What a finish to the Mexico City series. The Padres went into the seventh inning up 7-2 on Sunday. The Diamondbacks took the lead with a six-run rally, fueled by a Tim Tawa grand slam, then tacked on four more in the eighth inning. The Diamondbacks are off Monday as they head back to the U.S. but the Padres host the Cubs in San Diego tonight.
1. Torkelson ties Detroit record
First baseman Spencer Torkelson extended the Tigers’ lead in the seventh inning on Sunday with a solo shot off righty Pierce Johnson. The blast bumped his home run streak to five games, tying him with Hank Greenberg, Rudy York, Vic Wertz, Willie Horton, and Marcus Thames for the franchise record. The most surprising part of the run might be Torkelson’s slow start coming into it. He had a .566 OPS with zero home runs before going deep on Wednesday against Chad Patrick and the Brewers. Torkelson now has an .836 OPS, a good reminder of how quickly numbers can flip this early in the year.
2. Tracy earns first MLB win
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy is on the board as a big league manager. Boston beat the Orioles 5-3 behind a strong outing from young left-hander Connelly Early. It’s the 500th managerial win of Tracy’s career, with the first 499 coming at various stops in the minor leagues. Tracy took over for former skipper Alex Cora, who was unexpectedly fired on Saturday, along with several other coaches. The Red Sox were off to a 10-17 start under Cora. Boston now heads to Toronto for a three-game set.
3. Miller extends scoreless streak
Closer Mason Miller retired the side in order against the Diamondbacks on Saturday. The uneventful save gave him 10 on the year, three more than any other reliever. It also pushed his scoreless streak to a franchise-record 34 2/3 innings. “Big load off, for sure — I think we can stop talking about it now,” Miller told reporters, including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “Just keep pitching, see how long we can go.” The righty is up to eighth on the all-time list for scoreless inning streaks by relievers since 1961.
Photo courtesy of Aaron Doster, Imagn Images
Meanwhile muts lost 15th of 17 games
$400mil payroll. worst record in mlb. on pace for 110 L. they are approaching 62 status. a more himiliating first minth of a season i cannot.recall
“himiliating first minth”
That somehow seems like an entirely apt way of describing the Mets.
The real story is Ildemaro Vargas hitting .367 with 6 home runs right now. It’s really shocking a 34 year old utility player suddenly is playing at an MVP level the only other time he even had 6 home runs it came in over twice as many at bats. I doubt he keeps even close to this level of production up but it’s a fun story to watch right now and he might be headed for a big league deal next season.
Tracy has best winning percentage of all times for the Red Sox. Joe McCarthy eat your heart out.
I liked Tracy’s first lineup, hope he sticks with the top of it.
Tough matchup tonight vs Cease.
I’ve been clamoring for Duran and Anthony to be swapped since opening day. Let’s hope it’s not too late to salvage both of these guys who have seemingly been damaged beyond repair by the Fatse effect.
Fever,
I think Tracy will do his best with the young players that Boston has. I don’t think Cora was very good with helping young players, and this team has quite a few of them. If he can get the young guys going, it’s already a win.
Until Torkelson his a hr in 45 different MLB parks, he’ll never be Sammy Sosa.
Until Torkelson hits three homers on opening day against doc gooden, he’ll never be Tuffy Rhodes
And unless he hits two grand slams in the same inning, he will never be Fernando Tatís or have a son that will play for the Padres. We seem to agree his streak is meaningless to everyone including his family
Tracy took over for former skipper Alex Cora, who was unexpectedly fired on Saturday, along with several other coaches.
Yes, the hibernating fans were surprised.