Alex Rodriguez grand slam lifts Yankees to win, keeps them in first place
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.
Alex Rodriguez could not have picked a better time to break out of his slump. Rodriguez entered Tuesday night’s game hitting .132 with no home runs in August and was 0-for-3 when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh and the New York Yankees trailing the Minnesota Twins 4-1.
With the pressure on, A-Rod delivered a grand slam off Twins reliever J.R. Graham to put the Yankees up 5-4. New York added three insurance runs in the eighth to walk away with an 8-4 win and stay a game ahead of Toronto for first place in the AL East.
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It was the 25th grand slam of A-Rod’s career — a major-league record — and the 13th coming in the seventh inning or later.
It was also an encouraging night for Yankees starter CC Sabathia. He was perfect through the first four innings and pitched into the seventh for the first time since June 29. His final line was 6 2/3 innings, four earned runs, five hits allowed, five strikeouts, three walks and he received a no-decision. It was also Sabathia’s first start since nearly getting into a fight outside a Toronto nightclub over the weekend.
DONALDSON POWERS BLUE JAYS PAST PHILLIES
With their loaded lineup, the Toronto Blue Jays are able to overcome their fair share of poor pitching performances. Josh Donaldson ensured that would be the case again Tuesday against the Phillies, and in the process strenghtened his case to be AL MVP.
Donaldson gave Toronto an early 1-0 lead with a monster first inning home run deep into the second deck at Citizens Bank Park, but on a night starting pitcher R.A. Dickey struggled, they would need more than that.
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Dickey was pulled from the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the fifth and the Phillies up 4-3. The knuckleballer was ultimately charged with five earned runs, ending a 20 game streak in which Blue Jays starters gave up three or fewer earned runs.
Fortunately for Toronto, Donaldson wasn’t finished. On a 3-0 count with two on in the sixth, he smashed another homer, his 33rd of the season, to put the Blue Jays up 7-5. Edwin Encarnacion followed that up with a solo shot to make it 8-5 and the bullpen did the job the rest of the way. Donaldson finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs, three runs scored and a walk. That’s how an MVP candidate gets it done.
The win keeps the Jays a game back of New York for top spot in the AL East.
IWAKUMA ENDS RANGERS’ WINNING STREAK
Pitching for the first time since hurling a no-hitter last Wednesday, Seattle Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma went seven innings and gave up just two runs to hand the Texas Rangers their first loss in five games.
The Mariners scored all their runs on the night in the top of the first inning, tagging Rangers starter Chi-Chi Gonzalez for three runs. Rougned Odor’s solo home run in the second and Bobby Wilson’s sac fly in the seventh was all the offense the Rangers could muster as Seattle held on for a 3-2 win.
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Due to their recent surge, Texas has climbed back into the conversation in the AL West. However, with the Astros knocking off the Rays in extras thanks to a walk-off home run from Marwin Gonzalez and the Angels edging the White Sox, the Rangers are now four games behind first-place Houston and 1 1/2 games out of the second AL wild-card spot.
NATIONALS OFFENSE COMES ALIVE AT COORS
A visit to the Mile High city might be exactly what the Washington Nationals need to reboot their dormant offense.
Shutout three times during their six-game losing skid, the Nationals crushed the Rockies 15-6 at Coors Field. Yunel Escobar and Ian Desmond each drove in four runs, while Bryce Harper scored four runs of his own. The game was actually tied 6-6 in the sixth, but Washington scored nine runs in the final three innings to turn it into a laugher.
Getting a W any way possible was important for the Nats, but they remain 4 1/2 games back of first place in the NL East as the Mets also won Tuesday, beating the Orioles 5-3.
Want to see more from Tuesday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
