Added games are above the solid line.
@Orioles 3, Mariners 1: Chris Tillman won his 4th straight start, beating the team that developed him but dealt him away in the disastrous Bedard trade. Nick Markakis nipped Jason Vargas on his Achilles heel with a 2-run HR (2 out, 1-2 count in the 2nd), helping end his 5-start win streak. Baltimore has crept within a half-game of the wild card.
Some more notes from Sunday games, not worth a separate post. New content is above the solid line.
— Baltimore’s 1-0, 10-inning win was the first MLB game since 1982 in which both teams pitched 10+ innings and allowed 3 hits or less. (That ’82 game is well-known to Mets fans, as super-spot-starter Terry Leach tossed a 10-IP 1-hitter in his 2nd career start — one of his 3 shutouts in 21 career starts.)
Mets 3, D-backs 1: Matt Harvey was 4 for 15 with a HR at Buffalo, so I guess he’s not just kidding around up there. In his MLB debut, Harvey went 2 for 2 with a double and then a single, each with 2 strikes. On the hill, the touted righty (picked 7th just 2 years ago) fanned the first man he faced, and went on to set a new Mets debut record of 11 strikeouts, 3 more than the old mark by Tom Seaver (who else?) and matched by Bill Denehy just 3 days later.
@Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2 (12): Rafael Furcal had the game-winning hit, giving him 2 of their 4 walk-offs this year. But my focus is elsewhere.
ESPN reports that Miami has traded 3B Hanley Ramirez and RP Randy Choate to the Dodgers for SP Nathan Eovaldi and minor-league RP Scott McGough. No cash was reported in the transaction. Ramirez is signed through 2014, with $31.5 million coming in those next 2 years.
How the mighty are fallen, eh?
On Tuesday, Fernando Rodney converted his 13th straight Save chance and 28th in 30 tries, while running his scoreless streak to 15 innings. Awaaay back on April 6, after the Rays-Yankees opener, some cynic wrote this:
@Phillies 7, Brewers 6: It was 1-1 through 5. Four HRs later, Cliff Lee was staring at a 1-7 record. But one bullpen acid flashback after that, Lee was off the hook, and the Phils were going home with a happy sense of deja vu.
@Giants 7, Padres 1: Four in the 1st matched San Francisco’s season high, and Buster Posey broke it open with a 3-run shot towards the RF line. With a packed house, the Giants improved to 30-16 at home and maintained their game-and-a-half lead on the stabilized Dodgers.
Belated additions above the line:
@Diamondbacks 8, Astros 2: Houston took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 6th, but momentum may have swung on this failed squeeze — was Justin Maxwell‘s heart really in it? — and a 7-run retort gave Arizona the 3-game sweep by a combined 33-13 margin.
@Cardinals 12, Cubs 0: We’ve seen a 12-run inning before (right?) — but in the home 7th of a scoreless game? It began with an infield single, a pitching change and a failed sac attempt. Then: double, single, triple, walk, double, walk, popout, pitching change, double, double, double, walk, pitching change, double, double, and SO/reached on WP, before the carousel finally coasted to a halt.