Jonathan Schoop launches walk-off homer as Orioles overcome Nationals
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.
Coming off a 1-5 road trip through the south side of Chicago and Minneapolis, the Baltimore Orioles were in desperate need of a spark and a win on Friday night.
Both happened to come on one swing, as second baseman Jonathan Schoop launched a walk-off home run against Washington’s Tanner Roark.
Schoop’s ninth-inning blast capped the 3-2 victory in dramatic fashion. Baltimore’s struggling offense pushed across the tying tally in the eighth on Chris Parmalee’s infield single and Matt Wieters’ RBI double. By that point, they were just happy that Gio Gonzalez was no longer present. Washington’s starter pitched six innings of one-run ball, allowing just a solo homer to Adam Jones.
[Play a Daily Fantasy contest for cash today!l]
Baltimore right-hander Chris Tillman countered with six strong innings, allowing just two runs on eight hits. The Nationals scored twice in the fifth, but Tillman limited the damage overall. The Orioles bullpen combined for three scoreless frames.
With the win, Baltimore could kept pace with the first-place Yankees. They enter play Saturday trailing by three games, but could end up facing Jordan Zimmermann and Max Scherzer to end the first half.
GERRIT COLE EARNS LEAGUE BEST 13TH WIN
Knowing that both Clayton Kershaw and Johnny Cueto were not selected for the NL All-Star team, and that Max Scherzer may pitch Washington’s first-half finale on Sunday, the door is officially open for Gerrit Cole to start the All-Star game.
Honestly, the door may have been open regardless. But it’s almost certainly wide open now after Cole picked up his league-leading 13th victory in the Pirates 5-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Cole improved to 13-3 overall after tossing seven innings of two-run ball. He made but one mistake, resulting in Matt Carpenter’s two-run home run, but was otherwise stellar in lowering his season ERA to 2.30. Cole struck out just three, which was his lowest total over his last 10 starts.
Offensively, Pittsburgh utilized a balanced attack. Neil Walker led the charge with three hits, including his seventh home run. Jung Ho Kang and Jordy Mercer each had two hits and an RBI.
With the win, Pittsburgh evened up the four-game weekend series and moved to within 4 1/2 games of first place. With a strong close to the series, they could set the stage for a thrilling second half in the NL Central.
SYNDERGAARD STRIKES OUT CAREER-HIGH 13
The National League Rookie of the Year race may be the most fascinating to watch during the second half. New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard isn’t just in the race with Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson, he’s in it to win, and he’s picking up momentum with each passing start.
On Friday, Syndergaard added another gem to his resume, striking out a career-high 13 in eight dominant innings to help New York beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2. Syndergaard allowed a run in the first inning, and then carved up Arizona’s lineup en route to his fourth victory.
[Check out Big League Stew on Tumblr for even more baseball awesomeness.]
Obviously, Syndergaard didn’t need a lot of support, but sometimes even one run can be a monumental task for New York. The Mets took care of that concern right away, scoring all four of their runs in the first inning.
Lucas Duda connected for a two-out, three-run homer against Arizona starter Chase Anderson. Michael Cuddyer followed with a solo shot, and that was that. Though not necessarily an inspiring performance overall offensively, the Mets will take it and look to make it three straight wins on Saturday with Matt Harvey on the hill.
RAKING GIANTS COLLECT 22 HITS
There’s a reasonable chance Cole Hamels made his final start for the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. If so, he’ll be leaving on the lowest note possible and after knocked around the defend World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
In 3 1/3 innings, Hamels surrendered nine earned run on 12 hits. Both season highs. And then watched on as San Francisco cruised to a 15-2 victory.
In total, San Francisco pounded out 22 hits. Joe Panik, Matt Duffy and Justin Maxwell all had four hits apiece. In fact, with the exception of Hunter Pence, every Giants starter had at least two hits, including starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Pence’s lone hit was grand slam, so he already led the way with four RBIs.
So it goes for the Phillies, who have become baseball’s resident punching bag.
Want to see more from Friday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
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
