Sunday brings us a full 15-game slate of big league action, but, more importantly, it was Hall of Fame induction day. Harold Baines, Mike Mussina, Edgar Martinez, Mariano Rivera, Lee Smith and the late Roy Halladay all assumed their rightful places in Cooperstown. Here are the highlights from Sunday's Hall of Fame induction ceremony. In game action we had an Orioles pitcher flirt with a no-hitter, a walk-off in Detroit, a rare feat in the Bronx and more.
Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.
Who wins every MLB game? And what underdogs can give you a huge victory tonight? Visit SportsLine now to see the exact score of every MLB game, plus get full player stat projections, all from the model that simulates every game 10,000 times.
Baseball scores for Sunday, July 21
- FINAL - Rockies 8, Yankees 4 (box score)
- FINAL - Orioles 5, Red Sox 0 (box score)
- FINAL - Cardinals 3, Reds 1 (box score)
- FINAL - Tigers 4, Blue Jays 3 in 10 innings (box score)
- FINAL - Rays 4, White Sox 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Indians 5, Royals 4 (box score)
- FINAL - Phillies 2, Pirates 1 (box score)
- FINAL - Twins 7, Athletics 6 (box score)
- FINAL - Astros 5, Rangers 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Padres 5, Cubs 1 (box score)
- FINAL - Giants 3, Mets 2 in 12 (box score)
- FINAL - Brewers 7, Diamondbacks 4 (box score)
- FINAL - Dodgers 9, Marlins 0 (box score)
- FINAL - Angels 9, Mariners 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Braves 7, Nationals 1 (box score)
Twins survive scare, salvage game vs. A's
The Indians won again on Sunday and, for a quick second, it looked like they were going to get to within two games of the AL Central-leading Twins. But the Twinkies found a way to come back and survive at home against the A's.
The Twins were leading basically all game until the bullpen again coughed up the lead. This time it was in the eighth inning, so after being in control all game, the Twins went to the ninth trailing 6-5 and facing A's All-Star closer Liam Hendriks.
With one out, Luis Arraez singled, clearing the way for Ehire Adrianza's game-tying triple:
After a strikeout, Max Kepler played hero.
We're gonna guess Twins fans felt more relief than excitement, but it can be a little of both. The Twins had lost five of six before this one and blew a late lead in each of their last two games. The lead has fallen from 11 games in the Central to just three and the Yankees visit the Twins next. They really needed this one.
Wojciechowski flirts with no-hitter against Red Sox
As expected, the Orioles are not having a good 2019 season. Not at all. Fill-in starter Asher Wojciechowski gave the O's faithful a little something to get excited about on Sunday though. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Red Sox before Rafael Devers broke it up with a double. Wojciechowski settled for his first win of the year.
Trey Mancini hit two home runs and the Orioles tagged Andrew Cashner, their former teammate, for four runs in six innings Sunday. After the game Cashner told reporters, including MLB.com's Joe Trezza, that Wojciechowski "got more calls than I did," which is kind of a sore loser thing to say, but to each his own.
Going into Sunday's game the 30-year-old Wojciechowski owned a 4-7 record and a career 6.49 ERA in 94 1/3 innings. The O's acquired him earlier this month to help soak up innings down the stretch, after they traded veterans like Cashner.
Giants walk-off, are back at .500
The Giants spent the early part of the season in last place, among really just two non-contending NL teams along with the Marlins. Everyone was (or still is) expecting them to trade at least Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith in front of the trade deadline. It's possible that will still happen, but the Giants are on some kind of run right now. On Sunday, rookie Mike Yastrzemski came through with a homer in the 12th to win yet another series:
That'll make Grandpa Carl proud.
The Giants haven't lost a series since June 24-26. On June 29, they were 12 games under .500 and 8 1/2 games out of the second NL wild card. Since then, they've gone 15-3, blazing a trail all the way up to being just 2 1/2 games out of the final NL playoff spot. Remarkable run.
Castellanos hits walk-off homer
Did Nicholas Castellanos hit his final home run as a Tiger on Sunday? Maybe! The in-demand outfielder hit his 11th home run of the season and it was a big one -- a walk-off solo shot against the Blue Jays. Check it out:
Castellanos is an impending free agent and, at this point, it seems like a matter of "when" the Tigers trade him, not "if." The Cubs are said to have interest, ditto the Braves. How much will Detroit get in return? Using the J.D. Martinez trade as a benchmark, I suspect the answer is not as much as they'd like.
Rockies, Yankees trade leadoff homers
It has been scorching hot on the East Coast this weekend and the ball is flying at Yankee Stadium. Sunday afternoon, Charlie Blackmon swatted James Paxton's second pitch out to right field for a leadoff home run. It was Blackmon's sixth leadoff homer of the season, tied with George Springer for the most in baseball.
For Paxton, it was the eighth home run he's allowed in the first inning this season. He's allowed five home runs in all other innings combined. His 10.06 ERA in the first inning is the highest in the American League and his 2.44 ERA in all other innings is the lowest in the American League. Weird.
Anyway, the Yankees responded to Blackmon's leadoff homer with one of their own. Former Rockie DJ LeMahieu clubbed German Marquez's first pitch into the right field short porch to knot the game up at 1-1. The home run was No. 14 on the season for LeMahieu, one short of the career high he set last year.
It had been a very, very, very long time since the Yankees were involved in a game with two leadoff home runs. You have to go back to Sept. 3, 1955. Eddie Yost of the Washington Senators took Don Larsen deep to start the top of the first, then Hank Bauer took Camilo Pascual deep to start the bottom of the first. A rarity in the Bronx on Sunday.
Ramirez continues resurgence in Indians win
Jose Ramirez is starting to look like the MVP caliber performer we saw in 2017 and 2018. Ramirez swatted a go-ahead solo home run Sunday afternoon to help the Indians defeat the Royals. It was his second homer in four games and his fifth homer in his last 13 games. To the action footage:
Ramirez went into Sunday's game hitting .229/.309/.370 overall, which obviously isn't very good. However, since bottoming out at .198/.295/.292 on June 12, Ramirez has put up a .297/.344/.541 batting line in 28 games. He has 15 extra-base hits in those 28 games and as many walks as strikeouts (nine each). That's the Ramirez we know and love.
Sunday's win was Cleveland's 12th in 15 games in July. They have been slowly gaining ground on the first place Twins the last few weeks and Ramirez's resurgence has been a big reason why. There was no chance the Indians would contend with Ramirez playing sub-replacement-level ball.
Quick hits
- Here is our NL West trade deadline guide and here is our daily trade deadline rumor roundup. Among other things, we have updates on the Nationals and their interest in Tigers closer RHP Shane Greene and Giants RHP Sam Dyson.
- Astros SS Carlos Correa is doing well during his rehab assignment and is expected to rejoin the team when eligible to be activated Friday, manager A.J. Hinch told The Athletic. Correa has been out since May 29 with a fractured rib.
- The Rays placed OF Kevin Kiermaier on the 10-day injured list with a thumb sprain, the team announced. He suffered the injury sliding into first base Saturday and doesn't need surgery. OF Guillermo Heredia was called up to fill the roster spot.
- The Rockies designated 1B Mark Reynolds for assignment, the club announced. Reynolds hit .170/.290/.311 with four homers in 162 plate appearances this year. LHP Sam Howard was called up in a corresponding move.
- The Orioles designated OF Keon Broxton for assignment, the team announced. Broxton hit .204/.261/.350 with 49 strikeouts in 112 plate appearances with the O's. RHP Branden Kline was called up in a corresponding move.
- The Cardinals sent RHP Dominic Leone and RHP Ryan Helsley to Triple-A, the team announced. Leone has a 7.14 ERA this season. IF Rangel Ravelo and LHP Tyler Webb were called up corresponding moves.
- The Mariners acquired RHP Matt Magill from the Twins for cash considerations, the club announced. Magill allowed 21 runs in 28 1/3 innings with Minnesota before being designated for assignment earlier this week.
