MLB Game Recaps: Bryce Harper Helps Washington Nationals Over Toronto Blue Jays…Again

INTERLEAGUE (AL STADIUMS)

Washington Nationals 4, Toronto Blue Jays 2

It may seem like Bryce Harper gets a lot of headlines, but that’s because he’s incredible. Harper led his Washington Nationals to their fifth straight victory over the streaky Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. The teenager went 3-4 with his seventh home run, a huge bomb off Henderson Alvarez in the third inning. Teammates Danny Espinosa and Jhonatan Solano also went deep in the win, while Jose Bautista hit a two-run shot and reached base four times for the Jays. Bautista’s season line is looking a lot healthier these days, as the Toronto slugger is now up to .235/.349/.509.

Baltimore Orioles 8, Pittsburgh Pirates 6

Before the season started, this interleague series looked about as unappealing as any. As it turns out, both of these teams have wildly overperformed and find themselves above .500 in mid-June. Adam Jones, who is having a fantastic season, continued rolling with a 4-5 performance and two more home runs. Jones now sits just seven away from the career best he established last season. The Pirates got homers from Casey McGehee and Neil Walker, but it wasn’t enough to complete a comeback.

New York Mets 11, Tampa Bay Rays 2

The Mets have to hope first baseman Ike Davis is turning it around after his bout with valley fever, as the usually powerfully hitter clubbed his sixth home run in his team’s rout of the Rays. Jordany Valdespin had a big night as well, going 2-5 with two runs scored, four RBI, and a double. This game was actually close until the top of the seventh when the Mets erupted for six runs. Matt Joyce collected three hits for Tampa in the defeat.

Texas Rangers 9, Arizona Diamondbacks 1

The D-Backs have been on a tear of late to get back around .500, but the Rangers put a temporary halt in Arizona’s plan to get back in the thick of things. The Rangers abused Ian Kennedy and the rest of the Arizona staff for 16 hits en route to an easy win. Ian Kinsler, David Murphy, Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, and Mitch Moreland all had multi-hit games. Eight of the Texas runs actually came in the final three innings to give Colby Lewis the support he needed. Lewis tossed a complete game, allowed one run, struck out seven, and didn’t get homered off all that frequently.

Milwaukee Brewers 2, Kansas City Royals 1

Zack Greinke didn’t get a win in his return to Kansas City, but it certainly wasn’t his fault. Greinke pitched seven innings, allowed one run, struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter. He exited the game with the score tied 1-1, but the Royals got a run in the bottom of the eighth to claim victory. Alex Gordon hit his fifth homer of the season for Kansas City, while the struggling Rickie Weeks had two hits and drove in the lone Milwaukee run. Weeks is now hitting .166/.305/.293 in 2012. Coming into the season, his career line sat at .255/.354/.435.

Minnesota Twins 11, Philadelphia Phillies 7

Things really just aren’t going well for the Phillies. They’ve struggled all year, Roy Halladay is on the disabled list, and the Twins refuted their every chance at a comeback in this one. Minnesota got out to a 5-0 lead, but the Phillies charged back to make it 5-4. The Twins then promptly extended their lead to 8-4, so the Phils charged back to close the gap to a single run again. Minnesota rallied one more time for three more runs in the final innings to shut the door. Tyler Plouffe had three hits and a homer for the Twins, and he’s now slugging over .500. Josh Willingham and Denard Span also went deep.

San Diego Padres 5, Seattle Mariners 4

The fact that nine runs were scored in this contest has to be considered a minor miracle. And hey, there were also 22 hits! Michael Saunders had three of those hits, clubbed his seventh homer, and stole his 10th base. None of that was quite enough, however, as the  Padres already had a four-run lead before the Mariners launched their comeback attempt in the ninth. Everth Cabrera went 2-3 with a walk, three steals, a run scored, and one RBI for San Diego. Oh, and all five Padre runs came off Felix Hernandez, which requires a triple-take to believe.

INTERLEAGUE (NL STADIUMS)

New York Yankees 6, Atlanta Braves 4

That makes it five straight and eight out of 10 for the surging Yankees, who now sit alone atop the AL East. Alex Rodriguez only had one hit, but it was the 23rd grand slam of his illustrious career. Nick Swisher added a two-run homer to account for the rest of the team’s runs. The crazy thing about all this is that all six runs came in the eight inning after the Yankees were down 4-0. That’s no easy task against any team, let alone one with Atlanta’s bullpen. Matt Diaz drove in three of the four Brave runs in the loss.

Cincinnati Reds7, Cleveland Indians 1

The battle of Ohio began Tuesday with a Reds win and another nice night from Joey Votto. Votto went 2-4 with a home run and three RBI to help Cincinnati plate five of their runs late. Johnny Cueto pitched well to get his seventh win, as he completed the game and struck out seven. Wilson Valdez got in on the act for the Reds as well. The shortstop finished the game with three hits, a run scored, and RBI number four.

Boston Red Sox 2, Miami Marlins 1

Clay Buchholz and Mark Buehrle each turned in fine performances, but it was Buchholz who ultimately won out. The 27-year-old starter went seven innings, allowed one run, and struck out nine to win this one. After a horrendous start, Buchholz has really turned things around in his last four starts; in those 33 innings he’s allowed just five earned runs and six walks while striking out 28. Logan Morrison, who has been showing signs of life for the Marlins lately, went 2-4 with his fifth home run. Giancarlo Stanton, for whom I frequently burn my torch, struck out in all four trips. You can’t see it, but a single tear just rolled down my cheek.

Chicago Cubs 4, Detroit Tigers 3

Not much went right for the Tigers in this one. Darwin Barney found a way to drive in three runs, Tony Campana stole three bases (that’s 21 for the season), and the Detroit defense made a pair of costly errors. Paul Maholm was solid in the win, going six innings while allowing just two runs and striking out seven. Max Scherzer of course struck out eight, but he went ahead and walked five as well.

Chicago White Sox 6, St. Louis Cardinals 1

Adam Dunn and A.J. Pierzynski continued their awesome starts to 2012 with home runs off the Cardinals bullpen to help cement a win for the White Sox in what was a close game for seven innings. Jose Quintana managed to allow just one run in 5 1/3 innings despite surrendering 10 hits, while Adam Wainwright allowed a pair of runs and struck out seven in seven innings. Wainwright has been pretty unlucky after returning from Tommy John surgery, as his 4.75 ERA is juxtaposed by a 3.50 FIP and 3.18 xFIP.

Oakland Athletics 8, Colorado Rockies 5

Coors Field can make any offense look good, right? The normally impotent A’s put up a six spot in the third inning to claim an early lead they would never lose. Brandon Moss hit two home runs and drove in three, while Cliff Pennington added a solo shot. The Rockies got homers from Todd Helton and Tyler Colvin in the loss. Colvin is now hitting .304/.336/.589 in 112 at-bats, which is a whole lot better than his .150/.204/.306 line from 2011.

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Los Angeles Angels 2

Just when it looked like the Dodgers were headed back to earth, they’ve put together seven wins in their last 10 games. Juan Rivera was the big hero in this one, as the lumbering outfielder went 2-4 with four RBI. Three of those RBI came on a three-run homer in the eighth inning that ultimately won the game. Aaron Harang was a bit uneven in his seven innings of work, but he never actually allowed an earned run. Dee Gordon, who is on the Tony Campana plan to steal every base possible while never actually getting on base, nabbed three bases to raise his season total to 20.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

San Francisco Giants 6, Houston Astros 3

Madison Bumgarner largely beat the Astros himself on Monday night. The Giants lefty pitched seven innings, allowed one earned run, walked no one, and struck out 12. As if that wasn’t enough, he also hit his first home run of the season. Speaking of men hitting their first homers of the season, Brandon Belt did that as well. The Astros got a pair of hits and RBI from Brian Bixler, though their big name bats (if you can call them that) were silent. The Giants are playing well, but so far they’ve only been able to keep pace with the Dodgers over the last 10 games.

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