There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to handle themselves.
That’s why we’re here to help, though, by sifting through the previous days’ games, and figuring out what you missed, but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from the weekend in Major League Baseball:
Astros complete series sweep of the Dodgers
Plenty of names and faces have changed since the Astros and Dodgers met in the 2017 World Series, but what’s stayed the same all that time is that both Houston and Los Angeles are heavyweights in their respective leagues. Both teams entered this weekend series in first place in their division, but the Astros just brought their season records a whole lot closer by sweeping the Dodgers. It was Houston’s first sweep in Los Angeles since the 2008 season.
Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the eighth inning on Sunday, and Jose Altuve added another solo shot to cushion the Astros’ lead in the ninth — that was Altuve’s third dinger of the weekend.
As for Walker, he now has 21 home runs at Dodger Stadium in just 45 career games, which seems impossible. But it’s true: in 45 games and 167 plate appearances, Walker is batting .349/.407/.789 with 21 home runs, 53 hits and 12 walks there compared to a career line of .248/.326/.454. Walker was originally drafted by the Dodgers, back in 2009: if he’d signed with them instead of reentering the draft a few years later, he’d be on his way to five or six hundred career homers by now. Kidding, of course. Unless…
Yankees avoid Mets’ sweep with power and defense
The Yankees haven’t fully righted their ship yet, but this weekend was an opportunity, since they were taking on the crosstown Mets, a team dealing with its own struggles. The pair entered the weekend series with the Yankees having been swept in a four-game series by the Blue Jays, dropping them to second place in the AL East, while the Mets had lost 14 of their previous 19 contests, which also saw them fall to second in their division.
The Mets would win the first two weekend games against the Yankees, but on Sunday, New York (Bronx edition) finally struck back. Aaron Judge hit a two-run home run – his 33rd of the season – in the top of the fifth inning to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead, and that ended up being the difference in the end.
The Mets would storm back, scoring two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, but that’s all they’d get. One of the reasons that the Yankees were able to stop the Mets’ counterattack? This excellent double play in the seventh:
Juan Soto hit a ball to left that should have fallen in for a hit, but Cody Bellinger reached down, literally, and plucked it out of the air just before it would have landed on the grass. He then fired a rocket to first, just doubling up Francisco Lindor, ending the mounting threat
Pirates switch shutout roles against Mariners
The Pirates had a very strange week. On Sunday, they defeated the Mets 12-1, completing a three-game sweep. They allowed that single run in the fifth inning, which matters for counting purposes, as they then proceeded to sweep the Cardinals, too, shutting them out in all three games: Pittsburgh didn’t give up a single run for 31 innings. And then the Mariners scored two in the first on Friday, which turned out to be a bad omen for the Bucs.
The Mariners would sweep — the third sweep Pittsburgh was involved in over one week’s time — and shut out the Pirates in all three of those games. It also marked the first time, per MLB’s Sarah Langs, that a team has ever been in back-to-back shutout series like these two — which isn’t a surprise, as this was only the 36th three-game series with wall-to-wall shutouts like this in MLB’s records.
You knew without anyone saying anything that Paul Skenes had to be involved in all of this. On Sunday, he threw five shutout innings while striking out 10 Mariners, scattering five hits without allowing a walk. He had thrown just 78 pitches but was lifted after five, anyway, and wouldn’t you know it: the Mariners scored their one and only run in the sixth once he was out of the game.
Skenes is leading the majors in pitcher wins above replacement (4.8) and the NL in ERA at 1.94. He’s 4-7 with eight no decisions, receiving 3.3 runs of support per game. Which overstates things a bit, since the Pirates, despite their issues scoring, have somehow recorded 10 runs for Skenes twice this season; Skenes allowed a combined four runs in those outings. It’s been said before, but, spread those runs around, Pirates!
If Pittsburgh can shut out or be shut out in their next game — they face the Royals on Monday — they’ll set a record for the longest such streak in MLB history. Per Langs, they’re currently tied with the 1953 Senators, ‘49 White Sox, 1919 Cubs, and the 1903 version of themselves.
Guardians blow it one out from snapping streak
The Guardians had the chance to end their nine-game losing streak, as they carried a 1-0 lead over the Detroit Tigers into the top of the ninth inning. Then, things went off the rails in the way they have for Cleveland during this rough stretch.
Closer Emmanuel Clase took the mound and hit the first batter of the inning, Spencer Torkelson. Zack McKinstry replaced Torkelson on the base path and got around to third base after stealing second and advancing to third on a fielder’s choice by Dillon Dingler.
Then, with the Guardians one out away from their first win since June 25, Clase threw a wild pitch, and McKinstry finished the pinch-running job by scoring the game-tying run.
Things got worse in extras. Trey Sweeney hit a three-run home run, which, with the way the Guardians have been scoring — or not scoring — was a death knell. The Tigers added a few more insults to that injury in the form of insurance runs, though, and ended up winning 7-2.
As for Cleveland’s offensive woes: they’ve scored 15 runs total during their 10-game losing streak. That’s bad enough without any additional horrifying context, but don’t worry, there’s some of that to share, too. The Guardians scored six of those runs in one game, and four of them in another, meaning in the other eight contests combined, they’ve managed a grand total of five runs. Two of the games featured two runs, one a single run, and the other four were all shutouts.
Cleveland’s record has dropped to 40-48, and they’re now in fourth place in the AL Central, 15.5 games back of the Tigers and seven of a wild card spot, with a -59 run differential. Star third baseman José Ramírez is slumping during the losing streak, as he’s produced a .394 OPS in the nine games he’s played during it, but it’s not his fault that the only two productive hitters in the lineup this year have been himself and Steven Kwan, either.
Whoops
The Athletics outfield is usually highlighted in this space because of some amazing Denzel Clarke catch or a killer throw. Not this time. This time it’s because basically the opposite of one of those plays happened.
Instead of turning a home run into an out, Tyler Soderstrom turned an out into a home run. Not the best magic trick going if you’re an A’s fan, but on the bright side, they were already down 5-1 to the Giants when Soderstrom’s mishap occurred.
Was the universe trying to restore some balance by having Soderstrom pull a reverse Clarke here? Was it giving a home run back unto the world after having one too many stolen? If so, the universe has a pretty good sense of humor.
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