Key reversal, Nelson Cruz home run help Mariners top A’s

Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.

Sometimes all it takes to turn around baseball game is a bloop and a blast. For the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, it was actually a replay reversal and a blast, but it all worked the same in the 5-4, 11-inning victory.

With the A’s holding a one-run lead in the eighth inning, Seattle’s Justin Ruggiano bounced one back to pitcher Eric O’Flaherty, who attempted to start a 1-6-3 double play. O’Flaherty’s throw to second was offline, clearly pulling shortstop Marcus Semein off the bag. However, second base umpire Tripp Gibson ruled runner Austin Jackson out, presumably on the neighborhood play, which according to MLB rules in not reviewable.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Crew chief Brian Gorman determined that since the throw was errant, the neighborhood play was off, which made it reviewable again. Of course, the play was ultimately reserved, which didn’t sit well at all with A’s fans, but they still had a to ill had a chance to escape the inning without any damage.

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Nelson Cruz quickly put an end to those hopes with a three-run go-ahead home run, his first with the Mariners.

The A’s battled back to tie it in the eighth and nearly won in the tenth on Ike Davis’ double to the wall. Ben Zobrist was cut down at home on a perfectly executed relay to wipe that out. They ultimately fell on Brad Miller’s RBI double.

ARCHIE BRADLEY TOPS CLAYTON KERSHAW IN MLB DEBUT
How’s this for a first impression?

Arizona Diamondbacks rookie Archie Bradley outdueled reigning NL Cy Young winner and MVP Clayton Kershaw to win his major league debut on Saturday night. In six innings, Bradley struck out, walked four and allowed only hit as Arizona cruised to the 6-0 win.

At the plate, Bradley even contributed his first career hit, a single off Kershaw in the third inning.

As for Kershaw’s performance, it was a little less than one year again that he suffered one of his worst career outings in a start in Arizona, allowing seven earned runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings. On Saturday night, it wasn’t exactly deja vu, but it was closer than anyone anticipated. In 6 1/3 innings, Kershaw was tagged for six runs (five earned) on 10 hits, which included Paul Goldschmidt’s two-run in the seventh inning.

NEW LOOK PADRES GET TO MADISON BUMGARNER

It was a rough night for NL West aces on Saturday, and no we’re not including Kyle Kendrick. While Kershaw was getting knocked around in the desert, San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner was getting shelled by the new look San Diego Padres to the tune of five earned runs and 10 hits over three innings, as the Giants fell 10-2.

On the other side, James Shields was sharp, allowing one hits on three hits over seven innings. But the night really belonged to the new offensive pieces acquired by general manager A.J. Preller. Matt Kemp had four hits, including two doubles. Will Middlebrooks had three hits and two RBIs. Wil Myers, Justin Upton and Derek Norris each added two hits, which helped pace a relentless 20-hit attack.

Offense in Petco Park? You better believe it. And we aren’t lying when we say this is exactly how Preller drew it up this offseason.

NATIONALS CAN’T GET OFFENSE ON TRACK
With all of the talk about the Washington Nationals starting rotation, it seems we just assumed their offense would hit the ground running as well this season. Through five games, that hasn’t been the case, and with Saturday’s 3-2 loss in Philadelphia, the Nationals are now 1-4 with a grand total of seven runs.

Short of a Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax and Cy Young led rotation, there’s no pitching staff that can overcome production that putrid. Nats pitchers have done their part, too, having allowed just 14 runs so far, but it’s the offense that continues looking for answers, and more importantly than that, actual runs.

They found few of either against Cole Hamels on Saturday. Coming off a rough opener against Boston, Hamels bounced back with seven innings of one-run, two-hit ball. Now the Nationals will look ahead to a Sunday matchup with journeyman right-hander Sean O’Sullivan. If the struggles continue, it won’t be time to panic, but it could easily qualify as the biggest surprise of opening week.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813

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