The Walk Off: White Sox complete impressive sweep of Blue Jays
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
Some people thought the Chicago White Sox would meet their match this week against the Toronto Blue Jays. Instead, they remained the American League’s hottest team and perhaps proved they’re here to stay.
With Wednesday’s 4-0 win at Rogers Centre, the White Sox completed a three-game sweep that showed impressive resilience and versatility.
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There was the come-from-behind win on Monday, where Chicago rallied from a four-run deficit in the seventh inning to win 7-5. There was the straight up blow out on Tuesday, as the White Sox exploded to a 10-1 victory. Then there was Wednesday’s game, which was highlighted by Jose Quintana’s 10 strikeouts and six scoreless innings.
Coming into the season it was difficult to identify what exactly this White Sox team would be. So far anyway, they’ve look like one of the most well-rounded team in either league, which is further evidenced by their AL-best 16-6 record. They’re doing a lot of the little things well, like identifying where their openings are, and then they’re executing.
Those are the types of things that are sustainable if they stay focused. Also working in their favor is the fact that Jose Abreu (.190 batting average) and Todd Frazier (.235) haven’t even heated up yet. Those are two guys capable of carrying an offense for an extended period. If and when they take off, the White Sox are going to be tough with.
They’ll get another tough test this weekend when they travel to Baltimore for four games. If they come out with two or three wins, it’ll be time to look at them seriously.
TOP PERFORMERS
Brandon Belt: The San Francisco Giants continued their hot start offensively, defeating the Padres 13-9 at AT&T Park. Belt led Wednesday’s attack for the G-men, finishing a home run shy of the cycle while driving in five runs. Belt started his big day with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. In the third, he added a run-scoring double. He followed with a two-run triple in the fourth, and then finished with an RBI single in the fifth. He had one chance to complete the cycle in the seventh, but flew out to left field.
Jeremy Hellickson: The former AL Rookie of the Year was on his game, pitching seven scoreless innings in the Phillies 2-0 win against the Nationals. Washington came into this series as one of baseball’s hottest teams, but have been coolest off considerably in the first two. Hellickson took that to another level here, holding the Nationals to just two hits while walking three. The Phillies will now aim to complete a stunning sweep on Thursday.
J.D. and Victor Martinez: They’re not brothers, but they sure bash like brothers. In Detroit’s 9-4 win against Oakland, the Martinez boys each homered while combining for seven RBIs. J.D.’s was a three-run shot in the first inning. Victor’s was a three-run shot in the sixth. In between, J.D. drove in another with a sacrifice fly in support of Justin Verlander.
Justin Nicolino: Miami’s 24-year-old left-hander was called up for Wednesday’s start and made the most of it, holding the Dodgers scoreless for 7.1 innings. Nicolino allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out two. It wasn’t exactly overpowering, but it was what manager Don Mattingly needed. Miami’s skipper went to his bullpen for the final five outs as the Marlins won it 2-0.
Jose Altuve: Having lost seven of eight games coming in, the struggling Astros needed a win in the worst way on Wednesday. Altuve helped them get one with by homering and doubling twice in a 7-4 triumph over the Mariners.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Adam Wainwright still didn’t look great, allowing four earned runs over 5.1 innings the Cardinals 11-4 win against the Diamondbacks. But he’s in the win column at least. As you can see from the highlight, that’s thanks largely to his own bat, as he conttributed a bases-clearing triple in the sixth inning.
THE SCOREBOARD
Brewers @ Cubs: Postponed by rain. Jake Arrieta will start against Milwaukee on Thursday afternoon.
Orioles 3, Rays 1: Rule-5 rookie Joey Rickard belted a three-run homer in the fifth. That one swing was all Baltimore needed.
Mets 5: Reds 2: New York wins its 11th straight in the series. Neil Walker hit his ninth home run, which is tied for the MLB lead.
Red Sox 9, Braves 4: The Braves 15-game home run drought is finally over, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Dustin Pedroia’s two home runs.
Rangers 3, Yankees 2: Alex Rodriguez homered for the 100th time at Globe Life Park but Texas prevailed on Elvis Andrus’ go-ahead RBI in the sixth inning.
Indians 6, Twins 5: Cleveland spoiled José Berrios’ MLB debut by scoring five runs against him in four-plus innings of work.
Angels 4, Royals 2: The Angels hit three homers in the win, including a mammoth two-run shot from Mike Trout.
Pirates 9, Rockies 8 (12 innings): Pittsburgh blew an early 7-0 lead but managed to walk away victorious on Jordy Mercer’s RBI double.
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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
