Has PCA started to put daylight behind Ohtani in the NL MVP race? After the day the Cubs outfielder had on August 29, one has to wonder whether the answer to that question is yes. The day also saw two doubleheaders, one in New York and the other in San Francisco.
Recap of doubleheaders
The Red Sox and Yankees played two games on August 29, one of which was a make-up game of a rained-out contest from back in June.
Game 1 of the set went to the Red Sox 6-0, although it was much closer than the score indicated. Boston scored four in the ninth, thanks to a two-RBI single from Andruw Monasterio, an RBI double from Nick Sogard, and a Ceddanne Rafaela single. Wilyer Abreu got the scoring off with a solo shot off Carlos Rodon.
In the second game, the Yankees won 9-2. Ben Rice had two hits and three RBI, Austin Wells had two RBI, and Luis Garcia Jr. picked up three more hits.
The Diamondbacks and Giants, meanwhile, played a scheduled day-night doubleheader in San Francisco.
Arizona won Game 1, 7-1. Merrill Kelly outdueled Matt Wilkinson, as Kelly tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out seven. Lars Nootbaar hit a grand slam in the seventh inning.
San Francisco took the second game 7-2. Bryce Eldridge had four hits and four RBI for the Giants.
Rays come from behind
The Rays scored four in the seventh to win 7-6 over the Padres.
That seventh inning was a wild one. Manny Machado hit a two-run single to make it 5-3. Later on, a double steal gave Machado second base and Fernando Tatis Jr. home plate. But later in the inning, a Yandy Diaz hit to center field scored three, thanks to a throwing error from Luis Rengifo, who injured himself on the throw.
Chandler Simpson drove in Jorge Mateo to bring in the game-winning run.
PCA has three-homer game
The Cubs blew out the Reds 17-5.
Chicago had six home runs in the game, three of which came off the bat of Pete Crow-Armstrong. Crow-Armstrong is now up to 36 home runs on the year. Seiya Suzuki, Alex Bregman, and Carson Kelly also went deep.
As for the Reds, Sal Stewart hit his 30th home run of the year.
Blue Jays gain in Wild Card race
The Blue Jays defeated the Mariners on August 29, 4-3 in Toronto, moving the defending AL champions to 1.5 games behind Cleveland in the Wild Card race.
A Cal Raleigh home run and a two-run single from Taylor Ward made it 3-0 for the Mariners early on. Toronto fought back, partially aided by Seattle. A George Springer walk with the bases loaded brought in two, thanks to a wild pitch from Eduard Bazardo. Brett Bateman tied it with a single in the sixth, and Alejandro Kirk made it 4-3 later that frame with an RBI single of his own.
The Guardians, still in possession of the last AL Wild Card spot, lost 8-3 to the Kansas City Royals.
Everything else
- Tigers def. Dodgers 2-1
- White Sox def. Twins 3-2
- Pirates def. Cardinals 6-2
- Nationals def. Marlins 5-4 (10)
- Mets def. Astros 6-2
- Braves def. Rockies 2-1
- Brewers def. Rangers 5-3
- Orioles def. Athletics 5-3
- Phillies def. Angels 4-2 (10)
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