The Walk Off: Now it looks like the Giants really need Tim Lincecum
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look 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.
It’s never ever ever good for a baseball team to give up more than 10 runs in a single inning twice in seven days. But that has now happened to the San Francisco Giants, who were pounded by the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night by the score of 17-7.
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Take away the fifth inning and we might be talking about something different. But oh, that fifth inning. The Rockies scored 13 runs in the fifth. It was a trainwreck for Giants pitching as starter Matt Cain was knocked out of the game after giving up eight runs on 10 hits, then reliever Vin Mazarro gave up nine runs on six hits.
This wouldn’t sting so bad if the Giants hadn’t given up 12 runs in an inning to the New York Mets last Friday. That was a Jake Peavy start, and it’s now pretty clear that the Giants have a problem in Peavy and Cain. Cain’s ERA rose to 7.84 after Thursday’s game. Peavy, meanwhile, has a 9.00 ERA after being rocked for seven runs on eight hits Wednesday.
What makes all this much more intriguing: Ex-Giants ace Tim Lincecum is having his much-anticipated showcase on Friday in Arizona. According to our own Jeff Passan, Lincecum is throwing as good as he has in years. The Giants were said to be interested before the last two disastrous starts from Cain and Peavy.
Now? Heck, they might be willing to add a few more million to their offer in hopes that Lincecum could be their savior.
TOP PERFORMERS
• Colin Rea: The San Diego Padres still don’t have a no-hitter in their franchise history, but Colin Rea got the Friar fans excited Thursday night. He took a no-no into the seventh against the New York Mets, getting two outs before Yoenis Cespedes busted it open with a shift-beating single into right field. The Padres won the game 5-3 after a ninth-inning Mets rally.
[Elsewhere: History made: Four first-place teams play on same night in Chicago]
• Adam Conley: Speaking of no-hitters, Miami Marlins starter Adam Conley followed his near no-hitter with another impressive start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Conley pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning after he threw 7.2 no-hit innings in his last start. In this one, the Marlins won 4-0, their 10th win in their last 11 games.
• Kevin Gausman & Masahiro Tanaka: It was quite a pitcher’s duel in Baltimore, as the Orioles and Yankees went into the 10th inning tied at zero. That was thanks to two impressive starts from Gausman and Tanaka. The O’s starter threw eight complete, allowing three hits and striking out four. Tanaka, meanwhile, went eight innings and allowed five hits with seven strikeouts. Both deserved a W, but the O’s got the 1-0 win on a 10th inning sac fly by Pedro Alvarez.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
The return of Robinson Cano gets better: Cano untied a 3-3 game against the Houston Astros on Thursday night with a three-run double in the ninth inning. The Seattle Mariners won the game 6-3. Cano continues to lead the AL in homers and RBIs.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
• Cubs 5, Nats 2: On four-first-place-teams-in-Chicago night, the Cubs gave the hometown fans a result to love. They got a stellar outing from Kyle Hendricks and a four-RBI night from Ben Zobrist for their MLB-best 21st win.
• Red Sox 7, White Sox 3: In the matchup of the other two first-place teams: Boston gets three homers, from Dustin Pedroia, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Hanley Ramirez, to top the White Sox.
• Reds 9, Brewers 5: The Reds scored five in the first inning and the Brewers were trying to catch up the rest of the game. Never happened.
• Blue Jays 12, Rangers 2: Texas starter Derek Holland didn’t make it out of the third inning as the Jays bats were swinging big. Holland gave up 11 hits on 11 runs. Ouch.
• Indians 9, Tigers 4: The Indians won their third straight after a 4-for-5 game from Michael Brantley and a three-run dinger from Mike Napoli.
• Cardinals 4, Phillies 0: Jaime Garcia went seven scoreless for the Cards as they shut out Philly.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
