Padres 2, @Pirates 0 — Andrew Cashner went the route and faced the minimum 27 batters, a franchise first, and his one-hitter briefly knocked the Pirates off their perch.
Monday game notes: Cash Money crashes the race
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Author Archives: John Autin
Sunday game notes: Wild-card jokers
@Twins 6, Rays 4 — Josmil Pinto planted a 3-run bomb on Joel Peralta in the 8th, capping Minnesota’s 4-run rally (all after 2 were out), as well as a general bullpen failure that brought Tampa closer to the pack.
Saturday game notes: Which wild card are they chasing?
Athletics 1, @Rangers 0 — Brandon Moss doubled home Josh Donaldson with 2 outs in the 1st, and Bartolo Colon nursed it for 8 innings, handing both Texas and Yu Darvish their third 1-0 loss at home this year — their only such games since 2004. Oakland’s division lead reached 5 in the loss column, and Sunday they’ll try to win the season series and stick Texas with their second 6-game skid at home this year.
Wednesday game notes: Rays flushing the W.C.?
… and we’re back, with a few quick notes.
Yankees 5, @Orioles 4 — Tommy Hunter kept the O’s tied through the 8th, retiring A-Rod with a man aboard. Buck Showalter let him start the 9th against Robinson Cano. Whoops.
Saturday game notes: Never say die
@Orioles 4, White Sox 3 (10 inn.) — One out away from a loss, Matt Wieters got a hanging slider from Addison Reed and singled home 2 runs, stealing a third straight win against the reeling ChiSox and pulling the O’s within one game of a wild card.
Friday game notes: Petit larceny
@Giants 3, D-backs 0 — “It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart.” Yusmeiro Petit’s 2-and-2 slider just missed the back door, said Phil Cuzzi, and the pinch-hitter Eric Chavez then lined a full-count fastball into right field. When it fell inches in front of Hunter Pence’s desperate lunge, Petit fell short — by one out, one strike, one sliding catch — of the 24th perfect game in major-league history.
Thursday game notes: Stomach-punch at the Stadium
Red Sox 9, @Yankees 8 (10 inn.) — With one strike to go in the 9th, what might have been New York’s most rousing win this year was snatched away by degrees, and wound up as their most dispiriting loss. All for nought was their impressive 6-run rally in the 7th that built an 8-7 lead.
Wednesday game notes: Not quite a Shamsky, but it plays
Cardinals 5, @Reds 4 (16 inn.) — The extra frames alone comprise an epic. Matt Adams homered in the 16th, his second in three innings, and this one stood up, leading St. Louis within a game of first-place Pittsburgh.
Tuesday (early) game notes
@Red Sox 2, Tigers 1 — Jon Lester bested Max Scherzer on the bottom line and helped deny his 20th win, giving up 8 hits over 7 innings but just one tally. Ninth-place hitter Will Middlebrooks flipped Detroit’s 1-0 lead with a 2-out, 2-run single in the 5th. Scherzer had allowed a .189 BA this year with 2 outs, RISP, and Middlebrooks was 3-23 in those spots.
Monday game notes: How will the West be won?
[Some think of Labor Day as summer’s end, but in my household, summer lasts as long as Roger Federer is in the U.S. Open. That used to buy us extra time…. But never mind such sadness — the stretch run is here!]
@Athletics 4, Rangers 2 — The AL West is a dead heat. The A’s, who last shared the top spot on August 9, have won 4 straight low-scoring games, yielding 7 total runs. Monday, after Texas tied on David Murphy’s 2-run HR in the 5th, a throwing error by reigning Gold Glover Adrian Beltre was followed by Coco Crisp’s home run off Derek Holland. The Oakland bullpen held that lead despite 8 baserunners in the last 4 innings.