The Walk Off: Royals gaining ground quickly in AL Central
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.
The American League Central is starting to get very interesting, and not surprisingly the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals are right in the middle of it all.
With Saturday’s 2-1 win against the White Sox, the Royals have shaved 4 1/2 games off their deficit in the standings over the last seven days. That puts them 2 1/2 games behind Chicago entering play on Sunday. If they complete the three-game sweep, the difference will narrow even more.
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It’s only May, so it’s difficult to call games right now must wins, but the White Sox could sure use one. They’ve lost eight of their last 10, with the only two wins being provided by Chris Sale. Their great start hasn’t been forgotten, but it’s proven to be necessary given how quickly things have changed. They’d rather not see the work they’ve done disappear though without getting more mileage from it or creating more distance.
Of course, the White Sox and Royals aren’t alone. The Indians sit 1 1/2 back despite a loss on Saturday, and the Tigers have moved to within 3 1/2 with a win. Needless to say, the next quarter of the season will be telling in terms of how this division plays out.
As for Saturday’s win, the Royals dug into their bullpen after Danny Duffy lasted just 4 1/3 innings. Duffy wasn’t bad, limiting Chicago to just four hits. He wasn’t injured either. He’s just building his arm strength so he can get back to being a regular starter.
Kansas City’s bullpen took it home, allowing just one run on three hits.
As we said early Saturday, pitching will be the key to Kansas City getting better on the road. This weekend has been a good example of that.
TOP PERFORMERS
Joe Kelly, Jackie Bradley Jr & Mookie Betts.: Truth be told, there wasn’t a lot of anticipation in Boston for Joe Kelly’s return from the disabled list on Saturday. That’s because most fans don’t see him as a solution at the backend of Boston’s starting rotation. He looked like a possibie solution on Saturday though, allowing just one hit over 6 2/3 innings in the Red Sox 9-1 win against the Indians.
Meanwhile, Jackie Bradley Jr. continued his roll, extending his hitting streak to 26 games with an infield single. Mookie Betts homered twice, including an eighth-inning grand slam.
Mike Leake: The Cardinals needed a good starting effort after getting knocked around on Friday night and eventually turning to infielder Ruben Tejada to pitch the ninth. They got it from Leake, who held the Diamondbacks scoreless on four hits over his seven innings. Leake was backed by three home runs, including the first this season from Yadier Molina, and St. Louis cruised to a 6-2 win.
Ichiro: The 42-year-old veteran wasn’t even scheduled to play Saturday night. He filled in as a last minute replacement for Christian Yelich, who was sidelined with a back ailment. He took advantage of the opportunity, moving four steps closer to 3,000 with a 4-for-4 performance in the Marlins 3-2 win against the Nationals. Ichiro doubled once and singled three times, upping his career hit total to 2,954.
There’s also this.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Talk about a feel-good moment. David Wright sure needed one after the year he’s been through with his back problems and his struggles to contribute. His walkoff single capped a solid comeback as the Mets overcame a three-run deficit in the fourth to win 5-4. One inning earlier, Yoenis Cespedes tied the game with a solo home run that officially got Jacob deGrom off the hook.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
Orioles 3, Angels 1: Birthday boy Matt Wieters connected for a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth to keep Baltimore atop the AL East standings.
Twins 5, Blue Jays 3: Minnesota stunned Toronto by scoring five in the eighth inning. Eduardo Perez delivered the game-winning three-run homer against Gavin Floyd.
Braves 2, Phillies 0: Atlanta clinches a series victory behind 6 1/3 scoreless innings from Williams Perez.
Yankees 5, A’s 1: Not even a sewage leak could stop the Yankees on Saturday. They picked up their third straight win in the series behind seven innings of one-run ball from Masahiro Tanaka. They’ll go for the four-game sweep on Sunday.
Tigers 5, Rays 4: Detroit got home runs from Cameron Maybin, James McCann and J.D. Martinez. The two-run blast from Martinez proved to be the game-winner.
Mariners 4, Reds 0: Felix Hernandez wasn’t necessarily efficient, needing 104 pitches to get through six innings. But he was effective, holding Cincinnati scoreless on four hits. Franklin Gutierrez did the heavy lifting on offense, knocking a three-run homer in the fourth.
Rockies 5, Pirates 1: A four-run Rockies’ ninth was the difference. Colorado scored two on John Jaso’s fielding error, and two more on Cristhian Adames’ first career homer.
Rangers 2, Astros 1: Texas has won the first two in the series by the same final score. Cesar Ramos picked up the win with six innings of one-run ball. New closer Sam Dyson notched his fourth save with a perfect ninth.
Giants 5, Cubs 3: In a surprising result, Matt Cain outdueled Jon Lester to pick up his first win of the season. Cain pitched six innings, allowing one run. Cain also knocked in two with a two-run double.
Padres 3, Dodgers 2 (11 innings): A wild game that featured 32 total strikeouts ended when Dodgers reliever Chin-hui Tsao walked in the winning run. A walk-off walk to close the Walk Off.
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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
