MLB's first 16-game winner was no one's AL Cy Young pick
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.
The beautiful thing about baseball is that no one’s story is complete until the author decides it’s time to close the book. That means anything can happen from the moment we perceive their career to be winding down, to the moment the final period is placed at the end of the story.
Often times, the narrative that’s written during that period is far more compelling than the narrative we assumed would define their career. One such pitcher who is proving that to be true is Toronto Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ. Over the past year, he’s completely changed the narrative of his career and that’s led him to now becoming one of baseball’s most effective hurlers.
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To recap, at this point last season, Happ was traded from Seattle to Pittsburgh in a deal that seemingly had little consequence. He was going to Pittsburgh simply to provide depth, but instead reinvented himself to provide quality production. He posted a 1.85 ERA over 11 starts, becoming a key cog on a postseason team.
Now that he’s with Toronto, Happ is continuing his resurgence. With six scoreless innings in Wednesday’s 7-0 win against the Rays, he became baseball’s first 16-game winner.
Granted, wins don’t tell the whole story, but his 2.96 ERA is pretty good too. Happ has been more focused, more efficient and more confident, which has allowed the wins to pile up.
It helps that Toronto’s offense is among baseball’s best. That makes it easier for Happ to put mistakes behind him. He’s getting more ground balls and limiting damage better than at any point in his 10-year career, and that’s put him in the Cy Young conversation.
It’s funny, because even one month ago Happ was at best on the fringe of that conversation. Heck, he wasn’t even an All-Star. We all assumed Chris Sale or Stephen Strasburg would continue separating from the pack on the way to 20 wins. Now though, it’s Happ who’s best positioned to win 20 games and perhaps complete an underdog story that would be impossible to match.
TOP PERFORMERS
Jayson Werth: In Wednesday’s 7-4 win against the Indians, Werth extended his personal on-base streak to 40 games by going 2-for-3 with a walk, double and three-run homer. That’s the longest such streak in MLB this season. Werth also scored three runs and undoubtedly served as the difference maker in this win.
Edwin Jackson: A most unlikely resurgence continues for the 32-year-old right-hander. After bouncing around MLB for 13 seasons and failing to stick in Miami to begin this season. Jackson has put together four strong outings of five so far for the San Diego Padres. In Wednesday’s 4-0 win against the Pirates, Jackson carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He finished with seven scoreless frames with two hits and three walks while striking out seven.
Felix Hernandez: The King of Seattle matched longtime Tigers ace Justin Verlander pitch-for-pitch in a Mariners 3-1 win. Hernandez allowed one run on three hits over seven innings, but ended up with a no-decision as Verlander also hurled seven innings of one-run ball. Verlander allowed seven hits. The game was decided in the eighth when Nelson Cruz connected on a go-ahead home run.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Oscar Hernandez’s first career home run could not have come at a better time for the Diamondbacks or a worst time for the Mets. Arizona’s rookie catcher connected in the 12th inning, helping propel them to a 3-2 win. As for the Mets, it dropped them to 57-56 and 10 games out in the NL East.
REST OF SCOREBOARD
Cubs 3, Angels 1: Make that nine straight wins for the Cubs as they’ve completely reestablished themselves as the team to beat in the NL and perhaps all of baseball. They did lose set up man Pedro Strop to a knee injury though, so that will be worth monitoring.
Giants 1, Marlins 0: After picking up seven hits in the Giants series-opening win, Brandon Crawford played hero again hitting a solo home run for the game’s only run. He finished the series 9-for-16.
Phillies 6, Dodgers 2: Philadelphia got a go-ahead three-run homer from Freddy Galvis in the seventh and a pinch-hit three-run double from Ryan Howard in the ninth.
Cardinals 3, Reds 2: Left-hander Jaime Garcia pitched eight strong innings for the second straight outing, allowing two runs on six hits.
Brewers 4, Braves 3: Milwaukee slugger Chris Carter provided the difference with a three-run homer that traveled 430 feet.
Yankees 9, Red Sox 4: We got a cameo from A-Rod but it was rookie Gary Sanchez who made the most noise, connecting for his first career home run.
Rangers 5, Rockies 4: For the third straight game, Texas rallied in the late innings to crush Colorado’s spirit. This time Adrian Beltre delivered a two-run go-ahead single in the eighth inning.
Astros @ Twins: The game was postponed with Minnesota leading 5-0 in the third inning. The teams will play a day-night doubleheader on Thursday.
Royals 3, White Sox 2 (14 innings): Kansas City tied the game in the eighth and 11th innings before winning in 14 on Lorenzo Cain’s walk-off single.
A’s 1, Orioles 0: Baltimore’s offense was shutdown by journeyman Ross Detwiler, who tossed eight scoreless innings and allowed just six 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!
