And That Happened

Orioles 4, Rays 2; Red Sox 18, Blue Jays 6:  Tampa Bay, you’re not adhering to the narrative. We all decided that you’d put the pressure on the Red Sox until Boston was literally burning and being looted with panic.  And you, Boston: you’re supposed to lose these games to Toronto due to trotting out Tim Wakefield and John Lackey. You’re not supposed to put the wild card away until you get to play Baltimore.  God, can’t anyone read a script around here?

Braves 7, Marlins 1: Dan Uggla and Brian McCann homers do their own part to screw up this “we suddenly have playoff races” dynamic. The Braves break their losing streak.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 4: The Cardinals win their sixth in seven games. Albert Pujols had three errors, but Nick Punto picked him up with the go-ahead RBI double in the ninth.  Punto’s probably getting really tired of carrying Pujols.

Yankees 3, Mariners 2: Mariano Rivera gets his 600th career save. Which now means he’s a good, I suppose.

Tigers 5, White Sox 0: Justin Verlander pitches seven shutout innings for his 23rd win. Detroit has won 11-straight.

Rangers 10, Indians 4; Angels 6, Athletics 3:  It doesn’t help the Angels if both teams win.  Two homers for David Murphy in the Texas-Cleveland game.

Nationals 3, Mets 2: Apparently it was “Star Wars Night” in New York. I was thinking of tuning in but then I decided I had a bad feeling about this.  Chien-Ming Wang made his return to New York and got a no-decision. Craig Stammen got a hit and the win in relief. Each of those are things he hasn’t done for a long time. Western Ohio, represent.

Astros 5, Phillies 3: Let me get this straight: Philly can buzz through Atlanta and Milwaukee, but Houston trips them up?  OK. Fine. That’s baseball. I’m sure you guys have some other explanations for me, however. Gotta love that it was J.A. Happ who got the win, thoug, a day after Brett Myers beat the Phillies.  That’s almost poetic. The Astros should sign Terry Mulholland next.

Royals 4, Twins 0: Bruce Chen dominates the Twins with eight innings of two-hit shutout ball. Gleeman pretty much summed it up when he tweeted “Watching the Twins is just too depressing at this point. I’m gonna go watch ‘The Road’ to cheer me up.”

Reds 2, Cubs 1: Brandon Phillips homered for the third time in the past two nights. Mike Leake gave up one run in eight innings in what was likely his final start of the year. Nice ending to a year that began in really crappy and awkward fashion for Leake.

Giants 3, Padres 2: Mark DeRosa had an RBI single in the 12th to win it. Matt Cain continues his run of good pitching with no wins to show for it.

Diamondbacks 5, Dodgers 4: Gerardo Parra hit a tying homer in the 7th and then a leadoff single in the 10th inning, eventually scoring the go-ahead run on a bases loaded walk.

Brewers 2, Rockies 1: Ryan Braun hit a walkoff homer and the Brewers bullpen pitched six scoreless innings following a shortish Zack Greinke start.