Blue Jays continue on path of destruction, take over first place in AL East
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.
The Toronto Blue Jays sent out the warning signal two weeks ago when they acquired Troy Tulowitzki and David Price at the trade deadline. Now they’re simply knocking down everyone in their path.
With Wednesday’s 10-3 victory against the Oakland A’s, the Jays have now won 10 straight overall and 13 of 14 dating back to July 28. During that stretch, they’ve also overcome an eight-game deficit to take over sole possession of first place in the AL East. This marks the latest in the season Toronto has held that spot since 1993.
It’s an amazing run, and it’s been paced by contributions from all phases. That continued on Wednesday, as Toronto scored all 10 of its runs in the first and second innings. Chris Colabello connected for a three-run homer in the first. In the second, the Jays put up a seven spot, with Justin Smoak’s three-run homer serving as the knockout punch.
[Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football: Sign up and join a league today!]
That was more than enough for R.A. Dickey. The former Cy Young winner tossed six innings of three-run ball, continuing the teams stretch of strong starting pitching. Bo Schultz, Liam Hedriks and Aaron Loup each pitched a scoreless inning of relief to eliminate any drama.
The Jays will now aim for a four-game series sweep on Thursday afternoon with Mark Buehrle. It will be perhaps their toughest test during this hot streak, as they’ll be opposed by Sonny Gray.
The game is scheduled for 12:37 p.m. ET and should be appointment TV for those who can watch.
YANKEES OFFENSE FALTERS AGAIN
While the Blue Jays soar, the Yankees offense continues to sour.
New York dropped it’s fifth straight game, losing 2-1 to the Indians at Progressive Field. New York managed just four hits against Cleveland starter Danny Salazar and were unable to take advantage of his five walks during his 7 1/3 innings. They were completely silenced by closer Cody Allen, who recorded a five-out save with three strikeouts.
As for New York, CC Sabathia was a tough luck loser after turning in his second straight good outing. Sabathia allowed two runs over six innings. Cleveland touched him for single runs in the fifth and sixth innings on RBI singles from Francisco Lindor and Abraham Almonte.
Overall, the Yankees have scored an abysmal nine runs over their last seven games. Four of those came in their 16-inning loss to Cleveland on Tuesday. The two teams will wrap up the series on Thursday afternoon. The Yankees need a win badly, and they need to get the offense going ahead of this weekend’s series at Rogers Centre.
MIGUEL SANO HAMMERS TWO HOMERS
Minnesota Twins rookie Miguel Sano has been mighty impressive since joining the big club on July 2. In Wednesday’s 11-1 win against the Texas Rangers, he had his full coming out party, smashing two home runs and driving in a career-high six.
Sano started his big game with a simple single in the first inning. In the third, he launched a two-run home run off Texas starter Nick Martinez, and then one inning later he got Martinez again for a three-run shot. Sano then capped Minnesota’s four-run fifth with a sacrifice fly.
Sano wasn’t alone though in having a big game. Aaron Hicks finished with four hits and four runs scored. Five other Twins finished with at least two hits as the team racked up 17 overall. This was all good news for Mike Pelfrey, who allowed one run over his seven innings.
KERSHAW OVERPOWERS THE NATS
After losing his 37-inning scoreless streak on his first pitch and never settling into a real groove last Friday in Pittsburgh, Clayton Kershaw was a man on a mission against Washington.
In the Dodgers 3-0 victory, Kershaw was every bit as dominant as we’ve seen him, carrying a perfect game bid into the sixth inning. Michael A. Taylor broke up the bid with a clean double after Kershaw set down 16 straight, but that served as the Nationals only real threat. Kershaw struck out eight and was especially efficient, throwing 71 of his 101 pitches for strikes.
[Check out Big League Stew on Tumblr for even more baseball awesomeness.]
Offensively, the Dodgers had their hands full as well. In seven innings against Jordan Zimmermann, they managed just one run on two hits. Los Angeles added two insurance runs against Drew Storen in the eighth, and then Kenley Jansen handled the ninth to pick up his 22nd save.
With the win, Los Angeles improved to 64-50 and expanded its lead in the NL West to 3 1/2 games over San Francisco.
Want to see more from Wednesday’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
