Kris Bryant homers twice, drives in six in big Cubs win
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.
After a quiet June, it seems Kris Bryant may getting ready to get hot again in July.
In the Cubs 7-2 victory against the Miami Marlins on Saturday, Bryant launched his first two home runs since June 22 — when he homered twice off Clayton Kershaw — and did so in each of the first two innings.
In the first inning, Bryant connected for a two-run homer off Miami starter Jarred Cosart that may have clipped the new left field videoboard. One inning later, Bryant unloaded against Cosart for a grand slam, which broke the game wide open and gave him a career-high six RBIs.
The Cubs wouldn’t need any more offense the rest of the game, and wouldn’t get any either. After Bryant’s slam, they couldn’t muster another hit against Miami’s bullpen.
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Veteran left-hander Clayton Richard picked up the win for Chicago in his Cubs debut. That was interesting for a couple reasons. First, Richard was only acquired in a minor trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday. Second, he became the 2,000th player to suit up for the Cubs during a regular season game.
He celebrated the opportunity and the milestone with a quality outing, holding Miami to two runs over 6 1/3 innings.
ZACK GREINKE EXTENDS SCORELESS STREAK TO 27 2/3 INNINGS
If you’re looking for the National League’s starting pitcher in the All-Star game, look no further than Zack Greinke.
The Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander has been outstanding all season long, but he’s taken his game to another level over this past four starts by posting 27 2/3 scoreless innings. That’s a career best for Greinke, but he still has a ways to go equal Orel Hershiser’s all-time (and franchise) record of 59 consecutive scoreless innings
Greinke was good for seven scoreless in the Dodgers 4-3 win against the New York Mets on Saturday. Greinke allowed just four hits while striking out four. He finished strong, retiring the last 11 batters he faced, and left in good position with his Dodgers leading by four. However, the Mets made things interesting against the Los Angeles bullpen before ultimately falling short.
On the other side, Matt Harvey admittedly struggled getting into a rhythm with his extra day of rest. In five innings, he allowed three runs on seven hits and five walks. That’s the very definition of laboring, and it’s a concern if the Mets go with a six-man rotation for any length of time.
YANKEES MAKE IT BACK-TO-BACK WALK-OFF WINS
After entering the month of July without a single walk-off win this season, the New York Yankees made it two straight in Saturday’s 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Rays.
On Friday, catcher Brian McCann provided the heroics, launched a three-run homer in the 12th inning. On Saturday, it was the Rays doing the heavy lifting for New York thanks to a costly throwing error by reliever Brad Boxberger.
After Mark Teixeira started with the ninth inning with a double and Chris Young drew a walk, rookie Ramon Flores dropped a sacrifice bunt attempt that Boxberger fielded and then threw wide to first base. As the ball skipped away, pinch-runner Jose Pirela raced around from second to score the winner.
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The victory was thrilling, but also somewhat bittersweet for New York. Starter Michael Pineda was excellent, shutting out the Rays on five hits over seven innings. He struck out 10. Unfortunately, closer Dellin Betances was unable to lock down the four-out save. In the ninth, he served up a game-tying home run to Steven Souza Jr. Souza had entered the game in an 0-for-25 slump with 15 strikeouts.
A win is a win, which extended the Yankees lead in the AL East to two full games over the Baltimore Orioles. A loss is also a loss for the Rays, giving them seven straight. They’ve gone from first place to three games back this week.
KENDALL GRAVEMAN OUTDUELS KING FELIX
As is seemingly the case every year, the Oakland A’s have another outstanding young pitcher in Kendall Graveman that very few people are talking about.
The 25-year-old right-hander was sent to the minor leagues earlier this season for a minor tuneup. Since returning on May 23, he’s has posted eight quality starts in nine outings and hasn’t more than three runs in any of them. More recently, he’s pitched at least seven innings in six straight without allowing more than two run.
That hot streak on Saturday, as Graveman tossed seven scoreless frames to outduel King Felix Hernandez in Oakland’s 2-0 victory against the Seattle Mariners.
Hernandez himself pitched seven innings, but was bit shaky at times. Though Oakland only scored twice, Hernandez allowed a season-high 10 hits. He had a particularly tough time dealing with leadoff man Billy Burns. Burns reached twice, scored twice and stole a bag. Ben Zobrist was responsible for knocking Burns home both times, with a single in the first and sacrifice fly in the seventh.
With the win, Oakland moved to within one-half game of Seattle in the standings. The A’s currently occupy the cellar in the AL West. Also of note, it’s the first time Oakland has defeated Hernandez at O.co Coliseum in 13 starts.
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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