Eye on MLB: deGrom and Wednesday's best
Wednesday afternoon brought some matinee Major League Baseball action, where we saw the Twins look great against the struggling (again) Orioles, the Brewers had a dramatic win thanks to a three-run, go-ahead homer off the bat of Carlos Gomez in the eighth inning and out West it was Mets’ starter Jacob deGrom again coming through with a dominant outing.
DeGrom allowed only two hits and one walk while striking out 10 in eight shutout innings. He retired the last 13 batters he faced and no one even made it to third base against him. It was an utter clinic.
Not that this is out of the ordinary at this point for the All-Star who is showing his Rookie of the Year performance last season was far from a fluke. On the year, deGrom is 9-6 with a 2.14 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 112 strikeouts in 113 2/3 innings. Impressive for sure, but look at what he’s done since a clunker against the Cubs on May 11:
10 starts, 6-2, 1.38 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 76 K, 9 BB, 72 IP
Filthy.
The Mets have the starpower in Matt Harvey and the highly-ranked prospects in Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz (and Zack Wheeler before them), but deGrom is their top dog right now. The ninth rounder out of Stetson was never even a top 100 prospect by any major outlet and instead he’s the best pitcher on one of the best, deepest (when fully healthy) and most exciting rotations in baseball.
With the Mets sitting two games over .500 and within striking distance of first place in the NL East, it’s worth wondering where they might be had he not gotten the call last season to join the rotation. He did, though, and the Mets have an unlikely star on their hands.
Jacob deGrom was dominant again on Wednesday. (USATSI)
Welcome to Eye on MLB, a.k.a the Eye. This is your one-stop shop for updates on everything that happens in the world of baseball on Wednesday. Game recaps, milestone notices, quirky and important highlights, news, notes, rumors and lots more. Check back throughout the night or come back for the finished product Thursday morning. Your call.
Today’s MLB action (all times ET) (Full scoreboard)
Twins 5, Orioles 3: Box score | Recap
Brewers 6, Braves 5: Box score | Recap
Tigers 5, Mariners 4: Box score | Recap
Mets 4, Giants 1: Box score | Recap
Reds at Nationals: Postponed due to rain
Red Sox 6, Marlins 3: Box score | Recap
Indians 4, Astros 2: Box score | Recap
Pirates 5, Padres 2: Box score | Recap
Milestone Watch
Longest active hit streak: It’s still Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies, who comes into Wednesday’s game having hit safely in 19 straight games. He’s 33.9 percent of the way to tying Joe DiMaggio’s record.
Pujols watch: Angels All-Star Albert Pujols is two home runs shy of tying Mike Schmidt for 15th place on the all-time list. He has 546 homers, Schmidt retired with 548.
250 starts for Ubaldo: On Wednesday, Orioles righty Ubaldo Jimenez will become only the 11th Dominican-born pitcher to start 250 games in MLB. Here’s the list.
Select company: Angels slugger Mike Trout, isn’t just great, he’s historically great. (He’s also on the quietest 40+ home run pace ever.)
#Angels CF Mike Trout is the ninth player in MLB history with 120 or more HRs before his 24th birthday.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) July 8, 2015
Possibly more to come later.
Daily Awards
Scary moment of the night
Alex Gordon was injured in left field in Kansas City and down for a few minutes before being carted off. The early word is a left groin strain. More on that here.
Logan Forsythe ended up with an inside-the-park home run. Speaking of which …
One for you, one for me
Jarrod Dyson added an inside the park homer later in the game, meaning each the Rays and Royals had one in the same game. It’s pretty cool, of course, and also rare:
Logan Forsythe, Jarrod Dyson combine for 1st @MLB game with inside-the-park HRs by both clubs since May 26, 1997 (per @EliasSports).
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) July 9, 2015
Catch of the day: No offense to pitchers, but this is about as nice a catch as you’ll see from a pitcher. Over the shoulder and everything.
Autographs of the day: Alex Rodriguez is hard at work signing bats for his teammates, staff, coaches, basically everyone. Bonus points for the use of “lol.”
Signing commemorative bats for teammates, coaches and staff. Thankfully there aren’t 3,000 of them, LOL pic.twitter.com/GLWX6i1kVQ
— Alex Rodriguez (@AROD) July 8, 2015
Prank of the day: As I’m sure you remember, the PNC Park grounds crew had some trouble with the tarp Tuesday, so much so that Andrew McCutchen and other Pirates players helped out. One grounds crew member got stuck under the tarp, and on Wednesday the team had a little fun at his expense.
RIP Tarp Man pic.twitter.com/t2xXFyUSJd
— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) July 8, 2015
Fake umpires of the day
Minor league hats of the day
New Hartford #Yardgoats hat pic.twitter.com/ZMu7rIOf2w
— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) July 8, 2015
Home run of the night
Evan Gattis went after this pitch up and out of the zone … and it worked.
Awful slide of the day
Justin Maxwell with the “lol”-worthy slide in San Francisco. He slid about four feet wide of third base on a forceout. I have no idea what he was doing (MLB.com video).
Injuries, News & Rumors
Mets’ Collins: David Wright progressing in the right direction
Athletics SP Scott Kazmir removed with triceps tightness
Cubs SP Jason Hammel leaves Wednesday’s game due to hamstring
Doctor confirms diagnosis on Pirates 3B Josh Harrison
Royals SP Jason Vargas to make rehab start on Monday
Padres’ Cory Luebke has flexor strain, no ligament damage in elbow
Mariners CF Austin Jackson leaves game with back spasms
Padres LF Justin Upton out with oblique soreness Wednesday
Nationals’ Williams not expecting quick return for Stephen Strasburg
Astros make changes to rotation plans leading up to All-Star break
Twins’ Miguel Sano makes debut at third base on Wednesday
A’s Jesse Hahn not slated to pitch until Saturday due to elbow injury
Amaro: Phillies SP Jonathan Pettibone might need more surgery
Tigers bring Buck Farmer up, send Kyle Ryan down to Triple-A
Click here for more player news updates.
Looking Ahead to Tomorrow’s MLB action (all times ET)
The slate is two-thirds full on Thursday; only 10 games instead of the usual 15. Jose Fernandez will be making his second start back from Tommy John surgery and the Blue Jays will get a firsthand look at Jeff Samardzija, who they are reportedly targeting prior to the trade deadline.
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