Tuesday brings us a full 15-game slate of stretch-drive baseball, so let's dig right in ...
Final scores
Pirates 6, Tigers 3 (box score)
Marlins 7, Nationals 3 (box score)
Blue Jays 4, Yankees 2 (box score)
Mets 5, Rangers 4 (box score)
Padres 7, Reds 3 (box score)
Indians 4, Rockies 1 (box score)
Red Sox 2, Rays 0 (box score)
Phillies 5, Braves 2 (box score)
White Sox 8, Astros 5 (box score)
Twins 11, Brewers 4 (box score)
Cardinals 10, Royals 3 (box score)
Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 3 (box score)
Mariners 7, Athletics 6 in 10(box score)
Angels 3, Orioles 2 (box score)
Giants 6, Cubs 3 (box score)
Kluber with a K, Indians with a W
It happened in an instant. The Indians were down to their final strike against the Rockies on Tuesday night when Austin Jackson hit a flare to the outfield that tied the game up. A few pitches later, Yan Gomes delivered a three-run home-run to give the Indians a 4-1 victory.
Cleveland's ninth-inning rally turned a potential loss for Corey Kluber into a victory. Kluber sure deserved that twist of fate, as he struck out 11 and walked none over nine innings. Along the way, he extend two noteworthy streaks as it pertained to his K totals:
Kluber has joined Randy Johnson (3x), Pedro (2x), Chris Sale, J.R. Richard and Nolan Ryan as only pitchers with 11+ K in 5+ starts in a row.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) August 9, 2017
Kluber extends his 8+ strikeout streak to 13 straight starts. Only Randy Johnson (3x) and Pedro Martinez (2x) have achieved the same feat.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) August 9, 2017
The win also means Kluber is now 13-0 (with two no decisions) in his career when he's thrown a complete game.
As for Gomes, it marked his seventh home run of the season. He's struggled since 2013-14, and entered Tuesday hitting .210/.262/.363 since the start of the 2015 campaign.
By the way, German Marquez's solid start shouldn't get lost in the wash. He threw six shutout innings on the road against the defending AL champions. Not shabby -- not shabby at all.
Sale dominant, too
Kluber wasn't the only AL Cy Young Award hopeful who impressed on Tuesday night. Rather, Chris Sale -- the seeming frontrunner -- had an excellent outing, too.
Sale threw eight shutout innings versus the Rays, allowing two hits and one walk while fanning 13 batters. Sale was particularly effective against the top of the Tampa Bay lineup -- on the night, Peter Bourjos and Trevor Plouffe, who started and batted No. 1 and 2 due to their right-handed nature, combined to go 1 for 7 with five strikeouts.
The rest of the Rays order didn't fare much better. Evan Longoria struck out twice, as did Logan Morrison and Steven Souza. All 10 Rays batters who appeared in the game recorded at least one strikeout. Only Bourjos and Wilson Ramos notched hits.
The Red Sox were able to give Sale just enough run support -- two runs on 12 hits -- to earn him his 14th win of the season. Rafael Devers and Jackie Bradley Jr. contributed the RBI.
Puig, others make terrific catches
Yasiel Puig made one of the better catches you'll see on Tuesday night to rob J.D. Martinez of a certain home run. Take a look:
#PuigSaysNopic.twitter.com/dmmaGlK1ZH
— MLB (@MLB) August 9, 2017
Speaking of cool defensive plays, check out these offerings by Billy Hamlton and Adam Engel.
Quick hits
- Joe West was suspended for three games due to comments he made about Adrian Beltre
- MLB has released the full 2017 postseason schedule.
- The Mariners will be without SP Felix Hernandez and RP David Phelps for some time.
- Via SportsLine, here are some updated playoff odds.
- The Red Sox have activated 2B Dustin Pedroia from the DL.
- Per Jerry Crasnick, RHP Chris Young hopes to pitch in 2018.
- Red Sox DH Hanley Ramirez remains out of the lineup with a sore oblique. He hasn't played since Friday.
- The Rays have placed SP Alex Cobb on the DL with turf toe.
- The White Sox have activated OF Avisail Garcia from the DL. The White Sox also placed DH Matt Davidson on the DL with a right wrist contusion.
- The A's have unveiled a 50th anniversary patch that they'll wear next season.