Chris Sale brought the good stuff today as he tossed his most dominant outing of the season. While he didn’t quite match his season high strikeout total of 15 (May 11), he did punch out 13 and gave up zero runs across seven innings. He gave up just four hits and picked up his seventh win of the year. It was his fourth straight start of six or more innings and two or fewer runs with at least nine strikeouts. He finished with 70.0 points on FanDuel which led all players in scoring today. He was at 93 pitches through seven innings and could have easily gone back out for the eighth, but with the Sox leading in the game 5-0 there was no reason to push the pitch count higher. The strong outing lowered his ERA to 2.56 for the year, a number that could be even lower given his ridiculously low .176 BAA. Sale’s next start will be a tough one as he will head to New York and face the Yankees in their tiny sized ballpark; however, in his first and only start against the Yankees this year he tossed six innings of one-run ball and struck out eight.  Some of his teammate’s offensive highlights include Mitch Moreland swatting a two-run home run and Jackie Bradley Jr. going 3-for-3.

 

That Just Happened

José Berrios dominated the Rangers for seven innings en route to his eighth win of the year. He fired seven shutout innings and struck out 12. He gave up just three hits and lowered his ERA to 3.15. It was his fourth consecutive quality start and his eighth consecutive start of at least six strikeouts.

The Reds rallied for seven runs in the seventh inning to complete a comeback victory over the Cubs and finish off a four game sweep. It was their seventh straight win overall. Joey Votto finished 3-for-4 with a walk and a RBI and Jesse Winker smacked a pinch-hit three-run dinger in that explosive seventh inning.

The Indians got home runs from four different players in their 12-2 win over the Tigers. The long balls were deposited by Francisco Lindor (19), José Ramírez (23), Jason Kipnis (8), and Edwin Encarnación (18). Encarnacion had the biggest day of the four as he drove in five runs.

Clay Buchholz unfortunately had his start cut short with side tightness after five innings, but he was effective once again. As we all keep waiting for the blow up games from Buchholz they just simply aren’t happening. Today he pitched five shutout innings and struck out five. He has given up one run or fewer in five of his seven starts and two runs or fewer in all but one.

Yoan Moncada had a monster day for the White Sox today as he finished 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and six RBI. He now has 10 home runs and 32 RBI on the year. He put up 45.4 points on FanDuel and led all hitters on the “main” slate in scoring today. His big day helped lead Carlos Rodon to his first win of the year. Rodon was no slouch either though, as he hurled eight innings and gave up just two runs while striking out three.

The Dodgers bombarded the Mets with seven home runs in an 8-7 extra innings victory. Kiké Hernández and Cody Bellinger each launched a pair of home runs and drove in two runs apiece. Joc Pederson , Max Muncy , and Justin Turner also left the yard with Turner’s being the game decider in the eleventh inning. For the Mets, Kevin Plawecki had a strong day at the office as he homered, doubled, and drove in four.

Gerrit Cole picked up his ninth win of the year with a strong outing today. He only lasted five innings due to having 104 pitches, but he gave up just one run and struck out eight. He has at least five strikeouts in all 16 of his starts this season. Yuli Gurriel provided much of the Astros offense as he finished 3-for-5 with a grand slam, two doubles, two runs, and four RBI. He is hitting a crisp .306 for the year and now has 36 RBI despite missing the first two weeks of the season.

Giancarlo Stanton had a perfect day at the ballpark today as he finished 5-for-5. He crushed his nineteenth home run of the year and also smacked two doubles. The five hits brought his average up to .262 and after a slow start to begin the year he has really found his stroke. His big day was not enough for the Yankees though as they fell to the Rays 7-6. Domingo Germán had been the talk of the fantasy world for the last couple weeks, but he delivered a real stinker in this one, giving up six runs in just three innings of work. The game ended on a Jake Bauers walk-off home run in the twelfth.

It was a wild finish in San Francisco today as the Giants were walk-off winners in eleven innings. The starting pitchers for both teams were strong as Dereck Rodriguez fired seven innings of one-run ball for the Giants and Eric Lauer tossed six innings of one-run ball for the Padres. The game went into extras tied 1-1 and would remain that way until the eleventh inning. Cory Spangenberg broke the tie with a RBI single to give the Padres a 2-1 lead. It wouldn’t be enough though, as Hunter Pence delivered a two-run walk-off double in the bottom half of the inning.

 

Burning Questions

Will Brandon Nimmo miss any action with the finger injury he suffered today that forced him to leave the game?

Kris Bryant missed his second straight game with a shoulder issue, is a DL trip looming?

Caleb Smith was removed from his start today with a sore shoulder, how much time will he miss?

Ronald Acuna is close to making his return from the DL, could we see him back in the Braves lineup Tuesday?

Nick Pivetta has looked great at times this year and very poor at other times; which version will we see tonight against the Nationals?

 

Stay tuned.