Russell Martin hits two home runs and Francisco Liriano allows just four hits in seven innings as the Pirates win their first postseason game since 1992 by beating the Reds 6-2 in the NL Wild Card!
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Tag: Game Recap
Yankees Rout White Sox Behind 8-Run Inning, David Huff’s Strong Outing
The New York Yankees washed the fledgling Chicago White Sox out of a rain-soaked Bronx on Labor Day, 9-1. After a one-hour, 53-minute delay at Yankee Stadium on Monday, the Bombers’ flood gates opened in an eight-run, seven-hit fourth inning.
The rout came behind the pitching strength of David Huff, who relieved Phil Hughes in the second inning with one out once the delay had ended. He went 5.2 innings—the longest relief outing of the lefty’s career—and surrendered just one earned run on five hits en route to picking up the victory. It was also just the third time this season that Huff had gone at least 3.0 innings.
The offensive barrage began with the Yankees leading 1-0 entering the bottom of the fourth. They batted around, sending 13 hitters to the plate. No Yankee left the ballpark, however, and a few of the hits during the rally didn’t even leave the infield.
They were beneficiaries of some odds and ends in the inning, including two deflected balls off the pitcher that bounced their way and, of course, defensive ineptitude.
Alex Rodriquez led the inning off with a double to right, sliding head-first into second. Next, Vernon Wells grounded one off of pitcher Dylan Alexrod’s glove and reached first. After Curtis Granderson walked to load the bases, Mark Reynolds lined one to third, but the ball trickled away from a diving Conor Gillaspie and Rodriguez came home to score the Yankees’ second run.
On the very next pitch, Austin Romine drilled a hanging slider to center, extending the lead to 4-0. Brett Gardner followed with a double of his own to score Reynolds from third, and Derek Jeter singled on the second ball to hit off of Alexrod, allowing Romine to come home on.
After a brief exhalation on a Robinson Cano pop-out, the red-hot Alfonso Soriano laced another double past Gillaspie at third and Gardner scored. Rodriguez was the 10th batter of the inning, and on a foul pop up through the silo behind home, catcher Josh Phegley added insult to injury when he failed to squeeze the potential second out of the inning.
Rodriguez ultimately walked after being granted a second life in the at-bat, loading the bases again. Alexrod was relieved, but the Sox were not. Adam Dunn fielded a Wells grounder at first, went for the force at second and promptly chucked the ball into left field, allowing two more runs to scamper home for a 9-0 lead.
The Yankees never allowed Chicago back within striking distance, convincingly taking the first of a three-game set—a series that takes place in the middle of their current 10-game homestand as they look to climb back into the AL East and postseason discussion.
In the eighth inning, manager Joe Girardi gave catcher J.R. Murphy his Major League Baseball debut, allowing him to pinch-hit for Cano. To the wild excitement of his friends and family who were in attendance, the 22-year-old reached on an infield single. According to ESPN, Murphy represented the 52nd player utilized by the Yankees this season, which breaks a franchise record from both 2005 and 2008.
With the Tampa Bay Rays set to play the Angels tonight in the only game yet to commence, a few games relevant to the Yankees’ postseason aspirations are in the books.
The Red Sox were shut out by the Tigers, the Orioles defeated the Indians and the Athletics beat the Rangers.
At this point, New York is a half game behind Baltimore and just three back of Tampa Bay for the second wild-card spot.
They play two more against the White Sox before back-to-back four-game series with Boston and Baltimore beginning this Thursday.
Although Boston still maintains a comfortable position atop the East, New York could cut the lead in half with a great weekend and a sustained outburst from the offense.
Dating back to a 14-7 victory August 13 in Anaheim, the Yankees—traditionally one of the league’s premier slugging teams (just not this season)—have shown sporadic glimpses of scoring ability. They have put up run totals of 11, 10, nine (twice), eight (twice) and seven, respectively.
This is undoubtedly the make-or-break juncture of baseball’s final month for the New York Yankees.
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Rays vs. Athletics: Final Score, Reactions and Analysis
The Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics met in a game with playoff implications in the American League, and the Athletics emerged victorious with a 4-3 win.
David Price will go in the books as the losing pitcher, as the Cy Young winner allowed 4 runs, 3 of which were earned, over 7 innings.
But it was the 8th inning in which he pitched where it fell apart, as Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon kept Price in to face Coco Crisp in the 8th inning, and the speedster would get a base hit.
He’d come around to score the winning run, and make a winner out of Ryan Cook, who blew a lead set up by a great performance from Jarrod Parker.
Kurt Suzuki put the initial pressure on the Rays, as his three-run homer in the 5th inning put the A’s on top 3-1.
And despite the Tampa Bay rally against Parker and Cook in the 8th, the A’s would hold on for the victory.
Be sure to check out the live blog below for reactions and updates as they happened during the game.
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Brandon Phillips, Erick Aybar Turn Hit by Pitches into Strikeouts
A hit batter can be everything from an unfortunate accident, to a bench-clearing trigger to the cause of a season-ending injury. In some rare cases it can even result in a strikeout, and not one, but two players suffered that fate in Monday night’s round of games.
Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips took a pitch to the right knee from Diamondbacks reliever Joe Thatcher, while Angels shortstop Erick Aybar was hit near the left knee with what looked to be a slider from Indians side-arming reliever Joe Smith.
In both cases, it was determined that the batter offered at the pitch for strike three, and it couldn’t be more cut-and-dry what happens when a player swings at a pitch that hits him, according to the Official Baseball Rules.
Rule 6.05 (F): A batter is out when he attempts to hit a third strike and the ball touches him.
As Mike Axisa of CBSSports pointed out, Phillips is tenth in the MLB in swing rate on pitches outside of the strike zone (38.5 percent) while Aybar is 27th among the 151 qualified batters (35.0 percent), so it’s not all that shocking that these two were offering at pitches bad enough to hit them.
Phillips more or less laughed off the strange occurrence, but Aybar and manager Mike Scioscia argued briefly before being turned away by the home plate umpire.
If anything, Phillips had more of an argument as he looked to have perhaps checked his swing in time, but there was no question Aybar was out. Either way, it definitely won’t be one for the highlight reel of either player.
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo suffered the same fate earlier this month in a game against the Dodgers, so it’s not all that uncommon an occurrence. However, for two batters to suffer the same unfortunate end to an at-bat on the same night was at least note-worthy.
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Grading Alex Rodriguez’s Performance at the Plate in Return to Yankee Stadium
Alex Rodriguez returned home for the New York Yankees on Friday night, making his first appearance in Yankee Stadium in 2013.
Rodriguez hadn’t played a game at home since his disastrous postseason performance last season, and he had to have been hoping for better in his latest appearance in the Bronx.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.
A-Rod was booed before every at-bat in Chicago, and that trend continued in New York:
His first at-bat brought another round of the boo-birds, and they only increased in volume and intensity after he struck out with Ichiro Suzuki on second to end the first inning.
Rodriguez came up again in the third inning, this time with a runner on third and only one out. A sacrifice alone could have brought home Robinson Cano, but A-Rod squandered the RBI opportunity, striking out by whiffing on back-to-back breaking balls out of the zone.
Rodriguez’s third at-bat was technically his best of the night—as he was finally able to make contact with the ball—but a lazy fly ball out with runners on second and third hardly classifies as a success.
A-Rod’s last at-bat led off the eighth inning for New York, and he was caught looking for his third strikeout of the game.
It was a rough night for the third baseman, as his three-game hitting streak came to an end. :et’s take a closer look at his performance tonight.
Contact: D-
A-Rod had been making contact fairly consistently in the Yankees’ series against the Chicago White Sox, but he clearly struggled against a much better pitching team in the Tigers.
Rodriguez’s only contact was on a fly-out to right field that wasn’t well-struck.
Power: F
One of the only things worse than A-Rod’s contact was his power. Rodriguez’s left the infield with his only batted ball, recording the dreaded hat trick at the plate.
Situational Hitting: F
The worst part of A-Rod’s game has to be his inability to hit when the team needed him the most.
Rodriguez left four runners in scoring position on Friday night, including a runner on third with one out in the third inning.
It was like watching him in the 2012 ALCS all over again.
Overall: F
A-Rod was pulled after striking out in the eighth inning, and his night ended with him going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
This was the worst performance we’ve seen from him all year at any level, and it came at the worst possible time.
By playing well, Rodriguez could have won some of the Yankee faithful back over. Unfortunately, he reminded fans just how bad he can be, and it’s unlikely they have changed their minds about rooting against him.
Things couldn’t have been much worse for No. 13 on Friday night.
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Live Updates, Analysis and Reaction of A-Rod’s Return to Yankee Stadium
Alex Rodriguez will make his much-anticipated return to Yankee Stadium on Friday night against the Detroit Tigers, and New York Yankees fans will finally see their starting third baseman at home.
The Yankees have had arguably the worst third basemen all season—a position that had collectively hit a grand total of four home runs before A-Rod’s return earlier this week.
Rodriguez has been better than expected after returning from his second hip surgery at the age of 38, batting .273 and posting an on-base percentage of .429 in his first three games.
After officially appealing his 211-game suspension due to the Biogenesis scandal, Rodriguez will likely finish out the 2013 MLB season while Bud Selig and Co. review his suspension.
A-Rod will finally make his 2013 Bronx debut, and it will be interesting to see if Yankees fans continue the trend of booing him before each at-bat, or if they embrace their former MVP among his off-the-field issues.
Follow along with Bleacher Report as we bring you the latest news and analysis from around the Web, and be sure to keep coming back, as this page will update throughout the night.
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Grading Alfonso Soriano’s Return to the New York Yankees
Alfonso Soriano made his return to New York Friday, as he played for the Yankees for the first time since 2003.
After being traded from the Chicago Cubs, Soriano received a hero’s welcome at Yankee Stadium. Fans were hysterical that he found his way back to The Bronx almost a decade after he left, and they let him know with this ovation.
Soriano wasn’t just greeted by fans, however, as GM Brian Cashman had only good things to say about him during a press conference in which he addressed the acquisition of the veteran outfielder.
The team desperately needed a right-handed power hitter like Soriano, as he has been knocking the ball out of the park more than the entire Yankees team as of late.
THIS JUST IN: Alfonso Soriano is officially a Yankee again. Soriano has hit eight home runs in July. The Yankees have hit seven.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 26, 2013
The Yankees were sure glad that Soriano brought his bat back to New York, and Derek Jeter was among Soriano’s former teammates to welcome him back.
Reunited! The Captain and Soriano hug it out. pic.twitter.com/3DE9STf6v5
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 26, 2013
Soriano would play left field and bat cleanup for the Yanks in his 2013 debut with the team. It was the first time he ever started in the cleanup spot for the team, which shows how badly New York needed a power hitter.
It was an emotional return for Soriano, but the team didn’t bring him back merely to appease the fans, so let’s check out how he performed on the field.
Contact: C+
The good news is that Soriano made contact and put the ball in play in all five of his at-bats on Friday.
The bad news is that it was never solid contact, and he didn’t record a hit because of it.
Soriano flew out to right and center field, and he grounded out three times. He did reach first base on a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning and came around to score, but he didn’t record a hit. He also grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded in the ninth, beating out the throw to avoid ending the game, but also hurting the rally.
While he didn’t strike out, Soriano didn’t find any holes in the defense, which is why his grade is lower than Yankees fans were hoping for.
Power: C
Soriano was brought in for his power, but he failed to show it off on Friday.
On his two flyouts, Soriano didn’t exactly rouse the crowd by hitting it to the warning track, instead hitting two nondescript fly balls that were easily caught.
Even worse were his groundouts, which were not sharp by any means and didn’t have a chance to leave the infield.
We’re still waiting to see Soriano get ahold of a pitch, and when he does, we’ll see his power at work.
Fielding: A+
Soriano was as close to perfect in the field as it’s physically possible to be.
Not only did Soriano make every routine play and play the ball off the wall well, but he made a pair of spectacular plays as well.
Soriano made a fantastic grab in foul territory in left field, and he also threw out Wil Myers, who was trying to extend a single to a double.
Soriano impressed with both his arm and his glove, and he was as good a fielding left fielder as anyone on Friday.
Overall: B-
While Soriano’s performance at the plate was abysmal, that doesn’t completely define his game.
He made his mark on the field, and while it would’ve been nice to see him get his first hit as a Yankee in 2013, this critique can’t be based solely on his struggles at the plate.
Soriano was still an improvement over Vernon Wells in the field, and his batting prowess will be sure to follow.
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Watch Yasiel Puig and Nick Markakis Both Flash Leather with Great Grabs
Yasiel Puig and Nick Markakis put on a fielding clinic Friday night.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles didn’t play each other, but these two stars made their cases to be featured on ESPN’s “Web Gems” segment at almost the same time.
Puig is no stranger to highlight reels—he seems to make at least one incredible play every night. On Friday, that play came in right field.
Puig ran about a mile in a split second to track down a ball in foul territory and make a tough grab against the wall to end Anthony Rendon’s at-bat.
If you lost Puig and the ball because the cameraman did, here’s a sideview:
Wondering how pitcher Paco Rodriguez reacted? Wonder no more:
Needless to say, the Dodgers were impressed.
Yasiel Puig channels his inner Spiderman this time to make a catch that the cameras could not. Video coming shortly.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 20, 2013
This came just five innings after Puig made one of the best throws of his career to double up Bryce Harper, who was trying to advance to third on a fly out to right. However, the third-base umpire botched the call and called Harper safe.
Replays clearly show that Harper was out, however, and that Puig’s throw from clear across the field was right on the money.
If Puig’s sensational fielding wasn’t enough for you, Markakis came back and made a highlight-reel catch of his own.
The O’s outfielder robbed a home run against the Texas Rangers in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Markakis reached well over the wall to rob Adrian Beltre of his 22nd home run of the season. He was pretty excited about it.
Reading lips, after Markakis made HR robbing catch last inning he yelled to Jones “Thats the 1st time I’ve ever done that.”
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) July 20, 2013
You would’ve never known that that was his first HR robbery based on that play alone. Markakis wasn’t done, either. He got the job done for the Orioles at the plate, too.
Nick Markakis, after that great play, with an RBI double to score TYM. #ho-hum. 3-1.
— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) July 20, 2013
If you love defense, then Friday night was like Christmas in July for you, as we saw some truly spectacular plays being made in the outfield.
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Delta Airlines Honors Mariano Rivera with Commemorative Boeing 757
Mariano Rivera received another parting gift during his retirement tour on Friday, but this one didn’t come from an MLB team, it came from Delta Airlines.
That’s right, the airline dedicated a 757 plane to Mo, placing his number and signature near the cockpit of the plane.
Delta unveils special 757 sendoff plane commemorating the career of Mariano Rivera pic.twitter.com/m6mnMDbATM
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 12, 2013
Rivera’s retirement tour has been special, but this gift from Delta is something else.
There were some great shots of Mo receiving his gift.
Another shot of the Delta “Mariano Rivera” 757, dedicated this morning at JFK pic.twitter.com/4bLMa4U8mE
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) July 12, 2013
He also threw out a ceremonial “last pitch” to New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi (although he still has the second half of the season to play).
So proud to dedicate one of our planes to @MarianoRivera from the @Yankees, congrats on a great career! pic.twitter.com/AYLEYOkz2z
— Delta (@Delta) July 12, 2013
What’s more, Mo even got to go into the cockpit! How cool is that?
Mariano Rivera #42 pic.twitter.com/L9fu08aLxS
— ✨Yaribel凸^-^凸 (@Yaribel17) July 13, 2013
Rivera’s retirement tour isn’t over just yet, but I think we can safely say this latest gift from Delta will be the best he receives.
New York Mets fans won’t be too happy, though. Twitter took a few shots at Mets fans after Mo received his parting gift.
Delta dedicates 757 aircraft to Mariano Rivera. In-flight Mets fans everywhere immediately reach for their airsickness bags.
— ESPN The Magazine (@ESPNMag) July 12, 2013
Delta honored Mariano Rivera with a commemorative plane. Don’t worry, Mets fans: Delta will honor Frank Francisco with a plane soon enough.…
— Brian Cheung (@brianspeaksnow) July 12, 2013
Delta may have given Mariano the best gift of his tour, but the best gift from an MLB team is still up for grabs.
The Minnesota Twins have the lead in that category, as manager Ron Gardenhire and company gave Mo what is now known as The Chair of Broken Dreams.
The Twins decided to give Mo a rocking chair made out of broken bats, symbolizing both how much he has dominated the Twins and the fact that he’ll need a rocking chair in his retirement.
Perfect.
Mo’s retirement tour has been a lengthy, fairytale ending for the best closer in MLB history.
Some of the top parting gifts from the tour have been throwing out the first pitch against the Mets, a plaque of him pitching against the Detroit Tigers, a customized surfboard from the Oakland Athletics and more.
Delta’s gift may have been the best so far, but the biggest, most emotional farewell is yet to come: Yankee Stadium.
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Grading Mark Appel’s Professional Debut
The No. 1 overall pick of the 2013 draft, Mark Appel, made his professional debut on Friday for the Single-A Tri-City Valley Cats in the New York-Penn League. I attended the game and have several observations of the long-awaited arrival for the most highly touted pitcher in this year’s draft.
Appel‘s first professional pitch was smacked by Tzu-Wei Lin for a leadoff triple far into deep center. Lin was then knocked in the next at-bat on a ground-out.
Appel continued to pitch poorly by giving up two consecutive hits, both of which were hit hard into the outfield. He was in a difficult situation with runners on the corners with only one out. Then he used his first successful off-speed pitch, causing the hitter to roll over the pitch and ground out but also knocking in a run that was only originally saved at third because of a pinpoint throw from left fielder D’Andre Toney to hold Kevin Mager from scoring.
The next at-bat started to show why Appel was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.
After quickly falling behind in the count 3-0 to hitter Celuluis Rondon, Appel wouldn’t give up. He battled back with several assaulting fastballs and off-speed pitches, attacking the zone and causing Rondon to foul off three straight pitches, filling the count. On the next pitch, Appel fired a fastball on the corner to catch Rondon looking, striking out his first professional batter.
In his first inning, Appel didn’t have great command on his pitches; either they were right down the middle or were way outside of the strike zone. That, along with his lack of using his curveball, or ineffectiveness thereof, caused a rough first inning. After getting hit around, he looked nervous, pacing around the mound and fidgeting with his cap.
The at-bat to end the first inning was the coming of age for Appel, who took only nine pitches to lay down the seventh, eighth and ninth hitters of the Lowell Spinners lineup.
Warming up for the second inning, he practiced his changeup and curveball more, indicating his changing approach toward his game and the batters he would face. While still not commanding the zone like he did throughout his college career, Appel forced three quick ground-outs, keeping the ball down and causing quick outs. Near the end of the inning, Appel looked calm and relaxed—a far cry from his first-inning self.
While his start was shaky, it was to be expected. Appel hadn’t pitched in almost two months since the end of his college baseball season with Stanford, and Friday’s start was only a tune-up for what is to come.
His curveball didn’t break very much, which led to him getting smacked around, and a post-game interview said he was predictable with the use of his fastball. He didn’t touch his true velocity potential, peaking only once at 95 MPH, when in reality he can consistently hit that number and higher deep into starts.
However, the most memorable moment of the day was him finally starting. It was the long-heralded arrival of another key piece in the Houston Astros rebuilding project.
While it was only a 26-pitch dose of the future, seeing a potential superstar pitcher begin his journey to the show is exciting nonetheless. He shook off the rust that two months of absence will bring, and he should continue to improve throughout the year as he gets warmed up again. He put his work in and began his learning curve, discovering how to maneuver through professional lineups.
Overall, it was a great day for Appel, who showed he could adapt to pitching needs and move on from a bad inning, which displayed immense maturity and can take years to teach. While he didn’t pitch well, he did what was expected of him, and I give him a final grade of an A.
Photos courtesy of: whattheheckbobby.blogspot.com
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