Second Places Advance

Sunday was a day where the 2 second place teams in the West advanced in the standings, at least in that they gained ground on their respective leaders.

Oakland won early over Texas 7–3, and had to watch a tense game in Boston where first the Astros came back to go ahead in the 6th inning but then the Red Sox squeaked out a run in the 9th to take the final game of their series, 6–5. The loss dropped Houston to 2 1/2 games ahead of the Athletics and the win not only gained the A’s ground on their division rivals but also on the Yankees who lost to Seattle 2–3. Oakland is not 2 1/2 games behind New York for the top wildcard spot and home field advantage for that playoff game.

The Dodgers used a more direct approach to gain ground on Colorado. They beat their rival 9–6 in a head-to-head match-up in Colorado. The win gave the Dodgers 2 outta 3 in the series and moved them to 1/2 game behind the Rockies. The dodgers are also a game behind St. Louis for the wildcard spot in the NL.

Superior Performances

Justin turner had a monster game for the Dodgers in the win. He went 4 for 5 with a couple of doubles and a home run. He led the 14 hit attack of the Dodgers and while Charlie Blackmon tried his best, he couldn’t prevent LA from winning. Blackmon had 2 homers and a double in the game but his 3 for 4 performance was not supported enough by the rest of the team.

On the mound Sunday, no one came close to the performance of Andrew Heaney of the Angels. He threw 7 innings of shutout ball, racking up 12 strikeouts and giving up only 3 hits and no walks. In my view, this was his best performance this year and it was nice to see the team back him up. Ok, it was only a single run but the bullpen held and that one run was all they needed.

Pitcher of the Day: Andrew Heaney, LAA – 7 INN, 12 K, 0 ER
Play of the Day: Justin Turner, LAD – 4–5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, HR

Sports – West Coast Baseball – Second Places Advance