having himself a day, he is 3-for-4 with a grand slam. It was his first home run since June 16 and only his eleventh of the year. After hitting 37 home runs last year, Ozuna has not been able to match the power production that he showed off last season. Miles Mikolas started on the mound for St. Louis and he fired six strong innings in which he only surrendered two runs and struck out two. Dakota Hudson made his MLB debut and he hurled a perfect seventh inning and struck out two. For the Cubs, their two runs were scored on a Javier Báez two-run shot. It was home run number 21 for the all-star infielder. José Quintana lasted just three innings and he was tagged for all six of the Cardinals runs.

 

15-15 Club

Currently there are six players with at least 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases:

José Ramírez – 30 home runs, 22 steals.

Mike Trout – 28 home runs, 20 steals.

Francisco Lindor – 27 home runs, 15 steals.

Mookie Betts – 25 home runs, 19 steals.

Javier Báez – 21 home runs, 19 steals.

Starling Marte – 16 home runs, 25 steals.

 

Streaking

Chris Sale – 6 starts, 39.0 innings, 5-0 record, 67 strikeouts, 0.23 ERA (one earned run).

Zack Greinke – 7 starts, 46.2 innings, 6-0 record, 48 strikeouts, 1.16 ERA (six earned runs).

Tyler Anderson – 5 starts, 35.1 innings, 2-0 record, 35 strikeouts, 1.02 ERA (four earned runs).

Marco Gonzales – 4 starts, 28.1 innings, 4-0 record, 26 strikeouts, 1.27 ERA (four earned runs).

Dereck Rodriguez – 5 starts/1 relief, 35.1 innings, 3-0 record, 24 strikeouts, 1.53 ERA (six earned runs).

Clayton Kershaw – 4 starts, 26.1 innings, 2-1 record, 26 strikeouts, 1.71 ERA (five earned runs).

 

Burning Questions

Jacob deGrom has made three straight starts of at least eight innings and two or fewer runs, will that streak continue tonight against the Pirates?

How will Justin Verlander do in a home start against the Rangers?

Gio González gave up five earned runs in his last start, will he bounce back tonight against the Marlins?

Will Tyson Ross impress in what could be his last start for the Padres?

Mike Trout is 30-for-81 (.370) with seven home runs in his career against Félix Hernández , will he continue to dominate this matchup tonight?

 

Stay tuned.