Pulling Away
The top teams in the West were going in opposite directions the past couple of days but that that turned around on Sunday.
In Houston the Astros continued to win as Justin Verlander struck out 11 and gave up a single run in knocking off the D-Backs 5-4. Arizona almost came back after he left, scoring 3 runs in the 9th but Roberto Osuna managed to hold off the surge to grab the save. The victory solidified Houston’s hold on first place and dropped Arizona to 4.5 behind the Rockies.
Speaking of Colorado, they finally scored against the Giants and were able to parlay that into a 3-2 victory. No home runs were hit and it took the pitcher, Antonio Senzatela to drive in 2 runs to get things started. He also pitched 5 solid innings striking out 5 and allowing only a single run.
Also-Rans Fall Further Behind
The contenders had a rougher day that the leaders as both Oakland and the Dodgers faltered.
Oakland dropped their game to Tampa Bay and fell to 4.5 games behind Houston. The loss kept them at 1.5 behind New York for the top wildcard spot but they’re 7 games ahead of the Rays so it’s pretty assured that they’ll make the playoffs at this point.
As for Los Angeles, a day after scoring 17, the Dodgers couldn’t even get on the board as the Cardinals shut them out. Justin Turner picked up a couple of hits but other than that, the offense was too tired from Saturday’s run-fest.
Preventing a sweep by Seattle at home, Justin Upton and Kole Calhoun smacked home runs to power the Angels to a 4-3 victory. The loss puts serious doubt on Seattle’s playoff plans since they’re now 12 games behind Houston in the division and 7.5 games behind Oakland for the final wildcard spot. Their number for playoff elimination stands at 6.
Two teams that are playing just to complete the season and maybe see some of their future stars, Texas and San Diego faced off in Southern California on Sunday and the Padres got the better of the deal. Francisco Mejia launched a grand slam in the 9th for walk-off. In only 29 at bats, the future of the Padre’s catching corps has hit 3 home runs and drove in 8 RBIs – he’s definitely looking like the catcher of the future.
Player of the Day: Francisco Mejia, SD – 4-1, 4 RBI, Grand Slam, BB
Pitcher of the Day: Justin Verlander, HOU – 7 INN, 1 R, 11 K
Sports – West Coast Baseball – Pulling Away