The Eye: Saturday's best from around baseball
After two days off following the All-Star Game, we’re back into daily Major League Baseball and it feels so nice. Saturday was a bit more than a full slate, as the Dodgers and Nationals had to pick up where they left off Friday night due to lighting issues (yes, lighting, not lightning).
As for the abundance of night games, the performance of Cubs lefty Jon Lester stands out. Lester no-hit the Braves through 7.0 frames before A.J. Pierzynski broke it up to lead off the eighth. After Saturday night’s efforts, Lester’s 2015 ERA now stands at a much more palatable 3.37.
Speaking more broadly, it seems maybe the Cubs’ rotation is getting short shrift these days. In part, it’s probably because Lester, the team’s $155-million winter addition, was running an ERA of 6.23 at the end of April — slow starts take a while to forget. And it’s probably in part because the Cubs’ deeply impressive core of young hitters has sucked up all the bandwidth. Still, the Cubs’ rotation — pegged as a potential soft underbelly coming into the season — has been quietly effective in 2015.
Coming into Saturday, the Cubs ranked fourth in the NL in rotation ERA, fifth in rotation R/G and second in average Game Score. As well, Cubs starters rank second in the NL when it comes to the FanGraphs’ version of WAR. This has all been because of the reliability and quality of the front four: Lester, Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel, and Kyle Hendricks. That quartet has combined to start 72 of the Cubs’ 89 games this season, and Hendricks’ ERA of 3.44 stands as the worst of the bunch.
Rather than being a liability, the Cubs’ rotation has instead been a big reason that the team is presently in playoff position.
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In early afternoon action, the Mariners beat the Yankees, 4-3, with Robinson Cano going 3 for 4 with two home runs and all four M’s RBI. He hit a two-run homer in the first inning and then with the game again tied, 2-2, in the sixth, he did it again.
Cano was hitting .238 with a brutal .621 OPS through June. He also only had four home runs and 24 RBI despite hitting third in the overwhelming majority of the games. Not coincidentally, the Mariners were 35-42 through June, making the playoff-hopeful perhaps the biggest disappointment during the first half of the season.
In July, however, Cano is getting back on track, being the middle-of-the-order force the Mariners are paying him to be. He’s hitting .333/.365/.600 with four doubles, four homers and 10 RBI in the 14 games this month. The Mariners haven’t caught fire or anything, sporting a 7-7 record this month, but they are at least a little better.
Moving forward, winning half their games won’t cut it for the Mariners to crawl back into contention. They’ve dug themselves too deep a hole for that. They instead need to get about as hot as the Royals did last year.
The good news is that few AL teams outside those Royals inspire tons of confidence moving forward and there’s an awful lot of mediocrity. On top of that, Cano seems to be back to his old self.
So in a season chock full of headaches, Saturday had to be a real nice day for baseball fans in the Pacific Northwest.
Robinson Cano is back on track in July. (USATSI)
Here is today’s edition of Eye on MLB, aka the Eye. This will be a one-stop shop for everything that happens in the world of baseball on Saturday. Game recaps, milestone notices, important and quirky highlights, news, notes, rumors and more. Come back throughout the day for updates or check back Sunday morning for the finished product.
Today’s MLB action (all times ET) (Full scoreboard)
Nationals 5, Dodgers 3 – (Box score | Recap)
Rays 3, Blue Jays 2 – (Box score | Recap)
Mariners 4, Yankees 3 – (Box score | Recap)
Dodgers 4, Nationals 2 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Let’s just say Clayton Kershaw was dominant in this one …
Royals 7, White Sox – 13 innings (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Lorenzo Cain provided the killing blow in this one (and a pretty solid bat-flip) …
Phillies 3, Marlins 1 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Orioles 3, Tigers 0 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Please admire the work of Chris Tillman in this one …
Cubs 4, Braves 0 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Brewers 8, Pirates 5 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Cardinals 12, Mets 2 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Randal Grichuk hit a pair of homers, and this also happened …
.@JasonHeyward went 5-for-5 today for the @Cardinals. Here is his 5th hit of the day. pic.twitter.com/Qx7U9Wk1cx
— MLB Authenticator (@MLB_Authentic) July 19, 2015
Indians 9, Reds 4 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Rangers 7, Astros 6 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Things got chippy in this one …
Padres 5, Rockies 4 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Angels 3, Red Sox 0 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Giants 8, Diamondbacks 4 – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
Athletics 3, Twins 2 – 10 innings – (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
The A’s walked it off in this one …
Milestone Watch
Pujols watch: Angels first baseman Albert Pujols has 546 career home runs, and after Saturday night he remains just two short of Mike Schmidt for 15th in all-time homers.
Hawkins watch: Rockies righty LaTroy Hawkins tied Jose Mesa and Lee Smith for 11th place on the all-time games pitched list with 1,022 career appearances.
Daily Awards
Reunion of the day
The 2005 White Sox …
The World Series champs pic.twitter.com/5KRVIsIkZy
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) July 18, 2015
Happy Birthday
Joe Torre …
Happy 75th birthday to 4× #WorldSeries champion, @JoeTorre! #PinstripePride pic.twitter.com/jyZH04qs6C
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 18, 2015
Birthday GIF of the day
Torii Hunter turned 40 on Saturday, so he test-drove some new wheels …
Walk it out. pic.twitter.com/jzNdapcA3X
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 19, 2015
Hall of Fame bobblehead
The Big Unit, in D-Backs bobblehead form that is coming next week
In 1 week, celebrate Randy Johnson’s @BaseballHall induction with his Hall of Fame Bobblehead: http://t.co/xljQcC0EAm pic.twitter.com/TCWI0S8ko2
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 18, 2015
Catch of the day
Well done, Jose Bautista
.@JoeyBats19 1, sun 0. http://t.co/fK0RP7pvKF @AllstateCanada #GoodHands pic.twitter.com/Pb7kCQwrxu
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 18, 2015
Moonshot of the day
Same guy, as Jose Bautista crushed one into the third deck (MLB.com video).
Authoritative blast of the day
Manny Machado off David Price …
Stat of the day
This is a rough way to start the game, White Sox.
Royals lead 3-0. White Sox have now allowed 71 first-inning runs this season, worst in the majors.
— Fred B. Mitchell (@kicker34) July 18, 2015
Non-MLB bat flip of the day
This is funny. Make sure the sound is on for maximum effect.
Home run of the day by a 20-year-old
Carlos Correa is good …
Throw of the day
Nolan Arenado, of course …
Injuries, News & Rumors
Report: Royals targeting Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto
Rockies hope to have Corey Dickerson back soon
Yankees’ Carlos Beltran finished rehab assignment 3 for 7
Braves 1B Freddie Freeman nearing rehab assignment
Astros activate SP Scott Feldman on Saturday
Jesse Crain suffers setback in minors for White Sox
Nate Jones hitting 100 mph in rehab games for White Sox
Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman getting closer to rehab stint
Rays draft pick Chris Betts to undergo Tommy John surgery
Click here for MLB player news
Looking Ahead to Tomorrow’s MLB action (all times ET)
Sunday means a host of day games and one Sunday night game on national cable.
1:05pm: Mariners (Felix Hernandez) at Yankees (CC Sabathia)
1:07pm: Rays (Chris Archer) at Blue Jays (Marco Estrada)
1:08pm: Orioles (Miguel Gonzalez) at Tigers (Justin Verlander)
1:10pm: Indians (Carlos Carrasco) at Reds (Johnny Cueto)
1:35pm: Dodgers (Zack Greinke) at Nationals (Max Scherzer)
1:35pm: Marlins (Dan Haren) at Phillies (Cole Hamels)
2:10pm: Royals (Danny Duffy) at White Sox (Chris Sale)
2:10pm: Rangers (Yovani Gallardo) at Astros (Dallas Keuchel)
2:10pm: Pirates (Jeff Locke) at Brewers (Taylor Jungmann)
2:15pm: Mets (Jon Niese) at Cardinals (Tim Cooney)
4:05pm: Twins (Tommy Milone) at A’s (Jesse Chavez)
4:10pm: Giants (Madison Bumgarner) at Diamondbacks (Patrick Corbin)
4:10pm: Rockies (Eddie Butler) at Padres (Andrew Cashner)
5:05pm: Cubs (Jake Arrieta) at Braves (Shelby Miller)
8:05pm: Red Sox (Eduardo Rodriguez) at Angels (Hector Santiago)
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