Thanks to a doubleheader on Chicago's north side, this Saturday was set to bring us an extra full 16-game slate of MLB action. That is, before games in Philadelphia and Washington were called early due to weather.
The trade deadline is fast approaching, so make sure you stay up to date on the latest rumors with our daily rumor roundup. Here's everything else you need to know about Saturday's MLB action.
Saturday's scores
- Cubs 7, Cardinals 2, Game 1 (box score)
- Yankees 7, Mets 6 (box score)
- Blue Jays 4, Orioles 1 (box score)
- Tigers 5, Red Sox 0 (box score)
- Marlins 3, Rays 2 (box score)
- Pirates 6, Reds 2 (box score)
- Brewers 4, Dodgers 2 (box score)
- Cardinals 6, Cubs 3, Game 2 (box score)
- Astros 7, Angels 0 (box score)
- Royals 4, Twins 2 (box score)
- Indians 16, Rangers 3 (box score)
- Rockies 6, Diamondbacks 5 (box score)
- Athletics 4, Giants 3 in 11 innings (box score)
- White Sox 5, Mariners 0 (box score)
- Padres at Phillies POSTPONED
- Braves at Nationals POSTPONED
Carpenter makes history in Wrigley doubleheader
Is anyone hotter than Matt Carpenter right now? I don't think so. Carpenter followed up Friday's three-homer, two-double game with another home run in his second at-bat Saturday (a Cardinals loss). Then he added a pinch-hit home run in the second game of the doubleheader (a Cardinals win). Here's the first one ...
5 straight games with a homer.@MattCarp13 is on 🔥. pic.twitter.com/DwreBEPpsk
— MLB (@MLB) July 21, 2018
And here's the second one ...
.@MattCarp13's 7 home runs in five games ties a team record set by Jim Bottomley from July 5-9, 1929. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/YSmx46FYT4
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 22, 2018
Like the man said, Carpenter has now homered in six straight games (he's also totaled eight home runs over those six games). That ties Mark McGwire's franchise record, but McGwire's six game streak spanned two seasons. The last hitter to smack eight homers in six games? That was Barry Bonds in 2001. And specific to the venue in question ...
Matt Carpenter of the @Cardinals has 6 home runs in this series, the most by any player (Cubs or opponents) in a series at Wrigley Field all-time.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) July 22, 2018
The only other #STLCards player with 6+ homers in a series was Jim Bottomley in 1929 against the Phillies (7).
Keep in mind that, as recently as May 15, Carpenter was hitting .140/.286/.272 for the season. Legitimately terrible. Since then though, Carpenter owns a .346/.435/.738 batting line with 24 doubles and 20 home runs in 56 games. Then he added another two homers on Saturday. The guy is absolutely out of his mind right now.
Rockies win seventh straight
The Rockies edged the D-Backs and won their seventh straight game. They're now a season-best eight games over .500, and they're also now a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West standings. They're also just a game behind the Dodgers, who lost in Milwaukee (see below).
On Saturday night, Tom Murphy came up big for Colorado in the eighth ...
That, by the way, is Murphy's first home run since 2016.
Mauer makes Twins history
Minnesota native and Twins icon Joe Mauer set the franchise record for doubles on Saturday ...
In his age-35 season, Mauer is batting .283/.370/.375.
Covey outpitches King Felix
Seattle's Felix Hernandez returned from the DL (lower-back stiffness) to start against the White Sox on Saturday night. He pitched passably, as he allowed three earned on five hits in five innings of work. Outdoing him was his counterpart Dylan Covey, who entered this start with a 5.69 ERA for the season and a 6.82 ERA for his career. Here's how that went ...
Covey had a no-hitter until Dee Gordon broke it up with one out in the sixth. Also, there was this ...
Dylan Covey is three outs away from breaking a 273 game White Sox stretch without a complete game. And he has allowed one hit
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) July 22, 2018
That didn't come to pass. Covey was at 97 pitches after allowing a hit in the ninth, so Joakim Soria closed it out. Make that 274 games and counting for the White Sox.
Brewers stop the bleeding against Dodgers, Kershaw
The Brewers' seven-game losing streak is over, and the prevailed over Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers to get their first win since they beat the Marlins on July 10. Even though Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson got worked for 42 pitches and two runs in the first and last just four innings, the Brewers were able to claw back against Kershaw (when he was pretty much on). The Brewers bullpen worked five scoreless, and Christian Yelich came up big in the sixth with the Crew down by a run ...
105.5 MPH exit velocity at a 25 degree launch angle equals 👋⚾️. #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/17iSrC0AOc
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 22, 2018
That's Yelich's 12 home run of the season, and he's now batting a productive .300/.369/.483 on the year with 13 stolen bases.
On the other side, Manny Machado went just 1-for-5 in his second game as a Dodger, but he did show off that vaunted throwing arm ...
Show it off. #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/hXIAuE3Ixo
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2018
So that was the highlight. The lowlight is that the Dodgers committed three errors on the night, including a pair by Max Muncy at third base.
Astros drop Angels below .500
The Angels' loss to Houston on Saturday night means they're below .500 for the first time since their Opening Day loss dropped them to 0-1 for the season. Justin Verlander worked six scoreless for the champs, and George Springer contributed this grand slam ...
BOOM.#NeverSettle pic.twitter.com/IPH0UCoaYT
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 22, 2018
That's the fifth grand slam of Springer's career, and all five have come on the road. He now holds the franchise record for grand slams on the road.
As for the Astros in general, their 7-0 means they've pushed their MLB-best run differential to plus-197. In matters related ...
After tonight's 7-0 win in Anaheim, the @astros are 24-4 in games decided by 5+ runs.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) July 22, 2018
AL, Best Record in Games Decided by 5+ Runs - All-Time
1939 Yankees: 41-6 (.872)
1942 Yankees: 34-5 (.872)
2018 Astros: 24-4 (.857)
1909 Athletics: 30-5 (.857)#NeverSettle
Are the Astros good? People, the Astros are good.
The Pirates are back above .500
The Pirates got off to a hot start this season. They won eight of their first 10 to start the year, and on May 17 they were in first place and a season-best nine games over .500. Predictably enough, though, the Buccos faded. They wound up going 12-15 in May and then followed that up with a 10-16 mark in June. As recently as July 7, they were eight games under .500.
Well, in topping the Reds on Saturday night the Pirates won their eighth straight and got back above the .500 mark for the first time since June 6. They're still playoff longshots -- coming into Saturday the SportsLine Projection Model gave them just a 1.8 percent chance to make the postseason -- but of late Clint Hurdle's club has reminded us not to forget about them entirely.
Chapman nearly blows four-run lead in Yankees win
Very interesting ninth inning at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. The Yankees turned a 7-3 lead over to closer Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning because he needed work following the long layoff and the All-Star break. What followed was not pretty. Chapman faced five batters:
- Kevin Plawecki: Six-pitch walk.
- Amed Rosario: Infield single.
- Ty Kelly: Four-pitch walk.
- Jose Reyes: Four-pitch walk to force in a run.
- Brandon Nimmo: Hit-by-pitch in a 2-0 count to force in a run.
Five batters, five baserunners, 19 pitches, three strikes. A spectacular meltdown. Chapman entered the game with a four-run lead and he left with a two-run lead and the bases loaded with no outs. Chasen Shreve was able to escape the mess with a double play (run scored) and a tapper back to the mound. A win is a win, but it was hardly pretty.
Chapman has been pitching through knee tendinitis pretty much all season and, in addition to having no control, his fastball was down to 97.1 mph on average Saturday. That's still really good, but it is down a bit for Chapman, who regularly touches triple-digits.
Manager Aaron Boone chalked up the poor outing to rust.
Aaron Boone says the team thinks Aroldis Chapman is OK. The Yankees will be further evaluating the closer who has been pitching through knee tendinitis the past couple months, but the belief is it may simply have been rust and the long time off for Chapman.
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) July 21, 2018
Because the knee is an ongoing concern -- Chapman has admitted he'll probably have to pitch through it all season and wait until the offseason to get back to 100 percent -- New York's closer situation is worth monitoring. Should Chapman miss time, the Yankees have quality internal ninth-inning options in Dellin Betances and David Robertson (and Chad Green). Could this push them to pursue Zach Britton more aggressively? Developing!
Choo's streak ends as Rangers get wrecked
The Indians bombarded the Rangers on Saturday, as Yonder Alonso homered twice and Melky Cabrera tallied three hits. Compounding matters for Texas is that outfielder Shin-Soo Choo went 0-for-4 without a walk or HBP. That means his streak of reaching base in 52 straight games -- the longest streak since Kevin Millar's in 2007 -- has come to an end.
More bad news for the Rangers? How about this ...
Austin Bibens-Dirkx of the @Rangers allowed 11 earned runs on 13 hits in relief today against the @Indians.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) July 22, 2018
The last reliever to allow 11+ ER and 13+ H was the Dodgers' Tommy Warren on April 30, 1944 at the Giants.
Nope, not a good night down in Texas.
Trade target Fiers impresses against Boston
So here's some relevant info regarding Mike Fiers' start against the Red Sox on Saturday ...
Red Sox among a bunch of teams evaluating DET's Mike Fiers as a possible trade target -- and they are doing it first-hand tonight. Fiers opened this game with three scoreless innings; one out in the fourth now.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 21, 2018
Let's update those numbers ...
Yep, Fiers twirled a gem against one of the best offenses in baseball. Thanks mostly to Fiers, Boston was shut out for just the fourth time this season. In doing so, Fiers lowered his 2018 ERA to 3.49. No, he's not a headline-grabber as deadline targets go, but he can be a useful depth piece for a team in need of rotation help. That certainly describes the Red Sox, who presently have three starting pitchers on the DL.
On the upside for Boston, Mookie Betts on Saturday perpetrated the catch of the day ...
Get UP, @mookiebetts! pic.twitter.com/0uGEPivYJI
— MLB (@MLB) July 21, 2018
Elite hitter, elite baserunner, elite fielder -- Betts is indeed a leading AL MVP candidate this season.
Stanton hits another one
Another home run? No, another infield single. Giancarlo Stanton beat out a little tapper to third base to begin the Yankees' four-run fourth inning rally Saturday afternoon. It was Stanton's 18th -- 18th! -- infield single of the season.
Most Infield Hits This Season:
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) July 21, 2018
Dee Gordon 20
Giancarlo Stanton 18
Andrelton Simmons 18
Stanton's previous career high was 13 infield singles in 2014. Now he already has 18 with 65 games to play. Weird.
Stanton has 23 home runs this season. Can he finish with more infield singles than homers? I am weirdly curious to find out.
Quick hits
- Mets RHP Jeurys Familia has been traded to the A's for minor-leaguers RHP Bobby Wahl and 3B Will Toffey, as well as international bonus money, the teams announced.
- Rays OF Kevin Kiermaier was out of Saturday's lineup. He had a bone bruise in his foot and received a cortisone shot Saturday, reports the Tampa Bay Times. The team hopes he can return to the lineup early next week.
- Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez will be placed on the 10-day DL with a right oblique strain, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Martinez had been speculated as a trade candidate should the Cardinals decide to shake things up.
- Mets OF Yoenis Cespedes missed Saturday's game vs. Yankees due to soreness. Friday night Cespedes admitted he is dealing with heel trouble that may require surgery and a long 8-10 month rehab to correct.
- Rockies 2B DJ LeMahieu is expected to be placed on the 10-day DL with a back injury, according to the Denver Post. LeMahieu missed time with an oblique injury earlier this year.
- Indians OF Bradley Zimmer on Saturday underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. He won't be able to resume full baseball activities for eight to 12 months.
