Martinez's Four Home Runs Power D-backs to 11th Straight Win
Of all the wins during the Arizona Diamondbacks' current win streak, Monday night may have made the biggest statement. Arizona walked in to Dodger Stadium on Labor Day and extended their winning streak with ease by pounding the majors' best, Los Angeles Dodgers in a 13-0 blowout win. The victory is their 11th in a row, keeping pace with the Rockies, who won on a walk-off walk over the San Francisco Giants earlier in the day. The story of the night, though, was trade deadline acquisition J. D. Martinez, who went deep four times on the night, moving his total to 34 on the season, 18 of which have come with Arizona. The slugger became the first player in franchise history with four homers in a game, as he continues to be a spark plug in the stacked Arizona lineup. He connected for a two-run shot in the fourth off of starter Rich Hill to get the D-backs on the board, and then added solo shots in the seventh and eighth, before topping things off with a two-run blast in the ninth for a total of six RBI. Brandon Drury and Adam Rosales added home runs to support Robbie Ray, who struck out 14 while lasting 7.2 shutout innings to record his 13th win of the year. Hill was charged with just two runs over six innings for the Dodgers, as the bullpen went on give up 11 runs in the final three innings of the game. Most notably, Pedro Baez and Wilmer Font each surrendered four runs in relief. Los Angeles remains 46 games over .500 despite dropping nine of 11 games, including four in a row. Arizona's record sits at an impressive 81-58, as they look to stay red hot in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Ramirez, Indians Extend Win Streak to a Dozen
The Cleveland Indians are no doubt locked in as they continue to inch closer to that 14-game win streak that sent them cruising to the World Series last season. Their current streak reached a dozen on Labor Day with a 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Labor Day. Trevor Bauer continued to pitch well, winning his eighth decision in a row after he struck out nine over 6.1 innings in his 15th win of the year. He was charged with both runs on just three hits, while getting backed up by long balls from Jose Ramirez and Carlos Santana. Ramirez's home run was his 23rd of the year, while Santana went deep for a 22nd time this season, with both coming off against White Sox starter James Shields. The right-hander left the game in the seventh inning after taking a line drive off the knee and is listed as day-to-day. The Indians' 14-game streak from last season is a franchise record, as this year's win streak could prove to be more impressive with a majority of the wins coming on the road. It was a team effort on the mound Monday afternoon, as three other pitchers set up Cody Allen for his 24th save in 28 chances. The series continued with Game 2 taking place on Tuesday night, as Danny Salazar will make the start for the first-place Tribe.
Tennessee Survives Upset Scare in Double-OT
The 25th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers had a very stressful season opener, although, it did end up in victory. The Vols rallied from two separate 14-point deficits to avoid the upset against Georgia Tech with a 42-41 double-overtime victory. John Kelly ran for two touchdowns in overtime after tying the game with a TD with 1:11 left in regulation, as Tennessee went on to stop Georgia Tech short on a two-point conversion try to seal the win. It was one of the rare times that they were able to stop TaQuon Marshall for the Yellow Jackets, as the running back was brought down just short of the goal line. Before that, Marshall blew up the stat sheet with 249 rushing yards and a school record four touchdowns to build Georgia Tech's lead. It ends up being a head-scratching loss for the unranked team, who ran for 535 yards and held the ball for over 41 minutes, all in a losing effort. Tennessee's new quarterback, Quinten Dormady shook off a slow start to throw for 221 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came in the second half. The Volunteers will host Indiana State in Week 2, while Georgia Tech will shake off what could have been to return home against Jacksonville State.
Of all the wins during the Arizona Diamondbacks' current win streak, Monday night may have made the biggest statement. Arizona walked in to Dodger Stadium on Labor Day and extended their winning streak with ease by pounding the majors' best, Los Angeles Dodgers in a 13-0 blowout win. The victory is their 11th in a row, keeping pace with the Rockies, who won on a walk-off walk over the San Francisco Giants earlier in the day. The story of the night, though, was trade deadline acquisition J. D. Martinez, who went deep four times on the night, moving his total to 34 on the season, 18 of which have come with Arizona. The slugger became the first player in franchise history with four homers in a game, as he continues to be a spark plug in the stacked Arizona lineup. He connected for a two-run shot in the fourth off of starter Rich Hill to get the D-backs on the board, and then added solo shots in the seventh and eighth, before topping things off with a two-run blast in the ninth for a total of six RBI. Brandon Drury and Adam Rosales added home runs to support Robbie Ray, who struck out 14 while lasting 7.2 shutout innings to record his 13th win of the year. Hill was charged with just two runs over six innings for the Dodgers, as the bullpen went on give up 11 runs in the final three innings of the game. Most notably, Pedro Baez and Wilmer Font each surrendered four runs in relief. Los Angeles remains 46 games over .500 despite dropping nine of 11 games, including four in a row. Arizona's record sits at an impressive 81-58, as they look to stay red hot in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Ramirez, Indians Extend Win Streak to a Dozen
The Cleveland Indians are no doubt locked in as they continue to inch closer to that 14-game win streak that sent them cruising to the World Series last season. Their current streak reached a dozen on Labor Day with a 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Labor Day. Trevor Bauer continued to pitch well, winning his eighth decision in a row after he struck out nine over 6.1 innings in his 15th win of the year. He was charged with both runs on just three hits, while getting backed up by long balls from Jose Ramirez and Carlos Santana. Ramirez's home run was his 23rd of the year, while Santana went deep for a 22nd time this season, with both coming off against White Sox starter James Shields. The right-hander left the game in the seventh inning after taking a line drive off the knee and is listed as day-to-day. The Indians' 14-game streak from last season is a franchise record, as this year's win streak could prove to be more impressive with a majority of the wins coming on the road. It was a team effort on the mound Monday afternoon, as three other pitchers set up Cody Allen for his 24th save in 28 chances. The series continued with Game 2 taking place on Tuesday night, as Danny Salazar will make the start for the first-place Tribe.
Tennessee Survives Upset Scare in Double-OT
The 25th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers had a very stressful season opener, although, it did end up in victory. The Vols rallied from two separate 14-point deficits to avoid the upset against Georgia Tech with a 42-41 double-overtime victory. John Kelly ran for two touchdowns in overtime after tying the game with a TD with 1:11 left in regulation, as Tennessee went on to stop Georgia Tech short on a two-point conversion try to seal the win. It was one of the rare times that they were able to stop TaQuon Marshall for the Yellow Jackets, as the running back was brought down just short of the goal line. Before that, Marshall blew up the stat sheet with 249 rushing yards and a school record four touchdowns to build Georgia Tech's lead. It ends up being a head-scratching loss for the unranked team, who ran for 535 yards and held the ball for over 41 minutes, all in a losing effort. Tennessee's new quarterback, Quinten Dormady shook off a slow start to throw for 221 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came in the second half. The Volunteers will host Indiana State in Week 2, while Georgia Tech will shake off what could have been to return home against Jacksonville State.
