Author Archives: John Autin

Fifth of July: Game Notes from Saturday (plus…)

[Lots of words in here, but don’t miss the table way down under Friday’s White Sox-Mariners score.]

@Mariners 3, White Sox 2 (14 inn.) — Baseball’s oldest cliche is also the best loved: It just takes one pitch to turn a goat into a hero. Brad Miller came up in the 14th toting an 0-for-5 albatross — 0-3 in ribby chances, each with two aboard — and his error starting the home 9th had set up a White Sox walk-off threat. Now, Michael Saunders was on first with a one-out single, and Miller quickly fell into a two-strike hole.

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Saturday Game Notes: Going the Distance

A lotta stuff happened in a long day of baseball. Let’s dig in!

Red Sox 2, @Yankees 1 — An epic duel between Jon Lester and Masahiro Tanaka, with a big twist at the finish. Tanaka was one strike away from nursing a 1-1 tie through the top of the 9th. But he was also living on borrowed time; he wasn’t finishing all his pitches. The first two batters hit liners, but the one by Big Papi turned into a double play. Tanaka then hung one to Mike Napoli, but the slugger swung through it. On one-and-two, everyone looked for the knockout splitter.

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Game Notes from Friday, 6/27 … and earlier

Athletics 9, @Marlins 5 — Oakland blew a big lead in the 6th, but pulled even in the 8th on Josh Reddick’s two-out triple, then scored four in the 9th on five singles off Steve Cishek. A clean closeout by Sean Doolittle — 12 strikes, one ball — ran his season line to 55 Ks and one walk in 38 IP. Oakland’s won NINE games that they trailed after seven innings

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Tuesday Tidbits & Monday Morsels

@Cubs 7, Reds 3 — Jake Arrieta’s six perfect innings ended when he just missed gloving Billy Hamilton’s grounder. Two hits with two outs halved his 4-0 lead, but Arrieta rose to the challenge with his 9th strikeout, getting Ryan Ludwick as the tying run. Rick Renteria ran through four arms in five batters to hold Cincy at bay in the 8th, and Joey Votto’s whiff of leather widened the lead. Anthony Rizzo’s 3 hits and 17th home run led Chicago, which got just three other knocks.

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