You've probably heard a little something-something about Tuesday afternoon. And some kind of "trade deadline". Given that we did not have the usual "hot stove" excitement last December, it's fair to wonder which homegrown talents are going to get uprooted, which fan favorite the Nationals are going to dump, or which aging veterans the Yankees are going to overpay for just so that other teams can't have them.
Now, we're not here to accuse any team of truly "tanking"-- i.e., losing games "intentionally" to secure better draft picks-- especially since that usually happens after the deadline, not before. But let's just say we noticed a lot of lopsided games this week. A lot of our teams that have been not-very-good the entire season, were really-not-very-good this week. And some teams are still in the AL West, which kinda writes itself.
Was it only six years ago that the Royals had a giant "World Series Champions" banner whitewashed on the back of their videoboard to impress passing motorists on I-70? Yep, that really happened. And for one brief moment this week, there was a 7-0 on the opposite side of the videoboard; that was the score by which Kansas City won its opener against the Angels on Monday. It did take a little while to break through with Noah Syndergaard (speaking of recent trade-deadline moves) on the mound. He finally gave up 2 singles and a walk in the 6th to break a scoreless tie, after which the Royals pounded the Angels' bullpen-- notably to the point where Ryan Tepera became the first pitcher in team history to issue 3 walks and 2 wild pitches while getting no more than 2 outs.
Although he gave up a total of 6 hits, Syndergaard managed to keep the other "damage" to a minimum by walking two batters and hitting one. Turns out all three of those other baserunners came in the form of Nick Pratto, the Royals' first-round pick in 2017 who finally found his way to the majors earlier this month after the Royals paid Seattle to take Carlos Santana off their hands. Pratto would also draw one of those walks off Tepera in the 7th and thus complete the Royals' first complete-game "0-for-0" since Billy Butler also did it against the Angels on July 3, 2010.
The only bright spot for the Angels in this one was Jared Walsh, who managed to connect for a pair of doubles but get stranded both times. He was the first Anaheim batter to do that in a road game where the team got shut out since Garret Anderson in Seattle on April 8, 2003. And as for that 7-0 shutout? The Royals hadn't done that in a home game against the Angels since dropping a 13-0 score on June 18, 1975!
Alas, that would be about the last bright spot for the Royals this week. On Tuesday it would be Jose Suarez on the mound for Anaheim, and Kansas City back to its usual ways of getting only 3 hits against him. Two of those came in the 6th and loaded the bases before Jose Quijada escaped the inning, and since Wyatt Mills had a nice easy 10-pitch frame right before that, let's leave him out there for the 7th also. Mm, yeah. Single, sac bunt, stolen base, walk, hit batter, double, lineout, walk, hit batter. By the time Joel Payamps gives up a homer in the 9th, we are close to having another 7-0 on the board, just the opposite direction. Instead the Angels will win this one by a 6-0 count, which is actually their fifth-largest shutout ever at Kauffman Stadium. And along the way the Angels decided to make a run for it, swiping five bases off the combination of Royals pitchers. They hadn't recorded 5 steals in any road game since April 12, 2012, in a 10-9 loss at Minnesota.
Wednesday's series finale, while slightly closer, was more of the same. Phil Gosselin started the scoring for the A's with an RBI triple in the 5th, and then Brandon Marsh singled him in. Marsh would then add his own triple to begin the 7th and knock starter Brad Keller out of the game. That was the first time the Angels hit multiple three-baggers against the Royals since Erick Aybar did it by himself on September 6, 2009. And the 4-0 final on Wednesday marked the second time the Angels had ever shut out the Royals in consecutive games, by any score; they posted a 4-0 and a 12-0 in Kansas City on June 13 and 14 of 1987.
As for all those zeroes, the last time a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium ended with all shutouts (by either team) was the final homestand of 1995 against the White Sox (0-7, 0-6, 4-0).
The Royals, unfortunately, still had a lot more week left. And possibly a very awkward plane ride to New York, not simply because they were staring right into the teeth of an angry Yankees squad, but because they had just told Andrew Benintendi not to bother packing for the return flight. In another wacky deadline deal, the Royals traded "Beni" for three minor-leaguers and sent him off to the other dugout, similar to the Abraham Toro/Kendall Graveman trade that happened in mid-series in Seattle last year.
As for the Yankees being "angry", we'll explain. You can only cry so many crocodile tears for a team that's going to clinch a playoff spot in August. Especially when every loss is somehow an umpire's fault for missing that strike-2 call in the 4th inning with nobody on base or whatever. But you might have noticed, New York has another pretty decent baseball team this year. And in our weird 2022 schedule where the "rivalries" are being played as 2-and-2 home-and-home series, it was time for another installment of The Yankees Ride The 7-Train.
Yes, while the Royals were back in Missouri getting blown out by the Angels, the Yankees were opening Tuesday's game by watching Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo crush back-to-back homers in the 1st inning. That was only the third time the Yankees had done that against the Mets, and the others were both at the old place in the Bronx. Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter did it in the 1st inning on June 28, 2003, and a mere 365 days later, Jeter teamed with Gary Sheffield to start off an 8-1 win.
However, if you've been watching all season, you know this is not the Yankees' usual mode of operation. They don't usually score early and just hang on to leads. They do nothing, or even get behind, by the 6th inning, get Yankees Twitter all panicked, and then erupt for a bunch of runs in the 8th. (Spoiler alert, just not for this particular game.) So let's see how the Mets answer Tuesday's mini-outburst against Jordan Montgomery. That would feature Starling Marte hitting a solo homer, and combined with Judge, it's the first game in Citi Field history where the second batter for both teams went yard. (Interestingly enough, because baseball, the exact same thing happened at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Tuesday, also the first time it had ever been done at that stadium.)
However, the Mets weren't done either. Another recent trade, Francisco Lindor, follows Marte with a double, and then Pete Alonso does likewise. Eduardo Escobar, who signed with the Mets on the day of the lockout last December, then also homers to put New York ahead of New York by a 4-2 count. Tuesday thus became the first game in Citi Field history, and the first Subway Series game at any stadium, to have a total of 4 homers in the 1st inning. The only other time the Mets hit multiple dingers in the 1st against the Pinstripes was by Todd Frazier and Asdrubal Cabrera on June 9, 2018.
But just when you thought this might turn into a barnburner, everyone settles down. Each team manages a run on a groundout and that's basically it. The Yankees run themselves out of the 7th when Rizzo gets hit by a pitch and then caught stealing. The Mets erase one of their own runs on a double play in the 7th as well. The Yankees get the tying run to the plate on an error in the 9th, but Rizzo and Gleyber Torres both strike out to end the game with a 6-3 Mets win. Alonso (who did it Tuesday) and Lindor (who did it last September) are two of the four Mets players ever to have 3 hits and a walk in a home game against the Yankees; the others are Kaz Matsui (2004) and Rickey Henderson (1999).
So on to Wednesday where we get the old argument about what really consititutes a "series" in baseball. Yes, the dictionary definition only requires two items, but these weird little half-and-half rivalry things don't really feel like something to get excited about. Even if it is going to result in a "series sweep".
The Yankees are back to their usual mode of scoring late instead of early, although that might be more a function of having Max Scherzer on the mound against them. Scherzer shut the Bombers down for 6 innings, including 3 strikeouts of Aaron Judge, which gave the latter the Yankees' all-time record for hat tricks (70, passing Mickey Mantle). Meanwhile, Alonso homered to lead off the 2nd and Tomas Nido doubled to lead off the 3rd, and the Mets sit on a 2-0 lead for most of the game. Until the start of the 8th when Not Max Scherzer is suddenly on the mound. And "Not"-- aka David Peterson-- walks Rizzo and then surrenders a tying 2-run bomb to Torres. The only other time the Yankees hit a game-tying homer in the 8th or later at Citi Field was on September 11 of last year, and it was (of course) by Aaron Judge.
But since we already used the word "sweep", you know that the Yankees are not quite going to pull off another comeback in this one. They waste a 2-out single in the 9th, after which Escobar leads off the bottom half with a double off Wandy Peralta. Shortly thereafter, it's a Marte party on the Special Events platform back to Grand Central. At this point, these two have played each other so much that a walkoff win is not rare, although you might remember that wacky Amed Rosario homer at Yankee Stadium in the "home team bats first" game from 2020. That wasn't even the most recent one. Pete Alonso hit a walkoff homer against Albert Abreu a few days later (September 3).
But now we've set up that Yankees/Royals series over the weekend. Kansas City is coming off back-to-back shutouts by a team that is just as bad as themselves, and the Yankees are coming off a pair of close losses just off the east end of the Triborough Bridge. What could happen.
Glad you asked. Because on Thursday that answer was, absolutely nothing. Jameson Taillon and Brady Singer matched wits for 6 innings, the latter allowing only a 7-pitch walk to Judge and a seeing-eye single to Torres in the 4th. Singer would end up striking out 10 while giving up just the 1 hit, joining Danny Duffy (2016), Luke Hochevar (2012), and Kevin Appier (1993) as the only pitchers in Royals history to do that. Meanwhile, Taillon worked around an error in the 1st and a triple by New Guy Nick Pratto in the 2nd. Happily for him, the Royals have issues getting more than one hit per inning, and another rookie, Ron Marinaccio, works two perfect frames after Taillon leaves. That means we are still scoreless heading to the 9th, the first time that's happened at Yankee Stadium since last year's season finale against the Rays-- also a Jameson Taillon start. Who says baseball doesn't repeat itself?
Clay Holmes walks a pair of Royals batters in the 9th but yet again, Kansas City is incapable of getting the ball out of the infield. Andrew Benintendi, now sitting in the other dugout, has the chance to hit a walkoff against the team he just played for yesterday. Yeah, he doesn't do that. He fouls out. But on the next pitch Aaron Judge does this.
Yes, that's Judge's third walkoff homer of the season (we told you they do this a lot), and you probably saw some accolades about that tying Mickey Mantle's Yankees record. But remember that season finale last year? Care to take a guess how that one ended?
While that wasn't a nice big dramatic home run, it was a walkoff hit to win a 1-0 game for the Yankees (and clinch them a wild-card spot). And we have to go well before Mickey Mantle to find the only other player in Yankees history to do that twice. In fact we have to go to their first two seasons of existence, when they were still known as the Highlanders or Hilltoppers or just the "Americans" to distinguish them from the NL's Giants who also played in Manhattan at the time. Jimmy Williams had a pair of 1-0 game-winning singles on June 17, 1903, against Chicago, and again on August 30, 1904, against Cleveland.
If you're scoring at home, that means the Royals lost 6-0 on Tuesday, 4-0 on Wednesday, and 1-0 on Thursday. Only twice before had the Royals lost three straight games via shutout-- August 2017 (also their last time being on either side of four straight shutouts), and a 3-game sweep by Minnesota in July 2004. So at least the good news is that they're not going to get shut out on Friday.
This one starts out much the same, with Rizzo and Judge connecting for early homers against Kris Bubic, and Gerrit Cole being basically Cole-ian. Except for that One Bad Inning which seems to jump up and bite many pitchers at some point in a game. (CC Sabathia was famous for this in his Yankees days.) On Friday that was the 5th when, with 2 outs, Maikel Garcia dumps a single to center, Nicky Lopez shoots one through the hole, and then Lopez beats a force at second which has to be overturned by replay to keep the inning going. It's always those pesky replays. Whit Merrifield bloops a 2-run single to right, and Sal Perez follows with a 3-run homer to turn a 0-3 deficit into a 5-3 lead. Perez also hit a 3-run dinger off Michael Pineda on May 11, 2016, and is the first Royals batter to hit two such homers at the Yankees' current park. That, however, is going to be the last good news for Kansas City, in a week that didn't have much of it to begin with.
Scott Barlow is summoned to pitch the 8th with Aaron Judge leading off. If you watched the clip, you might have seen Scott Barlow before. Because he gave up the walkoff homer to Judge on Thursday night. On the up side, he can't do that again because, A, it's the 8th inning, and B, it's a 2-run game. In fact Judge strikes out. But we're going to see him again soon. Because the next four batters take Barlow for three singles and an error, including Andrew Benintendi's first RBI with the Yankees, and when Aaron Hicks draws a 7-pitch bases-loaded walk, we're suddenly tied up at 5. Good time to not take Barlow out of the game, instead allowing another hit and an RBI groundout before Jackson Kowar is called upon to mop up. It's already 7-5, this is your classic 2022 Yankees comeback, what more do you need.
Why of course you need an Aaron Judge grand slam. That's the first one the Yankees have hit against Kansas City since Lyle Overbay went deep on July 10, 2013. It also gave Judge 2 homers and 6 RBI on the day, joining Jorge Posada, Jason Giambi, Ruben Sierra, and Roy Smalley as the only Yankees batters to do that against the Royals. The Yankees hadn't scored 8 runs in an inning numbered 8 or higher since Hideki Matsui chipped in a grand slam against the Orioles on September 13, 2009. And after giving up the 1-0 walkoff on Thursday, Scott Barlow got tagged with 6 runs and another loss on Friday. Only two other pitchers in Royals history have given up 6 runs and received both a blown save and a loss while getting just 2 outs. Doug Henry did it against the White Sox on August 22, 2001, and Dan Quisenberry lost to the Brewers on September 4, 1980.
But at least they didn't get shut out again.
The Yankees rolled to another easy 8-2 win over the Royals on Saturday, which left only the question of whether they would sweep on Sunday. In "games we weren't planning on writing about" news, Jordan Montgomery got himself into trouble in the 5th with 2 walks and a single by M.J. Melendez. That sets up our new friend Nick Pratto for a 2-run single, and when Maikel Garcia follows that with a double for the fifth straight baserunner of the inning, it's clear it's bullpen time. Pratto is also eventually going to score to give Kansas City a 4-0 lead.
Almost immediately the Yankees get back within 4-3 because that's just what they do, and this time it includes knocking Zack Greinke out of the game. And then in the 7th, after someone named Jose Cuas walks the first two batters, it's time for Dylan Coleman to try and save this thing. Mmm, nope. Three-run blast by Anthony Rizzo just like you were expecting. The Yankees hadn't hit such a homer against Kansas City since Derek Jeter flipped the lead against Ambiorix Burgos on April 11, 2006. Suddenly it's 6-4 Yankees and the brooms are out. But so is Clay Holmes, entrusted with what has become a 6-5 lead in the top of the 9th. With 1 out he walks Whit Merrifield, then hits Bobby Witt. That sets up Sal Perez for a deep drive to center field that turns 5-6 into 8-6 and will prove to avoid the sweep and not only get the Royals their 40th win on the last day of July, it will keep the Yankees from getting their 70th. (Parity!) But then we went to look up some notes about this dinger. And welp, check this out.
It turns out that the Royals have only ever hit three lead-flipping homers in the 9th inning against the Yankees. Perez had the third one on Sunday, and quite frankly, we wished it were more exciting. Because check out the other two. They're both off Rich "Goose" Gossage. Amos Otis hit a walkoff inside-the-parker on May 12, 1978, when Reggie Jackson and Paul Blair collided and the latter dropped the ball as a result. The other such lead-flipping homer by the Royals against the Yankees was on July 24, 1983, by George Brett. Yes indeed, you know that one as The Pine Tar Game, and it's a story unto itself.
We haven't spent a lot of time at Coors Field this year, and that might have something to do with the Rockies-- at the end of July-- still staring up at the glass ceiling of not having 50 wins yet.
The Chicago White Sox have never spent an enormous amount of time at Coors Field, mostly because they're in the other league and another time zone. But in another of these strange 2-game home-and-home sets, the Sox and Rox traded 1-run victories on Tuesday and Wednesday, with both games decided in the bottom of the 9th.
Maybe on Tuesday both teams were just tired, having both played on the shores of Lake Michigan the night before (the Rockies were in Milwaukee). But despite that inherent "home field advantage" at Coors, Colorado was unable to solve... *checks notes*... Michael Kopech? After pitching less than 70 innings out of the bullpen last year, Kopech has been converted into a starter this year and admittedly the Rockies have never faced him. Not like we have scouting reports and videotape and nine-dimension analysis of 600 million data points about every pitch. But be that as it may, Kopech allowed only 6 hits to the Rockies, three of them with 2 outs, and then induced 3 double plays behind him to escape any damage. The White Sox also manage to score only 2 runs for whatever reason, but hang on to win after Ryan McMahon leads off the bottom of the 9th with a solo homer. The last Rockies homer to break up a shutout in the 9th was by Charlie Blackmon against the Mets on September 17, 2019.
On Wednesday we've finally made that altitude adjustment, and Chicago has to turn right around and fly home, so the aforementioned Charlie Blackmon will not wait until the 9th this time. He hits the first-ever leadoff homer for the Rockies against the White Sox, leaving six opponents (all in the AL, of course) against whom they do not have one. They pile on another 3 hits against Lucas Giolito and hold a 3-0 lead until the Sox match those 3 hits in the 4th. Eventually the Sox string together 4 singles and a walk in the 7th to go ahead 5-3. But that's just setting up the walkoff.
Remember Kendall Graveman, part of that trading-dugouts thing in Seattle last July? Yeah, that didn't last. He was a free agent after 2 months and has now signed on with the White Sox. He gets to pitch the bottom of the 9th at Coors with what is now a 1-run lead. Brendan Rodgers, 5-pitch walk. Jose Iglesias, 4-pitch walk. Ryan McMahon, 7-pitch walk. This is going well. Elias Diaz, not going to wait for 4 pitches. The first one ends up in right field, Iglesias beats the play at the plate, and the Rockies have their second-ever walkoff against the White Sox. Ty Wigginton had the other back on June 28, 2011. But it was also just the second walkoff hit in Rockies history against an AL opponent when trailing. Terry Shumpert had the other one of those, to defeat Texas on June 9, 2000.
But as fun as this little 48-hour visit by the White Sox was, the real reason for our trip to Coors Field is Thursday's game. In which the Dodgers come to town. And although the Padres and Mariners are hovering a few games above .500, the Dodgers are pretty much the only team on the west coast worth writing home about. They also have a very good shot at locking up a playoff spot by the end of August, especially if they continue to pound the rest of their division. Like, say, the Rockies.
Jose Ureña had sort of fallen off the radar after leaving the Marlins in 2020. He made 18 starts for Detroit last year and won 2 of them. The Brewers gave him four relief appearances in April before cutting him. And maybe he rode that plane back on Monday night, because he's been with the Rockies since the start of July. He actually gave up 6 runs in one of those games with the Brewers last weekend. That at least took him 6 innings.
On Thursday the Dodgers start with a Trea Turner single and a walk to Freddie Freeman. They both score on a combination of a double steal, an error, and a wild pitch. Another error loads the bases with Dodgers in the 2nd and Turner unloads them with a 3-run double, their first such hit at Coors since Adrian Gonzalez on May 10, 2015. It's 6-0 when Will Smith doubles home Turner, still with Ureña having recorded only 4 outs.
The bottom of the Dodgers order goes quietly in the 3rd, but here we go again. Mookie Betts and Turner single to start the 4th, followed by yet another fielding error. That leaves Smith to drive in two more runs and Austin Gomber to trot in from the bullpen. Although he's going to get out of the inning, those last two inherited runs will score along the way to make it 10-0. Ureña thus became the first Rockies pitcher to give up 10 runs while getting 9 outs since German Marquez-- who took the loss in that 2-1 game on Tuesday-- did it on July 15, 2019.
The Rockies bullpen manages to not make this too much worse, allowing only a 2-run double to Freeman in the 7th. By the time the 9th inning rolls around it's 13-0 and backup catcher Brian Serven has made his MLB pitching debut for Colorado. Meanwhile infielder Hanser Alberto gets called upon to "protect" the 13-run lead (which he does despite three long fly balls and a couple of hits). The Dodgers thus record their largest shutout ever against the Rockies, home or road, topping an 11-0 at Dodger Stadium on September 27, 2013. They'd never had a double-digit one in Denver. It was also the Rockies' largest shutout loss at Coors since the Marlins beat them by another 13-0 count on June 3, 2006.
The Rockies did finally rebound for their 46th win of the year on Saturday despite going up against Clayton Kershaw. That game flipped on Randal Grichuk's 6th-inning triple, just the second one Colorado had ever hit that late in any game against Los Angeles. Matt Holliday had the other one off Duaner Sanchez on April 24, 2005. Kershaw would leave Saturday's game one batter later having given up 8 hits and only recording 3 strikeouts. In his long and storied career, he's only done that five times, and three of them have been at Coors Field.
Now if you prefer your teams to only have 40 wins by the end of July instead of 50, and the Royals aren't your cup of tea, might we remind you that the Cincinnati Reds also still exist. Of course we remember that the Reds started this season by losing 22 of their first 25 games. They've faded into the background and have actually played at nearly a .500 pace since then. But as .500 teams tend to do, some days you hit and some days you miss. And some days the Marlins spear you.
Yes, Miami was in town on Monday for a 4-game series between teams that started the week with 81 wins. That's half a season. That's .500 ball. Except... ummm... that's 81 wins combined. They'd played a total of 189. So let's say it's pretty easy to get tickets for Monday's matchup of homegrown 1st-round draft picks, Trevor Rogers and rookie Nick Lodolo.
Lodolo is going to surrender two early runs, but both of them are via some aggressive baserunning by the Marlins. Nick Fortes advances on a stolen base and an error, and J.J. Bleday scores after a pickoff throw gone bad. So both the runs are going to be unearned; Lodolo will join Mike Leake (July 10, 2015) as the only Reds pitchers ever to strike out 9+ and allow 0 ER against the Marlins. And he'll get a win because the Reds offense is dominating Rogers the second time through. Donovan Solano makes it 3-0 with a double in the 3rd, and runs out of the inning trying to stretch it into a triple. Brandon Drury hits a 3-run homer to finally knock Rogers out in the 4th after 6 runs. But Rogers gives way to Zach Pop, for whom we are still working on cute puns. It could be the sound that Jonathan India's bat makes when he hits a grand slam in the 5th. Cincinnati hadn't recorded a slam against Miami since Tucker Barnhart on August 16, 2016, and it's only the second game ever where the Reds hit both a slam and a 3-run dinger against the Marlins. The other was a 22-8 win on August 31, 1996 (Lenny Harris hit the slam), which remains the Reds' biggest win over the Marlins. Monday's 11-2 thumping ends up tied for fourth on the list.
But as we say, save some runs for Tuesday. Or at least some hits. Pablo Lopez-- who briefly emerged as the only player on the Marlins' roster who might generate some trade rumors (at least before he gave up 12 hits on Sunday)-- is on the hill, and at least we get the no-hitter off the board immediately. India ropes a leadoff single to right, but then Lopez sets down 12 in a row with only one ball leaving the infield. Mike Moustakas works a 9-pitch at-bat, the longest of the game, before beginning the 5th with a homer to right-center. And then Lopez shuts it down again, with nine more consecutive outs before leaving after the 7th. Lopez would finish the game with 11 strikeouts and 0 walks, something he also did on May 13 against Milwaukee. The only other pitcher in Marlins history to have multiple such games is the late great Jose Fernandez.
Anthony Bass and Tanner Scott also have 1-2-3 innings, meaning the Reds finish with only the 2 hits, even though one was a dinger. Their only other 2-hit home game against the Marlins was a shutout by Tommy Phelps on May 26, 2004. And we should also point out that, while Lopez was clearly dominant, Hunter Greene and Buck Farmer worked out of quite a few jams for the Reds as well. Except for the one where they didn't, in the 5th when Greene got tagged for 4 hits and 2 runs. The Marlins scored only those 2 runs despite collecting 11 total base knocks, something they had not done in a 9-inning victory since September 12, 2015, against the Nationals.
And the Marlins will take one for the road on Thursday. After seeing Daniel Castano knocked out of the game in the 1st inning-- literally, by a comebacker from Donovan Solano-- they had to piece together a bullpen game and claw their way back to a 5-4 deficit with a couple of well-placed extra-base hits from Jesús Aguilar. He would end up as the second batter in Marlins history to have a homer, a double, a single, and a sac fly in the same game, joining Hanley Ramirez (July 27, 2007, at San Francisco).
Hunter Strickland is given the 1-run lead and the save chance in the 9th, and promptly blows that on a pinch-hit homer by Jesús Sanchez. It was the Marlins' first tying or go-ahead pinch-hit homer in the 9th since Curtis Granderson had one in Atlanta on April 7, 2019, and their first one ever against the Reds. But it was really the next two batters that did Strickland in. He walked Luke Williams on 8 pitches and then plunked Jacob Stallings. Then he left. That's 3 batters faced, a homer, a walk, and an HBP. No Reds pitcher in the modern era had ever pulled off that exact line before. And when Buck Farmer allows both those runs to score, Strickland also becomes the second pitcher for any team to post that line, have all three batters score, and get a loss. Aroldis Chapman did it against the Mets on Independence Day last year (though in the 7th inning, not the 9th).
The Miami pitcher who was in the game at the end of the 8th and thus got the win out of this? That's Zach Pop. Likely a much nicer popping sound heard Thursday on the way out of GABP than was heard Monday in the opener.
The Marlins may have had to Pop back home to face the Mets for the weekend, but instead another strange combatant came to GABP and at least got to say hello to Buck Farmer. There's always plenty of Bengals orange on display at the football stadium right up the street from GABP, but not so much at the baseball field where the Giants are the only primarily-orange team to visit. And their fans tend to be a long distance away. Enter that other bright-orange team, the Baltimore Orioles. The last time they were in Cincinnati, there was another "Buck" involved-- their manager Mr. Showalter. So it's been a little while.
Dylan Bundy was still pitching for the Orioles back then, although he didn't appear in that Reds series in 2017. Joey Votto is still hanging around from that previous matchup, and he opened Friday's game with a 2-run homer off Kyle Bradish, one of the prospects who got traded from the Angels in return for Dylan Bundy. That turns out to be the first multi-run homer that the Reds have hit in the 1st inning against Baltimore since Frank Motz did it on September 18, 1893-- when both cities still had National League franchises.
Bradish, however, would settle down and match Mike Minor until the 6th inning, when the latter gave up his own 2-run shot to Anthony Santander. That leaves us tied going to the 9th, and as mentioned, the Orioles are going to greet Buck Farmer. Walk, double, shallow fly ball that's not deep enough to chance it. Instead Cedric Mullins, 2-run single for the lead. Then another walk, an infield single that forces Farmer back to the barn, and although Dauri Moreta gets the final 2 outs, he does so via a sacrifice fly that completes Buck's line-- and the game's-- at a 6-2 Orioles win. Farmer is the third pitcher in Reds history to give up 4 runs while getting 1 out in an interleague game, and take a loss; Blake Wood did it against Seattle back in 2016, and the other is another familiar name from this week-- Hunter Strickland against the Guardians back in April.
Before the Birds found their way to Cincinnati, however, they were back in Birdland for a series with the Rays earlier in the week. Two more teams that are hovering around .500, and given that they're in a division with the Yankees, it certainly appears that the Orioles are headed for their 40th straight season without a pennant. (That 10-game win streak right before the break is the only thing still keeping them mathematically alive.) And that series had a little bit of fun as well.
Cedric Mullins began Tuesday's game by hitting his third leadoff homer against the Rays. All other batters in O's history have combined for five of them against Tampa Bay. However, the Rays fought back against Spenser Watkins, who spent six seasons in the Tigers organization before the Tigers-- yes, the Tigers-- released him. He spent 2021 with Baltimore but was granted free agency in November. After 5 days of failing to get a bite from any other teams, he said, can I come back?, and they said, yeah, sure. But he's been able to eat up some innings, even if he did allow 10 hits on Tuesday-- in a game the Orioles would end up winning. Their last pitcher to do that was Alex Cobb on May 18, 2018. And that win came courtesy of Ramon Urias's 2-run dinger in the 8th. The O's had only hit two other lead-flipping homers that late in a game against Tampa Bay, by Melvin Mora in 2006, and a walkoff from Jerry Hairston in 2001.
Wednesday's game would be the Rays' only win of the 4-game set, and even that required overtime. Ji-Man Choi gave them an early boost with a 2-run homer, the first multi-run dinger by a Rays DH in the 1st inning at Camden Yards since Corey Dickerson on June 24, 2016. Luke Raley also homered to lead off the 2nd, and Tampa Bay clung to a 4-3 lead after Trey Mancini singled home a run in the 5th. Our free runners, however, came courtesy of Jorge Mateo, whose tying homer in the 9th was just the third ever by the Orioles against the Rays. Jonathan Schoop hit one in 2015, and Nick Markakis drilled one at The Trop in 2008. Mateo also hit that dinger off Colin Poche, who also gave up Urias's lead-flipper on Tuesday. He's the first Rays pitcher to surrender a tying or go-ahead homer in the 8th or later on consecutive days since Brad Boxberger did it against Seattle (Kyle Seager & Nelson Cruz) in May 2015.
Yandy Diaz leads off the 10th inning with a single up the third-base line, such that free runner Taylor Walls can get to third but no more. Randy Arozarena will then double home both of those runs to give the Rays their eventual 6-4 victory. Obviously in our New World Order it is becoming easier to have multi-run hits in extra innings, but Arozarena also had a 2-run double on May 24 of last season against Toronto. He's the first player in Rays history to do it twice, and also the first one ever with such a hit against the Orioles.
And if you're going to be the last game to end on Wednesday, why not be the first one to start on Thursday? Less than 14 hours later the O's and Rays were back at the Yards to conclude the series with a 3-0 Orioles win in which Tampa Bay managed just 4 singles. The last time the Rays were shut out on 4 hits at Oriole Park was May 4, 2019, by none other than Dylan Bundy (of the earlier Kyle Bradish trade). But that wasn't the fun story out of Thursday's game. It's a day game. Trey Mancini hits a white ball into the white sky. It's too high for Josh Lowe and hilarity ensues. This got a lot of complaints from Baseball Twitter because the ball basically hits Lowe on the glove and/or head, but if you watch him while it's in flight, you can kinda tell that he's lost it. If it had fallen 5 feet behind him there would be no clamoring for a 4-base error. So we're okay with this one being called an inside-the-park homer, the second IHR by an Orioles batter ever at Camden Yards. At the very least, it seems to us like a better call than the other one, by Robert Andino against Boston on September 26, 2011. In that case Jacoby Ellsbury actually catches the ball briefly but then slams into the wall and the impact jars it loose. You decide.
Much like a lot of these teams are going to do some deciding before Tuesday afternoon.
Bottom Of The Bag
⚾ Pablo Lopez, Sunday: Second pitcher in Marlins history to allow 12 hits in less than 3 innings pitched. Pat Rapp did it at Coors on April 22, 1997.
⚾ George Springer, Tuesday: First grand slam ever hit by Blue Jays against the Cardinals (they don't play much).
⚾ Eric Haase, Monday: First grand slam ever hit by Tigers against the Padres (they don't play much either).
⚾ Luis Rengifo, Thursday: Second Angels batter ever to triple, double, and single in a game where the team got shut out. Jim Fregosi did it against Boston on August 1, 1970.
⚾ Ranger Suarez, Saturday: First Phillies pitcher to allow 0 runs, 3 hits, and strike out 8+ in a game in Pittsburgh since Steve Carlton on September 3, 1979.
⚾ Luis Urias, Tuesday: Brewers' first walkoff sac fly against an AL opponent since they were also in the AL. B.J. Surhoff against Oakland, April 28, 1995.
⚾ Yordan Alvarez & Mauricio Dubon, Friday: Second teammates in Astros history to each have 2 hits, 2 walks, and a homer in the same game. Norm Larker & Bob Aspromonte did it at Cincinnati on July 8, 1962.
⚾ Rowdy Tellez, Wednesday: Second batter in Brewers history to hit a 3-run homer as the team's third batter of a game against Minnesota. Dave Nilsson did it at the Metrodome on August 20, 1996.
⚾ Austin Riley, Sunday: Braves' first walkoff double to win a 1-0 game since Jim Wynn against San Diego on August 4, 1976.
⚾ Josh Rojas, Monday: Second player in Diamondbacks history to steal 3 bases in a game and yet not score a run. Tony Womack did it in Cincinnati on May 15, 2001.
⚾ Rhys Hoskins, Friday: Phillies' first batter with 4 hits including a homer in Pittsburgh since Scott Rolen on July 1, 1999.
⚾ Victor Robles, Tuesday: First Nationals leadoff batter with 3 hits in a win at Dodger Stadium since Delino DeShields Sr, July 17, 1993.
⚾ Clarke Schmidt, Saturday: Became first Yankees pitcher to record two 3-inning saves in less than a week since Lance McCullers Sr in 1989.
⚾ Garrett Whitlock, Mon/Thu: First Red Sox pitcher to get multiple 2-inning saves in the same series since Greg Harris against Baltimore in September 1993.
⚾ James Outman, Sunday: Second player ever to make his MLB debut with the Dodgers and have 3 hits and 3 RBI in it. Packy Rogers against the Giants on July 12, 1938.
⚾ Miguel Rojas, Friday: Marlins' first 3-run double in the 1st inning since Cody Ross at Dodger Stadium, August 16, 2006.
⚾ Victor Reyes, Wednesday: Tigers' first walkoff double when trailing since Miguel Cabrera against the Rockies on June 28, 2008.
⚾ White Sox, Saturday: First bounce-off win against the A's since June 19, 1985, when Rick Langford uncorked one to score Ozzie Guillen.
⚾ Reyes Moronta, Monday: First Dodgers reliever to issue 2 walks, 2 wild pitches, and hit a batter since Mike Strahler at Atlanta on July 30, 1972.
⚾ Hunter Renfroe, Sunday: First Brewers batter with 4 hits in a loss at Fenway Park since Kevin Seitzer on June 7, 1996.
⚾ Phillies/Pirates, Thursday: First game to have a multi-run triple in the 1st inning and a multi-run triple in the 9th inning (by either team) since Chicago's Rick Reichardt and Vada Pinson of the Angels traded them on August 2, 1972.
⚾ Bobby Dalbec, Wednesday: Second Red Sox batter ever to have 2 homers and a sac fly in a loss. Adrian Beltre, also against Cleveland, August 2, 2010.
⚾ Alex Cobb, Friday: First Giants pitcher to strike out 11+, allow 1 run, and lose, since Juan Marichal got walked off by the Mets in the 14th inning on August 19, 1969.
⚾ Reid Detmers, Sunday: Became first pitcher to throw a no-hitter and an immaculate inning (3 strikeouts on 9 pitches) for the same team in the same season since Sandy Koufax in 1964.
