Madison Bumgarner nearly tosses no-hitter against D-backs
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.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner isn’t going to pitch in the All-Star game, so he had no problem going full effort Sunday. On Sunday Night Baseball in front of a packed AT&T Park, Bumgarner nearly threw his first career no-hitter.
The Arizona Diamondbacks happened to be on the receiving end, and it was pretty clear to them that Bumgarner had his good stuff in the first inning. The tall lefty started things off with a five-pitch strikeout of Jean Segura, a weak bunt groundout from Michael Bourn and caught Paul Goldschmidt looking with a beautiful inside curveball.
From there, Bumgarner cruised until the top of the fifth inning. With two outs, Jake Lamb managed to reach on a fielding error by right fielder Gregor Blanco. It was Lamb who would come back to haunt Bumgarner. With one out in the eighth inning, Lamb hit a single to right field to end the no-hit bid.
Instead, Bumgarner would just have to settle for the complete game shutout. Over nine innings, Bumgarner allowed no runs, one hit and one walks against the Diamondbacks. He struck out 14 and threw 117 pitches. The Giants won the contest 4-0.
While he made the National League All-Star team, Bumgarner will not be available to pitch since he started Sunday. As such, he’s already been replaced on the NL roster by New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon. He also won’t take part in the Home Run Derby despite some pleas to see the pitcher take his hacks.
All of that could have made for a pretty tiring break. After the excellent performance Sunday, Bumgarner earned himself a couple days of rest.
TOP PERFORMERS
Albert Almora: The Chicago Cubs continue to find impressive contributors. Almora became the latest to propel the young club during Sunday’s 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Almora doubled and hit his second home run of the season during the contest. He finished 2-for-4, with one run scored and two RBI in the win.
David Price: Boston Red Sox ace David Price looked much more like himself in Sunday’s 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Price went eight scoreless innings, giving up four hits and one walk. He struck out 10. Price improved to 9-6, and lowered his ERA to 4.34 with the outing.
Maikel Franco: Franco’s bat came alive during the Philadelphia Phillies’ 10-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. Franco managed two singles early, but mashed one of the longest home runs of the year in the eighth inning. The ball traveled 471 feet according to measurements. He finished 3-for-5, with three runs scored and three RBI.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
We’ve known for a while now that Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons can make exceptional defensive plays. But every now and then, he still manages to surprise us. That was the case during Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Manny Machado hit a weak fly ball to shallow left field. There was a man on third base, so the infield was playing in. Because of that, Simmons had to turn and sprint to the ball. Had he been normally positioned, he probably would have made the play easily, but since he was playing in, there was a question as to whether it might fall in.
That wasn’t the case. Simmons ranged back and threw out his glove with his back to the ball. He managed to make the grab, preventing the run from scoring.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
Mariners 8, Rangers 5: Robinson Cano hit his 21st home run while both Adam Lind and Kyle Seager added multi-RBI performances.
Blue Jays 6, Tigers 1: The Blue Jays led the whole way. R.A. Dickey gave up just one run over seven innings and Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer.
Yankees 11, Indians 7: The Yankees chased Carlos Carrasco after 3 2/3 innings and then managed a six-run fifth against the Indians bullpen.
Nationals 3, Mets 2: Daniel Murphy hit another home run against his former club, helping Gio Gonzalez pick up the win.
Marlins 7, Reds 3: Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run homer in the fifth inning put the Marlins ahead for good.
Braves 2, White Sox 0: Mike Foltynewicz tossed seven scoreless innings, racking up 10 strikeouts in the win.
Cardinals 5, Brewers 1: Mike Leake gave up just one run over seven innings, striking out 10. Matt Adams hit his 10th home run of the season.
Astros 2, Athletics 1: The Astros managed a walk-off win after Carlos Correa reached on an error in the bottom of the 10th.
Twins 15, Rangers 5: Eight different Twins starters managed an RBI. Max Kepler led with four after hitting a grand slam in the fifth.
Dodgers 3, Padres 1: Kenta Maeda turned in his finest performance of the year, giving up just one run on two hits over seven innings. He managed 13 strikeouts.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
