The Walk Off: Corey Seager pulled off rare rookie feat for Dodgers
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.
Before all is said and done, everyone expects Corey Seager to be in the middle of the NL Rookie of the Year discussion.
If we go by Friday’s performance, Seager may be destined to dominate that conversation.
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The 22-year-old shortstop, who entered the season as baseball’s No. 1 prospect, muscled up for three solo home runs in the Dodgers 4-2 win against the Braves. He went deep against Braves starer Julio Teheran in the fourth and sixth innings, before capping his big game with an eighth-inning homer against Hunter Cervenka.
In doing so, Seager became the first Dodgers rookie with a three-homer game since Don Demeter did it back in 1959. Demeter’s performance was a little more dramatic, as his final home run was a walk-off blast against the Giants. Demeter ended hitting 163 over a solid 11-year career. The Dodgers are hoping for at least double that from Seager before he’s done.
The Dodgers also got a fourth solo home run from fellow rookie Trayce Thompson, so it was all about the youth on Friday.
As for Seager, he’s up to 12 home runs on the season. Ten of those have come over his last 23 games, so he’s clearly in the midst of a power surge.
TOP PERFORMERS
Adrian Beltre: The Texas Rangers moved into sole possession of first place with a 7-3 win against the Mariners. All things considered, it was a solid, all-around victory, with Yu Darvish picking up his second straight win and Jurickson Profar doing some damage with a monster home run. However, the night truly belonged to Beltre, as the 37-year-old third baseman strengthen his All-Star case with a three-run homer and a two-run double.
Noah Syndergaard: The Mets right-hander has had an off week with his ejection last Saturday and two relief appearances during the week, but continued his dominance with seven innings of two-run ball in a 6-2 win against the Marlins. Syndergaard allowed six hits and one walk while striking out nine. he actually saw his ERA rise to 1.91, which is another indication of just how good he’s been.
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Evan Gattis: The Astros bounced back from two straight losses to Arizona by pounding the A’s 12-2. Houston scored in the seventh inning alone, and got four hits from Evan Gattis. The once-again catcher smacked a two-run home run, singled three times and even drove in a run on a ground out. He finished with four RBIs.
Mark Trumbo: Baltimore’s right fielder continues to be one of the hottest hitters around. After homering twice in a win against Boston on Thursday, Trumbo picked up three more hits in a 6-5 win against the Yankees on Friday. Trumbo scored twice, including touching home with the tying run on Jonathan Schoop’s sixth-inning double.
Adam Duvall: Cincinnati’s 27-year-old outfielder continued his breakout season, connecting for his 15th home run in the Reds 7-2 win against the Nationals. The potential All-Star candidate also doubled and raised his batting average .266.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
The Kansas City Royals didn’t mount much of an offensive threat against Cleveland right-hander Danny Salazar on Friday night. In his eight innings, they managed just three hits while striking out eight times. One of those hits was this line drive off the right field wall by Chelsor Cuthbert, but he was quickly wiped out on a laser throw from Lonnie Chisenhall. Cleveland went to win the game 6-1, moving to within one-half game of Kansas City for the AL Central lead.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
Cubs 6, Diamondbacks 0: Chicago broke the game open with a five-run eighth. Arizona aided the rally with two errors, two hit batters and two intentional walks.
Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 2: Xander Bogaerts’ 26-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-3 night at the plate. Bogaerts walked twice, but struck out as the tying run in the ninth inning.
Angels 9, Pirates 2: Los Angeles knocked around Francisco Liriano, scoring seven runs (six earned) in his 3 1/3 innings.
Phillies 6, Brewers 3: Philadelphia scored three in the third and three in the fourth on an Andres Blanco home run.
Tigers 10, White Sox: 3: The Tigers offense pounded out 14 hits in supports Jordan Zimmermann, who picked up his eighth win of the season.
Rays 4, Twins 2: In a battle of last place teams, the Rays got singles runs in the fifth, eighth and ninth to even the four-game series.
Giants 5, Cardinals 1: San Francisco moved to 2-0 without Hunter Pence, but they’re still going to miss his presence.
Padres 4, Rockies 0: Lefty Drew Pomeranz pitched seven scoreless innings against his former team, striking out eight and allowing just two hits.
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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
