LA Back in First Place

The biggest story in the West Sunday was the Dodgers reclaimation project. In 3rd place a couple days ago and more than 4 games behind the leader, the team steeled itself for a playoff push. That determination paid off on Sunday as they beat Arizona, in dramatic walk off fashion, to reclaim sole position in first place in the NL West. Once again, it was Matt Kemp who played the role of hero and his 9th inning 1-out run scoring double to center field put the Dodgers exactly where they want to be – back in first place.

Double Double

While the Dodgers may have had the game of the day, there was plenty of other excitement.

San Francisco got to see Noah Syndergaard throw his first complete game, Oakland and Texas got to see players hit 2 HRs in a single game, and Shohei Ohtani made his first start since early June.

To start off in the National League, San Francisco didn’t have much hope in this game as they only managed 2 hits off the Mets. While Chris Stratton pitched well, the 2 runs he gave up were more than enough for the Met’s to pull off a victory. In San Diego, Kyle Freeland picked up his 13th win on the season as he held the Padres to 3 runs over 6 innings. A 3 for 5 game by Charlie Blackmon didn’t hurt either.

In the AL, Shohei Ohtani pitched well for the first couple of innings but ran into trouble in the 3rdwhere he gave up a 2 run homer to George Springer who had a nice 3–5 day with a double added to that HR. Ohtani’s 50 pitches were up shortly after that and he left the game headed for his 2nd loss on the year. He definitely needs to build his endurance back up but I’m glad Scioscia kept him to the pitch count. Oakland kept pace with the Astros as they put down the Mariners 8–2. Stephen Piscotty went yard twice and knocked in 5 RBIs on a 2 for 3 day. Texas on the other hand walloped the Twins by scoring 18 runs. Yohander Mendez showed what he can do when he has plenty of run support as he threw 6 innings of shutout ball when his season ERA is 5.59 – and that’s AFTER 6 innings with ZERO runs given up. 5 Rangers smacked 6 home runs with Nomar Mazara grabbing 2 of them and poor first baseman Chris Gimenez of the Twins was sacrificed on the mound as he pitched the 8th to the tune of 5 earned runs. It was an incredible offensive outbreak.

Pitcher of the Day: Yohander Mendez, Texas – 6 innings, 3 Hits, 0 ER, 2 K
Player of the Day: Stephen Piscotty, Oakland – 2–3, 2 Runs, 5 RBI, 2 HR

Sports – West Coast Baseball – LA Back in First Place