It's Saturday, and you know what that means -- a full slate of MLB action. Keep it here for all the day's scores, trade rumors, and news.
Final scores
Giants 5, Padres 4 in 12 innings (box score)
Cubs 3, Cardinals 2 (box score)
Brewers 9, Phillies 8 (box score)
Astros 8, Orioles 4 (box score)
Twins 6, Tigers 5 (box score)
Mets 6, Athletics 5 (box score)
Marlins 5, Reds 4 (box score)
Rangers 4, Rays 3 (box score)
Indians 2, Blue Jays 1 in 10 innings (box score)
Royals 7, White Sox 2 (box score)
Nationals 4, Diamondbacks 3 (box score)
Rockies 7, Pirates 3 (box score)
Angels 7, Red Sox 3 (box score)
Mariners 6, Yankees 5 in 10 innings (box score)
Dodgers 6, Braves 2 (box score)
Walk-off homers in Cleveland and Queens
Two walk-off homers in one night? We, the people of baseball, are fortunate. First, we drop in on Citi Field. Many of the paying customers at Saturday night's A's-Mets game were likely disappointed, given that just 15,000 of them were able to procure a Thor bobblehead. No doubt aware of this, Wilmer Flores provided them with some ninth-inning consolation ...
Send the @Mets fans home happy, Wilmer! #Walkoffpic.twitter.com/pNkaMs3962
— Stadium (@watchstadium) July 23, 2017
Walk-off home run No. 1!
Now we go to Cleveland to check in on a team that's actually in the playoff hunt. Here's Francisco Lindor's leading off the 10th inning against the Blue Jays ...
.@Lindor12BC's first-career walk-off homer? A no doubter. pic.twitter.com/qO4bSMZjZ3
— Stadium (@watchstadium) July 23, 2017
Walk-off home run No. 2! That's Lindor's 15th of the season, and that's the first walk-off home run of his career. That was a big one, as the Royals and Twins -- both hot on the heels of the Tribe in the AL Central -- each won on Saturday night.
Aaron Judge goes oppo for No. 32
The Yankees' cloutsman ended his second-half home run drought on Friday night in jaw-dropping fashion, and then he hit his MLB-leading 32nd homer Saturday night. This one wasn't as authoritative as No. 31, but he did go the other way off Mariners reliever Steve Cishek ...
Pick any part of the field, and @TheJudge44 will hit a homer to it. pic.twitter.com/wNf2ljaGlO
— Stadium (@watchstadium) July 23, 2017
As it turns out, this isn't unusual for Judge. Check out his "power to all fields" spray chart from this season (Saturday night's tater not included) ...
Source: FanGraphs
Remember that second-half home run drought? Neither does Aaron Judge.
Oh, and speaking of Saturday oppo jobs in Seattle, regard this one from the future Hall of Famer Robinson Cano ...
How did you hit this out, @RobinsonCano?! pic.twitter.com/5F2032hWiH
— MLB (@MLB) July 23, 2017
That's off newly acquired Yankee David Robertson, and that put the Mariners (temporarily) in front in this matchup of contenders.
Cardinals blow it in Wrigley
On Saturday in Chicago, Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals and Jon Lester of the Cubs traded zeros until the eighth, when the Cardinals hit back-to-back homers. Cards manager Mike Matheny left Wainwright in for the home half of the eighth (after letting him bat in the top of the eighth), and that didn't go particularly well, as he yielded a one-out single to Jon Jay and then a two-out RBI double to Ben Zobrist.
At that point, Matheny finally went to the pen. Matt Bowman allowed a single to Kris Bryant, which tied the game. Then in came Brett Cecil to face Anthony Rizzo. Here's how that went ...
Two-out hustle. #ThatsCubpic.twitter.com/Uw6nNKfDDZ
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 22, 2017
After a semi-shaky ninth by Wade Davis, the lead held and the Cubs moved to 7-1 since the All-Star break. No, the Cardinals' bullpen didn't do the job, but the fundamental mistake was leaving in Wainwright too long. Yes, Wainwright pitched very well on Saturday, but you're still leaving in a 35-year-old with an ERA near 5.00 to face the Cubs' lineup for a third/fourth time in the game. That tends not to go well.
For all the hand-wringing over the Cardinals' bullpen, it's worth noting that they entered Saturday ranking third in the NL in relief runs/game, fifth in relief WAR, and fifth in save percentage. It's not a great pen, but neither is it a disastrous. Mostly, it's Matheny's anti-Midas instincts when it comes to deciding when to go to the pen that remains a problem. That was certainly the case on Saturday.
Harper rudely greets Banda with massive bomb
The Diamondbacks called up lefty Anthony Banda, their only top-100 overall prospect, to make his major-league debut against the Nationals on Saturday night. Unfortunately for Mr. Banda, in his very first big-league inning he ran into Bryce Harper ...
What did this ball ever do to you, Bryce? pic.twitter.com/LWHcebuE7V
— MLB (@MLB) July 23, 2017
And the people say: #Larduhmercy. Read more here about Harper's Saturday night spank.
Rays hot for Neshek?
The Rays have been tied to basically every available and possibly available reliever. It's no surprise then that the Phillies are reportedly scouting Tampa Bay's system in an aggressive manner, presumably with a potential Pat Neshek trade in mind:
Source: Phillies doing heavy scouting of Rays system. TB interested in Pat Neshek. Rays have been scouring entire relief pitching market.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 22, 2017
Neshek, a free agent at year's end, has pitched wonderfully for the Phillies. In 42 appearances, he's posted a 1.14 ERA and an 8.60 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The Rays could certainly use Neshek or someone of his ilk if they're to maintain their hold on a wild card spot.
Trade rumors
- The Yankees have reportedly checked in with the Marlins regarding OF Giancarlo Stanton.
- The Yankees may be among the teams with interest in trading for Rangers SP Yu Darvish.
- In Ken Rosenthal's latest video dispatch he reports that the Pirates, thanks to their recent improved play, have ruled out trading OF Andrew McCutchen or INF Josh Harrison leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that it's not certain whether the Cardinals will trade SP Lance Lynn. If they do put him on the block, then the Royals, Rockies, and Astros may be among the interested teams.
- The Dodgers are interested in Mets RP Addison Reed.
- The Brewers are considering a run at Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler.
- Although the Jaime Garcia-to-Minnesota trade talk appears finished, Ken Rosenthal reported relief prospect Nick Burdi was supposed to be in the deal.
- The Rays have reportedly acquired RP Sergio Romo from the Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations.
- Speaking of Garcia, more and more teams are calling about him following a strong effort against the Dodgers.
- The Astros watched Rangers ace Yu Darvish's start on Friday.
Quick hits
- Pablo Sandoval is back with the Giants, and apologized for comments he made following his departure to Boston.
- The Blue Jays placed SP Aaron Sanchez on the DL with a blister.
- Kyle Hendricks will return to the Cubs rotation on Monday.
- The Indians activated SP Danny Salazar from the disabled list.
- The Brewers optioned OF Keon Broxton to Triple-A and activated 2B Eric Sogard from the disabled list.
- The Pirates placed OF Gregory Polanco on the disabled list and recalled LHP Steven Brault.
- Evan Grant tweets that Rangers RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez will undergo Tommy John surgery.