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We're just two days away from the MLB Trade Deadline and one day shy of the 2017 Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Oh, and there are 15 games on Saturday. Quite a busy MLB time, eh? No time to dilly-dally here with an extended intro. Let's get right to our daily roundup. You know the drill.

Saturday's scores

Yankees 5, Rays 4 (box score)
Angels 6, Blue Jays 5 (box score)
Dodgers 2, Giants 1 (box score)
Mariners 3, Mets 2 (box score)
Tigers 5, Astros 3 (box score)
Rockies 4, Nationals 2 (box score)
Phillies 4, Braves 3 in 11 innings (box score)
Cubs 2, Brewers 1 in 11 innings (box score)
Red Sox 9, Royals 8 in 10 innings (box score)
Marlins 7, Reds 3 (box score)
Indians 5, White Sox 4 (box score)
Diamondbacks 7, Cardinals 1 (box score)
Orioles 4, Rangers 0 (box score)
Padres 4, Pirates 2 (box score)
Athletics 5, Twins 4 (box score)

Red Sox walk it off in extras

The story of the night for Boston in the tight 10-inning win over the Royals was Eduardo Nunez, who hit two home runs in just his second game since being traded to Boston (see below). As it turns out, Nunez played a role in the walk-off. 

Sandy Leon led off the bottom of the tenth with a double off Mike Minor. Minor then struck out the rookie Rafael Devers and intentionally walked Mookie Betts to bring up Nunez. Nunez then grinded out a 10-pitch at-bat -- including a wild pitch that allowed Leon to lumber to third -- and finally eked out this ball in play to shortstop. 

The infield was in, and Alcides Escobar was able to snare the ball and get Nunez at first, but as soon as Escobar made that throw, Leon broke for the plate ... 

Well, those are some serious acrobatics for a solidly constructed catcher. Surprisingly, the Royals didn't challenge the safe call at home, as it appeared that catcher Drew Butera might have nicked Leon with the mitt before he touched the plate. In any event, it's a Red Sox win, which was needed on a night in which the Yankees won their sixth in a row.

The Dodgers are in rarefied air

As you see above, the Dodgers nipped the Giants on Saturday and in doing so won their seventh straight game. The Dodger bullpen worked 3 1/3 scoreless, Corey Seager hit a pair of doubles, Cody Bellinger registered a pair of RBI, and Justin Turner did this ... 

Now time for some big picture stuff. The Dodgers are now a season-best 42 games above .500, and that's despite their being under .500 as late as April 27. They're now 73-31, and that's backed up by an MLB-best run differential of plus-184. That 73-31 record also comes to a winning percentage of .702. 

We've got roughly two months of regular season left, so most numbers mean something at this reasonably late hour. As such, we can take the Dodgers seriously as a team that's capable of playing .700 ball. Sure, losing ace of aces Clayton Kershaw for a chunk of the stretch drive hurts that cause, but this roster is so, so deep that they figure to be hurt less by the loss of one player -- even a player like Kershaw -- than you might think. 

Anyhow, here's the list of .700 or better teams since 1903, year of the first World Series, that the 2017 Dodgers have a shot at joining ... 

Team

Record, winning percentage

End result

1906 Cubs

116-36, .763

Lost World Series

1907 Cubs

107-45, .704

Won World Series

1909 Pirates

110-42, .724

Won World Series

1927 Yankees

110-44, .714

Won World Series

1931 Athletics

107-45, .704

Lost World Series

1939 Yankees

106-45, .702

Won World Series

1954 Indians

111-43, .721

Lost World Series

1998 Yankees

114-48, .704

Won World Series

2001 Mariners

116-46, .716

Lost ALCS


So the Dodgers are angling to join the select company above. Of those nine teams, five won the World Series. In the era of the expanded playoffs, .700 or better teams are 1-1 in winning World Series titles. 

One criticism of the current Dodgers model is that it's built around roster depth, and in the playoffs depth becomes much less important. Perhaps that's why you're seeing rumors about the Dodgers, on pace for 114 wins, looking to add frontline talent prior to the deadline. Winning the World Series is the point, after all.

Either way, this Dodger team may be the best in history of what's a truly proud franchise. 

Indians' win streak reaches nine

Expectations were heavy in Cleveland coming into this season. In 2016, the Indians won the pennant and in the World Series pushed the Cubs to the absolute brink despite having a battered rotation. Over the winter, they added Edwin Encarnacion. They'd get a full season from Andrew Miller. Michael Brantley had hopes of being healthy once again. The rest of the AL Central looked weak on paper.

Coming off that 94-win campaign in 2016, the Indians looked like the AL's best team. 

Well, for a long time things didn't go according to plan. The Indians never got too low in 2017, but they never really hit their stride, either. As recently as June 14, they were a .500 team. They were in second place as recently as June 25.

Now though, the Indians, with their victory over the White Sox on Saturday night, have won nine in a row. They're now 12 games above .500 for the first time this season and on pace for 91 wins. That's still shy of what we thought the Indians would be, but it's progress. Lately, it's been the offense that's done most of the heavy lifting, as they've averaged more than 6.5 runs per game over the current streak. 

Against the Sox, starter Corey Kluber allowed four runs, but he also missed some bats ... 

The bullpen was strong, and Carlos Santana drew four walks. Yes, this win streak has been built against lesser competition (the Blue Jays, Reds, Angels, and White Sox), but in any context it's got to feel great in that clubhouse to finally be playing up to their level. The road ahead gets tougher, as starting Monday the Indians will play 13 straight against the Red Sox, Yankees, Rockies, and Rays. However, they'll go into that stretch once again looking like a World Series contender. 

Moncada also has a glove, you know

White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada is, until he exhausts his rookie status, the top prospect in baseball. He's held in such high regard for his power potential and speed. His fielding is generally graded as average, but that doesn't mean he's not capable of occasional brilliance.

On Saturday night, for instance, he summoned up some defensive brilliance on consecutive plays against the Indians ... 

Yep, they're going to enjoy this guy on the South Side for the next decade or so.

Nunez gets acquainted with Green Monster

Earlier this week, the Red Sox acquired Eduardo Nunez from the Giants for roster depth and some insurance at third base. Nunez in his first game with the Sox notched a pair singles. In his second game on Saturday night, he did even better.

Here's one ... 

And here's another ... 

Yes, so far this pairing of player, team, and ballpark is going just fine. 

Yankees are hot again

After losing a series to the Twins, the Yankees sat just 48-45 on the season, this after a scorching 21-9 start that they parlayed into a 38-23 record, good for a four-game lead in the AL East at the time. Now, they are hot again. 

Since that July 19 loss, the Yankees have won eight of their last nine. The win Saturday, in walk-off fashion, was their sixth straight. 

The game Saturday featured plenty of power. The Rays got home runs from Peter Bourjos (his fifth), Steven Souza (22) and Lucas Duda (19) while Gary Sanchez (16) and Chase Headley (5) went deep for the winners. 

Headley's two-run shot gave the Yankees the lead in the sixth: 

Tied heading into the ninth, though, the Yankees used an old-fashioned station-to-station rally to win it. Chase Headley walked, Todd Frazier was hit by a pitch. Ronald Torreyes so perfectly placed a bunt that it ended up being a hit to load the bases with no outs. Brett Gardner then singled up the middle to win it. 

The Rays are going in the opposite direction of the Yankees. They've now lost three straight and eight of their last 10. They are 4 1/2 games out in the AL East and could fall to 3 1/2 back of the second wild card. 

Blue Jays blow game, writing is on the wall

Through Thursday, the Blue Jays had won four in a row and climbed to within six games of .500. They probably needed to sweep the Angels in order to justify not selling off veteran pieces. Instead, they lost Friday and then blew the game on Saturday. 

It happened against All-Star closer Roberto Osuna, too. With one out, Kole Calhoun singled, Martin Maldonado was hit by a pitch and Ben Revere doubled home a run to make it 5-4 Jays. Osuna then unleashed a wild pitch that plated the tying run and moved the Angels' go-ahead run to third base. That runner would score on Cliff Pennington's sac fly. 

So the Angels hang within striking distance of the second wild card at 51-54, but the Blue Jays are at least seven games back of the second AL wild card, pending the Royals-Red Sox result. Plus, the Jays would have to jump over six other AL teams before even getting to the second wild card. 

If there were any illusions of contending heading into the weekend, those are likely gone now. 

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