Albert Pujols’ late-inning grand slam helps Angels 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.
On a night when Alex Rodriguez made history, joining the 3,000-hit club, Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols reminded us once again that he too has some gas left in the tank.
In the Angels 12-7 victory over the Oakland A’s, Pujols provided the biggest hit with a seventh-inning grand slam that completely flipped the game around.
The Angels actually entered that inning trailing 7-2, but finally solved Sonny Gray on their way to a big inning. By the time Pujols stepped in with the bases loaded, Gray was long gone. Reliever Edward Mujica probably wishes he was too, because when Pujols turned on his pitch he sent an absolute rocket that needed just 3.2 seconds to clear the fence.
Another guy who had a rough inning was Ben Zobrist. One batter prior, he misjudged a Mike Trout fly ball and actually had it clang off his glove. That helped set the stage for Pujols, and he quickly cleared the deck.
When it was over, the Angels scored eight in the inning. They added two more runs in the ninth, with Pujols adding an RBI double, to win it going away.
On the season, Pujols is now hitting .273 with 20 home runs and 42 RBIs.
CHRIS SALE NOTCHES 14 STRIKEOUTS, WHITE SOX STILL LOSE
Who’s the best pitcher in baseball right now? It would be impossible to argue against Chicago White Sox left-hander Chris Sale, who’s currently on a hot streak equaled by only two pitchers before him.
In Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers, Sale struck out 14 batters over eight scoreless innings. In doing so, he joined Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez as the only pitchers in MLB history to ever strikeout 12 batters in five straight starts.
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Overall, Sale has struck out 65 batters during that stretch. In four June starts, he’s struck out 53 and at least one batter in each of his 29 2/3 innings.
That’s an amazing roll.
Unfortunately for Sale, he didn’t have enough left in the tank to finish Friday’s game. Instead, manager Robin Ventura turned to $46 million closer David Robertson and watched as the lead vanished. Mitch Moreland capped the Rangers rally with a two-out, two-run single, which had to feel like a gut-punch for Sale and Sox fans.
The loss was Chicago’s eighth straight. Their 28 wins are the fewest in the American League. It’s just a miserable experience right now on the south side of Chicago.
MARCO ESTRADA FLIRTS WITH NO-HITTER IN JAYS WIN
Veteran Marco Estrada nearly pitched his way into the history books in Toronto’s 5-4 victory against the Baltimore Orioles. The 31-year-old right-hander carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning, only to watch it slip away on a broken bat single from pinch-hitter Jimmy Paredes.
It was a unique performance, in that Estrada wasn’t overpowering in a Chris Sale sense or all that efficient either. He walked four batters and left immediately after the single with 116 pitches. Had it continued past Paredes, it would have been interesting to see how long manager John Gibbons allowed him to toil.
As it was, Estrada left with a five-run lead and then watched nervously as Baltimore plated two runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth against Toronto’s bullpen. Closer Brett Cecil finally put out the fire by striking out Chris Davis with the tying run on third.
It’s a win for Marco Estrada, and it’s14 wins in 16 games for the hard-charging Blue Jays.
MIKE LEAKE DOMINATES THE FISH
Estrada wasn’t the only pitcher with no-hit stuff. Cincinnati Reds right-hander Mike Leake carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning of their 5-0 victory over the Miami Marlins, losing it on Christian Yelich’s two-out single.
Leake ended up tossing seven innings of two-hit ball, striking out seven on just 92 pitches. The strikeouts were especially encouraging for Leake. He had a nine-strikeout game on June 3, which matched his entire output in five May starts. The seven on Friday give him 55 over 89 2/3 innings.
Despite the reasonable pitch count, Bryan Price turned it over to J.J. Hoover and Pedro Villarreal, who were effective in their own as Cincinnati coasted to victory.
Offensively, Cincinnati got a home run from Marlon Byrd, who was making his return from a broken right wrist. After hitting four in his previous two games, Todd Frazier did not homer on Friday. He did have two hits, including a double, and scored twice.
Want to see more from Friday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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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
