Not enough time in the day….
@Rangers 1, Rays 0: After missing a start, Yu Darvish returned with 10 Ks and his first scoreless game since April. The game turned in the 4th, in the span of two batters:
Tampa had the bags full and 1 out, but the Rangers turned a nifty 3-6-1 DP on Jose Lobaton. Then Ian Kinsler opened the home half with his 16th HR, his 3rd off James Shields in 33 ABs. Shields had faced the minimum until that point and allowed just 2 other singles in his 7 innings, but he took his first loss in a month as the Rays lost their 4th straight.
- Tampa dropped a 1-0 decision for the 2nd straight Tuesday and for the MLB-high 4th time this year, all in August. Texas won its 3rd 1-0 contest, more than any team save the Seattle Felixes.
Braves 2, @Padres 0: Kris Medlen‘s scoreless streak reached 28 IP, and he’s 5-0, 0.66 in 6 starts. Chipper Jones drove in the first run with his 547th career double, tying Manny Ramirez for #26 on that career list and tying Robin Yount for #29 in Total Bases. Dan Uggla quenched an 11-game RBI thirst with his 16th HR.
- Medlen joined R.A. Dickey and Ryan Dempster as the only pitchers this year with 3 straight scoreless games of 7+ IP.
- In his first save chance in 24 days, Craig Kimbrel struck out 3 in his usual 1-inning stint, giving him 12 such games this year. Kimbrel set the record last year with 13 such games.
- The southpaw Andrew Werner continued to look like the best pitcher ever to come out of the Frontier League. For the 2nd time in a row, he allowed 2 runs on 4 hits in 6 IP, this time with 7 Ks and no walks. The Brave are 24-26 in games started by a lefty.
@Orioles 6, White Sox 0: Chris Tillman improved to 7-2, yielding just an infield hit in 7 IP, and Nick Markakis hit a bases-clearing double to cap a 2-out rally in the 2nd, as the O’s beat Chris Sale for their 4th straight win and moved to 5-1 against the ChiSox.
- Chicago’s other hit was an infield single in the 9th by Adam Dunn, his 7th infield hit and 40th single of the season.
- You can see why Markakis has no trouble against lefties, even on a looping slider.
- Have the denizens of Charm City been inoculated against Pennant Fever? The first two games of this series drew less than 25,000 combined, two of their six worst crowds this year. The weather seems to have been fine.
- Philip Humber mopped up, allowing Adam Jones‘s 100th career HR. Looks like Humber is arbitration-eligible this fall and a non-tender isn’t out of the question.
@Angels 6, Red Sox 5: Alfredo Aceves worked a swift 8th with a 1-run lead, so he got the chance to finish it out. Not so fast: With 1 out, Aceves may or may not have nicked the #8 hitter, but he did let him steal 2nd, and then walked Alberto Callaspo on 4 pitches. All that did was bring up the AL’s best hitter, who also happens to be hitting .375 with RISP and .275 on an 0-2 count (AL average is .159). Then, with the game tied and a man on 3rd, Torii Hunter atoned for this boneheaded bunt with a deep fly on a badly-located 0-1 pitch, and there’s your ballgame.