The Walk Off: Houston can’t back up Ken Giles’ tough talk at Texas
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 the continuing dominance of Houston by the Texas Rangers.
Houston Astros reliever Ken Giles didn’t play in Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers and therefor wasn’t able to back up his words from the night before when he said the Astros were going to “put them to the ground.”
Giles seemed baffled and frustrated at Houston’s inability to beat the Rangers of late and he crossed a line most big leaguers never do in saying he believes the Astros are more talented. Why he chose to go there publicly is odd. Perhaps he thought he could put a charge in teammates or something. It was unconventional and whatever the goal was, it fell short or helping his team, but certainly took this budding rivalry to a new level.
When Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus heard about Giles’ comments before Tuesday’s game he suggested Giles might just want to shut up and play the game. That advice seemed even more appropriate after the Rangers beat Houston for the eighth straight time and the 12th consecutive time in Arlington.
Ian Desmond’s eighth-inning home run off Dallas Keuchel made the difference. In fact, it’s fair to question if Keuchel should have been in the game at that point over a reliever like, say, Giles. Astros manager A.J. Hinch probably stuck with his ace too long doing a big favor for an opponent that hasn’t needed any help to beat Houston since late last season.
Houston has two more chances in this series Wednesday and Thursday to end this streak of futility against the Rangers. The Astros won’t see Texas again until August and right now that might be a good thing.
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TOP PERFORMERS
Xander Bogaerts: Boston’s clutch-hitting shortstop drove in a pair of runs with a single to center field in the 10th inning to lead the Red Sox to a 5-3 win over the Giants in San Francisco. Bogaerts went 2-for-5 with three RBI in the game.
Mark Trumbo: His first-inning double drove in a pair of runs and he smashed a two-run home run in the at-bat immediately following a brawl between Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura and Manny Machado. Trumbo went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI.
Ian Kinsler: The 33-year-old singled to left to drive in the winning run in the 10th inning and complete a day in which he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI against the Blue Jays. Kinsler’s double to center played a part in the Tigers’ ninth-inning rally to tie the game and force extra innings. Kinsler is now hitting .320.
Zack Greinke: After a rough start to his first season in the desert, Greinke has won five straight starts with the latest coming in a complete-game, three-hitter Tuesday against Tampa Bay. Greinke struck out just two and walked two in an outing that only required 104 pitches.
Nelson Cruz: Seattle’s veteran slugger pounded two home runs in a 7-1 victory over Cleveland. Cruz went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Cruz now has 15 RBI and has already driven in 43 runs.
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MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto isn’t hitting for average this season (.221), but his power is still there and it showed up in a crucial situation Tuesday night when he hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat St. Louis 7-6. The Reds shaky bullpen had once again given away a lead with five runs allowed in the eighth and ninth innings combined, but Votto saved the day with the fifth walk-off homer of his career.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
Phillies 3, Cubs 2: Ryan Howard hit a home run in the fourth inning and Jerad Eickhoff pitched seven strong innings to beat the team with the best record in baseball.
Pirates 3, Mets 1: Josh Harrison went 3-for-5 and scored a pair of runs while Jonathon Niese allowed only four hits to his old team over seven innings to earn the victory.
Pirates 3, Mets 1: New York starter Jacob deGrom struck out nine over six innings but gave up three earned runs to take his second loss of the season. Pittsburgh belted 10 hits in the night cap of a day-night doubleheader.
Twins 6, Marlins 4: Brian Dozier has struggled at the plate so far this season and is still only hitting .211, but he came through with a walk-off home run off Dustin McGowan in the 11th inning. It was Dozier’s seventh home run this season.
Yankees 6, Angels 3: Michael Pineda pitched seven innings in his longest outing since July 4 last season. He allowed three runs but got plenty of support in home runs from Starlin Castro and Carlos Beltran.
Brewers 5, A’s 4: Milwaukee starter Zach Davies took a no-hitter into the seventh inning but allowed a two-run home run to Billy Butler that ruined it. Davies pitched seven innings and earned the fourth win of the season in what might have been his best outing so far.
Nationals 10, White Sox 5: Chicago starter Mat Latos didn’t get through the fifth inning, giving up five hits and four walks to Washington hitters. One of those hits was a home run by Anthony Rendon, who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs.
Dodgers 4, Rockies 3: Dodgers phenom Julio Urias gave up one run and three hits in four innings before exiting the third start of his young career. He hasn’t lived up to the hype just yet, but Los Angeles is taking things slow with him. Justin Turner belted a three-run home run in the first inning and Trayce Thompson hit a solo home run in the ninth inning to win it.
Padres 4, Braves 3: Wil Myers drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth after Derek Norris led off the inning with a home run to tie it and steal a win from Atlanta, which has the worst record in the big leagues at 16-42.
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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
