Curtis Granderson leads Mets win with pair of extra-inning homers
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.
A potentially crushing day for New York Mets baseball ended on an exhilarating high.
Just hours after the team learned Jacob deGrom may be facing season-ending surgery on his right elbow, the Mets rallied for a thrilling 3-2 win against the Twins in 12 innings.
They have one man to thank: Curtis Granderson.
After Byron Buxton homered to give Minnesota a one-run lead in the 11th inning, Granderson immediately tied the game with a leadoff shot in the bottom half. Then, one inning later, Granderson did it again, connecting on a walk-off home run that kept the Mets September momentum rolling.
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That’s right, Granderson hit home runs in back-to-back extra innings, which was last done by John Mayberry Jr. in 2013. In doing so, he also tied and set the Mets team record for home runs in a single season. Granderson’s homers were No. 27 and 28 this season. For the Mets, they were No. 200 and 201.
With the win, New York has now won 10 of its last 13. They also gained a game on the San Francisco Giants, moving into a tie with the Giants for the first wild card position. They each hold a two-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Don’t count the Mets out yet.
TOP PERFORMERS
Jon Gray: On most days, Gray would be the headliner. As for Saturday, he’ll have to settle for a top performer after pitching just the 15th complete game shutout in Coors Field. The hard-throwing right-hander limited the Padres to four hits in the Rockies 8-0 win. He also struck out 16 batters, which set a Rockies and Coors Field single-game record. Hats off to you, Mr. Gray.
Jeremy Hellickson: If the Marlins weren’t buried before Saturday, they probably are now. They have Hellickson to thank for that after he tossed a complete game shutout in an 8-0 win. The shutout was the second of Hellickson’s career. The first came during his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2011 when he blanked the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field. The loss dropped Miami to 73-75.
Indians bullpen: How does 10 shutout innings sound? That’s exactly what eight Cleveland relievers combined to do in Saturday’s 1-0 win against the Tigers. After Carlos Carrasco suffered a broken hand on the game’s second pitch, it became a bullpen exclusive game. The Indians relievers responded, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out 10.
Ned Yost: Congratulations are in order for the Kansas City Royals skipper. With Saturday’s 3-2 win against the White Sox, Yost became the 61st manager in MLB history to reach 1,000 career wins. Yost now has a 543-542 record in seven seasons with Kansas City after posting a 457-502 in parts of six seasons with Milwaukee. Yes, that adds up to 1,044 losses, but for the sake of honoring Yost we’ll just ignore that.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
As Harry Caray would say …. Holy Cow!
That grand slam by Brewers first baseman Chris Carter was the first home run by an opposing player to hit the left field videoboard at Wrigley Field. Carter’s mammoth blast capped an 11-3 Brewers win in Chicago. Milwaukee also got two home runs and five RBIs from Ryan Braun.
REST OF SCOREBOARD
Red Sox 6, Yankees 5: A devastating loss for New York on several levels. Of course, it significantly damages their playoff hopes. They’ve fallen to seven games behind Boston in the AL East standings. In the wild card, New York is still four full games behind Baltimore. The team also lost shortstop Starlin Castro (hamstring) and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury (knee) to injuries, which will further complicate their long shot bid.
Braves 7, Nationals 3: Despite two more home runs from Trea Turner, the Nationals lost thanks to a rough outing from Gio Gonzalez. The veteran left-hander allowed six runs over 4 1/3 innings.
Rays 5, Orioles 2: Speaking of Baltimore, they dropped to three back in the division after losing to Tampa Bay. Evan Longoria tripled and homered for the Rays.
A’s 11, Rangers 2: A bad night for Yu Darvish. In five innings, he allowed seven runs on seven hits and four walks. He did strikeout eight as well, but his command was all over the place and the A’s took advantage. By the way, Oakland has now won five of six on this road trip, including sweeping a four-game series in Kansas City.
Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 2: The Dodgers take care of business again. Joc Pederson homered for the 23rd time and Chase Utley doubled twice to pace the win.
Cardinals 3, Giants 2: The boobirds were out in San Francisco as Santiago Casilla blew his ninth save of the season. The Giants not only fell into a tie for the top wild card spot, they also fell to five games behind the Dodgers. That puts Los Angeles’ magic number at 10.
Pirates 10, Reds 4 (Game 1): Pittsburgh scored four in the first inning and never looked back in the opener. Andrew McCutchen drove in three.
Angels 6, Blue Jays 1: Like the Orioles, Toronto falls to three games back in the division, while remaining tied with Baltimore for the wild card.
Astros 2, Mariners 1: Houston didn’t have its first baserunner against James Paxton until Teoscar Hernandez led off the sixth with a single. Four batters later, the Astros had all the runs they needed thanks to Tyler White’s double and Yulieski Gurriel’s two-run single.
Pirates 7, Reds 3 (Game 2): Doubleheader sweep complete. Once again, Pittsburgh used a four-run inning to break the game open. This time, it came in the second inning and was capped by McCutchen’s two-run single.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
