Battered and bruised Hunter Pence inspires Giants in victory
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.
Hunter Pence has always seemed like a player who would run through the proverbial wall to win a game or inspire his teammates.
He didn’t take it that far on Saturday, but he did inspire his teammates by inflicting some unintentional pain on himself.
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As you can see in the video above, Pence managed to smack himself in the face with his own foul ball during Saturday’s 7-1 win against the Nationals. Not just any smack either. A direct hit to the right cheek that immediately ballooned and looked to be very uncomfortable.
That’s not how a cheek is supposed to look.
Alas, Pence would not be deterred by his mishap. He’s there to lead by example, after all, and that’s exactly what he did by remaining in the game.
Pence didn’t have a big hand in the production, finishing with one hit and one run scored. He did make a nice defensive play to secure the final out. Aside from that though, we’re sure his teammates simply took one look at his face and said “if he can play through that, we can play through anything.” And so they did, defeating Stephen Strasburg.
And so they will again on Sunday, only this time without Pence.
Don’t worry though. The Giants already announced it was a scheduled day off and is not related to the cheek. Pence might not like it, but we’re guessing he’ll appreciate it after trying to sleep on Saturday night.
TOP PERFORMERS
Ryan Braun: It’s safe to say Braun’s right side was feeling good on Saturday. After missing some time this week with tightness, Braun let loose with a pair of home runs in the Brewers 15-6 win against the Diamondbacks. Milwaukee’s slugger connected for a three-run homer against Evan Marshall in the sixth inning. One inning later, he repeated that feat exactly against Dominic Leone. Overall, he drove in seven runs. The only thing that stopped him from driving in more was Craig Counsell giving him the rest of the night off.
Jonathan Lucroy: At this time one week ago we thought Lucroy was headed to the Cleveland Indians. Fortunately for the Texas Rangers, that trade was vetoed. Otherwise, they would have been missing two home runs from Saturday’s 3-2 win against Houston. Lucroy connected for his second and third home runs for Texas, all of which have been solo shots. Regardless, the two were vital to this win, and served as another warning of just how dangerous this Rangers offense will be when Lucroy is hot.
Jake Arrieta: The Oakland A’s were no match for Arrieta on Saturday. Chicago’s ace coasted to eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out four in a Cubs 4-0 victory. Arrieta won for the first time since June 27, snapping a stunning streak of five Cubs losses in his starts.
Dodgers pitching: The Dodgers are depleted but they’re not down and out. In Saturday’s 3-0 win against the Red Sox, four pitchers combined on the shutout, with spot starter Ross Stripling pitching five innings of four-hit ball. Relievers Grant Dayton, Joe Blanton and Kenley Jansen combined to record the final 12 outs, allowing just one hit. It’s a mish-mash unit, but the Dodgers keep surviving.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Ichiro Suzuki is officially one hit from history. In the Marlins 12-6 loss to the Rockies on Saturday, he picked up MLB hit No. 2,999 on an infield single that Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado nearly robbed. The hit was Ichiro’s first since July 28 and only his fifth over his last 30 at-bats. The next one though will make him the 30th player in MLB history to reach 3,000 hits.
Ichiro’s not at 3,000 hits just yet, but 2,999 is already stamped for approval. #Ichiro3000 pic.twitter.com/KTDbOYrsUc
— MLB (@MLB) August 7, 2016
REST OF SCOREBOARD
Mariners 8, Angels 6: On an emotional night at Safeco Field with Ken Griffey Jr.’s No. 24 being retired, a new hero was born. Rookie shortstop Shawn O’Malley launched a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning to provide the difference.
Indians 5, Yankees 2: It’s only fitting that Andrew Miller’s first save chance with the Indians would come against the Yankees in New York. Miller got the job done, striking out two while allowing one hit.
Rays 7, Twins 3: Solid outing for Chris Archer, who allowed one run on three hits over six innings. He improved to 6-15.
Giants 7, Nationals 1: San Francisco improved to 6-14 following the All-Star break and maintained its two-game lead on Los Angeles in the NL West.
Pirates 5, Reds 3: Veteran right-hander Ivan Nova allowed three runs in seven innings in his Pirates debut.
White Sox 4, Orioles 2: Chicago denied Chris Tillman his 15th win by scoring single runs in the first, third and seventh inning. Adam Eaton added a solo homer in the eighth.
Tigers 6, Mets 5: Detroit rode a five-run fourth inning to its 10th win in 11 games.
Braves 13, Cardinals 5: After being shutout 1-0 on Friday, Atlanta erupted for a season high 13 runs on Saturday. In fact, the Braves had only reached double figures one other time in 2016.
Royals 4, Blue Jays 2: The amazing story of Danny Duffy continued with his seventh straight win. The Royals have won 12 of his 15 starts.
Padres 9, Phillies 7: A wild night at Petco Park included Travis Jankowski scoring fours run and stealing home plate.
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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!
