David Price earns 100th career win as Blue Jays bounce back against O’s
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 have lost consecutive games just once since acquiring Troy Tulowitzki and David Price before the July 31 trade deadline. They weren’t about to make it twice on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles.
After getting blown out in the series opener, manager John Gibbons turned to Price and got an ace-like performance. The big lefty tossed seven innings of one-run ball, limiting the hot Orioles offense to just three hits in a 5-1 victory.
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Price was efficient early, needing just 59 pitches to get through five innings. He finished with a flourish, striking out the final two batters he faced after the Orioles finally broke through in the seventh. He struck out eight overall. The victory was Price’s 14th this season and the 100th of his stellar career.
After scoring just twice on Friday, the Blue Jays offense bounced back as well. Jose Bautista got things started in the first with his 32nd home run. He tacked on an RBI ground-rule double in the third, which proved to be the difference. Bautista is up to 91 RBIs on the season.
In other good news for Toronto, the New York Yankees fell to the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. That pushes the Blue Jays AL East lead back to 1 1/2, meaning they’ll hold the division lead through the weekend.
JAKE ARRIETA DOMINATES D-BACKS
Johnny Vander Meer’s record is still safe. Jake Arrieta wasn’t able to make it two straight no-hitters on Saturday, but he did make it two straight dominant outings in the Cubs 2-0 victory over the Diamondbacks.
The Cubs right-handed ace tossed eight scoreless innings on the way to his MLB best 18th victory. He allowed four hits, two of which came in the first inning, but didn’t allow a single walk for the first time since July 12. He added seven strikeouts, while lowering his season ERA to 2.03.
Needless to say, Arrieta has been very good all season long, but he’s been especially good over his last 15 starts.
The Cubs are essentially locked in to one of the NL wild-card spots. It’s only a matter of time before they clinch. The only question now is whether or not they will host the wild card game. You can also bet that Joe Maddon has already decided it will be Jake Arrieta making that start, not Jon Lester. Any other decision would be a shocker.
ERVIN SANTANA DAZZLES AGAINST ASTROS
After dropping two straight, the Minnesota Twins needed a win in the worst way Saturday in Houston. Thanks largely to Ervin Santana, they were able to pull it off.
The 32-year-old right-hander was lights out in his second straight outing against the Astros, limiting them to one run over eight innings in Minnesota’s 3-2 victory. Santana allowed just six hits on the evening while striking out a season-high 11. He struck out 10 Astros in seven scoreless innings back on Aug. 30.
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Minnesota’s offense didn’t have much going against Houston starter Lance McCullers either. They managed one run on three hits over seven innings, but broke through against the bullpen in the ninth. Eddie Rosario smacked a two-run triple, which held up despite Jed Lowrie’s ninth-inning blast.
The Twins lead the season series against Houston 3-2 with one more to go on Sunday.
RANGERS KEEP PRESSURE ON IN AL WEST
An Astros loss meant an opportunity for the Rangers to regain the game they lost on Friday in the AL West race. Of course, by the same token, a Twins victory meant Texas needed to win to keep some breathing room in the wild-card race.
The point we’re making is that Saturday’s game against the Angels was a big one, and that’s not even considering the fact those same Angels aren’t far behind either.
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With Derek Holland locked in on the hill, the Rangers got exactly what they needed, knocking off the Angels 2-1. Holland went eight strong, allowing one run and just three hits. That comes on the heels of a complete game shutout against the Orioles in Arlington, and runs his personal winning streak to three since returning from the disabled list. on Aug. 19.
So they not only added an ace in Cole Hamels at the trade deadline. They also added a rejuvenated Holland. That sounds like danger for the AL.
At present time, the Rangers are two games behind Houston in the AL West. They maintain a 1 1/2 game lead over Minnesota in the wild card.
Want to see more from Saturday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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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
