Father's Day brought us some pretty entertaining baseball, especially if we look at the three teams at the top of the NL West. We'll get to that and so much more below in our daily roundup.
Final scores
Blue Jays 7, White Sox 3 (box score)
Mets 5, Nationals 1 (box score)
Dodgers 8, Reds 7 (box score)
Rays 9, Tigers 1 (box score)
Diamondbacks 5, Phillies 4 (box score)
Cubs 7, Pirates 1 (box score)
Orioles 8, Cardinals 5 (box score)
Braves 5, Marlins 4 (box score)
Indians 5, Twins 2 (box score)
Brewers 2, Padres 1 (box score)
Mariners 7, Rangers 3 (box score)
Rockies 7, Giants 5 (box score)
Royals 7, Angels 3 (box score)
Athletics 4, Yankees 3 (box score)
Red Sox 6, Astros 5 (box score)
Arenado hits for cycle with walk-off home run
The Rockies won their fifth straight game on Sunday and own the best record in the NL. They did so in dramatic fashion, too, with Nolan Arenado's walk-off homer.
That shot meant Arenado also hit for the cycle. For more on that, hop over here.
The Diamondbacks are on fire, too
Robbie Ray had his worst outing in weeks, giving up four runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings, but the D-Backs picked him up with a come-from-behind, extra-inning victory. In the ninth, trailing by one, Nick Ahmed took a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a David Peralta single. Gregor Blanco followed with an RBI single to tie things up. Reymond Fuentes would club a solo homer -- his first career home run -- in the 10th before Fernando Rodney struck out all three batters he faced in the bottom part of the 10th.
This completed a three-game sweep in Philadelphia for the Diamondbacks and they are 5-0 so far on an eight-game road trip. Sunday's win was their seventh straight and they've won 10 of their last 11.
We have yet to hit the halfway point in the season, but we're more than halfway through June and the Diamondbacks are 44-26. They are very much for real.
So are the Dodgers
The Dodgers have won nine of their last 10 games and are still -- along with Arizona -- one game back of the Rockies in the NL West. In fact, the Diamondbacks and Dodgers are tied for the third-best record in all of baseball and right now they'd be playing in the NL Wild Card Game.
Yankees are not
Back on Monday, the Yankees were rolling, having won six in a row. Their record moved to 38-23 and they had a four-game lead in the ultra-competitve AL East.
Since then, things haven't been going too well.
They lost in a walk-off in 11 innings on Tuesday and dropped the series finale in Anaheim on Wednesday. Thursday, they dropped an extra-innings walk-off again and with a loss on Sunday they were swept in four games by the A's. In all, that's six straight losses by the Bronx Bombers, effectively cancelling out their previous winning streak.
The Yankees are now caught in a tie at the top of the AL East, a division they've led most of the season.
Price not terrible, but not good
Since returning from injury, Red Sox starter David Price hasn't been very good. He carried a 5.09 ERA into Sunday night's bout with the Astros. He was good enough to help the Red Sox win this one, but he definitely wasn't good. In five-plus innings, Price would give up three earned runs on eight hits, including two home runs.
Most concerning was Price's lack of command, again. He was very inefficient, ending up with 107 pitches while walking three and hitting one while uncorking two wild pitches. He routinely missed spots and didn't miss many bats, only striking out three.
Quite simply: This isn't the old David Price. Coming off an elbow injury, the concerns continue.
On the bright side, the Red Sox did win -- as they've now done in seven of their last 10 games -- and that moves them into a first-place tie with the Yankees.
Coming together for Indians?
The Indians were just 31-31 after losing to the Dodgers this past Wednesday. They had yet to really find their stride in following up on their AL pennant. After Sunday's win over the Twins -- completing a four-game sweep -- the Indians have now taken over first place in the AL Central by two games. They are on a five-game winning streak, during which they've outscored their opponents 40-13.
Edwin Encarnacion got off to a slow start this season and was under the Mendoza line as late as May 20. On Sunday, he was 3 for 4 with two homers and five RBI. So in his last 10 games, he's hitting .441 with two doubles, six homers and 15 RBI. His season line is now up to .261/.377/.496. That's the middle-of-the-order thumper the Indians paid for.
Astros coming back a bit
After steamrolling the league through 58 games (of which the Astros won 42), things are slowing down in Houston. They've gone 4-8 since then.
Of course, they've had injuries to the rotation and every season has its ebbs and flows. They were playing at a pace of 117 wins over the course of a full season. That wasn't going to keep up, especially factoring in the injuries to the rotation.
Nelson comes up huge for Brewers
The Brewers maintained their 2 1/2-game lead in the NL Central with a hard-fought, 2-1 win. Starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson was the star of the game. He struck out 10 while allowing just one run on six hits in a complete-game effort, marking one of the best games in his career.
This was the first career complete game for Nelson and the fourth time in his career that he struck out at least 10 hitters. There's more to it than just Nelson completing the game, too:
Nelson just put his team on his back. That's ace-level work.
Speaking of which, in his last five starts, Nelson is 3-0 with a 2.02 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings.
The Brewers are 38-33. Last year at this juncture, they were 31-40.
Shields returns
After being sidelined for more than two months due to a strained lat, James Shields started for the White Sox on Sunday afternoon. He had a decent day against the Blue Jays.
In all, Shields worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs and seven hits. He walked one batter and struck out three, all the while leaning on his curveball as his top secondary offering, generating five whiffs on 22 of them.
Depending on how Shields pitches heading forward, he could become a deadline target. That's especially true if the White Sox are willing to eat some (or most) of the roughly $17 or so million they owe him through next season. Chances are we'll see him in a Chicago uniform several more times before learning his fate at the July 31 trade deadline.
Rays rout Tigers behind Faria, Morrison
The Rays defeated the Tigers by a 9-1 score on Sunday. Two main actors behind that victory? Starter Jacob Faria and first baseman Logan Morrison.
Faria stymied the Tigers in his third career start. He lasted seven innings, allowing a run on six hits and one walk. He also struck out nine batters, giving him 22 punch outs over his first 19 2/3 innings. Keep in mind, Faria had allowed just a run apiece over his first two starts, meaning he's now boasting a 3-0 record and a 1.37 ERA. That's impressive stuff from someone who wasn't considered the Rays' best pitching prospect entering the season.
As for Morrison, he continues to author an equally impressive season. Though never much known for his power, he homered twice on Sunday, giving him 21 for the year. His single-season career best is 23, set back in 2011. Morrison is now hitting .245/.353/.572 on the season. The Rays caught some flak when they signed him over Chris Carter during the offseason, but that decision has paid dividends multiple times over.
Arroyo's awful season continues
There was no reason, earthly or otherwise, to expect much from Bronson Arroyo this year. After all, the 40-year-old hadn't pitched in the majors since 2014. But sheesh, this is getting ridiculous.
Arroyo entered Sunday with a 7.01 ERA over his first 13 starts. Somehow, he exited with an even higher mark. Arroyo recorded just nine outs versus the Dodgers, all the while allowing five runs on seven hits (including a Logan Forsythe home run that plated two). For those unwilling to do the math, that means Arroyo now has a 7.35 ERA in 71 innings on the season.
Predictably, Arroyo's year already qualifies as one of the worst in Reds history. His ERA is the fourth-highest among pitchers to throw 50 innings in a season, trailing Alfredo Simon (9.36; 2016), Jay Hook (7.76; 1961) and Josh Fogg (7.58; 2008). It's unclear how many more starts the Reds will afford Arroyo, but you have to think he'll crack the top three if the Reds give him another week or two.
Quick hits
- The Astros and A's could be talking about a Sonny Gray trade.
- Rangers SP Cole Hamels could be making his final rehab start on Wednesday.
- The Mariners will be getting Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma back in their rotation come next weekend.
- Yankees 3B prospect Gleyber Torres was placed on the minor-league DL due to an elbow injury.
- The Indians acquired SP Jarrett Grube from the Blue Jays. He's purely organizational depth.