Game recaps, fun facts from around MLB ( games played on 8/1 ) …
Four postponements : PHL/TOR (Covid ), CIN/DET ( weather ), STL/MIL ( Covid ) & MIA/WSH ( Covid )
History made in Chicago, an ex Phillie makes his major league debut in Atlanta ...
Eleven games played :
Twins 3 ( 6-2 ) Indians 0 ( 5-4 )
Twins starter Kenta Maeda was excellent as he went six innings allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out six batters. Trevor May, Cody Stashak and Taylor Rogers each pitched an inning to complete the shutout ... Rogers posted his third save of the season.
First Baseman Miguel Sano hit two solo home runs and Left Fielder Eddie Rosario hit his 2nd homer of the season to account for Minnesota’s runs.
Carlos Carrasco went six innings for Cleveland ( 3 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K’s ) ... Adam Cimber and Cam Hill each pitched a perfect inning of relief.
Braves 7 ( 6-3 ) Mets 1 ( 3-6 )
Marcel Ozuna hit a first inning two run home run and Ronald Acuna Jr hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to spark Atlanta’s win. Both had two hit games.
Touki Toussant went four shutout frames for Atlanta and four relievers finished out.
Ex Phillies RHP pitcher Franklyn Kilome made his major league debut for the Mets tossing four innings in relief of starter Michael Wacha ... Kilome gave up two runs on two hits, walked none and struck out five batters.
Michael Conforto and Robinson Cano each had two hits for New York.
Yankees 5 ( 6-1 ) Red Sox 2 ( 3-6 )
Aaron Judge homered for a fourth consecutive game and Gio Urshela hit a grand slam home run in the second inning to account for the Yankee runs. Left Fielder Mike Tauchman had three hits in the game.
Four Yankee hurlers took the bump with reliever Nick Nelson earning the win with three scoreless and hitless innings ... he walked two and struck out four batters.
DH Kevin Pillar had two hits for Boston.
Rockies 6 ( 5-2 ) Padres 1 ( 6-3 )
Kyle Freeland went six shutout innings allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out six to record his second win of the season.
DH Matt Kemp hit his first home run as a Rockie and Shortstop Trevor Story hit his fourth of the season. Second Baseman Chris Owings had three hits.
Trent Grisham homered for the Padres.
Dodgers 11 ( 6-3 ) Diamondbacks 2 ( 3-6 )
Four Dodgers ( Edwin Rios, Matt Beaty, AJ Pollock and Chris Taylor ) homered and everyone in the lineup reached base at least once in the blowout victory. Julio Urias posted his first win of the season with six innings pitched - 2 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K’s.
DH Christian Walker doubled for Arizona ... their only extra base hit of the contest.
Angels 5 ( 3-6 ) Astros 4 ( 4-4 ) - Ten Innings
Houston scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning on home runs by Josh Reddick and George Springer to take a one run lead but LA scored the game tying run in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI double by Jason Castro and then plated the placed runner in the bottom of the tenth on a single and a sac fly for the walk off win.
Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo led the Angels offense with two hits apiece while Griffin Canning went six strong innings as the starter yielding one run on six hits and two walks while striking out five.
Orioles 5 ( 4-3 ) Rays 4 ( 4-5 ) - Eleven Innings
Pat Valaika singled in the bottom of the eleventh inning to score the game winner and send Baltimore’s cardboard fans home happy 🤓 ... Dwight Smith had two hits and scored twice, Rio Ruiz had a hit, two walks and also scored twice and Renato Nunez homered.
Travis Lakins picked up the win ... the sixth pitcher in the game for the Orioles.
Yandy Diaz, Jose Martinez and Mike Brousseau each had two hits for Tampa - Brosseau homered. The Rays also used six pitchers.
White Sox 11 ( 4-4 ) Royals 5 ( 3-6 )
The White Sox made major league history as the first team to have a Cuban-born player in each of the first four spots of the batting order ... Luis Robert, Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu and Yasmani Grandal.
The Sox pounded out a whopping twenty one hits ... Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez and Leury Garcia had four each ... Jimenez and Robert were both just a triple shy of the cycle. Chicago spread the pitching duties amongst seven hurlers.
Ryan O’Hearn and Whit Merrifield each had three hits for the Royals ... Merrifield hit his third homer of the season. KC batters had fifteen hits in the slugfest.
Cubs 4 ( 6-2 ) Pirates 3 ( 2-6 )
Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood matched a career high with 11 strikeouts and set a career best with 20 swings and misses ... he pitched 6 2/3 shutout frames allowing just three hits and two walks to post his second win of the season.
Ian Happ, Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber supplied the Cubs runs as each homered with Schwarber’s eighth inning tater scoring two runs.
Colin Moran hit his 5th home run of the season for the Pirates ... a two run shot in the top of the ninth inning ... Bryan Reynolds and Kevin Newman each had two hits for the Bucs.
Giants 7 ( 5-4 ) Rangers 3 ( 2-5 )
Giants Second baseman Donovan Solano drove in three runs including a two-run single in the third inning. He added an RBI single in the eighth and is now batting .448 with 13 RBIs over his first eight games of the season, he is leading the major leagues in RBIs.
Evan Longoria had three hits, a walk and two RBIs for San Francisco. They employed seven pitchers to post the win with ex Phillie Drew Smyly going four frames as the starter ( 2 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K’s ).
Center Fielder Scott Heineman homered for the Rangers ... his older brother Chris Heineman was the starting catcher for the Giants ... he had a double in the contest. Before the game a photo op was arranged by the two managers for the brothers to exchange lineup cards ... in these times that’s not normally done but an exception was made in their first big league game playing against each other.
A’s 3 ( 4-4 ) Mariners 2 ( 4-5 ) - Ten Innings
A’s pinch hitter Robbie Grossman doubled to score the placed runner in the top of the tenth inning and Liam Hendricks pitched a perfect bottom half of the inning to lead the A’s to victory.
Pitching dominated the game as Oakland starter Mike Fiers went six innings ( 2 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K’s ) and four relievers tossed one hit baseball behind him ... Seattle starter Yusei Kikuchi went six shutout innings ( 3 H, 1 BB, 9 K’s ).
Catcher Austin Nola ( Aaron’s brother ) had two hits for the Mariners and Third Baseman Kyle Seager had a hit, walk and two RBIs.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
....................
