Thanks to a doubleheader in Philadelphia, there is an extra full 16-game slate of MLB action on Sunday. The trade deadline is coming up, so make sure you don't miss our daily rumors roundup. Lots of exciting rumors out there. Here is everything else you need to know about Sunday's MLB action.
Sunday's scores
- Padres 10, Phillies 2, Game 1 (box score)
- Blue Jays 5, Orioles 2 (box score)
- Red Sox 9, Tigers 1 (box score)
- Pirates 9, Reds 2 (box score)
- Rays 6, Marlins 4 (box score)
- Nationals 6, Braves 2 (box score)
- Dodgers 11, Brewers 2 (box score)
- Royals 5, Twins 3 (box score)
- Cubs 7, Cardinals 2 (box score)
- Rangers 5, Indians 0 (box score)
- Athletics 6, Giants 5 (box score)
- Angels 14, Astros 5 (box score)
- Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 1 (box score)
- Mariners 8, White Sox 2 (box score)
- Phillies 5, Padres 0 (box score)
- Mets at Yankees, POSTPONED
A's take the Bay with another walk-off
The Bay Area battle between the Giants and Athletics is always a fun interleague rivalry. In a bit of a scheduling oddity, Sunday marked the sixth straight game the two teams squared off. They were in AT&T Park for a three-game series before the All-Star break and switched over to Oakland-Almeda County Coliseum for the first three post-break games.
Saturday night, the A's packed 56,310 into the stadium while honoring the 1989 World Series championship team. The A's would get the walk-off win in 11 innings.
They only needed 10 on Sunday in a wild one. Thanks to two Matt Olson homers and a two-run Khris Davis shot, the A's held a 4-1 lead heading toe the seventh inning. The Giants would tie it up there, however, with a three-run rally. Andrew McCutchen then put the Giants ahead in the top of the eighth with a home run, but big Khris matched him in the bottom half with his second bomb.
The A's would then win it in the 10th when a Matt Chapman single was too far out of the reach of Brandon Crawford, bringing Marcus Semien home for the win.
The A's won four of six against the Giants and have gone a ridiculous 23-7 since June 15. They remain three out of the second AL Wild Card.
Pirates win ninth straight
The hottest team in baseball? That would be the Pirates. They roughed up the Reds on Sunday afternoon for their ninth consecutive win. It's the longest active winning streak in baseball and Pittsburgh's longest winning streak since a nine-gamer in June 2013.
The hero was Corey Dickerson, who went 4 for 5 with a double and two home runs. He now has back-to-back two-homer games and a homer in each of his last four games. The man is molten hot.
At 51-49, the Pirates two games over .500 for the first time since they were 30-28 on June 2. They are still in fourth place and 7 1/2 games back in the NL Central, though they are only 4 1/2 games back of the second wild card spot now. That's close enough to stay interesting into the second half, if nothing else.
The Pirates will look to extend their winning streak to 10 games in Monday's series opener against the Indians at Progressive Field. Pittsburgh's last 10-game winning streak was way back in 2004.
Robertson clubs walk-off grand slam
Daniel Robertson did something that had never been done before in (Devil) Rays history. He hit a walk-off grand slam. The four-run homer turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 win over the Marlins. To the action footage:
Trade candidate Kyle Barraclough gave up that walk-off grand slam. Contenders are forever looking for bullpen help. I don't think giving up the walk-off homer will hurt Barraclough's trade stock at all.
The Comeback Cubs
The Cubs have the best record in the NL at 58-40. Amazingly, more than half of their wins have been come-from-behind wins. They've done so 32 times. Sunday, they trailed the Cardinals 2-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth. They'd tie it with a rally in the fourth and then Kyle Schwarber put them ahead for good in the bottom of the sixth:
The Cubs would then tack one on in the seventh and put the game away with a three-run rally in the eighth.
The Cubs now hold a 3 1/2 game lead in the NL Central.
Machado's first series with L.A. a rousing success
The Dodgers crushed the Brewers on Sunday and Manny Machado went 2 for 5 with a double. That means that in three games so far with the Dodgers, Machado is hitting .384/.467/.462. They won two of the three games.
Brewers' funk continues
The Brewers won on Saturday night and that snapped a seven-game losing streak. It did not, however, get them back on track, as they were blown out Sunday and needed to start using a position player to pitch in the seventh.
Drew Butera hit an inside-the-park home run
Yep.
Harvey rocked, Happ and Ross shine
The 2018 non-waiver trade deadline is only nine days away now, and, on Sunday, three notable rental starting pitcher trade candidates took the mound. Their results were very different. Up first: Reds righty Matt Harvey. He got hammered by the Pirates and was unable to complete four innings.
Four home runs in 3 2/3 innings? Ouch. Harvey went into Sunday's start with a 3.64 ERA in 64 1/3 innings with the Reds, including a 1.86 ERA in his last five starts and 29 innings. Sunday's stinker came at an unfortunate time. Ultimately, Harvey's trade price will be determined by supply and demand. This ugly start could give some potential suitors pause, however.
Elsewhere among starting pitcher trade candidates, both Padres righty Tyson Ross and Blue Jays southpaw J.A. Happ turned in solid five-inning starts.
Sunday's start was probably more important for Happ and the Blue Jays given his recent struggles. He really struggled the last few times out -- Happ allowed 25 runs in his previous five starts and 26 1/3 innings -- and another dud outing against the now Manny Machado-less Orioles would've raised even more questions about his reliability the rest of the season. Instead, Happ turned in a quality outing, and you can be sure interested contenders took notice.
Rockies' winning streak snapped by Greinke
The Rockies scorched into Sunday with a seven-game winning streak. They'd actually won 15 of their last 18 games, storming their way to within one game of first place in the NL West and 1 1/2 games of the second NL Wild Card.
Sunday, though, the Rockies ran into Diamondbacks All-Star starter Zack Greinke and he played the role of stopper in a major way. In eight dazzling innings, Greinke allowed just one run (a solo homer) on two hits while striking out 13 and only walking one. That's an ace performance and it keeps the Diamondbacks within 1 1/2 games of the Dodgers, leapfrogging the Rockies for second place.
Healy powers Mariners
The Mariners were able to keep the A's at arm's length by taking two of three this weekend from the lowly White Sox. Sunday's win came thanks in part to another very good Marco Gonzales outing on the mound, but how about Ryon Healy? The M's first baseman went 3 for 4 with two homers and six RBI. Two three-run shots is pretty efficient RBIing. Here's the second one:
Sale continues to dominate
The AL Cy Young frontrunner is Red Sox starter Chris Sale. He only needed to go six (scoreless) innings on Sunday thanks to a 6-0 lead against a bad team, but he beefed up his resume nonetheless, giving up only two hits while striking out nine against zero walks. He's now 11-4 with a 2.13 ERA and 0.87 WHIP. He's struck out 197 and walked 31 in 135 innings.
Quick hits
- Astros SS Carlos Correa has started throwing and running, reports MLB.com. Correa has been sidelined since June 29 with a back issue and recently suffered a setback that slowed his progress. He still has a ways to go with his rehab work.
- Cubs RHP Yu Darvish was able to place catch Sunday, according to MLB.com. The next step is throwing off a bullpen mound. Darvish has been out since May 26 with triceps tendinitis.
- Nationals closer LHP Sean Doolittle has a stress reaction in his left foot, reports MASN Sports. There is no firm timetable for his return but he is expected to be out "weeks, not months." Doolittle has been on the disabled list since July 10.
- The Reds are planning to use a six-man rotation for the foreseeable future, reports MLB.com. That means RHP Sal Romano will not go to the bullpen or Triple-A. Of course, RHP Matt Harvey figures to be traded soon, so the six-man rotation may not last long.
