Dodgers outslug Padres, lose Brandon McCarthy to injury
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.
Saturday night was bittersweet for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The good news: Their bats were alive at one of baseball’s most pitcher-friendly ballparks, Petco Park. In total, the Dodgers muscled up for four home runs in their 11-8 victory, including Adrian Gonzalez’s NL-leading seventh. Gonzalez’s three-run shot broke a 3-3 tie in the second inning, and the Dodgers never looked back from there.
Andre Ethier got the scoring started with a two-run shot in the first. That was his second homer of the season. Howie Kendrick and Juan Uribe added insurance two-run homers in the fifth, which proved to be important in the outcome.
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The bad news: Their own starter, Brandon McCarthy, allowed three home runs of his own. His final pitch of the evening was driven for a three-run shot by Justin Upton. McCarthy was spotted shaking his right arm immediately following the pitch. Before facing another batter, he motioned for the trainer and was removed.
McCarthy was later diagnosed with tightness in his right elbow, which is a scary series of words in today’s game. The Dodgers will obviously know more once an MRI is taken, but McCarthy seems headed for a DL stint at worst.
If there’s a small silver lining, it’s that Hyun-Jin Ryu was cleared to throw a bullpen session in the next couple days. That’s a big step in his return from a shoulder issues, but the Dodgers pitching depth still figures to take a significant hit in the short term.
MATT HARVEY GETS METS BACK ON TRACK
After the New York Mets franchise record tying 11-game winning streak was snapped by the Yankees on Friday night, ace Matt Harvey wasn’t about to let his team start a losing streak on Saturday. Harvey, who grew up a Yankees fan, made his first career start at Yankee Stadium, and he made it look like his home, tossing 8 2/3 innings of two-run ball.
Manager Terry Collins actually gave Harvey two chances to go the distance, With two outs in the ninth, Harvey allowed a single to Mark Teixeira, who homered earlier, and then walked Brian McCann on four pitches. Carlos Torres came on to retire Chris Young to wrap up the Mets 8-2 victory.
On the other side, CC Sabathia falls to 0-4 after allowing seven earned runs — and three home runs — over five innings. Lucas Duda tagged him for a solo shot in the first. Rookie Kevin Plawecki, who’s filling in for an injured Travis d’Arnaud, hit a two-run homer in the fourth — the first of his young career. Eric Campbell added a two-run shot in the sixth.
BLUE JAYS LOSE, BUT MAKE HISTORY
The Toronto Blue Jays lost 4-2 to the division rival Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, but actually made some interesting history in their defeat.
By starting catcher Russell Martin and outfielders Michael Saunders and Dalton Pompey, the Blue Jays became the first team in major league history to have three Canadian-born position players in the starting lineup. The Montreal Expos twice in 1993 and the Minnesota Twins during the 2011 season each started two position players from Canada to go along with the starting pitcher, but never had three position players been done.
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The history was made possible by the return of Saunders, who missed thre two-plus weeks following a spring knee injury. Together, the three players were 1 for 9. The one hit was a Russell Martin solo home run.
The Rays received four hits from Evan Longoria in the victory.
GIANCARLO BASHES ANOTHER HOMER, MARLINS WIN ANOTHER SERIES
After going homerless with a .200 batting average in his first nine games, Giancarlo Stanton has bounced back in a big way over his last nine game, hitting five homers with a .314 average. That included another big day on Saturday, as Stanton homered for the fourth time in his career against Stephen Strasburg and led the Marlins to an 8-0 victory.
The homer was one of three hits for Stanton. He started the scoring with an RBI double in the first, and later singled and scored in the win. Adeiny Hechavarria added a three-run homer to wrap the scoring. Justin Bour had a pair of run-scoring single.
All of this came in support of Tom Koehler, who was brilliant, holding Washington to six hits over 7 1/3 innings.
The Marlins have now won four straight after manager Mike Redmond was squarely placed on the hot seat. The Nationals have lost four straight. Both teams are now 7-11 and a long way behind the Mets.
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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
