One day game (in Wrigley Field, naturally) on Friday afternoon sets the table for 14 night games in MLB action. As always, we'll be including all the major happenings from the day here. Let's dive in.
Friday's games
Cardinals Cubs (box score)
Giants 10, Phillies 0 (box score)
Orioles 3, Red Sox 2 (box score)
Blue Jays 7, Yankees 5 (box score)
Reds 3, Braves 2 in 10 (box score)
Pirates 12, Mets 7 (box score)
Tigers 15, White Sox 5 (box score)
Marlins 7, Diamondbacks 5 (box score)
Astros 7, Rangers 1 (box score)
Dodgers 2, Brewers 1 in 12 (box score)
Royals 4, Indians 0 (box score)
Nationals 13, Athletics 3 (box score)
Twins 11, Angels 5 (box score)
Padres 8, Rockies 5 (box score)
Mariners 12, Rays 4 (box score)
Kershaw, Nelson duel
Here's something you might not have expected from Clayton Kershaw's matchup with Milwaukee's Jimmy Nelson: The Dodgers' ace was nearly matched punch out for punch out.
Kershaw entered four strikeouts short of 2,000 for his career. He got all four by the end of the second, thus becoming the fifth-youngest to reach the mark (and the second-fastest there, by games pitched):
History made. pic.twitter.com/07YW9LVzMB
— Cut4 (@Cut4) June 3, 2017
Kershaw also became the fourth Dodgers pitcher to top 2,000. The other three (Don Sutton, Don Drysdale, and Sandy Koufax) are all in the Hall of Fame. Kershaw will probably be in there someday, too.
Kershaw finished his night having fanned 14 batters in seven innings. All the while, he'd allowed just two two hits and one run -- that courtesy a Domingo Santana home run. Nelson, meanwhile, struck out 11 batters over eight innings. He yielded five hits but no runs, though his bullpen would subsequently blow his lead and would later lose the game by a 2-1 final in extras.
Nevertheless, if you're a Brewers fan, Nelson's outing has to be an encouraging one. In addition to holding his own against Kershaw, he improved on the career-best strikeout-to-walk ratio he toted into the game. Good stuff.
Cubs snap six-game losing streak
The day started off with Dexter Fowler getting his World Series ring and posing with a bunch of his 2016 teammates. Then the game started with Fowler hitting a leadoff homer, much like he did for the Cubs in Game 7.
The Cardinals built a 2-0 lead off John Lackey through two before he really settled in, dealing seven strong innings and allowing only those two runs.
A Kris Bryant solo homer in the third and Jason Heyward RBI double in the sixth would tie things up into the late innings.
The Cubs would fail to score in a bases loaded situation later that inning and the Cardinals would do the same in the top of the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Anthony Rizzo led off with a double against Trevor Rosenthal and would get to third in time for Heyward sac fly.
So the Cubs former Cardinals did the job for the Cubs after a former Cub put them behind.
Wade Davis would shut the door to stay a perfect 11 for 11 in saves and the Cubs' six-game losing streak nightmare was over. At least temporarily. They are still under .500 on the year at 26-27.
For more on what might be ailing the Cubs so far, here's a deeper dive.
Blach's big night
The Giants aren't having a good season, but that didn't stop Ty Blach from having a big Friday night against the Phillies.
Making his eighth start of the season, Blach threw his first career complete game. He struck out just four batters, but he limited the Phillies to four hits and no walks and even helped his own cause at the plate by walking three times:
Ty Blach becomes the first Giants pitcher to draw three walks in a game since Ray Sadecki in 1969.
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) June 3, 2017
The jury's still out on whether Blach can be a legitimate big-league starter -- his sub-4 strikeout-per-nine rate suggests no -- but a good game is a good game all the same.
Miggy records 1,000th XBH
While most of baseball is waiting on Albert Pujols to knock his 600th home run, the next player likely to reach 600 home runs, Miguel Cabrera, crossed a different power-related threshold on Friday: 1,000 extra-base hits. Take a look:
.@MiguelCabrera doubles to join Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran & Adrian Beltre as the only active players to reach 1,000 career XBH. pic.twitter.com/EmNlmbFnFa
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) June 3, 2017
In addition to being the fourth active player to top 1,000 extra-base hits, he's just the 39th player all-time. Impressive stuff.
Phillips returns to Cincy
Brandon Phillips has sufficient reason to cherish the city of Cincinnati. It was there he turned his career around, where he spent parts of 11 seasons, making three All-Star Games and winning four Gold Glove Awards.
On Friday, Phillips returned to Cincy for the first time since the February trade that saw him land with the Braves. Here's how he was received:
Still and always a fan favorite. pic.twitter.com/0n9GslZbCu
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 3, 2017
Phillips started his night 0-for-2.
Quick hits
- The Red Sox placed starter Eduardo Rodriguez on the 10-day DL with a right knee injury.
- The Astros' May domination bled into June.
- Kevin Pillar is donating his forfeited salary from a suspension to LGBTQ groups.
- As was expected and previously reported, the Rangers officially designated Sam Dyson for assignment.
- The Braves designated Emilio Bonifacio for assignment.
- The Giants announced they designated Justin Ruggiano for assignment.
- Michael Bourn has signed a minor-league deal with the Angels.