Happy Sunday, MLB fans. As we do every day, we'll round up everything you need to know from the day that was. Let's dive in.
Sunday's scores
Twins 7, Blue Jays 2 (box score)
Yankees 10, Mariners 1 (box score)
Pirates 5, Reds 2 (box score)
Indians 12, Royals 0 (box score)
Marlins 6, Padres 2 (box score)
Phillies 6, Cubs 3 (box score)
Orioles 2, Red Sox 1 (box score)
Mets 6, Nationals 5, Game 1 (box score)
Rockies 3, Braves 0 (box score)
White Sox 7, Tigers 1 (box score)
Rays 3, Cardinals 2 in 10 innings (box score)
Astros 7, Angels 5 (box score)
Athletics 8, Rangers 3 (box score)
Diamondbacks 11, Giants 0 (box score)
Brewers 3, Dodgers 2 (box score)
Nationals 5, Mets 4 (box score)
Stanton reaches 50
Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton has reached 50 home runs before the end of August. What an amazing run. For the full story, click here.
The Marlins would win, by the way, and they move to 66-63. They've now won 13 of their last 16 games and sit 4 1/2 games out of the second NL wild card.
Hoskins keeps hitting homers
Phillies rookie Rhys Hoskins has now homered 11 times in the first 18 games of his career. For more, click here.
Brewers come up big in L.A.
Coming into their three-game home series against the Brewers, the Dodgers were 51-14 at home this season. They also hadn't lost a series since dropping two of three to the Nationals in early June. Over that span, the Dodgers were 19-0-3 in series. The Dodgers also took the opener of this set on Friday before dropping the second game. That occasioned the rubber match on Sunday, which, as you can see above, the Brewers won. Speaking of which, here's "Pan Blanco" going yard ...
Knead to give props to Pan Blanco. He wasn't loafing on this swing! #PlayersWeekend#MILatLAD 🍞 pic.twitter.com/05RlgsRudO
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 27, 2017
From the Brewers' standpoint, this is huge. Sunday's win in tandem with the Cubs' loss to the Phillies means they're now just two games back in the NL Central. The Cubs have a significant edge moving forward when it comes to strength of schedule, but the Brewers managed to make up ground in the standings while playing the best team in baseball and while the Cubs were playing the worst. That kind of "leveling up" on the part of Milwaukee can keep things in the NL Central interesting as we head into the stretch drive.
Mariners make dubious history
The Mariners, en route to being crushed on Sunday, committed five errors ... in a single inning. For more, click here.
Indians score 12 in first two innings
Things escalated quickly in Cleveland against Royals starter Eric Skoglund. The Indians strung together a series of hits to plate three runs in the first inning and that would prove to simply be the appetizer. The main course? A nine-spot in the second inning. Franciso Lindor hit a two-run homer. Carlos Santana then hit a three-run homer. After two infield singles and a walk, Yan Gomes went deep for a grand slam.
Buxton goes nuts
Twins youngster Byron Buxton basically beat the Blue Jays all on his own on Sunday. He was 4 for 5 with three homers, four runs scored and five RBI. Here's number three:
Buxton got off to an atrocious start this season and still scuffled a bit through June. Since the beginning of July, however, Buxton is hitting .345/.378/.617 with four doubles, two triples, nine homers, 23 RBI and 30 runs scored. With his ability to wreak havoc on the basepaths and play excellent defense in center field, he's a superstar with this offensive line. Keep an eye on him moving forward. He's still only 23 years old.
The Twins, meanwhile, move to 67-63 and maintain their hold on the second AL wild card.
Orioles sweep Red Sox, get back to .500
The Orioles came through with a big series in Fenway Park, sweeping the first-place Red Sox thanks in part to Sunday's 2-1 victory.
In this one, the O's got two runs in the top of the first and that would prove to be all they needed, thanks to five good innings from Wade Miley and four outstanding innings from the bullpen.
The Orioles are now 65-65, which is good enough to be just two games out of the second AL wild card. They have evened up their record a few times, but have been unable to get above .500 since all the way back on June 7. They now return home for a 10-game homestand against the Mariners, Blue Jays and Yankees.
The Sox, meantime, have seen their lead over the Yankees in the AL East narrowed down to just 2.5 games.
Quick hits
- Yu Darvish was activated from the DL to start Sunday for the Dodgers.
- The Cardinals have placed Jedd Gyorko on the disabled list due to a hamstring strain. Luke Voit was recalled as a corresponding move.
- The Tigers placed Victor Martinez on the DL due to an irregular heartbeat. JaCoby Jones was called up in his place.
- Royals starter Danny Duffy, who was placed on the DL Saturday, has a "low grade pronator strain" in his elbow, per Ned Yost (Rustin Dodd).
- Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw (back) will return to the rotation on Friday against the Padres.