MLB Game Recaps: Brandon Morrow Pitches The Toronto Blue Jays Past The Chicago White Sox

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Toronto Blue Jays 4, Chicago White Sox 0

Brandon Morrow‘s fine season kept on rolling as he shut down the hot White Sox Wednesday night. Morrow tossed a complete game shutout while only allowing two hits and two walks. Morrow got help on the offensive side of the ball from Jose Bautista‘s 15th home run and a 3-4 performance from Rajai Davis. Who would have thought Davis would still be slugging .470 in June? Both Chicago hits came from A.J. Pierzynski, though neither of them were for extra bases. The Jays are just two games out of first in baseball’s finest division following the win.

New York Yankees 4, Tampa Bay Rays 1

The second season has been far less magical than the first for Ivan Nova, but he came up big in Wednesday’s start against the Rays. Nova pitched eight innings and gave up just one run to push the Yankees just a half game out of the division lead. Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano each hit solo shots in the win, while the Rays got their only run on a B.J. Upton triple. Desmond Jennings had a nice game in the loss, going 2-4 with a triple and a run scored.

Cleveland Indians 9, Detroit Tigers 6

The bad version of Max Scherzer is the one that showed up Wednesday, as the Indians nailed him for five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. Michael Brantley hit a three-run homer, Shin-Soo Choo had three hits, and Johnny Damon reached base three times for the Tribe. The Tiger were the beneficiaries of Miguel Cabrera and Don Kelly home runs. Kelly has bumped his slugging percentage to .219 in 70 AB; that’s not far off from being one-third of Cabrera’s (.557).

Baltimore Orioles 2, Boston Red Sox 1

The Orioles are getting back into the swing of things (baseball pun!), as that’s another win against a good Red Sox team. This loss can’t be pinned on Josh Beckett, as the oft-discussed starting pitcher hurled eight innings and only allowed two runs in the loss. Wei-Yin Chen was just a little more fortunate, as he pitched seven innings and gave up one run. Neither pitcher walked a batter. The game’s runs were driven in by the unholy trio of Mike Aviles, Endy Chavez, and Robert Andino.

Minnesota Twins 4, Kansas City Royals 2

Felipe Paulino, who has been phenomenal for the Royals in 2012, had to leave the game early due to some groin issues and the Twins were able to capitalize against the Kansas City bullpen. Ben Revere, Justin Morneau, and Ryan Doumit all had multi-hit games while Yuniesky Betancourt hit a two-run shot off Nick Blackburn to account for both Royal runs.

Oakland Athletics 2, Texas Rangers 0

The Rangers are a difficult team to shut out, but Bartolo Colon recalled his prime self to do just that. Colon pitched eight innings without allowing a run while striking out five. Yoenis Cespedes took care of business at the dish by going 3-3 and missing the cycle by a home run. While the Texas lineup did absolutely nothing, Colby Lewis allowed only two runs in a complete game effort. If Lewis could simply stop allowing so many hitters to crush home runs off him, his season would look even better than it does now.

Seattle Mariners 8, Los Angeles Angels 6

Kyle Seager continued his slugging ways of late with a double and four RBI, while Ichiro Suzuki went 2-5 with three runs scored and two RBI. Kendrys Morales did everything he could to propel the Angels by homering and driving in three, but Jerome Williams got hit too hard for it to matter. The Seattle bullpen made sure things stayed in its team’s favor by pitching five shutout innings and only walking one batter.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Washington National 5, New York Mets 3

Edwin Jackson pitched seven innings and allowed just two earned runs to help the Nationals retain their NL East lead. Adam LaRoche, who has been relatively effective despite having one of the least sexy names on Washington’s roster, hit a three-run bomb in the first to stake his team to an early lead they would never surrender. Ike Davis broke out of his slump just a little bit for the Mets with a double and two walks for the Mets.

Cincinnati Reds 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 4

The Reds were able to withstand a random four-run Pirate eighth to pick up the win at home. Andrew McCutchen smacked his tenth homer in the failed comeback effort, while Brandon Phillips went yard for the Reds. Another game means another two strikeouts and another save for Aroldis Chapman. Chapman’s season line, which I can’t look at enough, is now as follows: 29 IP, 0.00 ERA, 52 K, 9 BB, 7 H. Filthy!

San Francisco Giants 6, San Diego Padres 5

The Giants are coming on in full force to make a run at the NL West’s top spot. Madison Bumgarner was not at his sharpest, but Clayton Richard was even shakier. The Giants got two hits and a solo home run from Gregor Blanco, who now has a .390 OBP on the season. Chase Headley drove in two runs for the Padres and his teammate Cameron Maybin went deep for the second time in 2012. If Melky Cabrera keeps hitting .366/.406/.536 this team can’t lose, right?

Atlanta Braves 2, Miami Marlins 1

The NL East figures to go down to the wire between a number of teams including these two. Josh Johnson was excellent (7 IP, 2 ER, 9 K), but he wasn’t as good as the young Randall Delgado. Delgado went 6 1/3 innings, allowed one run on two hits, and struck out seven. Delgado also went to the trouble to drive in one of his team’s runs, while Brian McCann contributed three hits to the Atlanta cause.

Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Philadelphia Phillies 5

The Dodgers rallied back from a 4-2 deficit to hold off the Phillies and keep their lead on the Giants at four games. James Loney went 2-4 with a run and RBI, while Dee Gordon also plated a couple of runs. Ty Wigginton went 3-4 with a homer and two RBI for the Phillies, while Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino also went deep. Chris Capuano picked up his eighth win despite allowing four runs in five innings.

St. Louis Cardinals 4, Houston Astros 3

Daniel Descalso and Allen Craig both homered early to get the Cardinals off to a 4-0 lead they barely held on to for all nine innings. Neither starter in this game managed a quality start, but Bud Norris struck out 12 and Adam Wainwright struck out eight. Brett Wallace went 2-4 with a run and RBI for the Astros in the loss. Jason Castro was also productive, as the Houston catcher had three hits.

Milwaukee Brewers 8, Chicago Cubs

This Zack Greinke character is pretty good at throwing baseballs that other men can’t hit. Greinke pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings, allowed only two hits and two walks, and struck out 12 to win his seventh game. Taylor Green accounted for three Brewer runs with his first career home run, a pinch hit blast that came in the eighth inning off Carlos Marmol. Tony Campana, the speedy Cubs center fielder who does little else well, struck out all four times he stepped up to the plate.

Arizona Diamondbacks 6, Colorado Rockies 1

Wade Miley followed up Ian Kennedy‘s excellent start on Tuesday with another on Wednesday. Miley went eight innings and only allowed one run while striking out five. The young starter didn’t have to worry much about losing the lead, as five of his team’s runs came in the first three innings. Paul Goldschmidt went 3-4 with a home run and three RBI, while the entire Colorado team went 3-30.

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