WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 19: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates with Chris Taylor #3 after hitting a home run in the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park during game two of a doubleheader on May 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 19: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates with Chris Taylor #3 after hitting a home run in the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park during game two of a doubleheader on May 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /
The Los Angeles Dodgers sweep a doubleheader in Washington, Ian Happ has two excellent games for the Cubs in a doubleheader, and more in today’s Relief Roundup!
At Call to the Pen, we want to ensure every MLB team is getting coverage, and that you’re well-informed as the reader! As part of that, we will be including a daily piece into our collection each morning with all of the night’s scores at every level of the majors and minors, along with a bit of history/birthdays at the very end.
Without further adieu, let’s begin!
MLB Scores
Cincinnati Reds 5, Chicago Cubs 4, 11 innings in Cincinnati, Game 1 – After the Cubs tied the game in the top of the 8th inning, the Reds finally came away with the win in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader in the bottom of the 11th on a walk-off walk.
Chicago Cubs 10, Cincinnati Reds 0 in Cincinnati, Game 2 – Jose Quintana shut down the Reds in the night cap of the doubleheater in Cincinnati and the Cubs scored in every inning but one once they put their first tally on the board in the 3rd inning.
Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Washington Nationals 1 in Washington, Game 1 – The Dodgers got excellent pitching from Ross Stripling and were able to piece together runs in four different innings to take the first game of the doubleheader Saturday.
Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Washington Nationals 4 in Washington, Game 2 – The Dodgers saw Washington take away their early lead in the 6th inning when they scored all 4 of their runs. They then came back against one of the best bullpens in the league, scoring 2 runs in the top of the 9th inning to secure the road win and the doubleheader sweep.
Oakland Athletics 5, Toronto Blue Jays 4 in Toronto – The Blue Jays scored 4 in the bottom of the 5th and the A’s countered with all 5 of their runs in the 8th inning to grab a road win.
Philadelphia Phillies 7, St. Louis Cardinals 6 in St. Louis – The Phillies and Cardinals fought back and forth throughout the game, with 4 lead changes and 2 ties over the course of the game. The Phillies won with 2 runs in the top of the 8th inning.
San Francisco Giants 9, Colorado Rockies 4 in San Francisco – The Giants scored at least once in every inning between the 2nd inning and the 6th inning to defeat the Rockies at home on Saturday afternoon, giving Chris Stratton his 5th win.
Cleveland Indians 5, Houston Astros 4 in Houston – The Indians jumped out to a 3-run lead in the top of the first and ace pitcher Core Kluber kept the Houston offense at bay until the 6th inning as the Indians picked up the road win.
San Diego Padres 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 2 in Pittsburgh – The Padres scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning, and Clayton Richard threw very well to make the runs stand up as the Padres grabbed a road win in Pittsburgh.
New York Mets 5, Arizona Diamondbacks 4 in New York – After trailing nearly the entire game, the Mets staged a comeback at the end of the game, tying the game in the bottom of the 8th and finishing the job in the 9th.
Boston Red Sox 6 Baltimore Orioles 3 in Boston – The Orioles scored first in Fenway, but the Red Sox defended their home turf, scoring in the 4th and 5th innings to take a lead that they wouldn’t give back up.
Atlanta Braves 8, Miami Marlins 1 in Atlanta – The Marlins strike first on Braves starter Sean Newcomb, but Newcomb would otherwise be dominant on the night, and the Braves offense would put up 4 runs in the bottom of the 5th along with more runs in the 7th and 8th innings in a blowout win.
Milwaukee Brewers 5, Minnesota Twins 4 in Minnesota – The Twins jumped out on Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, but the Brewers come back on the Twins behind poor defense by the Twins and then eventually the Twins bullpen.
Chicago White Sox 5, Texas Rangers 3 in Chicago – The White Sox scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning and the pitching made it hold up as the White Sox get the home Saturday victory.
New York Yankees 8, Kansas City Royals 3 in Kansas City – After the Royals tied the game in the 3rd inning on Luis Severino, the Yankees put up 3 runs in the top of the 4th and never looked back to score a road win against Kansas City’s ace starter Danny Duffy.
Tampa Bay Rays 5, Los Angeles Angels 3 in Los Angeles – The Tampa Bay Rays scored 4 runs in the top of the 2nd inning, and the Rays pitching holds off the Angels until late in the game, with the Angels not scoring until the 8th inning.
Seattle Mariners 7, Detroit Tigers 2 in Seattle – James Paxton pitched the Mariners to a home victory over the Tigers. Paxton hurled a complete game, striking out 8 in the process.
Standouts
Ian Happ had two big games in the Cubs doubleheader split against the Reds on Saturday. In total, Happ went 4-7, scoring 4 runs, and driving in 2 runs. He had a double, triple, and two home runs over the doubleheader.
The Mariners got a complete game performance on Saturday from James Paxton. He allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk, striking out 8.
Other pitchers Sam Gaviglio, Tor, 5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K Nick Kingham, Pit, 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K Corey Kluber, Cle, 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 10 K Sean Newcomb, Atl, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K Jose Quintana, ChC, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 Rm 4 BB, 7 K Clayton Richard, SD, 7 1/3 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K Tanner Roark, Was, 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 8 K Max Scherzer, Was, 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 13 K Ross Stripling, LAD, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 9 K
Sunday’s Game to Watch
ESPN picked the right game to feature on Sunday night as the two best records from the American League in 2017 square off with two of their most dynamic pitchers on the mound. Carlos Carrasco and Lance McCullers, Jr. each seek their 6th win as they take the mound Sunday night.
Next: AA/AAA
AAA International League
Buffalo Bisons 9, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 2 Gwinnett Stripers @ Toledo Mud Hens Charlotte Knights @ Columbus Clippers Indianapolis Indians @ Durham Bulls Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 5, Syracuse Chiefs 0 Louisville Bats @ Norfolk Tides, PPD Pawtucket PawSox @ Rochester Red Wings
AAA Pacific Coast League
Oklahoma City Dodgers 4, Nashville Sounds 2 Round Rock Express 15, New Orleans Baby Cakes 4, Game 1 New Orleans Baby Cakes 10, Round Rock Express 8, Game 2 Omaha Storm Chasers 4, Iowa Cubs 2 Albuquerque Isotopes 5, Reno Aces 1 Sacramento River Cats 11, Salt Lake Bees 2 Memphis Redbirds 11, Colorado Springs Sky Sox 3, Game 1 Memphis Redbirds 11, Colorado Springs Sky Sox 4, Game 2 Tacoma Rainiers 10, Las Vegas 51s 6 Fresno Grizzlies 4, El Paso Chihuahuas 0
Standouts
Multiple players had standout performances in both halves of a doubleheader on Saturday, but none as excellent as Patrick Wisdom of Memphis who combined to go 5-7 on the day with 2 doubles, a triple, and a home run. Wisdome scored 3 runs and drove in 6 runs as Memphis swept their doubleheader.
Rocketing up prospect lists, Dennis Santana opened the season on the fringes of top 10 Dodger prospect lists, but he’s jumped two levels already and is still dominating, as seen in his Saturday start, where he went 6 innings without allowing a run, giving up just 3 hits and no walks, striking out 11. On the season, Santana has made 9 starts with a combined ERA of 2.22, with a 14/62 BB/K ratio over 44 2/3 innings.
Other hitters: Cristhian Adames, 3-4, R, 2B, 3 RBI Christian Bethancourt, Colorado Springs, 2-3, R, RBI, BB; 3-4 Keon Broxton, Colorado Springs, 3-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI Willie Calhoun, Round Rock, 2-4, BB; 3-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI Orlando Calixte, Sacramento, 3-4, 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, SB Eric Campbell, New Orleans, 2-3, R, BB; 1-2, R, 2 BB Kaleb Cowart, Salt Lake, 4-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI Matthew den Dekker, Las Vegas, 2-4, BB Steven Duggar, Sacramento, 3-6, 3 R, SB Tim Federowicz, Fresno, 1-2, HR, 2 BB Scott Heineman, Round Rock, 3-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI; 2-3, 2 R, BB Destin Hood, Round Rock, 3-4, R, 2B, RBI, SB Tommy Joseph, Round Rock, 2-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI Ty Kelly, Las Vegas, 2-4, 2 R, 2 2B, RBI Christian Lopes, Round Rock, 2-4, R, RBI, BB Jose Marmolejos, Syracuse, 2-3, BB Reese McGuire, Buffalo, 2-3, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB Joey Meneses, Lehigh Valley, 3-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI Oscar Mercado, Memphis, 4-5, 2 R, 2B, RBI; 3-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI Nick Noonan, Round Rock, 3-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI Cliff Pennington, Round Rock, 2-3, 3 R, 2B, RBI, 2 BB Rangel Ravelo, Memphis, 1-3, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB AJ Reed, Fresno, 1-1, HR, 3 BB Frank Schwindel, Omaha, 4-4, 1 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB Austin Slater, Sacramento, 2-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB, SB Mike Tauchman, Albuquerque, 2-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI Tomas Telis, New Orleans, 2-3, R, 2 RBI, BB Ramon Urias, Memphis, 2-4, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI Mac Williamson, Sacramento, 2-4, 2 R, 2B, hR, 4 RBI
Other pitchers: Yency Almonte, Albuquerque, 4 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K Justin Dillon, Buffalo, 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K Cole Irvin, Lehigh Valley, 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K James Naile, Nashville, 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K Glenn Sparkman, Omaha, 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K Trent Thornton, Fresno, 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Sunday’s Game to Watch
With feasibly the only projected starters that will definitely make their Sunday starts, Nashville and Oklahoma City set up to have two dynamic, if unpredictable pitchers on the mound for their Sunday foray. Frankie Montas takes the mound for the Sounds to face Guillermo Moscoso, and both pitchers have had solid numbers this season that would be much better if not for inconsistency in control.
Mobile BayBears 6, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 5 Montgomery Biscuits 7, Birmingham Barons 2 Jackson Generals 4, Pensacola Blue Wahoos 1 Biloxi Shuckers 3, Chattanooga Lookouts 2, 10 innings Tennessee Smokies 4, Mississippi Braves 3, 10 innings, Game 1 Tennessee Smokies 4, Mississippi Braves 0, Game 2
AA Texas League
Tulsa Drillers 8, Arkansas Travelers 2 San Antonio Missions 3, Midland RockHounds 2 Springfield Cardinals 1, Northwest Arkansas Naturals 0 Frisco RoughRiders 10, Corpus Christi Hooks 5
Standouts
Birmingham’s Eloy Jimenez is really hitting his stride on the season now, and Saturday, he powered out a pair of doubles as part of a 4-4 day.
On his way back toward the majors, Alex Reyes made a stop off in Springfield, where he showed better stuff than the stuff that made him a top 5 prospect in the game before his Tommy John surgery last February. He went 7 2/3 innings without allowing a run, giving up just one hit and 3 walks, striking out 13 unfortunate hitters.
Other pitchers of note Omar Bencomo, Chattanooga, 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K Zack Brown, Biloxi, 6 2/3 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K Brady Dragmire, Harrisburg, 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K Frank Duncan, Tulsa, 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K Thomas Hatch, Tennessee, 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K Alex Klonowski, Mobile, 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K Jesus Luzardo, Midland, 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K Duncan Robinson, Tennessee, 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 9 K Mike Shawaryn, Portland, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K Seth Simmons, San Antonio, 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K Dillon Tate, Trenton, 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K Brandon Waddell, Altoona, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K Matt Whitehouse, Akron, 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K Taylor Widener, Jackson, 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 11 K Bryse Wilson, Mississippi, 5 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Sunday’s Game to Watch
Logan Allen will climb the mound on Sunday for San Antonio seeking his 6th win on the young season, but he’ll be doing so in enemy territory as the Missions travel to Midland and face RockHounds starter Ben Bracewell.
Next: high-A/low-A
California League
Visalia Rawhide 5, Modesto Nuts 3 San Jose Giants 2, Stockton Ports 1 Inland Empire 66ers 9, Lancaster JetHawks 6 Lake Elsinore 10, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 7
Carolina League
Lynchburg Hillcats 12, Potomac Nationals 0 Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4, Frederick Keys 3 Carolina Mudcats 6, Buies Creek Astros 3 Winston-Salem Dash @ Down East Wood Ducks, PPD Salem Red Sox 6, Wilmington Blue Rocks 5
Florida State League
Tampa Tarpons @ Lakeland Flying Tigers, PPD Clearwater Threshers @ Florida Fire Frogs, Suspended due to rain Daytona Tortugas 7, Dunedin Blue Jays 6 Jupiter Hammerheads @ Charlotte Stone Crabs, PPD Bradenton Marauders @ Palm Beach Cardinals, PPD St. Lucie Mets @ Fort Myers Miracle, Suspended due to rain
Standouts
Forrest Wall filled up the stat line on Saturday for Lancaster, going 2-4 with a double and a home run. He scored two runs and drove in two runs. Wall also walked and stole a base in a busy day for the JetHawks.
The Brewers should be seeing Carolina starter Cameron Roegner in AA Biloxi very soon. On Saturday, he tossed 7 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits and a walk, striking out two. That brings his season line to a 0.76 ERA over 8 starts, with a 1.06 WHIP and a 13/30 BB/K ratio.
Other pitchers Brett Adcock, Buies Creek, 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K Pedro Avila, Lake Elsinore, 6 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 8 K Zach Plesac, Lynchburg, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Sunday’s Game to Watch
Michael King brings his 1.79 ERA to the mound Sunday for Tampa as they travel to Lakeland and take on Austin Sodders and Lakeland in a 1:00 PM Eastern game.
Midwest League
West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Lake County Captains 1 Lansing Lugnuts 3, Bowling Green Hot Rods 2 Dayton Dragons 5, Great Lakes Loons 3 South Bend Cubs @ Fort Wayne TinCaps Cedar Rapids Kernels 6, Clinton LumberKings 4 Kane County Cougars 8, Peoria Chiefs 4 Beloit Snappers 4, Quad Cities River Bandits 3, 11 innings Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 1, Burlington Bees 0
South Atlantic League
Rome Braves 6, Asheville Tourists 2 Kannapolis Intimidators 3, Hickory Crawdads 2, 10 innings Lakewood BlueClaws 3, Greensboro Grasshoppers 0 Lexington Legends @ West Virginia Power, Suspended by rain Hagerstown Suns 7, Delmarva Shorebirds 2 Charleston RiverDogs 5, Columbia Fireflies 1 Augusta GreenJackets 5, Greenville Drive 2
Standouts
Tampa Bay Rays catching prospect Ronaldo Hernandez could quickly move to the top of a talented Rays system by the end of the 2018 season. He had a very good day Saturday, going 2-5 with a pair of loud doubles, driving in two runs for Bowling Green.
Athletics pitching prospect Xavier Altamirano was a 27th round pick out of Oral Roberts in 2015. The Athletics are working him into a full-time starter, and he’s having an excellent 2018 season so far, with a 3.05 ERA and 0.97 WHIP over 7 starts. Saturday, he went 7 strong innings, allowing no runs on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 3.
Other hitters Akil Baddoo, Cedar Rapids, 2-4, R, BB, SB Austin Bernard, Asheville, 2-2, HR, 2 BB Branden Boggetto, Hagerstown, 2-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI Vidal Brujan, Bowling Green, 2-4, R, BB Jasrado Chisholm, Kane County, 3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI Riley Delgado, Rome, 2-3, R, 2B, 2 BB Bryce Denton, Peoria, 2-3, R, RBI, BB Stuart Fairchild, Dayton, 1-2, 2 R, 3B, RBI, 3 BB, SB Anderson Franco, Hagerstown, 3-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI Jose Garcia, Dayton, 1-2, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB Wilkerman Garcia, Charleston, 1-3, 2 BB Luis Gonzalez, Kannapolis, 2-5, R, 2 2B, RBI Jordan Gore, Cedar Rapids, 3-4, R, 2 RBI, SB Scott Hurst, Peoria, 1-3, 2 BB Trace Loehr, Beloit, 2-2, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 SB Leonardo Molina, Charleston, 3-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI Michael Papierski, Quad Cities, 1-3, RBI, 2 BB Gregori Rivero, Lakewood, 3-4 Tim Susnara, Kane County, 3-4, 2 R, 2 2B Taylor Walls, Bowling Green, 1-3, R, 2 BB, SB Drew Waters, Rome, 2-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI Yoel Yanque, Kane County, 1-3, R, 2 BB, SB
Other pitchers A.J. Alexy, Hickory, 5 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K Zach Davies, Wisconwin, 4 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K Jhonathan Diaz, Greenville, 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 9 K Simon Mathews, Burlington, 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K Nick Raquet, Hagerstown, 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Carlos Rodon, Kannapolis, 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K Brian Shaffer, Kane County, 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K Alexander Vargas, Charleston, 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Kyle Young, Lakewood, 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Sunday’s Game to Watch
Cedar Rapids sends electric Brusdar Graterol to the mound on Sunday afternoon against Clinton in a 3 PM Eastern game in Clinton.
Next: Birthdays/history for 20th of May
(Original Caption) Photo shows Hal Newhouser, Detroit Tigers pitcher, about to throw the baseball. /
Birthdays today
One Hall of Famer was born today and one player who lost great years of his career and fell just short was also born on this day.
Hal Newhouser was born on this day in Detroit in 1921. The lanky lefty was able to pitch for his hometown team for all but the final two seasons of his career. Newhouser won 207 games, throwing just short of 3,000 career innings (2,993) with a 3.06 ERA and 1.31 WHIP.
Newhouser was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992 by the Veteran’s Committee. Many felt he was elected primarily based on his 5-year run from 1944-1948, when Newhouser averaged 24 wins and a 2.35 ERA over 295 innings per season during that run.
The one player that really was on a Hall of Fame pace in his career before injuries and military service took away some of his best years. Just as Bobby Murcer was about to snag a full-time job with the New York Yankees, he instead ended up serving in the military, doing tours in Vietnam and missing the entire 1967 and 1968 seasons.
When Mercer returns in 1969, he was immediately one of the better players in the league. In the modern era, Murcer would have been much more appreciated, as he was tremendously adept at getting on base and played a quality center field. However, after he left the Yankees in 1974 via trade, his career began to unravel as injuries slowed his career. He finished his career with a .277/.357/.445 career line with 252 home runs.
Active MLB players born today: Tony Sanchez, Jayson Werth
Babe Ruth hits the first grand slam of his career in 1919 for the Boston Red Sox on this day.
In just their 13th home date of the 1953 season, the Milwaukee Braves’ attendance on the season surpasses their previous season in Boston.
On this day in 1978, Willie Stargell establishes his legendary status in Montreal, one of the most beloved opponents of the Expos. Stargell hits a 535-foot blast on the day that is the longest in the stadium’s history.
Roger Clemens begins his elaborate statistical career on this day in 1984, picking up his first victory against the Minnesota Twins. Clemens would go on to win 354 games in a 24-year career.
Ten years ago today, Mike Piazza announces his retirement from baseball. He hit .308/.377/.545 over 16 seasons with 427 home runs. He will be elected to the Hall of Fame in 2016.
