Dodgers' Chris Taylor nearly completes cycle with sneaky bunt
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.
Three years ago, Chris Taylor was a highly regarded shortstop prospect waiting to make an impact for the Seattle Mariners.
Three weeks ago, he was simply looking for an opportunity after the Mariners abandoned ship and traded him to the Dodgers for pitching prospect Zach Lee last month.
On Friday night, he was the talk of baseball after narrowly missing out on the Dodgers first cycle since 2009.
Taylor actually completed the three most difficult components, delivering a two-run triple in the fourth inning, a double in the fifth and a grand slam in the sixth inning, which was actually his first career home run.
First career HR? May as well make it count: https://t.co/pJhKI7pt8x #PapaSlamhttps://t.co/eVBdjORC4m
— MLB (@MLB) July 16, 2016
All he needed was the single, and he nearly got that in the eighth when he decided to fool the Diamondbacks with a bunt attempt.
Taylor pushed the ball past pitcher Josh Collmenter, but it didn’t have enough steam on it. That allowed Collmenter to recover and throw him out by a step.
The Dodgers went on to win the game 12-7, and it’s possible there will be some hard feelings on Saturday given the score and what might be viewed as a backhanded attempt to make history. That will be sorted later, but for now Taylor can celebrate a true career game.
Chris Taylor's 1st 96 MLB games — 10 RBI
Tonight — 6 RBI— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) July 16, 2016
Taylor entered Friday’s game hitting just .211 this season with no home runs and no RBIs in 19 games between Seattle and now Los Angeles. Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts played a hunch, starting Taylor over veteran Chase Utley against Arizona left-hander Patrick Corbin, and needless to say that hunch paid off.
TOP PERFORMERS
Kyle Hendricks: Facing his former organization for the first time, the Cubs right-hander overwhelmed the Rangers in Friday’s 6-0 win. Hendricks, who was acquired from Texas in a 2012 trade for Ryan Dempster, held Texas to three hits and two walks over six scoreless innings. Oddly enough, Dempster was also on hand, though obviously not as a player. He was impersonating Harry Caray during the seventh inning stretch. Only in Chicago.
Justin Verlander: On a day dominated mostly by pitching, Verlander stood out by allowing one earned run over seven innings in a Tigers 4-2 win against the Royals. Verlander allowed just four hits while striking out 10. Overall, he looked like the version of himself that Detroit will need if they hope to emerge as contenders.
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Neil Walker: The Mets have watched Daniel Murphy get off to a career-best start with the Nationals this season, but they’ve also gotten great production from his replacement, Neil Walker. In Friday’s 5-3 win against the Phillies, Walker connected on a three-run homer, giving him 16 on the season in just 83 games. That’s the same number Walker had in 151 games last season, so he’s on pace to destroy that mark while softening the loss of Murphy.
Andrew Cashner & Hector Santiago: San Diego already unloaded one starting pitcher. Could Cashner be next? It’s possible, and if so, he gave his trade value a nice boost. The veteran right-hander outdueled Madison Bumgarner in the Padres 4-1 win over the Giants, allowing one run on four hits over six innings. He also struck out nine against a playoff contender, which should capture some attention. Now we await A.J. Preller’s decision.
As for Santiago, he could be a nice trade chip for the Angels should they explore a deal. He contributed seven scoreless innings in the their 7-0 win against the White Sox.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Would you believe that’s the tenth time the Houston Astros have led off a game with a home run this season? George Springer, who connected here to begin Houston’s 7-3 win against Seattle, has now done it four times. Prior to him, All-Star Jose Altuve did it six times this season, meaning the scoreboard has read 1-0 Astros pretty frequently this season.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
Nationals 5, Pirates 1: Stephen Strasburg became only the fifth pitcher to start a season 13-0 during the Cy Young Award era.
Indians 5, Twins 2: After losing four of five heading into the break, Cleveland gets back on track behind a strong outing from Carlos Carrasco Not even the All-Star break could cool off Cleveland. The Indians have won
Marlins 7, Cardinals 6: The resilient Marlins overcame two late deficits to stun St. Louis. Miguel Rojas knocked home the winning run with a ninth-inning single.
Red Sox 5, Yankees 3: All-Star Steven Wright earned his 11th victory. He started by retiring the first 14 batters he faced before Alex Rodriguez reached on an infield single.
Orioles 4, Rays 3: Baltimore picks up a big win thanks to Jonathan Schoop’s go-ahead solo homer in the eighth.
Reds 5, Brewers 3: That may also be the same number of trades each team makes over the next two weeks.
Rockies 11, Braves 2: Colorado knocked around Lucas Harrell — whose trade value had been on the rise — scoring seven runs against him in 3 2/3 innings.
A’s 8, Blue Jays 7: Khris Davis and Stephen Vogt each collected three hits and drove in three runs as Oakland overcame a four-run deficit.
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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!
