Darvish Dominates in Dodgers Debut
The Los Angeles Dodgers made a bold move at the trade deadline by acquiring Yu Darivsh from the Texas Rangers to solidify their rotation while Clayton Kershaw sits out, and even when the ace comes back. The only questions came from his recent struggles this season, and since undergoing Tommy John Surgery, but he didn't show any signs of that on Friday night. Darvish struck out 10 batters over seven scoreless innings in a 6-0 shutout of the New York Mets. The right-hander was backed up by a lead-off home run from Chris Taylor, as well as a two-run shot from Chase Utley against Mets starter Jacob deGrom. The Dodgers have taken all five meetings from New York this season, out-scoring them 42-11 in those matchups. Darvish's impressive outing snapped a personal five-game losing streak, as he won for the first time in nine outings. Los Angeles also got a long ball from Yasiel Puig, as they have now won 11 of their past 12, and 22 of 25 since July 4th, and all three of those losses have come to the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers will finish off their series with two more games at Citi Field this weekend.
Red Sox Walk-Off to Gain Ground on Struggling Yankees
The Boston Red Sox have found their groove on the season, and it comes at a time that the New York Yankees continue to struggle. First, Mitch Moreland's walk-off home run in the 11th inning gave Boston a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday. The first baseman's two-out shot was his 14th of the season, helping Boston improve to 10-3 in extra innings this year. Aaron Bummer surrendered the game-winner for his second loss of the season with the White Sox, The Red Sox' win gives them four in a row, as they improved their home record to 34-20 on the season. Heath Hembree got the win after throwing a scoreless inning, while newly-acquired Eduardo Nunez had a key home run on the night. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees continue to go the other way, dropping their fourth in a row on Friday night, 7-2 against the Cleveland Indians. Trevor Bauer allowed one run over seven innings, recording his 10th win of the year, including three in a row. Jaime Garcia struggled in his second start with New York, as he was unable to last through the fifth inning. The right-hander had four runs charged against him in the loss, all of which came in the second and third innings. It was a couple miscues that haunted the Yankees, including Gary Sanchez's 12th passed ball to score the second run of the game. The only source of offense for New York was a solo shot from Todd Frazier in the fifth inning. They now sit three games back in the AL East with two more games left in Cleveland.
Murphy, Nationals Hand Cubs Third Straight Home Loss
A major key to the Chicago Cubs' World Series run last season was their dominance at Wrigley Field, so a three-game home losing streak is foreign territory for them. Although, that's exactly where they are at right now following a 4-2 loss to the Washington Nationals on Friday afternoon. Daniel Murphy went deep twice off of Kyle Hendricks, while Tanner Roark pitched into the seventh inning in his ninth win of the year. Roark's one blemish was a two-run home run off the bat of Javier Baez in the seventh, as he is now 3-1 in his past four starts. Hendricks dropped his record to .500 at 4-4 after allowing three runs on five hits in seven innings, which was his longest outing since May 24th for Chicago. The Cubs had won 14 of 17 after the All-Star break before dropping their last three games on their home field. Anthony Rendon added an RBI for Washington, who got the fifth save in as many tries from their recent acquisition, Sean Doolittle. These two teams finish up with two more matinee matchups this weekend.
The Los Angeles Dodgers made a bold move at the trade deadline by acquiring Yu Darivsh from the Texas Rangers to solidify their rotation while Clayton Kershaw sits out, and even when the ace comes back. The only questions came from his recent struggles this season, and since undergoing Tommy John Surgery, but he didn't show any signs of that on Friday night. Darvish struck out 10 batters over seven scoreless innings in a 6-0 shutout of the New York Mets. The right-hander was backed up by a lead-off home run from Chris Taylor, as well as a two-run shot from Chase Utley against Mets starter Jacob deGrom. The Dodgers have taken all five meetings from New York this season, out-scoring them 42-11 in those matchups. Darvish's impressive outing snapped a personal five-game losing streak, as he won for the first time in nine outings. Los Angeles also got a long ball from Yasiel Puig, as they have now won 11 of their past 12, and 22 of 25 since July 4th, and all three of those losses have come to the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers will finish off their series with two more games at Citi Field this weekend.
Red Sox Walk-Off to Gain Ground on Struggling Yankees
The Boston Red Sox have found their groove on the season, and it comes at a time that the New York Yankees continue to struggle. First, Mitch Moreland's walk-off home run in the 11th inning gave Boston a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday. The first baseman's two-out shot was his 14th of the season, helping Boston improve to 10-3 in extra innings this year. Aaron Bummer surrendered the game-winner for his second loss of the season with the White Sox, The Red Sox' win gives them four in a row, as they improved their home record to 34-20 on the season. Heath Hembree got the win after throwing a scoreless inning, while newly-acquired Eduardo Nunez had a key home run on the night. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees continue to go the other way, dropping their fourth in a row on Friday night, 7-2 against the Cleveland Indians. Trevor Bauer allowed one run over seven innings, recording his 10th win of the year, including three in a row. Jaime Garcia struggled in his second start with New York, as he was unable to last through the fifth inning. The right-hander had four runs charged against him in the loss, all of which came in the second and third innings. It was a couple miscues that haunted the Yankees, including Gary Sanchez's 12th passed ball to score the second run of the game. The only source of offense for New York was a solo shot from Todd Frazier in the fifth inning. They now sit three games back in the AL East with two more games left in Cleveland.
Murphy, Nationals Hand Cubs Third Straight Home Loss
A major key to the Chicago Cubs' World Series run last season was their dominance at Wrigley Field, so a three-game home losing streak is foreign territory for them. Although, that's exactly where they are at right now following a 4-2 loss to the Washington Nationals on Friday afternoon. Daniel Murphy went deep twice off of Kyle Hendricks, while Tanner Roark pitched into the seventh inning in his ninth win of the year. Roark's one blemish was a two-run home run off the bat of Javier Baez in the seventh, as he is now 3-1 in his past four starts. Hendricks dropped his record to .500 at 4-4 after allowing three runs on five hits in seven innings, which was his longest outing since May 24th for Chicago. The Cubs had won 14 of 17 after the All-Star break before dropping their last three games on their home field. Anthony Rendon added an RBI for Washington, who got the fifth save in as many tries from their recent acquisition, Sean Doolittle. These two teams finish up with two more matinee matchups this weekend.
