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| Chipper Jones has 2,700 career hits and 466 home runs after Thursday. (Getty Images) |
There was no perfection on Thursday, but there was plenty of exciting baseball, so let's get to it...
Full Thursday scoreboard with recaps and box scores for every game
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Chipper Jones, Braves: On his bobblehead night, the 40-year-old Jones had his first multi-homer game since 2010. Jones' second home run was the 2,700th hit of his career and the Braves won their 17th game in their last 22.
Garrett Jones, Pirates: Jones helped the Pirates avoid a swep at the hands of the Dodgers by smacking two three-run home runs in the Pirates' 10-6 victory over the Dodgers. The six RBI were a career high.
Matt Harvey, Mets: In his fifth start in the big leagues, Harvey took a perfect game into the fifth and didn't give up a run until the eighth. The right-hander gave up just four hits and a walk in 7 2/3 innings, striking out eight Reds. He has 34 strikeouts in his first five starts, the second-most by a Mets rookie behind Dwingt Gooden (36 in 1984). He also hit a two-run double and had a sacrifice.
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Jason Motte, Cardinals: In to protect a 1-0 lead in the ninth, Motte gave up back-to-back home runs by the Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Young leading to a St. Louis loss.
Charlie Manuel, Phillies: The Philadelphia manager made a couple of moves that backfired in Thursday's 7-4 loss to the Brewers. With two outs in the eighth inning and the Phillies holding a 4-3 lead, the Brewers extended the inning thanks to a Kevin Frandsen error. Manuel not only decided to take Lee out at that point and bring in Josh Lindblom, he also had the right-hander intentionally walk Ryan Braun and the Lindblom walked Aramis Ramirez in to load the bases for Corey Hart. Since it's in 3 Down, you can probably guess what happened -- grand slam.
Dan Haren, Angels: Haren's spot in the Angels' rotation is in jeopardy after another rough start on Thursday. A day after failing to reach base against Felix Hernandez, the Rays had no such troubles in Anaheim, putting up five runs off of the Angels' starter and seven total. Haren, 8-10 with a 4.90 ERA, has allowed 10 earned runs on 12 hits in seven innings in his last two starts. Jerome Williams, who replaced Haren on Thursday, could pitch on Aug. 25 in Detroit, Haren's next time up in the team's rotation.
Looking for help: The Tigers are 4-4 in Justin Verlander's last eight starts despite his 2.33 ERA over that span, while Verlander has a 1-2 record in those four games, picking up a no decision in his last start, Aug. 11 at Texas, even though he gave up just one run on seven hits in seven innings. The last time he faced the Orioles, he held Baltimore to three hits in eight scoreless innings in his first start after the All-Star Game. 7:05 p.m.
Welcome back: The Braves have gone to a six-man rotation for the rest of the month thanks to the return of right-hander Tommy Hanson. Hanson missed his last two starts with a strained lower back. The Braves have won 10 of Hanson's last 11 starts, even though he's put up a 4.71 ERA over that span. 7:35 p.m. ET
NL Central showdown: The Cardinals and Pirates are chasing the Reds in the NL Central, and while Cincinnati hosts the lowly Cubs, the Pirates travel to St. Louis for a three-game set. The two teams will meet six times in their next 12 games. James McDonald of the Pirates faces off against Jake Westbrook in the first game of the series. Pittsburgh has lost each of McDonald's last four starts. 8:15 p.m. ET
Friday's probable pitchers
• Is batting practice necessary? Some say batting practice is a waste of time, while others believe it's a vital part of their preparation. [New York Times]
• No jinx: Every time we tweet about a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, we get plenty of responses about a jinx. Never mind that jinx wasn't more powerful than Felix Hernandez on Wednesday. Anyway, this argument is apparently much older than Twitter or even Facebook. Awful Announcing digs up an interview with the great Vin Scully about the topic from 1960. Scully says the belief that a broadcaster or anyone else can jinx a no-hitter by talking about it is ridiculous. And if Vin Scully says so, it must be true.
• Chapmania chart: The great Craig Robinson of Flip Flop Flyball puts Aroldis Chapman's phenomenal season in chart form. [The Score]
• 1-2-3-4-5: John Sickels writes about what exactly makes up a No. 1, a No. 2, a No. 3, a No. 4 and a No. 5 pitcher. As Sickels notes, just because you're a team's No. 1 starter, it doesn't make you a No. 1 starter.
• Baseball school: IMG Academies is a private sports school that includes intense baseball training as well as regular classes. Perhaps they have the best history class ever with discussions on Babe Ruth, Merkle's boner and Alexander Cartwright. [NPR]
• Bringing the heat: It's been an incredibly hot summer and baseball has had to deal with climate change. [Huffington Post]
• Cutting it out: The Orioles don't like the cutter, general manager Dan Duquette said. And no, not just facing Mariano RIvera's cutter, Duquette said he doesn't like his young pitchers throwing the pitch. In fact, they've forbid Dylan Bundy from throwing it. [MASNSports.com]
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