The Walk Off: Braves’ Freddie Freeman hits for first cycle in 2016
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.
Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman became the first major-league player to hit for the cycle in the Braves wild, 9-8, 13-inning win against the Reds on Wednesday night. Freeman needed the extra frames to complete the feat. He was single shy leading up to his at-bat in the 11th inning, but ended the drama by lining a clean hit to center field.
Freeman took a preferred path to the feat, getting the more difficult hits out of the way early. He doubled in the third inning, tripled in the fourth, and then hit a solo homer in the sixth. Oddly enough, despite his performance and the score, the home run would mark his lone RBI.
Freeman also another single taken away by replay in the 12th inning, so it’s a good thing he completed it when he did.
There were four doubles in MLB last season, with Boston’s Brock Holt completing the first on June 16. Overall though, this is only the ninth since the beginning of the 2013. There have 16 no-hitters during that same time frame.
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As for Wednesday’s game, the Braves still nearly found a way to lose despite Freeman’s heroics. In fact, they fell behind 8-6 in the 12th, but managed a three-run rally against Cincinnati’s porous bullpen to pull it off. Chase d’Arnaud picked up his first career walk-off hit, knocking home Jace Peterson with a single.
TOP PERFORMERS
Chris Sale: Wednesday was headlined by an increasingly rare offensive feat, but the night still belonged to baseball’s aces. Sale led the charge, picking his league-leading 11th win in the White Sox 5-3 win against the Tigers. Detroit actually got to Sale for three in the third, including an Jose Iglesias home runs, but he settled back in and dominated through seven innings.
Clayton Kershaw: The Dodgers ace allowed a home run and a rare walk, but still dominated the D-Backs in a 3-2 win. Kershaw pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He also struck out 11, which gives him nine double-digit strikeout performances this season. He’s now tied for the NL lead with 10 wins.
Noah Syndergaard: The Mets right-hander doesn’t have to take a backseat to anyone after his gem on Wednesday. Syndergaard mowed the down Pirates, striking out 11 over 8 1/3 innings in the Mets runaway 11-2 victory. Syndergaard actually carried a shutout into the ninth, but a pair of doubles ruined that. He settled for one earned run allowed, which lowered his ERA from 2.00 to 1.91.
Rougned Odor: Odor took all of his aggression out on Oakland pitching, delivering a pair of home runs in the Rangers 7-5 win. The homers were his 11th and 12th of the season, and his fourth and fifth since returning from his seven-game suspension on June 4.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Reminder: Houston Astros right fielder George Springer is one of the very best all-around players in the game. That was evidenced by this remarkable throw during Wednesday’s 4-1 win against the Cardinals, which cut down a seemingly sure run.
Making the play even more impressive, Springer had his back to the infield when he corraled the baseball, and his momentum taking him away from where the throw needed to go. No matter to him, though. He turned and fired an absolute missile that should have every future Astros rewriting his scouting report.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
Royals 9, Indians 4: Break out the brooms. Kansas City completed the three-game series by clobbering Corey Kluber for eight earned runs over five innings. The teams are now tied for first in the AL Central with identical 35-30 records.
Rockies 6, Yankees 3: Colorado sweeps a quick two-game series behind Nolan Arenado’s MLB-lead tying 20th home run.
Padres 6, Marlins 3: While Ichiro made history, the Padres got down to business. Melvin Upton Jr. led the way with three hits, including a home run and double, while driving in two.
Giants 10, Brewers 1: It was a Giants hit parade. Gregor Blanco, Joe Panik, Matt Duffy and Angel Pagan each had three hits as San Francisco completed an easy three-game sweep.
Nationals 5, Cubs 4 (12 innings): Stephen Strasburg was denied his 11th victory, but the Nationals pulled off a dramatic win scoring one in the ninth to tie and two in the 12th to win it.
Blue Jays 7, Phillies 2: Toronto got home runs from Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 4: Knuckleballer Steven Wright picked up his eighth win by limiting Baltimore’s high-powered offense to three runs on six hits over 7 1/3 innings.
Rays 3, Mariners 2 (13 innings): The dreaded walk-off walk doomed the Mariners. Logan Morrison drew four wide ones from Mike Montgomery, allowing Logan Forsythe to score the winner.
Angels 10, Twins 2: Every Angels starter had a hit except for Mike Trout. He made up for it by walking twice and scoring three runs.
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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
