@Rays 2, Giants 1 (10 inn.) — The first meeting of these Cy Young winners did not disappoint, only that neither David Price nor Tim Lincecum was there at the end. Reliever Jean Machi, an old rookie who’s shown great control this year, cooked his own goose with 3 walks (one intentional), putting the game on a tee with no outs for Wil Myers. The youngster delivered, lashing one past the drawn-in outfield for his first game-winning hit. Now, that’s something to celebrate.

Desmond Jennings led off the 10th, and he fouled off two full-count offerings before drawing a walk. He then stole 2nd, the 51st SB off Buster Posey this year (25% CS), and so with a 2-0 count already, Ben Zobrist was ushered the rest of the way. But when Machi wouldn’t come in to Evan Longoria, missing on four straight to load the sacks, it was really all over but the shouting.

Price gave up his run in the top of the 3rd, on two singles around an advancing out. But Lincecum gave it right back — a leadoff walk to Jose Molina, a quick wild pitch (an absolute gift to advance one of the slowest runners around), an infield hit to the right side, and a turf chopper by Zobrist too high to turn over, as Jose meandered home. Tampa Bay had 9 hits, all singles, and 6 walks, but just one from Lincecum’s 7 stanzas. Price went 9 innings, no walks, slipping through two little jams, and he might have gone longer but for an 11-pitch battle with Marco Scutaro starting the 9th, ending in Price’s 5th strikeout. He wound up with 105 pitches, the most since coming off the DL last month. He’s gone 9 innings in 4 of his last 6 outings, needing 98 pitches or less for the other three.

• Since his return, Price has allowed 10 runs in 57.1 IP, with one walk(!) and 38 hits. The Rays have won 6 of those 7 games.

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Braves 5, @Phillies 4 (12 inn.) — Another long affair that turned on the ever-popular intentional-walk/unintentional-walk two-step, with Jake Diekman unable to muster even one strike against the lifetime .215 hitter Paul Janish, just returned from a .207 stint at triple-A. That filled ’em up, Dan Uggla got bat on ball for an RBI groundout, and Craig Kimbrel sewed the buttons on a 9th straight win, as the Braves continue to lift and separate from the NL Least.

In the abstract, the game situation absolutely called for an IBB to Evan Gattis. But is it wise to have Jake the Ballpark Walker deliberately throw 4 wide ‘uns and then try to remember where home plate is? — when he began this predicament with a leadoff walk? That’s the part of the IBB equation that gnaws at me: pretending that the pitcher’s control record is irrelevant to the free-pass analysis. Diekman has averaged 5+ walks per 9 innings throughout his pro career. If it ever becomes possible to gather quick data on events that follow an intentional walk, I suspect we’ll find that walk rates go up overall, and most sharply for those most prone to missing.

• Luis Ayala let in a Brandon Beachy leftover, tying the game with 2 outs in the 7th. But the next five to trot through the bullpen gate amassed 5 scoreless innings. Winner Luis Avilan has allowed 6 ER in 45.1 IP, combining with Kimbrel for a 1.23 ERA.
• Funny thing about Dan Uggla: As a Marlin, he ravaged Turner Field, hitting .354/1.051, 12 HRs in 45 games. But since joining the Braves in 2011, he’s hit .202/.710 at home (33 HRs), and .237/.781 on the road (43 HRs). (Yeah, this was a road game, but I had the note, so here it is.)

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Indians 4, @Marlins 3 — Chris Perez found himself a heap of trouble, but he managed the last 2 outs with the winning run on 2nd. Michael Bourn’s speed was all over this game, from beginning to end. He scored 3 runs, each set up by a meaningful SB. He beat out a GB-6 to create one of those chances, then swiped 2nd, and bolted for 3rd on a very short wild pitch, drawing a throw that sailed into left field, and then racing home. And there he was at the end, shaded towards right against Placido Polanco, but off with the crack of the bat to flag down the left-center liner for the last out.

• Bourn averaged 51 steals in the past 5 years, but those skills had been missing so far in his first year with Cleveland. He came in 13-for-21 in steal tries, and 1-for-4 in his last 23 games.
• Jason Kipnis converted the basepath rampage into runs, singling home Bourn in the 1st, then coming through with a tiebreaking 2-run hit after Bourn and Drew Stubbs pulled a double-heist in the 7th. Kipnis leads the club with 68 RBI — and in hits, runs, HRs, doubles, triples, steals and WAR. He’s raking in high-leverage spots, and he’s 21-for-56 with 2 or more runners on base. With Miguel Cabrera hurting, this guy’s in the MVP race if the Tribe makes the playoffs. A dark horse, yes, but voters love a “clear best player” on a surprise contender.
• Jacob Turner has provided a steady “#2” effort ever since his promotion, going at least 5 innings in all 12 starts (averaging about 6.5) and keeping the team in virtually every game. He’s had few standout performances — a high of 7 Ks, one scoreless outing, and a 7-hit complete game — but he’s kept the ball in the park (3 HRs) and has yielded just 2.79 runs per 9 innings. There are still things to work on; he throws too many wild pitches, and his walk rate’s just fair — but any team would love to have a 22-year-old with enough poise to succeed on a last-place team. And in a year or two, he could be as valuable as the high-priced guy he was traded for.
• Here’s a speedy recovery by Jake Marisnick.

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@Tigers 3, White Sox 0 — Both sides got quality starts, but Chicago got 3 singles in Max Scherzer’s 7.2 IP, while Detroit hit 3 solo HRs off John Danks. Scherzer (16-1, 2.85) allowed one run or more in his first 20 starts, but none in his last two. Chicago’s lost 9 in a row for the first time since 1991, when Carlton Fisk was their starting catcher and Charlie Hough their #2 starter.

• That’s 20 taters in just 90 innings for Danks, the worst rate of any with 13+ starts. At 2.01 HR/9, he’s threatening the club record of 2.03 set by Phil Humber last year.

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@Pirates 5, Rockies 2 — Jose Tabata homered, tripled and singled, Andrew McCutchen had 2 hits and 2 steals, and Francisco Liriano notched his 5th scoreless start of 7+ innings, as Pittsburgh snuffed out a 2-game slide and moved further ahead of the Cardinals.

If Josh Hamilton could win MVP while missing a month at the end, and Rick Sutcliffe could win Cy Young for 20 starts and 150 innings, could Francisco Liriano possibly win CYA despite missing the first 7 turns of the rotation? He’s 12-4 with a 2.02 ERA, and has allowed 11 runs in those 12 wins. In a weaker field, he might have a case, but my money’s on Kershaw so far.

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Yankees 3, @Padres 0 — If Ivan Nova was ticked about losing his last two starts by a combined score of 4-0, he took it out on sunny San Diego. The Yanks could do nothing to Tyson Ross in the early going — 13 outs before their first runner, and just 2 men on through 6 frames — but Nova made sure he wouldn’t come out on the short end. After a little jam in the 1st and a double to start the 2nd (both quashed on grounders and whiffs), Nova set down 15 in a row, keeping it tied to the 7th. Then the Yankees broke through — a lucky bloop for Soriano, and a just-enough blast by Curtis Granderson, his first in 2 games since a 10-week absence. Nova rang up his 7th and 8th Ks to put down a last spot of bother in the bottom half, and the firm of Robertson & Rivera brought the case to a satisfactory close.

• Granderson singled his last time up (he had 2 of their 5 hits), stole 2nd with 2 outs and 2 strikes, and scored the comfort run on a Jayson Nix single.
• Rivera made his first regular-season appearance in San Diego; he was on the DL during New York’s one prior visit. (He did save the last 2 games of the ’98 Series sweep there.) Mo still has never pitched in Houston (he was getting a day off when their lone save chance arose), or in Pittsburgh (no close games in their one series). The Yankees visit Houston on the final weekend, but an appearance in PNC Park would require a lot of things to fall just right on both sides.
• Nova’s been dominant in 6 starts since coming back from the minors — 10 runs in 44.2 IP — but he’s gone 3-3 thanks to weak support (0, 0, 1, 3, 3, and 8 runs). Overall, he’s 5-4 with a 3.08 RA/9, and 4 HRs in 73 IP.
• Robinson Cano has 2 singles in 16 trips on this coast swing. It’s a very small sample, but he hasn’t hit at all in the NL West parks — 18 for 78 (.231) with 1 walk, 2 HRs (.321 SLG) and 6 RBI in 19 games. Even his Anaheim numbers are well under his norms; mix them together and you get a .261 BA, .370 SLG, 6 walks against 34 Ks, and 7 HRs & 26 RBI in 59 games.
• Derek Jeter got a day off for his sore legs.

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Mariners 8, Orioles 4 — Michael Saunders plated 5 with 2 HRs, and Justin Smoak homered, doubled, and reached all 5 times up, as Seattle stopped a 4-game spin in which they allowed 33 runs. Scott Feldman got roughed up for the 3rd time in 6 Orioles starts, surrendering 5 runs and 11 men on base against 14 outs. Seattle scored 4 with 2 outs in the 5th, breaking a 2-all tie. Smoak had a hand in all four of their scoring frames. Baltimore and Texas both slipped behind Cleveland in the musical chairs for the 2nd wild card.

• Since July started, Smoak has hit .333 with a .426 on-base percentage, raising his season OBP to a team-high .376.
• From the “You can’t explain baseball” files: Last year, Erasmo Ramirez had a 3.64 ERA in 8 starts, but went 1-3, and took a loss or no-decision in 3 of his 4 best outings. This year, he has a 7.25 ERA in 4 starts (no QS), but he’s 3-0.
• Buck Showalter was ejected for arguing that New York’s A-Rod machinations are intended to free up third base for Manny Machado in 5 years.

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@Red Sox 5, D-backs 2 — Jake Peavy was sturdy in his BoSox debut, pitching into the 8th, and Jonny Gomes threw out the tying run at the plate in that inning to keep Peavy’s win in play. The score was 1-all come the stretch, when Boston took advantage of Patrick Corbin’s 10th wild pitch (3rd in the majors) to plate a pair.

• Paul Goldschmidt hit his 26th HR (and 5th in 10 games), but the opportunistic base thief was nabbed for just the 6th time in his career, against 32 steals.
• Goldschmidt’s 88 RBI are 8 more than his next 2 teammates combined. He’s hitting .371 with RISP, while their next 6 by ABs range from .232 down to .195.
• In his last 25 games, Koji Uehara has allowed 2 runs (1 ER) and 11 baserunners in 26 IP, fanning 41% of his foes. He has an 0.69 WHIP this year, same as he has since 2011 (151.1 IP, 84 hits, 21 walks).

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Nationals 4, @Brewers 0 — Two pitchers with initials D.H. squared off under NL rules. Dan Haren got the upper … um … appendage, holding Milwaukee to 4 hits in 7 innings for his second straight win, and collecting one of 5 hits off Donovan Hand. Adam LaRoche, battling a 1-for-26 slump, launched his 13th HR, and Wilson Ramos roped #7, raising his slugging average to .513. The Brewers were blanked for the first time since April and just the 4th time this year, breaking their tie with Arizona for the fewest shutout losses.

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Royals 4, @Mets 3 (12 inn.) — New York’s bullpen was perfect from the 7th through 11th, but pinch-hitter Justin Maxwell clocked a full-count fastball, inside the foul pole and way gone, handing David Aardsma his first loss as a Met. It’s the Royals’ second pinch-HR ever in extra time, and the first since 1995, when Gary Gaetti connected off Jesse Orosco. It’s the latest pinch-HR in MLB since June 2011. Ned Yost’s decision to keep Greg Holland in reserve paid off when he blew down the Mets in the 12th, after others had handled the 9th-11th in both games of this series. Holland’s last 13 outings all are saves; he hasn’t pitched in a non-save spot since June 26 (tied in the 9th at home).

Back in 1998, Bruce Chen made his big-league debut against the Mets, but he hadn’t started against them since 2001, and had never beaten them in 5 starts. Chen had a win in hand today, holding the Mets to a run on 4 hits over 6 innings, with 8 Ks and no walks, and set down 14 of his last 15 batters. But sloppy defense put 2 in scoring position for Josh Satin with 1 out in the 8th, and he slipped a hard grounder under the diving shortstop, tying the game with his 2nd hit. A leadoff single moved up on a passed ball (by the just-entered Salvador Perez) and an infield hit. Aaron Crow paid no mind to Juan Lagares, the tying run on 1st, and he waltzed to 2nd without a throw, one pitch before Satin’s hit.

• Chen started the year in long relief, but moved to the rotation just before the All-Star break. His 4 starts look almost like copies, each exactly 6 IP with a total of 4 runs on 11 hits, 3 walks and 21 strikeouts. Always HR-prone, Chen’s allowed 1 HR in 3 of the 4 starts, but each was a solo.
• Daniel Murphy’s home run off Chen was his first off a southpaw in almost a year. His last 10 taters all came off RHPs.
• Eric Hosmer had 2 hits, one in the midst of their 3-run 3rd inning. Since June 1, he’s hitting .308, slugging .502, with 10 HRs in 55 games.

Mets commentary: With David Wright now on the DL, the Mets started utility man Justin Turner at third base today. But Terry Collins said that if Wright is out for an extended period, he might move Daniel Murphy from 2B to 3B, and bring Eric Young in from LF to play second. Outfielder Mike Baxter, who’s been called up to fill Wright’s roster spot, would get time in left.

No, no, no. Here’s what I’d do:

Murphy, Young and Turner should stay put. Murphy has become a solid glove at 2B, in my opinion; dWAR isn’t convinced, but in any case, that’s where his future lies, with Wright signed long-term and Murph’s bat not enough for any other spot he might fill, so there’s no point interrupting his thread at 2B. If Eric Young could really play 2B, he would have played more there in the past, since he’s not a great outfielder and his bat would look better at second. Turner’s had one full year in the lineup and over 800 PAs in the majors, and he hasn’t done anything to shed the utility label. And Baxter has hit infinitely better off the bench than in the lineup, plus they need a lefty pinch-hitter.

Wright’s absence is a great harm to the team, but it’s also an opportunity. Collins has lately platooned Ike Davis and Josh Satin at first base. He’s also made these points more than once: (1) A productive every-day Davis is key to the team’s future success; and (2) Satin — who has a .429 OBP this year, and .398 in 6 years in the minors –needs consistent ABs to stay sharp.

So, play Josh Satin at third base. Satin began his career as a second baseman, and he’s played 79 pro games at third. I wouldn’t expect good glove work, but if you want to give him and Ike the best chance to prove themselves, bite the bullet and let them play. Satin, Young, Turner, Baxter and Murphy are all 28. Satin has the best minor-league stats of the group, but he’s the only one who’s never had a real shot in the lineup. This should be his chance.

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More from Friday

Nationals 4, @Brewers 1 — Ian Desmond’s self-propelled run — leadoff double, stole 3rd, scored on an overthrow — broke a scoreless tie in the 5th, and Jordan Zimmermann’s 6 dogged innings earned his first win in a month, as Washington moved within 6.5 games of a wild-card spot. Zim gave a season-high 4 walks, but he got a break on a leadoff pass to Carlos Gomez in the 4th. Gomez stole 2nd straight off, but his 1-out bid for 3rd was rejected by Wilson Ramos. Juan Francisco then doubled, but he died there. Zimmermann worked past a leadoff double in the 1st, fanning Gomez to end it, and got a GDP in the 3rd, clearing the slate before another double. Bryce Harper teed off on a 3-1 pitch in the 6th, checking into the Loge Hotel, and he drove in one more in the 9th when Rickie Weeks tried to telecommute to his job in middle-infield.

• What happened to Harper on this play? Was he stealing, or did he think there were 2 outs? (Sound on my computer is broken, so maybe the announcers will tell you.)

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Diamondbacks 7, @Red Sox 6 — Cody Ross wanted revenge against his former team, and in his very first chance, he got all that and more. His home run leading off the 7th broke a 6-all tie, rounding out his stat-stuffer night of 5-2-4-3, two doubles and a steal, and helped the sputtering Snakes avoid losing more ground in their race. Randall Delgado found much tougher sledding than in his recent 3-hit shutout, allowing 6 runs in 6 frames, including a tying 2-run shot by Stephen Drew in his final stanza, but Ross’s blow plus stout relief work gave him a third straight win. Sidewinding Brad Ziegler gave up two hits to lefties in the 9th, but he retired Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia to secure his 6th straight save since inheriting the hot-potato job of D-backs closer. Pedroia went 0-for-5, including three RBI chances, and has shed 30 points from his average in the last month.

• Ross hit splendidly in Fenway last year, his only season with the BoSox — .298 BA, .921 OPS, with 13 HRs, 25 doubles and 49 RBI in just 66 games. But Boston’s decision not to offer a 32-year-old OF the kind of deal he ultimately got in Phoenix seems perfectly prudent, and despite the big game, his overall production so far has given the Sawx no cause for regret. But it’s interesting sometimes to see the emotional fallout from contract negotiations. (Maybe Ben Cherington could send a nice greeting card: “It was only business; I always liked you.”)
• Ziegler has always been vulnerable to lefties, due to his delivery, but this year’s LHB split is the best of his career.

Finally, if you’ll indulge one of my little mental exercises….

A team collects 16 hits (but no walks or HBP), with 2 HRs and 5 doubles; one steal, and no runners erased except a routine force-out. Two questions:

(a) How many RISP chances would you expect? The 5 doubles alone create a minimum of 5 chances, given no runners were put out advancing. In the event, these 5 doubles produced 6 RISP chances. That leaves 9 singles. One was followed by a HR. The next five combined for 3 RISP chances, each with 2 outs. (Three early singles stayed put until a 2-out hit or steal moved them up for a 2-out RISP chance.) The last three singles went nowhere.

In all, Arizona had 9 PAs with RISP, and had 4 hits, each driving in a run — but only one run, as they never did get two in scoring position at the same time.

(b) Given that assortment of times on base and total bases, how many runs would you expect? I checked all regulation games by visitors (ensuring 9 batting innings, except for shortened games which I can’t filter out). There have been 68 such games with exactly 16 times on base (including errors) and 27 total bases. Seven runs was on the low end of the output range, but not so low as I’d expected. The average was 8.3 runs; 48 of the 68 scored more than 7 runs, while nine scored less. About half the teams had at least one DP (two are unknown), while 14 had at least one CS.

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Random Friday notes

Francisco Rodriguez logged the 6th appearance ever with 5 batters faced, 2 home runs and 3 strikeouts. He did it all with just 16 pitches, matching Tyler Clippard (last July) in that measure. Clippard is the only one of the six to get a positive decision, a save. (On a tangent, let us salute the ingenuity of Pat Mahomes, the only man ever to allow 4 HRs while facing 5 batters or less. Mahomes relieved starter Darren Oliver in the 6th, trailing 5-2 with a man on 3rd and 1 out. The sequence: full-count HR, full-count HR, popout, full-count HR, full-count HR. The HRs came in ABs of 6, 7, 8 and 9 pitches, though not in that order.)

Daniel Descalso had never homered twice in a week. Then he went deep twice in one game. It’s the first 2-HR game by a Cardinals shortstop since 2003, Edgar Renteria, and the 12th in searchable history. No Cards SS has ever topped 16 HRs in a season; there are 191 shortstop seasons of 17+ HRs, by 72 different players. Out of 70 shortstop seasons of 100+ RBI, the Cards own just one: Renteria, 100 in 2003.

Cincinnati is 17-29 against teams at .500 or better, by far the worst of any team now in or near a playoff spot. They don’t have a winning mark against any winning team — 6-7 to PIT, 3-7 to STL, 3-4 to ATL, 1-3 to LAD, 2-2 to CLE, 1-2 to TEX, 1-2 to ARI, 0-2 to OAK. The Reds first reached 10 games over .500 on May 21 (28-18); they’ve gone 32-32 since, but still hold a 3.5-game lead in the 2nd wild card.