(Alternate title: GiancarlOMGFTW)
The Wednesday Takeaway
The Yankees and Mariners are two teams with very realistic postseason aspirations as the baseball season encroaches on the halfway point. Wednesday night saw the teams link up in a matchup between two deeply contrasting starters: 12-year veteran Felix Hernandez for Seattle against New York’s Jonathan Loaisiga, making just his second major-league start.
Loaisiga got off to a rocky start, allowing the first two Mariners to reach base in the top of the first, but the rookie steadied himself and got out of the jam with no damage. For three innings, neither team was able to manage more than a two-runner threat. Then, in the top of the fourth, the Mariners struck first.
Kyle Seager‘s leadoff single set the plate, and Denard Span beat the shift with a single to the opposite field gap. Seager hustled for third, and Span hung off first base, ready to take second if the Yankees pushed the play to third. But instead, rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres caught Span dangling. Unfortunately, Torres’ throw sailed on him, and Seager scored the opening run.Two outs around a Ben Gamel double set up Dee Gordon in a crucial spot, and also spelled the end of Loaisiga’s day. With Chasen Shreve on for the Yankees, Gordon delivered—a grounder out of the reach of Torres, good enough to plate both runners. An inning later, Span drove in his second run with a sacrifice fly and Ryon Healy added an RBI single, running the Seattle lead to 5-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Yankees brought Aaron Judge to the plate with two on and two out. Judge lined an RBI single into left, which scored a second runner when Span failed to field it properly in left field.
It was 5-3 Seattle in the eighth inning when Alex Colome surrendered a leadoff walk to Torres and brought Gary Sanchez to the plate. Sanchez got a 1-1 heater up in the zone from Colome and, with one swing of the bat, he finished erasing the 5-run deficit:
The Yankees brought on Aroldis Chapman in the top of the ninth, and he set the Mariners down 1-2-3. After Ryan Cook followed suit with the first two Seattle hitters he saw in the bottom of the inning Didi Gregorius extended the ninth with a single to center. Cook went up 0-2 quickly on Giancarlo Stanton, and on the third pitch of the at-bat he tried to drop a breaking ball out of the zone, enticing Stanton to chase. The problem is, Cook located the pitch about five inches higher than he wanted to—just north of Stanton’s knees, not just a pitch to hit but a pitch to hit hard. Stanton didn’t let him get away with the mistake:
Quick Hits
One night after the Astros’ 12-game winning streak was reset, the top of their order put on a fireworks display. Nate Eovaldi was able to keep Tampa Bay with the defending champs for five innings, but in the bottom of the sixth he ran into George Springer. And Alex Bregman. And then, Jose Altuve.
The last time the Astros went back-to-back-to-back was May 2, 2008. That happened in the sixth inning as well—Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee all homered off of the Brewers’ Carlos Villanueva. Fun fact: a decade later, Ryan Braun is the only player from that game still active.
The Indians dropped a square dozen runs on the overmatched White Sox last night, but I’m honestly more impressed with Rajai Davis‘ acrobatics than that score line:
So to recap, what do we know about Davis? He is very, very quick. He is quite adept at thieving without getting caught. He delivered for his team in the biggest moment of his life. He takes contact shots and rolls into a cartwheel just because. Is Rajai Davis actually a ninja? Clearly we need more information.
The Brewers and Pirates got rained out, but we’d be robbing ourselves if we didn’t check in with Milwaukee’s 19-year bullpen catcher Marcus Hanel for some lessons on perspective in life. Sure, a rainout can suck. It can be a massive inconvenience and hours of endured misery. Or, a rainout can be hours of freedom and joy. Hours unburdened by anything resembling routine or responsibility, with which to do those things that life isn’t supposed to give you time for.
Somewhat related, an infield tarp can be just an infield tarp. But if you look at it just right, you’ll see the most awesome square Slip ‘n Slide anyone has ever indulged in while on the clock. Marcus Hamel’s on that level, and we should all try to be a little more like him:
Defensive Play of the Night
Standing on third base in the top of the third inning, Chris Taylor represented the tying run for the Dodgers. He got a high fly ball, not deep but not shallow—a chance to tie the game up.
But out in right field, Jason Heyward had other ideas. His throw to Willson Contreras was dead on, and just in the nick of time to beat Taylor and preserve the 1-0 lead for the Cubs:
Chicago wound up scoring three more runs for a 4-0 final score.
What to Watch on Thursday
The next Mariners-Yankees tilt is the first game on the schedule, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 Eastern. This game features one of the biggest pitching matchups of the season to date, with James Paxton and Luis Severino dueling strikeouts and breakout seasons in New York.
The two other afternoon games are the Red Sox at the Twins, and the Mets at the Rockies.
The Giants are hosting the Padres, with Madison Bumgarner back on the mound for his fourth start of the year. Bumgarner is still winless in 2018, and his 4.67 ERA is a full 1.30 points higher than his highest ever season total. Curiously, Bumgarner is striking out just 4.7 batters per nine innings this year—roughly half his career average
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