Relief Roundup: Xander, Red Sox have a grand walk off
Xander Bogaerts had a grand walk off for the Red Sox, Danny Duffy dominated, 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 have brought back our daily piece into our collection with all of the night’s scores in the major leagues, the top performers in the minors, the minor league schedules, and a bit of history/birthdays at the very end.
Without further adieu, let’s begin!
Yesterday’s MLB Scores
Pittsburgh Pirates 2, Milwaukee Brewers 1 in Pittsburgh, Game 1 – The Pirates scored 2 runs on a pair of solo home runs in the first and were shutout the rest of the way, but 5 Pirate pitchers combined to hold the Brewers to just a single run.
Pittsburgh Pirates 6, Milwaukee Brewers 2 in Pittsburgh, Game 2 – The Pirates capitalized on their opportunities in the second game, getting out-hit by the Brewers 9-8, but pulling out 4 more runs to sweep the doubleheader.
Boston Red Sox 6, Toronto Blue Jays 2, 10 innings in Boston – Boston scored a run in the bottom of the 9th to tie the score and send the game into extra innings where Xander Bogaerts hit a walk-off grand slam to win the game.
Kansas City Royals 5, Chicago White Sox 0 in Chicago – The Royals got a sterling start from Danny Duffy and saw some prodigious power from Jorge Bonifacio in the game as he drove a double and a dinger to lead the offensive attack.
Tampa Bay Rays 19, Minnesota Twins 6 in Minnesota – Jose Berrios was let down first by his defense, and then by his bullpen, leaving with a 6-5 lead and watching the bullpen give up 15 unanswered runs over the final three innings of the game.
Miami Marlins 2, Philadelphia Phillies 0 in Miami – The Marlins were able to get two runs in the first inning on the Phillies ace, and that was all they needed for the Saturday win.
Arizona Diamondbacks 3, Atlanta Braves 0 in Atlanta – Zack Greinke was tremendous on the day in shutting down the exciting Braves offense completely over 7 2/3 innings, and the Diamondbacks offense gave him just enough for the win.
Cincinnati Reds 8, St. Louis Cardinals 2 in St. Louis – Without a single home run, the Reds pounded out 14 hits, 5 walks, and 8 runs to defeat the Cardinals Saturday afternoon.
Houston Astros 9, Detroit Tigers 1 in Houston – The Astros scored early and scored often, using 3 home runs to power the offense while Gerrit Cole shut down the Tigers on the mound.
New York Mets 7, Washington Nationals 4 in New York – The Mets jumped out with 3 runs in the 2nd and piled on another 4 in the 5th to put the game out of reach early against the Nationals, knocking the Nationals below .500.
Los Angeles Angels 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 4, 10 innings in Los Angeles – Kole Calhoun continued a recent resurgence with a 10th inning home run off the Dodgers closer to pull off the extra-inning victory.
New York Yankees 5, Cleveland Indians 4 in Cleveland – The Yankees scored 3 in the first inning and were able to hold off the Indians to take a 2-1 series lead on the weekend series.
Baltimore Orioles 1, Texas Rangers 0 in Baltimore – A tremendous pitchers’ duel was handed over to the bullpen and the Orioles were able to scrape together one run off starter Martin Perez of the Rangers in an otherwise exciting, pitching-dominated affair.
Colorado Rockies 4, Seattle Mariners 1 in Colorado – After a recent demotion to the minors, Jon Gray pitched like the team ace he was assumed to be as the Rockies pounded out 10 hits in defeating the Mariners.
Chicago Cubs 11, San Diego Padres 6 in San Diego – After the Padres jumped out with a pair of runs in the first, the Cubs offense came alive, scoring in multiple-run bunches in four of the five innings they put a run on the board.
Oakland Athletics 4, San Francisco Giants 3 in San Francisco – Neither starter made it out of the 4th inning, but the A’s were able to get tremendous work from their bullpen, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings of relief with 8 strikeouts.
Top Pitcher
As the trade deadline nears, the Kansas City Royals may be seeing lefty Danny Duffy pitch himself into the position of being a prime trade asset. While he still sports a 4.59 ERA on the season, over his last 5 starts, he’s posted a 2.03 ERA over 31 innings with a 13/34 BB/K ratio. Saturday, he was able to shut down the White Sox for 7 scoreless innings, striking out 8.
Top Hitter
While he didn’t have the best day yesterday, I thought it good to highlight Kole Calhoun after his 10th inning game-winning home run. Calhoun is still hitting just .190/.240/.324 on the season, but he’s really turned a corner in the month of July, especially in the power department, as he’s hitting .326/.354/.814 on the month.
Today’s Game to Watch
The Cardinals are fighting to stay relevant in the playoff discussion as the first half comes to a close. The Reds are beginning to pick up steam, and they send the pitcher who has been giving them deep, quality outings each time out the last couple weeks in Anthony DeSclafani to oppose the Cards and their top pitcher this season, offseason signee Miles Mikolas.
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