Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Strasburg Sizzles
After watching Stephen Strasburg blow the Rockies away on Saturday, Nationals fans have to be asking themselves “Who was that?”
The Strasburg who took the hill Saturday couldn’t have been the same guy from earlier this year. That Strasburg was downright awful, an injury-riddled disaster with an ERA higher than California’s gas prices.
Heck, Strasburg didn’t even look the same Saturday without his signature soul patch. But that didn’t stop him from turning in one of his best outings.
Strasburg scattered one run and three hits over seven dominant innings Saturday to capture his sixth win of the year. That one run came on a solo blast from Nolan Arenado in the fourth inning. After that, Strasburg retired the last 11 batters he faced.
You wouldn’t know it by the way he pitched, but Saturday was Strasburg’s first major league start in over a month. The right-hander was placed on the disabled list with a strained oblique on July 5. After fanning 11 hitters in a rehab start for Triple-A Syracuse on August 3, the Nationals decided it was time to bring Strasburg back to the bigs.
Saturday was Strasburg’s 17th game with 10 or more strikeouts. It was also the sixth time he’s racked up double-digit Ks without allowing a walk. That’s only been done 15 times in Nationals history.
As brilliant as he looked on the mound, it was Strasburg’s bat that stole the show. He paced the Nats with a career-high three hits. The 27-year-old had been hitless in 16 at-bats this year prior to Saturday.
Ryan Zimmerman drove in two of Washington’s six runs Saturday and has now plated at least one run in each of his last six games. He’s hit .275 since coming off the disabled list on July 28. Before that, he was batting .209 with an ugly .346 slugging percentage.
The Nationals gained a game on the Mets Saturday and are now just 1 1/2 games out of first place in the NL East.
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Jays Gain Ground
They say slow and steady wins the race.
Well maybe that adage hasn’t made it to Canada yet. The Blue Jays aren’t jogging to the front of the pack—they’re sprinting.
Nobody in the major leagues, not even the pennant-hungry Royals, retooled the way Toronto did at this year’s trade deadline. The Blue Jays brought in former Cy Young winner David Price, million-time All-Star Troy Tulowitzki and faster than fast Ben Revere. After winning seven straight and cutting the Yankees’ dwindling AL East lead to 2 1/2 games, it’s safe to say GM Alex Anthopoulos is leading the race for Executive of the Year.
Justin Smoak, a man who swings for the fences because singles are for cowards, propelled the Jays to victory with his first career grand slam. Tulowitzki followed his lead with a homer in the seventh inning, extending the Jays’ lead to five. The Blue Jays are now a perfect 10-0 with Tulo in the lineup.
Price looked sharp in Saturday’s triumph. He limited New York to three hits over seven shutout innings while improving his record to 2-0 since the trade. Price’s 2.35 ERA this year is lower than the one he posted in 2012 when he won the AL Cy Young Award.
Sunday, the Blue Jays will go for their first sweep in the Bronx since May of 2003. New York hasn’t been swept by anybody at home since May when the Rangers came in and won three straight.
Granderson Homers Twice
Most of us have owned Curtis Granderson in fantasy at one point or another. So I’m not breaking any new ground here when I say it’s a love/hate relationship.
Granderson strikes out a ton and he hits for a low average. And now that he’s in his mid-30s he rarely bothers to steal. But whenever you want to cut Granderson loose, he reels you back in.
Granderson continued the vicious cycle Saturday by bopping a pair of solo home runs. His first-inning blast off Rays starter Nathan Karns was his sixth leadoff homer of the year. That ties the Mets’ single-season record set by Jose Reyes in 2006.
Of course, it was too good to be true. The gravy train slid off the rails when Granderson fouled a ball off his foot in the ninth inning. It’s unclear if Granderson will miss any time, though he didn’t require X-rays.
Noah Syndergaard continued his habit of pitching poorly away from Citi Field in Saturday’s loss to the Rays. The Mets rookie let up four runs in the first inning, the same number he had allowed in his previous 15 starts. The Rays collected six hits in the frame, their most in an inning since June 29, 2014 against the Orioles. Syndergaard is now an embarrassing 0-5 on the road with a 5.01 ERA in 41 1/3 innings.
Tampa Bay ended the Mets’ seven-game hitting streak in front of a rare sellout crowd. It marked the Rays’ first non-Opening Day sellout since August 16 of last year.
Rays shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 11 games in the win. That’s the longest by a Ray since Wil Myers had a 12-game streak in 2013.
American League Quick Hits: Mike Napoli went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout Saturday in his first game back with the Rangers. The Red Sox traded him Friday for a player to be named later … Jamie Moyer was enshrined in the Mariners Hall of Fame on Saturday. The left-hander won 158 games during his 11-year tenure with Seattle … Indians outfielder Shane Robinson got a chance to pitch in Saturday’s blowout loss to Minnesota. He retired three of the four batters he faced including a strikeout of Jerry Sands to end the eighth inning … Speaking of Sands, his grand slam Saturday was Cleveland’s first since June 19 of last year. It was the first pinch-hit grand slam by an Indian since Travis Hafner in 2006 … Joe Mauer clubbed his first home run in 85 at-bats on Saturday. He now has 469 extra-base hits, tying him with Rod Carew for eighth-most in Twins history … Saturday was Ervin Santana’s shortest start since July 21, 2012. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up 10 hits and eight earned runs … Ryan Flaherty is now hitless in his last 30 at-bats after going 0-for-4 on Saturday. Sounds like my softball season … The Orioles used their 99th different lineup on Saturday. They’ve only played 109 games … Koji Uehara was unavailable Saturday after getting hit by a line drive in his last outing. Jean Machi will handle the ninth inning during his absence … David Ortiz logged his 425th plate appearance on Saturday. That triggers a vesting option that guarantees his contract for $11 million next season. He’s also 11 home runs away from 500 … Jackie Bradley Jr. has more walks (10) than hits (7) this season … Saturday was Blake Swihart’s first career three-hit game. He’s hit .300 since the All-Star break … Kirk Gibson and Dennis Eckersley, both color commentators in their post-playing careers, exchanged pleasantries at Saturday’s Tigers/Red Sox game. Gibson’s home run off Eckersley in the 1988 World Series is arguably the most iconic hit in major league history … Jose Iglesias didn’t sound too apologetic after starting a scuffle in the Tigers dugout on Friday night: “I did what I was supposed to do. It was fine. I’m OK with it” … Jose Altuve hasn’t drawn a walk since July 21. That was 79 plate appearances ago … Saturday marked Jose Abreu’s fifth career multi-homer game. He’s blasted five round-trippers in his last nine contests … Nelson Cruz extended his hitting streak to 18 on Saturday. He’s hit for extra bases in each of his last eight appearances.
National League Quick Hits: Marlins right-hander Jose Fernandez is headed back to Miami after experiencing soreness in his throwing shoulder. The 23-year-old has gone 4-0 with a stellar 2.30 ERA since making his return from Tommy John surgery last month … Ichiro Suzuki pounded his fourth home run of the year Saturday against Atlanta. He went 113 at-bats between homers … A.J. Pierzynski stretched his hitting streak to 13 games on Saturday. It’s his second 13-game hitting streak of the season … In case you missed the SportsCenter Top 10, check out this clip of Yasiel Puig gunning down Gregory Polanco on a force play at second base. That throw was clocked at 92 mph. Unreal … Mat Latos has faced 42 batters since joining the Dodgers at the trade deadline. The only one he struck out was Mike Trout. Go figure … Don Mattingly used four challenges on Saturday. He lost all of them … It took Francisco Liriano 29.13 seconds to round the bases after his home run Saturday against the Dodgers. It was his first home run and only his 14th hit in 150 major league at-bats … Saturday was Pittsburgh’s 17th sellout of the season. The Pirates have gone 14-3 in those contests … The Cardinals haven’t given up a run since Wednesday. Seriously. They’ve outscored their opponents 12-0 over the last three games … The Phillies are 15-5 since the All-Star break and are no longer in last place in the NL East … Tommy Kahnle is the Rockies’ new closer. John Axford was, forgive the pun, axed last week after blowing his fourth consecutive save … Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro was benched for the second game in a row on Saturday and manager Joe Maddon said he’ll ride the pine again Sunday … Kris Bryant delivered three RBI in Saturday’s win over the Giants. It was Bryant’s first multi-RBI game since July 27 … If the Cubs win Sunday, it will be the first time they’ve swept the Giants in a four-game series since 1963 … Brandon Morrow has opted for season-ending shoulder surgery. He made just five starts this year, going 2-0 with a 2.73 ERA … A day after getting his first major league hit, Alex Dickerson was optioned back to Triple-A El Paso. He filled in for Will Venable while he was on paternity leave … The Diamondbacks retired Randy Johnson’s No. 51 on Saturday. Luis Gonzalez is the only other Diamondback to have his number retired.
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