After what felt like the longest break in All-Star break history, we had a full boat of action July 12 — games filled with emotion, big hits, and tremendous pitching performances.
Angel in the Outfield… and Pitcher’s Mound
The Angels continued to honor their fallen pitcher and friend, Tyler Skaggs, by having the entire team wear his number again last night. The game started with Skaggs’ mother throwing out the first pitch. Pitching would only get better from there. Taylor Cole and Felix Pena threw a combined no-hitter again the Seattle Mariners, the 13th in MLB history. Cole started the game with two innings with two strikeouts, then Pena finished the remaining seven innings with only allowing one walk with six strikeouts.
Mike Trout gave us some early fireworks with his first inning home run, which apparently went 454 feet, an homage to Skaggs jersey number 45. Trout continues to be baseball’s best hitter. He would go 3-for-4 with six RBIs.
Justin Upton’s bat woke up a little last night with two hits. That would be his first home run since returning from the injured list. All of which would raise his season slash line to a more reasonable .281/.349/.478. I would expect him to continue to do what he does best… hit.
Let’s not leave out Andrelton Simmons, who just keeps on hitting. Simmons added a trio of hits last night and scored two times. The shortstop is now batting .292.
Two Shades of Gray
Jonathan Gray faced his Gray counterpart, Sonny Gray, last night in Colorado. Who would’ve thought we’d have a pitcher’s duel in Coors? That’s exactly what we got. Sonny Gray came into enemy territory well-rested and tossed seven innings and allowed five hits and run against three walks and nine strikeouts. Jonathan Gray wasn’t much worse, going seven innings, with four hits, two runs, no walks and six strikeouts. Holy cow! I guess they turned down the atmosphere for the night.
Daniel Murphy would excite his fantasy owners with a three-hit, two RBI night including a home run. David Dahl hit a home run of his own. The big bats of the Rockies were awkwardly silent. Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story, and Nolan Arenado combined for six strikeouts.
Acuna Laughs at Derby “Curse”
The Braves took on the Padres last night with a surprisingly intriguing pitching matchup. Dallas Keuchel faced off against Dinelson Lamet. Keuchel tossed his third consecutive quality start, going seven innings with four walks, ive strikeouts, and only one run. The run came off the bat of Manny Machado in the sixth inning. That was Keuchel’s first home run allowed since facing the Cubs on July 26. Lamet almost matched Kuechel’s performance, going five innings and allowing two walks, with seven strikeouts but gave up two long balls for four runs.
Josh Donaldson continues his hot hitting with two more home runs last night. He now has 11 over his last 30 games. He tagged Lamet in the first inning, then Matt Strahm in the eighth. His teammate Ronald Acuna Jr. hit one of his own off Lamet in the fifth.
Manny Machado had three hits of his own to open the second half. He took Keuchel deep in the sixth for a solo shot. Young phenom Fernando Tatis Jr. added two more hits of his own last night, adding to his bid for Rookie of the Year.
German Continues Dominance
Domingo German opened the second half for the Yankees in hopes of continuing their winning ways. With Toronto coming to town, German took advantage of their swing happy lineup. He threw six strong innings with three hits, no runs, no walks, and seven strikeouts. His opponent, Aaron Sanchez, wouldn’t fare so well. He threw a couple of really nice curveballs, and that was about it. Sanchez pitched five innings, allowing seven hits and four runs, with two walks and only two strikeouts.
Underrated outfielder Aaron Hicks continued to hit since coming back from injury. He added a pair tonight. Edwin Encarnacion plated three with his double in fifth. That being one of the bigger hits in his tenure as a Yankee. We should see more big hits and more parrots from Edwin going forward.
Eduardo Rodriguez thrills in Boston
Is there a more frustrating pitcher than Eduardo Rodriguez? Probably, but he’s very frustrating. His xstats are very intriguing, but his on-field performance is inconsistent at best. Well, last night he showed us why we should think highly of him. Rodriguez shut down the Dodgers lineup with seven innings allowing just five hits and one run, with two walks and 10 — I repeat, 10 — strikeouts. Remember, he was facing the freaking Dodgers. His opponent Kenta Maeda was no push-over. Maeda tossed 5 2/3 innings with four hits, 3 three runs, one walk and seven strikeouts.
In a game that was a nail biter for six innings, the contest ended in a Sox 8-1 win when the Dodgers bullpen allowed five runs in the seventh.
For the Red Sox, Mookie Betts had a hit, RBI and scored a run. Rafael Devers continued to show us why he deserves to be treated in the upper tiers of third basemen with two more hits, two more runs and two more RBI. Man, that kid is special.
For the Dodgers, Alex Verdugo had the only run and RBI of the night when he hit a solo home run off of Rodriguez in the second inning.
