Red Sox lose eighth straight on Jose Altuve’s dramatic walk-off homer
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.
As Jose Altuve’s walk-off homer cleared the left-field wall Thursday night, the Houston Astros had another reason to be happy while the Boston Red Sox had to, once again, hang their heads. Thanks to Altuve, the Astros won their fourth straight game, edging the Red Sox 5-4, while Boston lost its eighth straight.
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If we told you prior to the season that on July 23 one of those teams would be making the first major move of the MLB trade deadline in hopes of muscling up for a playoff run, you surely would have guessed it was the Red Sox. But things don’t always go as we expect.
It was the Astros, the surprise team of the 2015 season, who added pitcher Scott Kazmir in a swap with the Oakland Athletics. And it’s the Red Sox, cellar-dwellers in the AL East, who have disappointed at every turn after an expensive offseason rebuild. Now they’ve lost every game since the All-Star break.
Divergent stories aside, Altuve’s blast was an even more dramatic ending to the game because while the Astros were celebrating on the field, the homer was being reviewed by the umps to make it had indeed cleared the fence. The review concurred, so the celebration didn’t prove to be premature.
YANKEES SWEEP O’S, WIDEN AL EAST LEAD
Don’t look now, but the New York Yankees have a 5.5 game lead in the AL East after completing a sweep of the division-rival Baltimore Orioles.
The Yankees scored four in the first inning and starter Masahiro Tanaka didn’t need any more than that. Tanaka allowed three runs in 7.2 innings, striking out seven as the Yankees won 9-3.
“I think there’s a lot of confidence in that clubhouse, right now, the way everyone is swinging the bats,” manager Joe Girardi said.
GODLEY GOOD IN MLB DEBUT
The Arizona Diamondbacks got a nice debut out of Zack Godley, a 25-year-old rookie making his first MLB start. Godley pitched four-hit ball over six innings, not allowing a run to the Milwaukee Brewers and striking out seven. The D-backs beat the Brewers 8-3, as A.J. Pollock was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
MARLINS BLANK PADS
In a battle of two disappointing teams, disappointment lived most with the San Diego Padres. The Pads took a 4-0 loss against the Miami Marlins, mustering just three hits off starting pitcher Tom Koehler. On the hill for the Padres, Tyson Ross struck out eight, but he also gave up eight hits in 5.2 innings.
Check out our scoreboard for the rest of Thursday’s action.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
