Last night was a baseball fan’s perfect night. There were power displays, walk-off homers, dominant pitching performances, extra innings, and a back and forth battle. I had no idea which was the game of the night. Jered Weaver fixed all of that by tossing a no-hitter to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 9-0 thumping of the Minnesota Twins.
Weaver is now 4-0 on the season with a 1.61 ERA. He only walked one batter on the night, Josh Willingham in the seventh inning. Another runner reached base on a passed ball after a strikeout. He had nine strikeouts in the 121-pitch outing.
Not only did Weaver put on a show, the offense decided to chip in a little this time. Howie Kendrick went 4-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBIs. Kendrys Morales added three hits including a homer and two RBIs. In all the Angels pounded out 15 hits.
The no-hitter was the tenth in Angels’ history, the last one came from Ervin Santana on July 27, 2011. Trevor Plouffe was the only player that put a remote scare into the event. He ripped an eighth inning offering just to the left of the left field foul pole. Other than that Weaver had an easy time against a Twins team that is in the doldrums.
American League
Texas Rangers 5
Toronto Blue Jays 11
Ricky Romero moved to 4-0 despite being largely ineffective. He labored through eight innings of five-run ball, but Edwin Encarnacion continued his hot hitting with his ninth home run of the season. Matt Harrison was knocked around for eight runs in 3.1 innings of work.
Kansas City Royals 3
Detroit Tigers 2
Chris Getz singled in Mike Moustakas with the winning run in the top of the ninth. Jonathan Broxton closed it out in the ninth for his fourth save. Justin Verlander worked eight innings and allowed two runs. Jonathan Sanchez threw shutout ball for five innings and allowed only three base runners.
Baltimore Orioles 5
New York Yankees 0
Jake Arrieta was dominant last night in eight innings of five-hit scoreless ball giving the Orioles a series victory over the Yanks. He struck out nine batters and walked zero. He did not allow an extra base hit on the night. Matt Wieters had three hits including a homer and Nick Markakis added two hits and a home run to pace the Orioles’ offense. Alex Rodriguez had two hits for the Yankees. Ivan Nova lost his first decision since June 3, 2011.
Oakland A’s 4
Boston Red Sox 2
Brandon McCarthy put forth his best effort of the season going 6.2 innings allowing one earned run. He worked around five hits and three walks. Seth Smith drove in a pair of runs and Brian Fuentes got the save despite allowing a run in the ninth. Daniel Bard was the loser for the Red Sox. He gave up four earned runs in 5.1 innings.
Seattle Mariners 4
Tampa Bay Rays 5
James Shields became the American League’s first five-game winner last night. He worked six innings, allowed four runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out eleven batters on the night. Luke Scott‘s home run in the sixth inning was the difference. Kyle Seager hit two homers for the Mariners and drove in all four runs.
Cleveland Indians 6
Chicago White Sox 3
The Indians kept on rolling last night getting home runs from Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner. Hafner’s came of Matt Thornton in the ninth and gave the Indians some breathing room. Chris Perez was up to the task regardless as he closed out the game with a perfect inning for his eighth save. Adam Dunn hit his sixth home run for the ChiSox.
National League
New York Mets 1
Houston Astros 8
Wandy Rodriguez pitched seven sharp innings backed by an impressive power display from Chris Johnson, who hit two home runs and drove in six. Rodriguez moved to 3-2 with the win and his ERA stands at 1.56 on the season. Ruben Tejada had three hits for the Mets.
Los Angeles Dodger 5
Colorado Rockies 8
Jason Giambi hit a three-run walk-off home run after the Dodgers had tied the score in the top of the ninth. Carlos Gonzalez hit two home runs off Clayton Kershaw, who allowed five earned runs total.
Milwaukee Brewers 0
San Diego Padres 5
Jeff Suppan pitched five innings of scoreless ball and earned his first win of the season. The Padres were led by Cameron Maybin‘s two hits, 2 RBIs and a stolen base. Yovani Gallardo was the loser for the Brewers, falling to 1-3 on the season.
Pittsburgh Pirates 3
St. Louis Cardinals 12
Lance Lynn became the National League’s first five-game winner as he cruised to a victory after the Redbirds unloaded on Pirates starter A.J. Burnett. Carlos Beltran led the 17-hit attack with four hits (two homers). He scored two runs and drove in seven. Burnett was reached for twelve earned runs in 2.2 innings. Pedro Alvarez was the lone bright spot for the Pirates going 2-for-3 and scoring all three Pirates’ runs.
Arizona Diamondbacks 4
Washington Nationals 5
The Nationals ended a five-game losing streak as Ian Desmond launched a walk-off two-run homer off D’backs closer J.J. Putz. Rookie Bryce Harper led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, his third hit of the night, but Putz got the next two batters to strike out. Then Desmond provided the heroics. Miguel Montero had three hits for the Diamondbacks.
Chicago Cubs 3
Cincinnati Reds 1
Jeff Samardzija tossed 7.2 innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts. He was backed by solo homers from Bryan LaHair and Ian Stewart. Bronson Arroyo took the loss for the Reds, giving up three runs in six innings.
Miami Marlins 3
San Francisco Giants 2
Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo homer in the top of the tenth off Giants’ closer Santiago Casilla to give the Marlins the win. The Giants had scored two runs off Marlins closer Heath Bell in the bottom of the ninth, though Steve Cishek gave up the tying hit. Carlos Zambrano tossed seven innings of shutout ball for the Marlins, lowering his ERA to 2.53.
Philadelphia Phillies 13
Atlanta Braves 15
Roy Halladay was staked to a six-run lead after four and a half innings. Normally the Phillies would just sit back and let Doc do his work from there. But, he was reached by Brian McCann for a grand slam which tied the game. It would go back and forth from there as the teams collected a total of 36 hits. Finally in the bottom of the eleventh, Chipper Jones sent a shot to right center for a walk-off two-run home run.
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