I’ve added a few more games to the top of this post, above the solid line.
Brewers 5, @Twins 3: Just when it seemed the Crew would waste a leadoff double in the 9th and perhaps skid to a 4th straight loss against weak AL Central foes, Martin Maldonado‘s 2-out, 2-and-2, 2-run HR gave them a lead, and John Axford (working a 3rd straight day) converted his first 1-2-3 save since May 23.
@Reds 12, Indians 7: Joey Votto reversed a 2-0 deficit with a 3-run bomb, Brandon Phillips had a second straight big game, and Cincinnati went on to complete just the 2nd sweep in 26 series against their upstate rivals.
[Curse you, human need for sleep! Fortunately, Doug covered the big story.]
Nationals 6, @Blue Jays 2: So what else is new? Six strong by Strasburg (8 Ks, just 89 pitches); two scoreless by Stammen (4 Ks); six straight wins over all for Washington, and 7 straight against three erstwhile AL East powers.
Padres 5, @Mariners 4: Hang on, I’ll think o’ something….
Nationals 6, @Red Sox 4: Washington is 5-2 in interleague play, with a scoring margin of 36-23, which just happens to be their season record. Edwin Jackson continued his strong year with 8 innings of 2-run ball; he has a 1.01 WHIP in 12 starts (prior career average 1.48).
SUNDAY
@Pirates 3, Royals 2: Ladies and gentlemen, your first-place Bucs! Winning 12 of 15 (including 4 of 6 from Cincinnati), they’ve surged from 5th place to forge a tie with the Reds. We can celebrate it, but we can’t explain it. Their offense is last in the majors in scoring and in OPS+, they’ve been outscored by 17 runs, the cleanup spot has been a black hole (.200, 4 HRs), and they have just one player with an OPS+ of 100 or better — not just one regular, but one player, period.
No one can better grasp the meaning of Bart Giamatti’s famous description of baseball than a Mets fan watching his team play the Yankees.
Friday’s best and worst in Win Probability Added (WPA):
Pitchers — C.J. Wilson, 0.382 (8 IP, 1 R in a game that was fairly close until the 9th); Brian Fuentes, -0.909 (4th-worst of the year; he also owns the worst — see below).
Hitters — Ryan Roberts, 0.956 (see below); Colby Rasmus, -0.238 (0-5 in a close game, including the last out of the 9th with the go-ahead run on 3rd).
Cardinals 14, @Astros 2: Lance Lynn hardly needed the run support to become the second 9-game winner, as he had a career-best 11 strikeouts in just 6 innings. David Freese had his first 2-HR game, NL leader Carlos Beltran snapped a 9-game tater famine, and the Cards won a series for the first time in 2 weeks.
Wish I had more time for this. Here I try to cover some of the teams that don’t always make it into the roundup.
@Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 1: Paul Goldschmidt hit RBI doubles in his first 2 ABs, then closed the scoring with his 7th HR in the 7th. Wade Miley (7-2, 2.53) has won 4 of his last 5 starts, averaging 7 IP and 1 walk; here he set a new personal best with a 77 Game Score.