Your April 19 fix is here! This one may be a little bit longer than usual, but it’s for the statistical fiends that I know are out there. Scroll if you must. For the others, enjoy!
The Red Sox sweep the Indians by wining the third game of their series 10-6. Newly activated Alex Verdugo hits his first home run as a member of the Sox and Devers continues his assault on pitching staffs everywhere with 2 more hits including his 6th blast. Nathan Eovaldi pitched well enough to move to 4 and 1.
The Reds shut out the Yankees 6-0. Mike Moustakas with a 3-run shot off of Gerrit Cole in the 4th for his 9th of the year. Sonny Gray pitches 8 1/3 of scoreless baseball.
Speaking of shutouts, the Blue Jays lose their 10th straight by way of the goose egg, losing 6-0 to the Rays. Tyler Glasnow puts in quite the effort pitching 6 innings giving up just 2 hits while whiffing 13 to move to 3 and 1.
Adalberto Mondesi shows off his big bat by hitting 2 home runs as the Royals top the Orioles 3-2. Clay Buchholz showing he still has a live arm going 8 solid giving up 2 runs. He’s now 2 and 0 with a 3.50 ERA.
Abraham Toros picks the perfect time to hit his first long ball as he hits a walk-off in the 10th to get the Astros past the Angels 2-1. Justin Verlander pitched a gem, but doesn’t get the W. He goes 9 full giving up 1 while striking out 12.
The Twins are continuing to get things done winning 12-8 over the Tigers. Luis Arraez goes 2 for 4 with 3 RBI.
The Texas bats are alive and well, hitting 7, count them, 7 home runs in their win against the White Sox 13-6. Rougned Odor hits a grand slam in the 7th while Joey Gallo hits his 9th of the season. Yoan Moncada also hits his 9th in a losing effort.
Some people think they’re boring and some people appreciate a true pitching duel. I personally fall in the latter category. Sean Manaea pitches the first 8 frames of this one before Liam Hendriks comes in to seal the A’s victory 1-0 over the Mariners. Yusei Kikuchi the tough luck loser going 8 and giving up the only run of the game.
The Phillies dispatch the lowly Marlins 13-3. Bryce Harper 2 for 2 with his 5th bomb of the year. We have a Chase Headley sighting as he goes 3 for 4 with 5 RBI.
The Giants’ offense was anemic save for one man and his name is Austin Slater. Slater goes 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and accounted for all 4 of the Giants’ runs as they beat the Braves 4-2. Johnny Cueto tosses 7 innings of 2-run ball to even his record at 2 and 2.
With the score 4-4 in the 9th, the Cubs bring Craig Kimbrel in to keep this one going to extra innings. That was the plan anyways. Enter, young phenom, Juan Soto. Aaaaand…ACTION! BOOM! “Thank you and goodnight!” Soto’s shot ended the Cubs’ night 6-4. Kimbrel now 0-1 with 4 saves and a whopping 6.14 ERA on the year. Strasburg doesn’t factor into the win, but pitched 7 1/3 giving up 2. His ERA on the season is now at 1.85.
The Rockies score 1 in the bottom of the 10th to sadden the Cardinals 6-5. Charlie Blackmon goes 4 for 5 with 2 RBI in this one.
Fernando Tatis Jr. ruins my day. The only player with a 4 strikeout performance, but he was 1 for 5 and that one hit was a long ball. The research I’ve done DOES consider that to be a golden sombrero, but I do not. I hold the club members to a higher standard. Anyways, it wasn’t enough as the Diamondbacks score one in the bottom of the 9th to take this one 14-13. Nick Ahmed goes 4 for 4 in this one to raise his average to .337.
We haven’t heard Cody Bellinger’s name lately, but he shows up today hitting his 9th of the year as the Dodgers run away with this one 9-2 over the Pirates. Walker Buehler adds another victory and is now 2 and 1. He throws 6 2/3 giving up none and making 10 batters look silly.
And in Sunday Night Baseball (during the morning), the Brewers score 2 in the top of the 9th to make the Mets say mercy 7-6. Avisail Garcia goes 2 for 5 with two round trippers and 5 RBI.
Awards:
Yoan Moncada accepts the AL Player of the Week award going 13-34 with 4 home runs and 10 RBI;
Bryce Harper claims the NL honor by going 11-27 with 3 home runs and 12 RBI.
League Leaders:
Adam Eaton now leads the Majors with a .459 average. Hey Adam, be careful…there’s a banana peel out there with your name on it. You’ll find it soon;
7 players are tied with 9 home runs. If you’ve been following along, you have a good idea who they are;
Willy Adames & Gleyber Torres remain tied for the RBI lead with 26;
Max Kepler assumes the runs lead with 25;
Adalberto Mondesi still the steals leader with 13;
Lance McCullers continues to lead in ERA at 1.44;
5 players are tied with 4 wins;
Brad Hand and Liam Hendriks lead with 7 saves;
Justin Verlander now leads MLB with 49 K’s; and
Alex Wood moves into the top spot in WHIP with .70.
Standings:
The Red Sox still have a 1 1/2 game lead over Tampa;
KC also 1 1/2 over Cleveland;
Angels & A’s top the West together;
Nat’s 1 game up on the Phillies;
Cardinals have 2 games on Pittsburgh; and
The Dodgers enjoy the largest lead in the Majors with 3 1/2 games over the Padres.
Past Weeks Transactions:
Mets place Pete Alonso on the 10 day DL and release Michael Wacha;
Oakland designates Mike “The Rat” Fiers for assignment;
Phillies sign Wacha to a minor league deal and activate Andrew McCutchen;
Twins outright release one Hanley Ramirez; and
The Dodgers sign Cody Bellinger to an 8 year extension worth $195,800,000 (what a bargain) and put Ross Stripling on the 15 day DL.
That does it for this week in our simulated baseball season. Come back tomorrow as we continue this circus of a season.
Nightly Unwind 