The Chicago White Sox completed their second sweep of Minnesota this season with a 3-1 defeat of the Twins, while the Tampa Bay Rays sunk the Los Angeles Angels by the same margin.
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The Cubs won their seventh in a row and improved the best record in the majors to 24-6. “I know [Harper] hasn’t been as hot as he can be coming into this series, but you don’t want him to get hot”.
Forget the fact that Washington Nationals outfield superstar Bryce Harper set a Major League Baseball (MLB) record on Sunday by reaching a base seven times without registering an official at-bat.
Harper walked six times and was hit by a pitch in seven plate appearances on Sunday.
Things nearly became almost comical when Harper strolled to the batter’s box.
wbbNationals’ Ryan Zimmerman reacts as he grounds out to Chicago Cubs third baseman Javier Baez during the 12th inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 8, 2016, in Chicago.
Baez hit his home run with one out off Blake Treinen (2-1). And Wood picked up the win with his one scoreless inning. The Cubs walked him zero times. And in the at-bats where Maddon didn’t order a walk, it’s pretty clear Cubs pitchers were told to keep the ball away from the strike zone at all costs.
But Murphy, who raised his average to.398, had an RBI single in the fourth and a two-run homer in the sixth as Washington rallied for a 5-4 win on Clint Robinson’s pinch-hit home run in the ninth.
“If I don’t swing the bat against (John) Lackey one time (Friday), I think I walk 16 times”, Harper said. The Cubs managed to generate only one run through six innings and were solidly in line for their first loss in seven games when Kris Bryant’s two-run double in the bottom of the seventh made it a brand new ballgame. He allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in six innings.
Harper met the intentional walks with a smirk, appearing to say, “Alright”.
Combined with the high-profile series and Harper’s stardom, Roark’s comment created a national stir of sorts, about whether that was good for the game. Sometimes you get out of that and start trying to do too much.
The reigning National League Cy Young Award victor had one of those Sunday, littering the bases with runners and needing 100 pitches just to get through five innings.
BREWERS 5, REDS 4 Jonathan Lucroy greeted Ross Ohlendorf (3-3) with a tiebreaking home run leading off the eighth inning, then caught Billy Hamilton stealing for the final out – a call upheld in a video review.
Kansas City at NY, 6:05 p.m.
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San Diego at Chicago, 7:05 p.m.
