Jarrett Parker smacks three home runs as Giants outslug A’s
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What started out as a throwback pitching matchup between Tim Hudson and Barry Zito, quickly turned into the Jarrett Parker Show at O.co Coliseum.
The San Francisco Giants rookie outfielder connected for three home runs, including an eighth-inning grand slam, which helped the Giants pull off a 14-10 victory.
The pitching matchup got the headlines coming in, but unfortunately didn’t develop into a classic duel. Hudson and Zito combined to pitch just 3 1/3 innings, while allowing six earned runs. From there, the game turned into an all out slug fest featuring a combined 24 runs and 30 hits.
The three big ones belonged to Parker. He connected for a solo shot against Zito in the second inning, a two-run blast against Drew Pomeranz in the seventh, before capping his big night with the grand slam. That broke a 10-10 tie against Ryan Dull and provided the difference on the scoreboard.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy called Parker’s performance “the best offensive game I’ve seen,” which obviously covers a lot of ground. In terms of Giants history, Parker became the first player to hit three homers and drive in at least seven runs since Willie Mays’ four-homer game in 1961. Not bad for a rookie.
Parker’s individual performance helped the Giants stay alive in the NL West. The Dodgers magic number remains at two heading into Sunday.
ASTROS HIT SIX HOMERS AGAINST RANGERS
The home run ball wasn’t exclusive to Jarrett Parker on Saturday. The Houston Astros combined to hit six of their own in a 9-7 victory against the Texas Rangers, which snapped their eight-game losing streak to the AL West leaders.
The Astros got two each from their middle infielders. Rookie shortstop Carlos Correa hit his 20th and 21st of the season, while second baseman Jose Altuve knocked out No. 13 and 14. Chris Carter and Colby Rasmus also chipped in, with Carter’s fifth-inning solo shot serving as the go-ahead run.
Shin-soo Choo stayed hot for Texas, hitting his second home run in as many days. He has five hits, five RBIs and three runs scored in the series. But the story here was Houston’s all-or-nothing line up coming through when they really needed a win.
With the victory, Houston stayed above water in the division. They’re 3 1/2 games behind Texas, which is much better than 5 1/2. They also maintained their half-game lead in the wild-card race. They’ll still need more games where this came from, but its a good building block for the final week.
YANKEES EDGE CLOSER TO PLAYOFFS
As chaos surrounds the second wild card spot, the New York Yankees have done a great job keeping their distance atop those standings. That continued on Saturday with a big 2-1 victory against the Chicago White Sox.
Sometimes starter, sometimes reliever Adam Warren provided a big boost for New York, tossing six innings of one-run ball. He allowed just three hits while walking three and striking out four. Warren has posted a solid 3.37 this season in his dual role and figures to be a big part of New York’s postseason roster.
Offensively, New York didn’t need much and didn’t get much. They mustered but one rally, scoring two runs in the fifth on back-to-back ground-rule doubles from Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez.
Justin Wilson, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller wrapped things up with three scoreless innings of relief. For Miller, it was his 36th save of the season.
With the win, New York lowered its magic number to clinch a playoff berth to four. The White Sox were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
PIRATES WIN EIGHTH STRAIGHT
Win, lose or rainout, the Chicago Cubs were planning to celebrate clinching their first playoff berth since 2008 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates had business to tend to, and that’s exactly what they did, defeating the Cubs 4-0 to win their eighth straight game.
The Pirates, of course, are already in too. But they’re looking for a division title, not a third straight wild card appearance. These games are mighty important to them, and mighty important to Francisco Liriano, who tossed 7 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Liriano allowed four hits and three walks while striking out nine as the Pirates stayed three games back of the first-place Cardinals.
The Pirates will go for the three-game sweep on Sunday, which would essentially guarantee them home-field in the wild-card play-in game. That’s looking like the worst-case scenario for them.
For the Cubs, there are no bad scenarios. They’re just happy to be in, but should still prove to be a difficult foe in a postseason environment.
That’s why the Pirates would be wise to keep beating them now and play for a division title.
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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
