Six HRs Powers Red Sox Back Into First Place
The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-4 Thursday night on the strength on six HRs, three of them coming back to back to back in the seventh inning.
Dustin Pedroia hit his 9th in the third inning with two on, Adrian Gonzalez, hit a solo shot in the 5th for his 17th, Jacoby Ellsbury hit his 11th with one on in the 6th, David Ortiz 18th, Josh Reddick his 2nd and Jarrod Saltalamacchia his 6th.
Dustin Pedroia hit his 9th in the third inning with two on, Adrian Gonzalez, hit a solo shot in the 5th for his 17th, Jacoby Ellsbury hit his 11th with one on in the 6th, and in the 7th David Ortiz hit is 18th, Josh Reddick his 2nd and Jarrod Saltalamacchia his 6th.
The Red Sox have won three in a row and are now 7-3 in their last 10 games. At 52-35 (.598) they are now ½ game in front of the New York Yankees and in first place in the AL East with the best record in the American League.
Craig Kimbrel Sets First Half Save Record
The 23-year-old closer set the record for most saves by a rookie before the All-Star break by picking up his 27th on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies, besting the mark Jonathan Papelbon established in 2006 with the Red Sox.
Kimbrel has now converted 27 of 32 save opportunities this season, and his perfect inning of work Thursday also gave him the Major League lead. San Diego's Heath Bell has 26 saves.
The Philadelphia Phillies and their three All-Star Pitchers Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels have been getting all the press this year and deservedly so as at 55-33 (.625) they have the best record in MLB. It is the Atlanta Braves however are the team with the best pitching in MLB boasting a stingy team ERA of only 3.02.
With solid starting pitching and All-Star Jonny Venters setting up Kimbrel, the Atlanta Braves are now only 2 ½ games behind the Phillies for first place in the NL East and have a comfortable 5 game lead in the NL Wild Card Race.
Los Angles Angels Call Up 19-Year Old Mike Trout
The Los Angeles Angels announced late on Thursday night that they called up Mike Trout outfielder from Double-A Arkansas, and he would join the Major League club in time for Friday's game against the Seattle Mariners
The 6”-1’, 200-pound trout is only 19-years old and will become the youngest player in the Major Leagues. Trout entered the season ranked as the top prospect in all of baseball by both ESPN.com and MLB.com and was ranked the No. 2 prospect by Baseball America. Trout was hitting .330 with 9 HRs, 11 triples, 27 RBIs and 28 stolen bases in 74 games for Double-A Arkansas this season. The young phenom boasts an on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OBPS) of .966 and has walked 38 times.
The Angels come into today at 47-42, just one game behind the AL West leading Texas Rangers and 5 ½ games behind the Yankees in the AL Wild Card race. Led by All-Star Jared Weaver, with a team ERA of 3.28 the Angels have the third best pitching in the AL behind only Oakland and Seattle but they are 22nd in MLB out of 30 teams in runs scored with 338. Trout will provide some much needed punch in the Angels lineup.
Random Musing
When Derek Jeter gets his 3,000th hit, it will be the first time a MLB player has done so since we got Osama bin Laden. Add that to your list of post-bin Laden firsts.
By Mike Cardano, Executive Director, TheXLog.com
You may email Mike @ michael.cardano@rotoexperts.com or follow him on Twitter @MikeCardano. Listen to Mike Cardano on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio with Scott Engel and the morning crew Tuesday mornings at 10am ET.
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