Sunday of course was scheduled to provide us with a full slate of MLB action, but the Yankees-Orioles tilt in Baltimore was postponed because of weather (the game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Aug. 25). Still, that leaves us with a healthy 14 games, almost all of them matinees. Should we jump right in? People, we should jump right in: 

Sunday's scores

Wacha flirts with no-no, Ozuna slams Pirates

Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha on Sunday took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Pirates, but Colin Moran ended Wacha's bid for history with a line-drive single to right. 

Had Wacha closed it out, it would've been the 10th no-hitter in Cardinals franchise history and already the fourth no-hitter of the 2018 season. Instead, Wacha was lifted after Moran's single with a pitch count of 111. Hard-throwing rookie Jordan Hicks came on to close it out. As it turns out, it's not entirely unfamiliar territory for the 26-year-old:  

And here are Wacha's outputs for the day: 

player headshot
Michael Wacha
KC • SP • #52
vs. PIT, 6/3
IP8
H1
R0
SO8
BB2
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He's been outstanding in 2018. His Sunday gem pushed his ERA down to 2.41 after 12 starts. Last season, Wacha enjoyed a nice rebound in terms of fastball velocity, but the results at the run-prevention level were just OK (103 ERA+). This year, though, Wacha is thriving by leaning on his secondary pitches more often (he's going to his fastball less than half the time for the first time in his career). Given that Wacha's shoulder problems not so long ago had many wondering whether he'd be able to remain a starter long-term, these results are even more impressive. 

The Cardinal rotation has been beset by injuries in 2018, but it's also been one of the best. The stabilizing presence of Wacha has been a big reason for that, as Sunday's brilliant brush with history reminded us. 

Also, Cards outfielder Marcell Ozuna has on balance been a bit of a disappointment in his first season in St. Louis -- he entered Sunday's series finale against the Pirates with an OPS+ of just 87. That's not terrible, but it's well shy of what the Cardinals expected when they acquired the slugger from the Marlins this past offseason. 

Fortunately for St. Louis, Ozuna has been getting at his level lately. Coming into Sunday, Ozuna had a line of .541/.594/1.134 over the last two weeks. Then in the first inning on Sunday, he did this:

The Cardinals' offense has struggled this season, but a vintage Ozuna would certainly help matters. Lately, he's been that and then some.

The Cubs are the sleeping giants of the NL

On one level, the Cubs certainly aren't in danger of being overlooked. They of course won the World Series in 2016, and they've claimed back-to-back NL Central titles. However, thanks to the Brewers outstanding start to the season -- they enter Sunday with an NL-best 37-22 record -- people may be sleeping on the Cubs. This, of course, would be a mistake. 

Yes, they presently trail the Brewers by two games in the Central, but their plus-93 run differential leads the NL by a huge margin (the Braves, at plus-62, are second among NL squads). If you look at the run differential, then the Cubs have played more like a 38-18 team rather than the 32-23 team that the current standings say they are. To peer a bit more deeply into this matter, let's turn to the BaseRuns system available at Fangraphs. BaseRuns attempts to model a team's run-scoring and run-prevention capabilities at the granular level -- i.e., on a plate-appearance-by-plate-appearance basis and with the effects of hit "sequencing" removed. Basically, it's a measure of how good a team is at controlling the fundamental outcomes of the batter-pitcher encounter. It yields what a team's record should be based on those core skills. The Cubs, as it turns out, had a BaseRuns record of 36-19 coming into Sunday, tops in the NL and better than their actual record. Yes, it's obviously the standings that count, but run differential and BaseRuns provide some insight into how a team should perform moving forward. 

Speaking of which, the SportsLine (@SportsLine on Twitter) Projection Model coming into Sunday's action forecast the Cubs for an NL-best 97 wins. As well, SportsLine expects them to win the NL Central by roughly seven games over the Brewers. To state the obvious, such an outcome isn't guaranteed (and those projections are subject to change). If you look at those underlying indicators, though, the Cubs still look like the truest powerhouse in the NL Central and perhaps the NL as a whole. 

And speaking Sunday, the Cubs blanked the Mets behind Jon Lester's seven strong innings the baseball devilry of Javier Baez:

Yeah, when you're lefty and you've got a speedy daredevil like Baez on third, you'd best pay more attention to him. Otherwise, he'll swipe the plate with ease, which is what Baez did. 

Anyhow, the Cubs completed the four-game sweep, have won eight of their last 10, and are looking like a team ready to meet expectations. 

Red Sox get to Morton

After losing the first two games of the series -- a potential ALCS preview -- the Red Sox were able to salvage the last two games and get a split in Minute Maid Park. On Sunday, the Red Sox tagged Charlie Morton for six runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He coughed up some costly extra-base hits, such as a two-run Mitch Moreland homer, two Andrew Benintendi homers and a two-run Brock Holt triple. 

It was quite the feat for the Mookie Betts-less Red Sox offense, as Morton entered the game 7-0 with a 2.26 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 85 strikeouts in 67 2/3 innings. 

The Red Sox move to an MLB-best 41-19 record while the Astros are still great at 37-24, though they fall a game behind the surprising Mariners. 

Culberson plays hero again

Earlier this week, Braves utility man Charlie Culberson hit a walk-off homer. Sunday, it happened again: 

That was actually Culberson's fourth career walk-off home run, too, so he seems to have a nose for this. Getting the win there caps off a very good series for the upstart Braves, as they hold off the Nationals for first place, having taken three of four in the series. They'll take a 1 1/2 game lead in the NL East for a six-game road trip, starting Monday in San Diego. 

For the Nationals, it was a rough series, sure, but they come home to face the Rays and Giants for a five-game homestand that is pretty workable. 

Watch this catch ...

Bradley Zimmer of the Indians, come on down: 

But the Twins would have the last laugh, specifically Eddie Rosario.

Rosario's career day

Twins left fielder Eddie Rosario had himself a decent (note dripping sarcasm) day at the plate. He hit three home runs, driving in four runs, including a two-run walk-off shot. Here it is: 

The last time a player had a three-HR game and also hit a walk-off home run was in 2012 when Joey Votto did it. 

Rosario also hit a home run on Saturday, so it was a monster weekend. He is hitting .317/.352/.573 with 13 homers and 40 RBI this season and could be looking at his first trip to the All-Star Game. 

Dodgers win wild one in Coors

The Rockies took a 6-1 lead to the third inning on Sunday, but the Dodgers got three in the third and three more in the sixth to take the lead. The Rockies then tied it on a run-scoring Logan Forsythe error in the seventh. The tie went to tehe ninth, when the Dodgers tagged Rockies closer Wade Davis for three runs. The big blow was a Yasmani Grandal homer: 

Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth and the Dodgers are now 29-30. They haven't been .500 since April 24, when they were 11-11. 

Snell and Felix duel

The first-place Mariners are one of the best stories in baseball right now and won in dramatic fashion on Sunday. They were stifled by Blake Snell of the Rays for six scoreless innings in which he struck out 12. His counterpart, however, was Felix Hernandez and he came through with a vintage King Felix performance. He'd last eight innings, allowing only one runs on five hits while striking out seven. 

Meantime, the Mariners put together a two-run rally in the eighth, with Dee Gordon coming through with the clutch go-ahead single. 

The Mariners move to 38-23 on the season. 

Melancon successful in season debut

The Giants have won four in a row and on Sunday, they had a few really encouraging things. First, starter Dereck Rodriguez --  making his first MLB start -- worked six strong innings, allowing only one run while striking out six. Perhaps more importantly, big money reliever Mark Melancon made his 2018 debut and looked great. He struck out all three hitters he faced. 

Remember, Melancon signed a four-year, $62 million deal before last season. He battled injuries and posted a 4.50 ERA in just 30 innings and then has been injured this season, too. The outing Sunday was a major plus for the Giants and Melancon himself. 

Phillies break dubious streak, but ...

Phillies starter Jake Arrieta went deep on Sunday: 

That broke a 22-inning scoreless drought. 

Unfortunately for the Phillies, that would be their only run of the series, as they were swept. 

Are the D-Backs back?

The Diamondbacks were 24-11 before going 3-15 in their cold stretch. This week, though, they went 5-1. Granted, it was against last-place teams in the Reds and Marlins, but sometimes that's what it takes to get back on track. Time will tell, but it was a good week in Arizona and they desperately needed one. 

Hellickson exits with apparent injury

Here's some potentially concerning news for the Nationals. After facing only one batter in Sunday's key series finale against the Braves, Nats right-hander Jeremy Hellickson exited the game with an apparent injury. Hellickson appeared to injure his right hamstring while running to cover first base. MLB.com has video of the injury. You can more here. 

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