Major League Baseball action spans most of the day on Thursday, with games kicking off at 1:10 p.m. ET and the last game beginning at 10:07 p.m. ET. There are six day games and five night games, so one could have plenty of fun watching multiple games for about 12 hours straight.
Final scores
Braves 7, Mets 5 (box score)
Phillies 3, Marlins 2 (box score)
Mariners 2, Tigers 1 (box score)
Cardinals 8, Blue Jays 4 in 11 (box score)
Nationals 16, Rockies 5 (box score)
Dodgers 5, Giants 1 in 10 (box score)
Indians 4, Astros 3 (box score)
Yankees 3, Red Sox 0 (box score)
Cardinals 6, Blue Jays 4 in Game 2 (box score)
Diamondbacks 6, Padres 2 (box score)
Angels 2, Athletics 1 (box score)
Same old story for Sale
Chris Sale started for the Boston Red Sox. You know what that means. Yup -- no run support.
Sale threw eight innings, allowing eight hits, two runs, and zero walks against the Yankees. He struck out 10 batters on 109 pitches. It didn't matter. The Red Sox couldn't muster anything more than three hits against Masahiro Tanaka, who threw the second shutout of his career. (The first came against the Mets in 2014.)
Sale entered the night with Boston scoring just 2.3 runs per game in his starts. No other Red Sox starter had the offense score fewer than 3.7 runs per start. That rate declined on Thursday. And that's why Sale has a losing record through five starts despite pitching as well as ever.
Devenski suffers rare blown lead
Astros right-hander Chris Devenski has turned into an elite bullpen weapon. He came into play on Thursday having allowed two runs in 14 innings while striking out 27 batters and walking one. Devenski also hadn't blown a lead in '17. Based on the subhead, you know what happened next.
Devenski entered in the fifth inning with one out and the game's tying run on third base. He was able to retire both Francisco Lindor and Michael Brantley on four pitches. Devenski then recorded three consecutive strikeouts in the sixth after a leadoff error saw Edwin Encarnacion reach second base. The seventh inning seemed destined for more of the same -- Devenski had struck out two batters around a Yan Gomes walk. But then Francisco Lindor did this:
Just like that, Devenski had blown his first lead of the year.
The Astros would threaten in the ninth -- they'd put the tying run on third base with Carlos Correa due up -- but ultimately fell short. As such, Devenski took his first loss of the year and proved again that even the best relievers are mortals.
Harper, Murphy continue RBI battle
On Monday, the Nationals dropped the first game of their four-game set against the Rockies by a 8-4 score. That's important to remember, because the Nationals more than got their revenge in the subsequent three games, culminating in Thursday's 16-5 victory. All told, the Nats scored 42 runs in the final three games -- or about 30 percent of their seasonal total.
The Nationals' top five hitters combined for 11 hits and 12 RBI. Those totals include home runs from Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy, who are now tied for the majors' lead in RBI with 25 apiece. (Fellow Nat Ryan Zimmerman entered the day tied for third.)
Here's Harper's home run, by the way:
So, so, so pretty.
The Blue Jays' season of horrors rolls on
Toronto entered Thursday with a 6-14 record, a mark good for last place in the American League East. If the Jays are going to make a serious run at the postseason, their luck needs to change soon. Unfortunately, it's fair to say that alteration did not begin on Thursday. Instead, the Blue Jays lost the first game of a doubleheader in extra innings against the Cardinals via -- get this -- walk-off grand slam.
What led to that conclusion? The Blue Jays intentionally walked consecutive batters following Kolten Wong's leadoff triple. After Ryan Tepera coerced an Aldemys Diaz flyout, manager John Gibbons brought in J.P. Howell to spawn a double-play ball against Matt Carpenter. Howell got ahead 1-2, but Carpenter was nonetheless able to win the sequence, crushing a hanging breaking ball:
The Jays were unable to salvage the night cap, either. Losing 6-4 after starter Casey Lawrence allowed six runs in five innings.
Things are really bad for the Mets
Steven Matz has been on the disabled list all season while Jacob deGrom already dealt with stiff neck. On Thursday, we learned that Noah Syndergaard is dealing with a "tired arm" and that Matt Harvey would get the ball in his stead.
Harvey would only last 4 1/3 innings, giving up six earned runs on five hits and five walks while only striking out one as the Mets fell to the Braves 7-5. His velocity was severely diminished after the first inning and he lacked both command and control. Let's keep in mind that Harvey is coming off season-ending surgery due to thoracic outlet syndrome.
As if things weren't bad enough, Yoenis Cespedes re-aggravated his hamstring injury and the Mets are calling it a pull. He'll head to Florida to rehab during his DL stay.
Oh, and with the loss to the Braves, the Mets have now lost 10 of their last 11 and fall to last place in the NL East at 8-13. Pending the Nationals' result in Colorado, the Mets are already seven games back in the loss column. It's a long season and that's not insurmountable, but it's a huge hole to dig by April 27.
The Phillies are streaking
Philly started the season 3-7 and many felt that wasn't all too surprising. Sure, things should start to improve by now in a rebuild, but they still seemed a year or two away.
With Thursday's home victory over the Marlins, the Phillies have completed a sweep and won six straight games. They move to 11-9 this season.
Cesar Hernandez and Aaron Altherr have been the offensive stars on the season so far, but neither started on Thursday. Jeremy Hellickson starred on the mound, again, moving himself to 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA this season. Hector Neris worked a spotless ninth to record his third save in three tries since being moved into the closer role. He has a 2.19 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings this season.
Now let's see what the Phillies are made of, because they have a seven game road trip, visting the Dodgers and Cubs. When they return home it's a three-game set against the Nationals. Big early-season test time, Phils.
Quick hits
- There might be a snag with the Bush-Jeter bid to buy the Marlins, but it still sounds likely they'll get it done.
- Leonys Martin cleared waivers and has been sent to Triple-A, remaining with the Mariners.
- The Reds have activated catcher Devin Mesoraco from the disabled list.
- Jason Motte was summoned from Triple-A to join the Braves' bullpen.
- For a quick and fun moment, check out Angel Hernandez's mask catch.
- Shelby Miller has a torn UCL and seems likely to undergo Tommy John surgery.