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Washington 12 NYY 3

Washington sent 12 men to the plate in the 4th scoring 9 and Taylor Cole pitched five innings of scoreless relief and the Senators completed the sweep of the Yankees with a 12-3 thrashing.

It looked like the blowout would be a different direction in the 1st as it looked like Sean Newcomb might not get out of the 1st. Aaron Judge walked, Adeiny Hechavarria followed with a single as did Giancarlo Stanton loading the bases with nobody out. Gleyber Torres fly was not deep enough to score Judge but Miguel Andujar pushed him across without a swing as he drew a walk making it 1-0. After a strikeout to Greg Bird Austin Romine stroked a grounder to center scoring Hechavarria and Stanton and it was 3-0 with two men on and two men out. Brett Gardner loaded them again with a walk before Pitcher Lance Lynn (L 1-1) flew to out end Newcomb’s misery.

In the 2nd it looked like it would more of the same when Judge walked and Hechavarria singled to start the inning but Newcomb struck Stanton struck out and speared a screaming liner by Torres and pivoted with a perfect throw to Trevor Story to double off Judge and kill the rally and then would retire the next six in a row.

Meanwhle there was a sign of things to come in the 3rd when Lynn walked Corey Dickerson and then gave up a double down the line to right. Dickerson motored around 3rd but Aaron Judge came up with the ball cleanly and delivered a strike to Romine cutting down Dickerson to end the inning.

Then came the 4th. Jesus Aguilar led off with a walk. Story flew out but Hamilton singled to center and Reddick walked as well loading the bases with one out. DJ LeMeMahiu followed with a single to center scoring Aguilar and the speedy Hamilton but Reddick decided to test Bret Gardner’s arm and Gardner passed the test nailing Reddick preserving the Yankee lead. With 1st base open as LeMahieu moved to 2nd on the throw Lynn intentionally walked Swihart bringing up the pitcher’s spot.

For the 2nd time in the Series Nick Markakis came up to pinch hit and for the 2nd time he delivered smashing a bases clearing double and Washington was up 4-3.

They weren’t nearly done yet Corey Dickerson dropped a single just over the head of third baseman Miguel Andujar. Markakis didn’t slow down for a second and beat Andujar’s throw by a mile and it was 5-3. When Lynn walked Anthony Rendon and Aguilar Lynn was out and Johathan Story came in to face Trevor Story who had flown out earlier that inning to see if he could repeat that result, well Story hit another fly ball but this one carried 433 feet over the left field fence for a grand slam and the 3-0 Yankee lead was now a 9-3 defect. Washington fans were going wild…and then they saw Trevor Cole (W 1-1) come in from the bullpen.

Cole came in with an ERA of 9.59 having given up 5 runs in 5 1/3 innings and fan were hoping that he could eat at least two or three innings without giving up the lead so that the rest of the bullpen could do the job.

Cole managed to hit two of the 1st three men he faced in the fifth but he Sandwiched a double play ball in between getting out of the top of the 5th unharmed and even drove in a run on bases loaded sac fly in the bottom of the inning, scoring Reddick who singled to start the inning. Afer a Miguel Andujar error scored LeMahieu Cole had an 8 run lead with 4 innings to pitch.

It would be more than Enough Cole coxed ground ball after ground ball and even got some help from Josh Reddick who returned the favor to Aaron Judge by gunning him down at the place in the 7th. Cole pitched five innings and the rest of Washington’s Bullpen had another day of rest to enjoy

Notes: By the time Gary Sanchez grounded out to end the 9th Cole not only had had his 1st win but he had almost doubled his innings pitched (5.1 to 10.1) while more that haling his ERA 9.60 to 4.35. Meanwhile for the Yankees losing pitcher Lynn’s ERA exploded to 7.84. Corey Dickerson had 8 hits in the series and Trevor Story two home runs for Washington while Billy Hamilton who was called up at the start of the series hit .308 (4-13) with two runs scored. The final stop on the Yankee’s long opening roadtrip comes tomorrow in Boston While Washington packs their bags to visit division rival Rivertown.

Boston 6 LA 4

Boston clawed back from a 4-0 deficit and Rhys Hoskins provided the fatal 8th inning blow as Boston took the rubber game of their series against the Dodgers 6-4

Justin Verlander’s trouble came early. He managed to stand Cody Bellinger after a lead off double in the 1st bu in the 2nd Yasmani Grandal doubled with one out and Kike Hernandez followed with a walk and Chris Taylor with a single to center loading the bases with only one out.

David Freese followed with a single to center that drive in Grandal Hernandez rounded 3rd and Taylor rounded 2nd drawing a forlorn throw by Ronald Acuna Jr which wasn’t in time to get Hernandez and allowed Freese to get to 2nd with one out and the score 2-0. Cody Bellinger would single next driving in Taylor and sending Freese to 3rd where he would score on Yasiel Puig’s grounder making it 4-0.

That would however be all they would manage, as the Dodgers kept after Verlander putting on two in the 3rd & 4th with one out and getting men on in the 5th, 6th before Boston pulled him for Brandon Morrow (W 1-0) with one on and one out in the 7th, but each time LA came after the 2nd Verlander would bend, but not break.

That would be critical as Boston chipped away bit by bit against Clayton Kershaw (L 1-2) In the 2nd J. D. Martinez doubled and went to 3rd on an infield single by Kris Bryant. Acuna followed with a one out double that scored Martinez and would have cut the lead in half but for a perfect throw by Puig cutting him down for the 2nd out and leaving the score 4-1

In the 3rd Jose Altuve put a ball into the Monster making it 4-2 but a two out Bregman double went for naught as Kershaw pitched out of it again.

In the 4th Christian Yelich put a ball onto Landsdowne Street to start the inning and Acuna walked with one out but once again Kershaw left the runner there and clung to the lead 4-3.

In the 5th Boston threatened again. Zobrist walked and took out Muncy breaking up a double play. on Bregman’s grounder. J. D. Martinez walked to put the go ahead run on 1st but Kershaw stuck out Yelich to end it.

In the 6th his luck finally ran out. After a Kris Bryant leadoff double and a K of Acuna, Grandal missed a 2-1 breaking ball in the dirt to J. T. Realmuto sending Bryant to 3rd with only one out allowing Realmuto to drive in the tying run with a groundout to short.

Still LA stuck with their ace until he gave up a leadoff single to Yelich in the 8th. Josh Fields came in to relieve him and Rhys Hoskinds hit for Kris Bryant. Yelich stole 2nd on a called strike putting the go ahead run in scoring position and getting enough of Field’s attention that he grooved his next pitch to Hoskins who put the ball over the Monster seats for the 6-4 final that the game would end on.

Notes Brandon Morrow pitched 2 1/3 innings of one hit ball for the win. Tests on Max Muncy (knee) came back negative and he is listed as day to day. Both teams managed 10 hits in the game and 3 with runners in scoring position but Boston’s 3 came in 9 chances while LA 3 came with 13. The Red Sox welcome the Yanks for a two game set (Servino 1-0 vs Blake Snell 0-1) while the Dodgers will visit King Ragnar’s Vikings.

Texas 4 Juneau 2

Nelson Cruz hit a tiebreaking homer in the 8th and and Edward Diaz pitched a perfect 9th as Texas compleated their sweep of Juneau 4-2

Juneau took a lead in the 2nd thanks to an error by Chris Sale (W 2-1) who tried to hurry a throw to nail Matt Chapman at first which put him on 2nd with a single and error. He moved to 3rd on an Andrew Benintendi and scored on a Deep fly to center by Salvador Perez.

Rivertown tied it in the 4th. After retiring the 1st two batters Nelson Cruz doubled off Trevor Bauer (L 0-1) and Jose Martinez followed with a 2nd double to almost the exact same spot in left center making it 1-1. Juneau took the lead back at once as Andrw Benintendi hit a one out Solo shot to right, but Rivertown again rallied with two out Lorenzo Cain singled and stote second, Ramirez walked and Paul Goldschmidt stroked a single to left scoring Cain and it was all even at two.

It stayed that way as both teams stranded runners in scoring position in the 6th and 7th but in the top of the 8th Cruz hit his solo homer and while in the bottom of the inning Matt Chapman walked and Benintendi singled to right putting runners on 1st and 3rd with one out, reliever Diego Castillo came in to relieve Sale and coxed a double play ball out of Salvador Perez to preserve the 3-2 lead. When Goldschmidt was thrown out at the plate to end the 9th after Cain scored on a David Peralta RBI double the game was still in reach but Edwin Diaz (S4) retired three in a row and Juneau was done.

Notes: Mgr Carden was not in the dugout for today’s game after yesterday post game tirade against the umpiring behind the plate yesterday. No definite word has come from the front office on why. Both Cruz (Rivertown) and Benetendi (Juneau) had three hits including a solo shot each and at least one double, Cruz had 2. Mookie Betts and Lorenzo Cain each stole a base. Rivertown faces off against Washington in a battle for 1st place in their divisions while Juneau travels to Texas in the hope of reversing their current fortunes.

Texas 10 Vikings 4

Texas scored ten unanswered run after being down 4-0 winning a battle of big innings downing King Ragnar’s Vikings 10-4 in the rubber game of the series.

It’looked like it would be a short outing for Zach Wheeler (W 1-1) when in the 2nd Anthony Rizzo’s leadoff homer was followed by an Eddie Rosario single. One out later Whit Merrifield followed with is one and Jean Segura doubled scoring Rosario and Merrifield and Elias Diaz singled to left making it 4-0. After retiring Mallex Smith Gerardo Parra singled to center and Juan Soto to right but with the bases loaded Wheeler managed to keep Rizzo’s 2nd fly of the inning in the park.

Having been spotted a 4-0 lead it looked good for Jacob deGrom (L 1-1) but the thunder came right back. Freddie Freeman doubled to right and Nolan Arenado homered to cut the lead in half. Javier Baez followed with a single and Francisco Lindor doubled to left and it was 4-3. Lindor moved to 3rd on a flyout and scored on a single by Tucker Barnhart tying the game. Michael Brandley hit and infield single and it looked like the tye would be broken but Charlie Blackmon grounded into a double play and the game remained 4-4.

In the Thunder 4th Baez lead off with double and Lindor doubled him in making it 5-4 which after a k of Jackie Bradley chased deGrom but the Thunder weren’t finished. Oliver Perez struck out Barnhart for the 2nd out but Michael Brantley homered to right and it was now 7-4.

That was the Boost that Wheeler needed. Once given the lead he kept it pitching into the 7th handing it off to the pen who were given three more runs to play with in the 8th via another Baez single, Lindor double a Jacke Bradley triple and a Blackmon single to keep the game in hand.

Notes The vikings (10) and Thunder (15) combined for 25 hits and both teams did great with runners in scoring position Vikings 3-4 Thunder 6-17 and both teams grounded into a pair of double plays . Third basemen was ejected in the 8th arguing with umpire Cousins who called Bradly safe at third on a very close play. It was Cousins’ 2nd ejection of the series. Ragnar’s Vikings head home to play LA while Texas welcomes the struggling Muffen Men to town.

Washington 4 NY 3

Jesus Agular and Trevor Story went back to back to start the 6th and Sir Anthony of the Bullpen pitched retired 5 the six men he faced for the save as the Senators came back from a two run deficit to defeat the Yankees 4-3 for the 2nd straight day.

This time it was the Yankees who struck first Brett Gardner doubled off starter Reynaldo Lopez to start things off, moved to 3rd on a grounder and scored on a sac fly from Aaron Judge for a 1-0 lead. In the 4th Giancarlo Stanton put a Lopez ball just over the left center fence and the score was 2-0.

Masahiro Tanaka (L 1-1) started strong keeping the boys from DC down for 4 innings while scattering three hits. In the 5th the Senators decided to shake things up. When Catcher Matt Winters walked he was pulled for Dee Gordon who quickly stole 2nd. Blake Swihart came in to pinch hit for Lopez (5 inn 2 ER) and doubled to right easily scoring Gordon and cutting the lead in half. Nick Markakis pinch hit next for Josh Reddick (who had come in for Starling Marte after a collision at 2nd) and singled to right scoring Swihart who had moved to 3rd on a grounder and the score was tied.

In the 6th the Senators struck the old fashioned way as Jesus Aguilar and Trevor Story both hit Tanaka pitches over 440 feet over the fence at almost the exact same spot in left center and Washington had their first lead of the game 4-2. Meanwhile reliever Bobby Poyner (W 1-0) put in a strong performance retiring six in a row until giving up a solo shot to Luke Volt starting the 8th. By that time Seranthony Dominquez (s3) was ready and by the time he had retired the first four men he faced three in a row by swinging strikes was hearing chants of “Sir Anthony!” “Sir Anthony!” Aaron Hicks pinch hit single with one out in the 9th slowed the chants but Agular at first stretched out to stab a wicked liner off the bat of Neil Walker so quickly that Hicks was doubled off before he could see where the ball and the game had gone.

Corey Dickerson had to more hits giving him five for the series and stole two bases but didn’t figure in the scoring. Starling Marte started in right and had to be helped off the field after a collision breaking up a double play. He was placed on the DL after the game and Delino Deshields Jr. was called up to take his spot on the roster. Delin Betances pitched 1 2/3 innings of perfect relief for the Yankees. The Yankees went 0-3 with RISP. The Bronx Bombers will try to end the skid with Lance Lynn (1-0) against Sean Newcomb (0-1) in the finale.

Boston 6 LA 4

Nick Ahmed and JD Martinez both homered and a LA 9th inning rally fell just shot as Boston broke LA’s winning streak with a 6-4 win at Fenway.

At first it looked like a classic pitchers duel as for four inning Dallas Keuchel (W 1-0) and Alex Wood (L 0-1) took turns pitching around the odd hit or walk to keep their opponents quiet but in the 5th Boston broke through. Wood walked Alex Bregman and Francisco Cervelli and then served a curve that Ahmed took over the green monster to make it 3-0.

After a walk to Ben Zobrist sandwiched between a pair of out J D. Martinez struck as well taking Wood’s pitch into the bullpen and bring Ross Stripling out of it to replace him to end the inning at 5-0.

Keuchel started to bend at almost the same time giving up a double to Justin Turner and a 2 run shot to the hot hitting Manny Machado over the monster in left center to narrow the lead to 5-2. Unlike Wood however Keuchel managed to pitch out of the inning with only a stray 2 out single in his way. And by the time he gave way to Collin McHugh with one out in the seventh the lead was 6-2 thanks to Ahmed’s out out double driving in Bregman in the 6th. who had doubled to lead off the 6th it looked like it might be smooth sailing.

It wasn’t, the Dodgers didn’t go quietly. While they failed to take advantage of a bases loaded two out chance in the 8th off McHugh in the ninth Steve Cishek came in with a four run lead but Bellinger walked moved to 2nd on a grounder and with two outs came in on Justin Turner’s double. Turner went to third on a Francisco Cervelli passed ball and Machado singled him home bringing the tying run to the plate with two outs. Cishek’s next pitch was right down the middle but alas for the Dodgers and their streak Matt Kemp’s swing drive the ball to the deepest part of the triange in center but no father allowing Ronald Acuna Jr. to end the threat, the game and the winning streak.

Notes. Rhys Hopkins came in as a defenseive replacement in the 8th and immediately commited an error that almost resulted in disaster for Boston. Manny Machado continued his torrid hitting for LA going 3-5 with a HR and 3 RBI. LA lost despite going 5-9 with runners in scoring position. Nick Ahmed & JD Martinez both went 3-4 Ahmed and drove in all of Boston’s runs (Ahmed 4 Martinez 2). It will be a battle of aces in the Finale as Clayton Kersaw (1-1) faces the undefeated Justin Verlander (2-0)

Thunder 6 Vikings 1

Ryan Brawn drive in 4 and Mike Clevenger pitched into the 9th as the Texas Thunder evened up their series with King Ragnar’s Vikings with a 6-1 win.

Clevenger (W 2-0) was clearly the star of the show on the mound. A day after Texas pitching allowed 20 hits in 9 innings he came back strong scattering only six hits over 8 1/3 innings and pitching out of the two jams he faced with only minimal damage.

It helped that Texas went after Noah Syndergaard (L 0-2 pretty fast after Nolan Arenado stroked a one out single in the 2nd Mike Trout followed oubled to left center to drive him in and followed that up by stealing 2nd allowing him to score easily on Freddie Freeman’s single to make it 2-0.

In the 4th Texas struck again. Javier Biaz reached on a Jed Lowrie throwing error, stole second and was singled home with two outs by Ryan Braun, one of three hits he had that day for a 3-0 lead.

The Vikings stuck back in the 6th. Whit Merrifield walked and stole 2nd & 3rd with one out and Gerardo Parra drove him in with a single to make it 3-1 but Anthony Rizzo hit into an inning ending double play to stop the damage and in the Bottom half of the inning Texas got all they needed. Trout singled, stole 2nd and went to 3rd on Freddie Freeman’s single which chased Syndergaard. Reliever Arodys Vizcaino coxed a popout from Javier Baez but then walked Francisco Lindor loading the bases for Brawn who doubled deep to right clearing the bases to make it 6-1.

And that’s as close as the Vikings could get. Clevinger stranded Rivera after a lead off double in the 7th and after loading the bases in the 8th on a single, walk and hit batsman retired Ramon Laureano on a liner to keep the Vikings at bay.

Notes. After a dismal performance the day before Keone Kela came in and retired both men he faced in the 9th. Ramon Rivera was ejected by home plate umpire Derryl Cousins in the bottom of the after arguing over a 3-2 pitch that was called ball four instead of strike 3. The two teams ran wild in this game the Vikings stealing four bases on four attempts and Texas stealing five while being caught three times. Texas hands the ball to Zach Wheeler (0-1) in tomorrow’s finale while King Ragnar will trust Jacob deGrom (1-0) to deliver the rubber game for them

Rivertown 4 Juneau 1

Nelson Cruz and Matt Carpenter Homered for Rivertown while Juneau left ten men on base as the Raiders took game to of a three game set 4-1.

There were all the signs of a classic pitchers duel when Miles Mikolas (L 0-2) and Charlie Morton (W 1-1) took the mound and started retiring the other side. After three innings they between them only allowed one hit and while Morton loaded the bases in the 3rd with a pair of walks and a hit batsmen it looked like it would be a battle of wits and nerves.

Even Matt Carpener’s Homer to lead off the 4th giving Rivertown a 1-0 lead seemed an anomaly as both pitchers seemed determined to keep the other side down.

But in the top of the 6th inning after a walk to Jose Ramirez Mikolas grimaced in pain. Trainers came to look at him and didn’t like what they saw. Yoshihisa Hirano came in to replace him and allowed a pair of stolen bases by Ramirez to completely distract him walked Cano and followed with a fat pitch down the center that Nelson Cruz took over 408 feet to left putting Juneau in a 4-0 hole.

Juneau tried to dig out of it in the 6th. A Mookie Betts single was followed by an Ohtani walk and When Brock Holt singled to center scoring Betts and sending Ohtani to 2nd Juneau had the tying run at the plate with nobody out.

That’s when Morton bore down. Bryce Harper popped out and Andrelton Simmons fouled out and while Matt Chapman walked to load the bases, Buster Posey hit a simple grounder to end the inning and the threat and as it turned out the scoring as both sides bullpens held their ground for the rest of the game.

Notes: Thus far in the series all of Rivertown’s runs but one have come via the long ball. The report on Mikolas was stiffness in his pitching arm. He is considered day to day and may be able to make his next start. Reliever Sean Doolittle of Juneau was not so lucky he came out in the 9th after feeling something pop in his arm and the MRI showed tendon damage that would require season ending surgery. Ediwn Diaz (s3) pitched the ninth for his 3rd save. Juneau will ask Trevor Bauer (0-0) to salvage the last game of the series against Rivertown ace Chris Sale (1-1).