Saturday is upon us, and that means a full slate of MLB action with plenty of day baseball. The surging Braves are going for their ninth win in a row, while the Rays are trying to maintain their slim lead over the Yankees in the AL East. Meantime, the White Sox are trying to get above .500 for the first time since May of last year. Now let's dig in.
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Baseball schedule/scores for Saturday, June 15
- FINAL - Angels 5, Rays 3 (GameTracker)
- FINAL - Diamondbacks 10, Nationals 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Giants 8, Brewers 7 (box score)
- FINAL - Red Sox 7, Orioles 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Astros 7, Blue Jays 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Indians 4, Tigers 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Marlins 4, Pirates 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Mets 8, Cardinals 7 (box score)
- FINAL - Rangers 4, Reds 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Yankees 8, White Sox 4 (box score)
- FINAL - Twins 5, Royals 4 (box score)
- FINAL - Phillies 6, Braves 5 (box score)
- FINAL - Rockies 14, Padres 8 (box score)
- FINAL - Athletics 11, Mariners 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Cubs 2, Dodgers 1 (box score)
Syndergaard leaves start due to injury
The Mets entered Saturday with a 33-36 record and 7 1/2 games back in the NL East. Unfortunately for the Mets, they may have even more issues on their hands. Noah Syndergaard, in the midst of a disappointing season, left his start on Saturday against the Cardinals due to an apparent hamstring injury:
Noah Syndnergaard grabbed the back of his right leg (hamstring) and walked off the mound with a trainer.
— Deesha Thosar (@DeeshaThosar) June 16, 2019
Robert Gsellman, who complained of a tight back yesterday, will take his place with a runner on second base in the seventh.
The Mets placed the right-hander on the injured list Sunday with a right hamstring strain. Syndergaard had thrown six innings, fanning five and permitting two earned runs. He had lowered his seasonal ERA from 4.45 to 4.36.
Ketel answers the bell
First pitch of the game from Stephen Strasburg, 18th home run of the season for Arizona's Ketel Marte:
One pitch, one run. pic.twitter.com/lrlBoJ1w8m
— MLB (@MLB) June 15, 2019
Yes, that's 18 for the switch-hitting Marte. Oh, and he hit another one in this same game so let's make it 19.
Coming into the season, his career high was 14 (set last year). It's mid-June, and he's already bested that by a comfy margin. Coming into 2018, Marte had eight career dingers in 249 games. So this is quite the power trajectory he's on.
Legit? Yeah, it seems to be. His average exit velocity and expected slugging percentage are in line with someone who's hitting for power, and he's also significantly upped his launch angle this season, which suggests some swing tweaks are underpinning the power breakout.
As for the surprisingly relevant Diamondbacks, Marte has been a big part of their success to date. He's a guy with speed who's capable of pinning down multiple premium positions, and he's on pace for 40 or so homers. That's a winning player, and most encouraging is that Marte is still just 25 years of age.
Twins retire Mauer's number
Joe Mauer retired last winter, and the Twins (rightly) didn't waste much time before retiring his No. 7. The ceremony occurred on Saturday, here are some highlights:
“Wearing the No. 7 for the last 15 years has been my absolute pleasure. And being able to play my entire career in front of my family, friends and fans here at home means more to me than any of you will ever know.”#RESPEC7 #JM7 pic.twitter.com/AcRllD87aF
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 15, 2019
The Twins used special baseballs and uniform patches, too.
Special #JM7 logo baseballs for tonight’s game! #RESPEC7 pic.twitter.com/9g6aLOEsmi
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 15, 2019
Today's the day! The #MNTwins will be wearing #JM7 patches during the game. Here's how we line up. https://t.co/Mp30vE6ym8 #RESPEC7 pic.twitter.com/bgvzW6cMQw
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 15, 2019
Mauer, predictably, was as modest and grateful as ever:
“Wearing the No. 7 for the last 15 years has been my absolute pleasure. And being able to play my entire career in front of my family, friends and fans here at home means more to me than any of you will ever know.”#RESPEC7 #JM7 pic.twitter.com/AcRllD87aF
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 15, 2019
Whether Mauer ever gets into the Hall of Fame or not, he had an outstanding career. Good on the Twins for recognizing it -- and quickly.
Yankees land Encarnacion
The Yankees made a trade on Saturday, reportedly acquiring slugger Edwin Encarnacion from the Mariners. You can read about what he might mean for their pursuit of a starting pitcher by clicking here.
Cubs place Hendricks on IL
The Cubs are in the midst of a tight race in the NL Central, but if they're going to pull ahead over the next week-plus they'll have to do so without starter Kyle Hendricks. He's hitting the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
Fletcher continues to be key piece for Halos
The Angels on Saturday ensured at least a split of their four-game series with the AL East-leading Rays, and they also pulled back to within one game of the .500 mark. Central to those efforts was infielder David Fletcher, who hit his fifth home run of the season:
Fletcher's round-tripper turned a 1-0 lead into a 3-0 advantage, and since the Angels wound up winning by a pair of runs it turned out to be a meaningful one. Fletcher on the season is now batting .307/.360/.442 with five stolen bases in 66 games. Throw in his ability to play four or five different positions and be a defensive asset in the infield, and you've got a useful player. Coming into Saturday, Fletcher had a 2019 WAR of 1.7, which is quality for a player who's been in the starting lineup 57 times to date.
You're probably not going to see Fletcher hit that many homers, as he ranks near the bottom of the league in exit velocity and hard-hit rate and never showed much pop in the minors. However, he's got excellent bat-to-ball skills. Thus far in 2019, he's logged more walks than strikeouts, and he's in the very top percentile of MLB when it comes to avoiding strikeouts. All of that's yielded an expected batting average of .317, which as you see above is higher than his actual mark.
A contact, high-average hitter who can add value at that money positions while also stealing the occasional bag isn't going to be an MVP threat, but he can be a useful roster piece. That's exactly what Fletcher's been thus far for the Angels, who continue to try to hang in the second AL wild-card picture.
Highlight of the day: Rizzo lifts Cubs
The Cubs trailed the Dodgers 1-0 in the top of the ninth inning with Kenley Jansen on the mound. Game over? Not quite. Instead, Anthony Rizzo delivered a go-ahead two-run shot to give the Cubs the lead and -- eventually -- the win.
Take a look:
We got some runs! #TeamRizzo #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/MFrrXK4bf1
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 16, 2019
That's Rizzo's 19th home run of the year. For Jansen, it's the fifth he's yielded this season -- it came at a bad time, since it wasted a stellar start from Walker Buehler.
Stat of the day: Alvarez homers again
We're getting tired of writing it, you're getting tired of reading it, but Yordan Alvarez isn't getting tired of homering. On Saturday, he hit his fourth blast within his first five career games, becoming the fourth player to do so since 1908.
Yordan Alvarez is just the 4th player since at least 1908 to hit 4 homers in his first 5 career games (Story, Puig, M. Jacobs). pic.twitter.com/Cecxp2goAS
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) June 15, 2019
You know who Story and Puig are; "Jacobs" refers to former Mets, Marlins, and Royals first baseman Mike Jacobs, who finished his seven-year big-league career with 100 home runs. Not bad company, in other words. Here's a look at the dinger, by the way:
Professional home run hitter. #TakeItBack pic.twitter.com/Le8UpDePhB
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 15, 2019
Quick hits
- As our Dayn Perry writes, the 2019 season is shaping up to be a record year when it comes to home runs at the team and league level.
- The Angels have designated RHP Cody Allen for assignment. Get more details here.
- The Reds have placed LHP Wandy Peralta on the 10-day IL with a hip injury.
- The Mets have acquired RHP Brooks Pounders from the Indians in exchange for cash. The Mets have also designated LHP Hector Santiago for assignment.