Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: King Kershaw
The Dodgers have sunk over $300 million into contracts for Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. So far, those look like wise investments.
Greinke recently saw his scoreless streak end at 45 2/3 innings but Kershaw’s is still going strong. The three-time Cy Young winner extended his shutout streak to 37 innings Saturday in a breathtaking win over the Angels. Kershaw has now tossed at least eight scoreless frames in each of his last four starts. Only two pitchers have matched that feat in the last 100 years: Don Drysdale in 1968 and Orel Hershiser 20 years later in 1988.
Kershaw squared off against Mike Trout, marking the first time two reigning MVPs have faced each other in the regular season. It’s still early in the Kershaw/Trout rivalry but it’s clear who won round one. Saturday was all Kershaw.
“Everything was moving, cutting, sinking, sliding, curving. The whole bit,” said Trout after the game. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
This is the second time in Kershaw’s career he’s compiled a streak of 30 or more scoreless innings. Since 1974, only five other starters have accomplished that: Roger Clemens, Hershiser, Cliff Lee, Kenny Rogers and Brandon Webb. Over his last 12 starts, Kershaw has gone 7-3 with a 1.09 ERA. He’s fanned 119 hitters in that span with only 12 walks.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly brought Kershaw out for the ninth just so he’d get a standing ovation. After throwing one warm-up pitch, Mattingly replaced Kershaw with closer Kenley Jansen. He notched his 125th career save, putting him in a tie with Jim Brewer for fourth on the Dodgers’ all-time list. Next up for Jansen is Todd Worrell at 127.
How dominant has the Kershaw/Greinke duo been? Since June 6, the two have combined for a 0.97 ERA and a 0.70 WHIP. In 149 innings, they’ve struck out 170 batters while allowing just 21 walks.
The Angels have lost five straight and it’s easy to see why. Their last three games have come against Greinke, Kershaw and Scott Kazmir. They’ve managed two runs in 37 innings against those three with 10 hits, five walks and 20 strikeouts. Despite losing eight of their last nine, the Angels are still only three games back of Houston in the AL West.
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Shaw to the Rescue
Three players have scored five runs in a game this season. Josh Donaldson, Brett Gardner and … Travis Shaw?
It’s not a typo, folks. Shaw, a 25-year-old with 10 games of big league experience, torched the Rays for four hits Saturday including the first two home runs of his major league career. He finished a triple shy of the cycle.
Shaw is the first Red Sox player since Dustin Pedroia to score five runs in a game. Pedroia’s five-run game came in 2008, the year he won American League MVP. Before Saturday, nobody on the Red Sox had even scored four runs in a game this year.
Xander Bogaerts kept pace with Shaw by contributing four hits of his own. He leads the majors with five four-hit games this season. Bogaerts’ .319 average is the team’s highest since 2011 when Adrian Gonzalez finished second in the American League at .338.
Shaw and Bogaerts did their best to mask another lackluster performance from Joe Kelly. The right-hander has allowed five or more runs in eight of his 17 starts. Together, Kelly, Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson have surrendered five-plus runs in 25 of 67 starts this year.
Despite Kelly’s mediocrity (5 IP, 9 H, 5 ER), the Sox held off Tampa to win their third straight. The Red Sox are eight games back in the wild card and 12 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East.
Zobrist Powers Royals
The Royals and Blue Jays were easily the two most active teams at this year’s trade deadline. So naturally, the two squads are facing off in Toronto this weekend.
Kansas City’s newest addition, Ben Zobrist, provided two homers including a solo blast that started a three-run rally in the eighth inning. Eric Hosmer completed the Royals’ comeback later in the frame with an RBI single to left field. He’s now on a 14-game hitting streak.
Mark Lowe’s Toronto debut wasn’t quite what the Blue Jays had in mind. The former Mariner coughed up the lead, allowing three runs and four hits in a disastrous eighth inning. The meltdown raised his season ERA from 1.00 to 1.70.
Wade Davis, arguably the best setup pitcher in baseball, gave up a rare home run to Jose Bautista in the eighth. It was the first home run he’s allowed since August 24, 2013. Meanwhile, Toronto’s Liam Hendriks lost his streak of 20 batters retired in a row by hitting Mike Moustakas in the ninth inning.
Toronto is already looking ahead to Monday. That’s when David Price will make his Blue Jays debut against Minnesota. Price is a perfect 7-0 in nine career starts at the Rogers Centre.
American League Quick Hits: Rays outfielder Steven Souza broke his left hand after getting hit by a Joe Kelly fastball on Saturday. Now the Rays are probably wishing they hadn’t traded David DeJesus … Adam Eaton stretched his hitting streak to 10 games on Saturday. His batting average has gone up 20 points during the streak (.248 to .268) … Saturday was Scott Podsednik Bobblehead Night at U.S. Cellular Field. Podsednik hasn’t played for the White Sox since 2009 … Esmil Rogers signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization on Saturday. Rogers was released by the Yankees earlier this week … Luis Severino will make his major league debut Wednesday against the Red Sox. The Yankees’ top prospect is 7-0 with a 1.91 ERA in 11 starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre … Carlos Correa and Hank Conger both contributed their first multi-homer games on Saturday. Correa leads all American League shortstops with 12 homers. He didn’t make his major league debut until June 8 … Gerardo Parra became the 1,000th player to wear an Orioles uniform on Saturday. He doubled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games … The Twins celebrated the 50th anniversary of their 1965 American League Championship on Saturday. 21 players from that team were in attendance … Anibal Sanchez gave up his 24th home run of the season on Saturday. Only Phil Hughes and Kyle Kendrick have allowed more homers this year … Matt Wieters started at first base on Saturday. It was his first start there since 2011 … Mike Wright was placed on the disabled list with a left calf strain. Jorge Rondon was called up from Triple-A Norfolk in the corresponding roster move … Angels starter C.J. Wilson needs surgery to remove bone spurs in his left elbow. He’ll be sidelined for the rest of the season … Cole Hamels and Chris Heston squared off Saturday in Texas. Both pitchers have thrown no-hitters this year. It’s the first time that’s happened since 2010 (Matt Garza vs. Dallas Braden on August 22) … Marcus Semien blasted his ninth home run of the season on Saturday. Before that, he had gone 17 games without an RBI.
National League Quick Hits: The Diamondbacks’ six-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday. It was their longest since 2011 … Lucas Duda’s last eight hits have all been home runs. According to ESPN Stats and Information, no player has done that since Marcus Thames in 2008 … Curtis Granderson got the start in center field on Saturday. He’s only played there twice this season … Saturday’s announced crowd of 42,996 was the second-largest in Citi Field history. The main attraction, Yoenis Cespedes, went 0-for-3 in his Mets debut … A.J. Ellis will come off the disabled list Tuesday when he’s first eligible. He’s been sidelined with knee inflammation … Padres starter Ian Kennedy was placed on paternity leave. Leonel Campos was called up to take his roster spot … Anthony Rizzo homered for the fourth game in a row on Saturday. No Cub has done that since Alfonso Soriano … Nick Markakis hit his third career leadoff home run Saturday against Philadelphia. It was his only hit of the night … The Dodgers and Angels have combined for 50 steals this year. That’s one less than Billy Hamilton has by himself.
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