We've got a nice little Saturday here, so let's get right to it.
Saturday's scores
- Twins5, Orioles 4 (box score)
- Cubs8, Reds 7 (box score)
- Phillies 3, Pirates2 (box score)
- Cardinals 3, Giants2 (box score)
- Yankees8,Blue Jays5 (box score)
- Astros12, White Sox 6 (box score)
- Rays 3, Mets0 (box score)
- Rockies 5, Mariners1 (box score)
- Braves 5, Brewers1 (box score)
- Tigers7, Rangers 2 (box score)
- Athletics 6, Indians3 in 11 (box score)
- Nationals18, Marlins 4 (box score)
- Dodgers 3, Angels1 (box score)
- Red Sox 15, Royals4 (box score)
- Diamondbacks20, Padres 5 (box score)
Hamels, Happ rocked
The trade deadline is just a few weeks away, but a pair of trade chips had rough Saturdays.
Cole Hamels, the Rangers southpaw, had a brutal outing against the Tigers. He failed to escape the first inning, recording two outs and allowing seven runs on five hits and two walks. Tigers second baseman Niko Goodrum had a particularly good day, recording four hits to improve his seasonal line to .251/.325/.461.
J.A. Happ, meanwhile, ran into difficulties against the Yankees, who are reportedly interested in trading for him. Happ allowed four hits and walked six while fanning five across 2 ⅔ innings. His ERA went from 4.03 to 4.44.
Both Hamels and Happ are still expected to find new homes before the month is out.
Myers, Peralta have big nights
The Padres and Diamondbacks were the only teams playing late on Saturday. Based on the final score, you can tell that each lineup did some slugging, but two players in particular merit a highlight.
Wil Myers homered three times in a game for the first time in his career. Earlier in the year, the Padres had Christian Villanueva score the hat trick. Myers drove in four and also drew a walk as part of his night. Clearly, however, his efforts weren't enough to net the Pads a win.
Meanwhile, David Peralta started the game 5-for-5 for the Diamondbacks before making an out in his final at-bat. Peralta is the 17th player with a five-hit game this season and the 22nd in franchise history. It's also the second time Peralta has accomplished the feat -- he first did it in August 2015. Had Peralta recorded a sixth hit, it would've been the first in franchise history.
Cubs take one from Reds
On Sunday, May 20, the Cubs beat the Reds to take a series in Cincy. They followed that up by losing two games to the Indians, but since then, the Cubs had been going pretty damn well. In fact, they've been excellent, entering Saturday 24-10 since then.
Wait, no. That's not right. They were 24-10 against teams not named the Reds and 24-15 overall. After the Reds, again, beat the Cubs on Friday, it was five in a row that the Reds had taken from the Cubs.
That changed on Saturday, as the Cubs snapped the Reds' winning streak against them in an 8-7 slugfest that saw Javier Baez go 4-for-5 with a homer and two RBI. Ben Zobrist also drove in a pair of runs.
The Cubs won despite a lopsided pitching matchup that favored the Reds. Matt Harvey allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings while Tyler Chatwood permitted seven runs and four walks in 5 2/3 frames of his own. Nonetheless, the Cubs were able to score five runs off three Reds relievers, including three off Amir Garrett.
Phillies keep rolling behind Arrieta
The Phillies will remain in first place for at least another day. Philadelphia entered Saturday ahead of the Braves by .002 percentage points, but that's good enough for sole possession of first place all the same.
On Saturday, the Phillies continued their good play as of late, topping the struggling Pirates, 3-2. Jake Arrieta recorded a quality start, tossing seven frames, allowing two earned runs, and striking out eight. Arrieta earned his first win since May 29. The Phillies also received strong performances from Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco, each tallying two hits.
The Phillies are set up to keep playing well to the All-Star break, too. They get the struggling Pirates again on Sunday. Then comes a four-game series with the Mets, a makeup game against the Orioles and a three-game series against the Marlins. As such, the Phillies could really get fat here heading to the break and move into the second half with some serious momentum.
The Pirates, meanwhile, are now 40-48 on the season. They've dropped five in a row and are 23-36 since starting 17-12. Oof.
Astros' Tucker gets first hit in debut
The already-amazing Astros called up top-20 prospect in outfielder Kyle Tuckeron Saturday.
In 80 Triple-A games this season, he hit .306/.371/.520 with 24 doubles, two triples, 14 homers, 66 RBI, 62 runs and 14 steals. That sounds like a pretty good fantasy performer, right?
Kyle Tucker is coming up today. He has been among the top prospects to stash for a while now but is still only 45 percent owned in CBS Sports leagues. Could be a five-category guy, so he's pretty close to must-add.
— Scott White (@CBSScottWhite) July 7, 2018
Yes, sir.
Tucker went ahead and recorded his first knock in his first game, going 1-for-4, scoring a run and driving one in -- sort of -- with a bases-loaded walk.
— MLB (@MLB) July 7, 2018MLB debut. First career hit. Standing ovation. Welcome to The Show, @KTuck30. #ReadyToGo
(MLB x @Supercuts) pic.twitter.com/8Yzf61YagG
The rich got richer on Saturday. Tucker is going to be a good one.
Quick hits
- The Giants placed second baseman Joe Panik on the disabled list due to an injury to his groin that was suffered Friday night, As a corresponding move, they purchased the contract of infielder Chase d'Arnaud from Triple-A Sacramento. Also, pitcher Chris Stratton was placed on the DL and Jeff Samardzija was activated from the DL in order to start Saturday's game.
- Youngster Clint Frazier was again brought up from the minors by the Yankees, with reliever David Hale being designated for assignment.
- The Twins released 2016 NL home run champion Chris Carter. He was hitting .187/.299/.423 in Triple-A.
