MLB Saturday scores, highlights, updates, news: The Indians are surging
Plus Giancarlo Stanton's odds at reaching 62, Sean Newcomb's cleats, Pham's walk-off, and all the rest of the day's action
The final Saturday of August brings with it a full slate of baseball goodness. Keep it here as we update you on the latest news and scores from around the league.
Final scores
Yankees 6, Mariners 3 (box score)
Blue Jays 10, Twins 9 (box score)
Athletics 8, Rangers 3 (box score)
Orioles 7, Red Sox 0 (box score)
Nationals 9, Mets 4 (box score)
Pirates 1, Reds 0 (box score)
Cubs 17, Phillies 2 (box score)
Tigers 6, White Sox 3 (box score)
Rockies 7, Braves 6 (box score)
Marlins 2, Padres 1 in 11 innings (box score)
Cardinals 6, Rays 4 (box score)
Indians 4, Royals 0 (box score)
Diamondbacks 2, Giants 1 (box score)
Angels 7, Astros 6 (box score)
Brewers 3, Dodgers 0 (box score)
The Indians are back
Cleveland blanked the Royals on Saturday night behind a strong start from Mike Clevinger. Clevinger worked six scoreless frames and tied a career high with nine strikeouts. The real story of the night, though, was this catch by rookie center fielder Bradley Zimmer ...
The Airborne @bzimmer5 Event. pic.twitter.com/BjBZ1ZnHXR
— MLB (@MLB) August 27, 2017
Mercy. If that ball finds grass, then it's probably 1-0 Royals. Zimmer also tallied a pair of hits on the night, and one of those safeties broke up Jason Hammel's perfect game bid. The win also pushed the Indians to a season-best 16 games over .500, and they also now have a season-high 6.5-game lead in the AL Central. They're also now just a half-game behind Boston for No. 2 seed in the AL, and they're on pace for 91 wins. In all of MLB, just the Astros and Dodgers have better run differentials. That's significant for a team that was .500 as recently as June 14.
The Indians of course are the reigning AL champs, and after an active offseason in tandem with a strong returning roster, much was expected in 2017. For a while, the Indians couldn't seem to hit their stride, which gave them a soft whiff of disappointment. Of late, though, they're once again looking like real threats to hoist the trophy. The Tribe would of course do well to get core contributors like Andrew Miller, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Danny Salazar, and Lonnie Chisenhall healthy before the playoffs roll around. Even so, the 2017 Indians are finally playing up to the level expected of them.
Pham walks it off
The Cardinals trailed the Rays 3-0 in the sixth inning on Saturday night and thus were at risk of falling below .500. They clawed their way back, though, and had an opportunity to walk it off when outfielder Tommy Pham came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. As you're about to see, Mr. Pham made the most of his opportunity ...
Tommy Pham hits a 2-run home run for his 17th home run of the season!!! #STLCardspic.twitter.com/ZRb3elmZCU
— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB_) August 27, 2017
That walk-off homer is Pham's 17th spank of the season. In addition to manning all three outfield positions and leading the team in steals by a wide margin, Pham's now batting .304/.400/.501 on the year. Despite playing in just 100 games, he's been the Cards' most valuable contributor this year.
Gray throws a gem
Sonny Gray entered Saturday having had an uneven tenure with the Yankees thus far. In his four starts, he'd pitched to a shiny 3.13 ERA, yet had just a 1-3 record and 1.55 strikeout-to-walk ratio to show for his efforts. Thankfully, for the Yankees, Gray had his best start with his new team against the Mariners.
Gray tossed seven innings of ball, during which he allowed three hits, two walks, and a run. He struck out nine batters, and did it all on 106 pitches. Gray found a lot of success with his breaking balls. He threw 37 combined curveballs and sliders, and coerced 10 swinging strikes. He added six more whiffs on his fastball variations, giving him 16 whiffs in total.
Perhaps most notably, Gray did all the above while sporting his Players Weekend jersey that identified him as "Pickles":
Dill with it.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 26, 2017
Pickles goes 7 strong. Final line: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K. pic.twitter.com/pbqCUGQGe3
It's at least possible that Gray will see the Mariners against come the postseason. The Mariners are the team who is closest to the Twins, currently the American League's second wild card team. If so, the Yankees will hope for more of the same from their deadline prize.
Hoskins does it again
In Friday night's recap, we noted that Phillies OF/1B Rhys Hoskins became the first hitter in MLB history to tally nine homers in his first 16 games. Well, Mr. Hoskins played career game No. 17 on Saturday, and you can probably guess what happened ...
Offspeed, low … and totally gone. Because @RhysHoskins22. pic.twitter.com/i5OQOu6nfh
— MLB (@MLB) August 26, 2017
So, yeah, that's a changeup low and away from Kyle Hendricks, and Hoskins still managed to yank it for a home run. So that's No. 10, and that occasions yet another bit of history ...
#Phillies Rhys Hoskins is the fastest player in history to reach ten career home runs.
— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) August 26, 2017
The 24-year-old rookie is now batting .298/.420/.842 since his promotion. You might recognize those numbers as being "good." It's been a long season for the Phillies, even at the developmental level, so Hoskins' magma-hot start is welcome news and then some.
Quick hits
- Giancarlo Stanton has improved his odds of hitting 60 home runs while also helping the Marlins up their playoff chances.
- Braves rook Sean Newcomb is wearing cleats to honor some franchise legends.
- Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez, and Robert Kraft flew together to witness the Mayweather-McGregor fight.
- Royals ace Danny Duffy was placed on the DL and will miss at least one start due to a sore left elbow.
- Cardinals 3B Jedd Gyorko left Saturday night's game with a right hamstring injury.
- The Indians purchased the contract of LHP Craig Breslow and optioned LHP Ryan Merritt to the minors.
- The Pirates have placed C Francisco Cervelli on the DL with an irritated left quad.
- The Rangers have acquired RHP Paolo Espino from the Brewers in exchange for cash.
- The Padres have claimed RHP Tim Melville off waivers from the Twins.
















