Former Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver said the key to winning is ”pitching Womens Jared Goff Jersey , fundamentals and three-run homers.”
Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona can go one better: grand slams.
Yan Gomes hit a grand slam in the sixth inning and the Indians rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 on Tuesday night.
The Indians lead the American League with eight grand slams and it was their second in two nights. Francisco Lindor hit one Monday.
”I’m glad,” Francona said. ”I hope we have a ton more opportunities. I’m really happy about that. That’s really good for us.”
Edwin Encarnacion led off the sixth with a walk and Brandon Guyer was hit by Danny Duffy’s pitch. Yonder Alonso’s infield single loaded the bases before Gomes drove Duffy’s 1-0 changeup into the left-field bullpen.
”I hope it’s not contagious, because that means people are going up there looking to hit a grand slam,” Gomes said. ”You really just want to get up there and try to keep the line moving. I hope if we get more bases-loaded (situations), we’re just able to drive more guys in, whether that’s a sac fly or a base hit or a grand slam.”
Gomes is 10 for 26 (.385) with three home runs and eight RBIs off Duffy.
Shane Bieber (4-0) allowed all the Kansas City runs in the first two innings, and remains undefeated in his first five big league starts.
”Things got a little ugly,” Bieber said. ”They could have gotten a lot worse. I was trying to go out there and compete and move on to the next pitch.”
Chad Allen got the final four outs for his 17th save in 18 chances and his fifth of more than one inning. He stranded two runners in the ninth after a single and a walk.
Duffy (4-8) yielded six runs on eight hits, two walks and a hit batter. He is 0-3 against the Indians this season and has lost eight in a row against them dating to May 6, 2015.
”It was belt high and right out over the plate for him to tattoo and that’s what he did,” Duffy said of the grand slam. ”I hate that old song and dance these things happen, bull, but these things do happen. And it’s happened to us a lot lately. It’s really frustrating. I gave up six runs today, which means I didn’t pitch very well.”
It took Duffy 25 pitches to record an out with Lindor, Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez opening the game with singles. Ramirez’s single deflected off Duffy’s glove to score Lindor. Alfonso’s fly to center scored Brantley with the second run.
”The first inning was a grind for Danny, 36 pitches, but he really did a pretty good job of limiting the damage there with only two runs and kind of got on a roll,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.
Lucas Duda homered with Rosell Herrera, who had three hits, on board to tie it in the bottom of the first.
The Royals forged ahead 4-2 in the second. Whit Merrifield singled home Adalberto Mondesi and scored on Herrera’s two-out double.
The Royals lost for the 24th time in 29 games. They did manage 12 hits Authentic Drew Brees Jersey , ending a club record of 24 straight games without getting double-figure hits.
ROSTER MOVES
Indians: Recalled OF Greg Allen from Triple-A Columbus, where he was hitting .487 in a nine-game hitting streak at the time of the promotion. He hit .204 in 34 games earlier this season with Cleveland. ”It definitely helps to have gone through it before,” Allen said. ”That just comes with experience.”
DRAFT SIGNINGS
Indians: They signed their first two draft picks, Canadian high school C Noah Naylor and Cumming, Georgia high school RHP Ethan Hankins. Naylor, the 29th overall pick, signed for $2,578,138, while Hankins, the 35th overall pick, signed for $2,246,022.
Royals: RHP Brady Singer, the 18th overall pick, signed for $4.25 million. He was the college player of the year, going 12-3 with a 2.55 ERA as a Florida junior.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Indians: OF Lonnie Chisenhall (strained left calf) was placed on the disabled list. This is the second straight year he has been set back by calf injuries. He missed 50 games earlier this season with a left calf injury. He was out most of the second half of last year with a right calf injury.
Guyer left in the ninth after fouling a pitch off his left knee. Francona said the X-rays were negative.
Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (strained left oblique) was placed on the disabled list retroactive to June 30th. . 3B Mike Moustakas (lower back spasms) was a late scratch. Yost said his back tightened up after he lifted one of his children.
UP NEXT
Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer is 0-1 with a 3.55 ERA in two starts this season against the Royals.
No matter how well he pitches, the New York Mets do not win very often when Jacob deGrom is on the mound.
The Mets do not win very often regardless of the starting pitcher, which is why the phrase “deGrom trade” is an easy search engine term.
The Mets were originally going to start deGrom Friday but scratched him due to a family situation, and the ace will start in the middle game of a three-game series against the Miami Marlins on Saturday at Marlins Park.
On a team with one of the National League’s worst records at 32-47 Womens Drew Brees Jersey , deGrom is doing his part even if the record does not show it. He is 5-3 with a 1.69 ERA, though three of those wins were when the Mets opened 11-1 and were 17-9 in April.
The Mets are 15-38 since then after stranding 10 and wasting nine walks in Friday’s 7-2 loss to Miami. They are 6-10 when deGrom starts and have dropped eight of their last 10 games when deGrom pitches.
Most of it is due to the sub-par offense as New York owns a .232 batting average. The Mets have scored three runs or fewer in nine of deGrom’s last 10 starts, including last Saturday’s 8-3 loss when he allowed three runs and five hits in six innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“My changeup was terrible,” deGrom said. “My slider was good at times, but other times it wasn’t even close to being a strike. So I had one pitch, my fastball, that I couldn’t really locate. You’re trying to get big league hitters out with a pitch that you don’t really know where it’s going, and the other ones were garbage. I just wasn’t very good tonight.”
It is because of the losing that the debate rages on about what the Mets should do with deGrom, who made his major league debut on May 15, 2014, and will not be a free agent until after the 2020 season.
Whatever the decision is on deGrom it will be made by John Ricco, who is filling in along with Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi while general manager Sandy Alderson focuses on cancer treatments. Before Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, he discussed the possibility of dealing of deGrom.
“We’re going to talk about that,” Ricco said. “We just kind of got into this. Sandy was on the record with one point of view. We’ll get together to discuss it. Obviously, they’re two huge pieces for us. We’ll have to consider. For me, everything has to be on the table. But you have to look long and hard before you move a game-changing, top-of-the-rotation pitcher.”
Against Miami, deGrom is 4-4 with a 3.62 ERA in 14 career starts. This season he allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings in an 8-6 win at Miami on April 10 and pitched seven scoreless innings in a 2-1 home loss on May 23.
While the Mets start their ace, Miami will unveil another prospect when Pablo Lopez starts. After Sandy Alcantra pitched five innings Friday, Lopez will be the sixth Miami pitcher to make his major league debut.
“It’s still very unreal Authentic Cameron Jordan Jersey ,” Lopez told reporters before the series opener. “It still doesn’t feel real that I’m right here with this field, with these teammates, this scenario. It’s still very overwhelming, but still very exciting as well.”
Lopez is among four prospects acquired from the Seattle Mariners for David Phelps on July 20, and when he struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings during spring training, the Marlins noticed.
“I remember hearing at the winter meetings in November, I believe, how much our guys liked him and the presence he had,” Miami manager Don Mattingly told reporters. “We were able to see it in spring training. It was impressive, just his whole demeanor, the way he handles himself. You can tell, he’s a sharp kid, well prepared.”
In 12 combined starts for Double-A Jacksonville and Triple-A New Orleans, he is 2-3 with a 1.44 ERA while opposing hitters are hitting .196 (46-for-235). He is ranked sixth among full-season minor leaguers in ERA and WHIP (0.93) and leads all Miami minor league pitchers in ERA.
Lopez started the season at Jacksonville, where he was 1-2 with a 0.62 ERA in eight starts. In his four starts with New Orleans, he allowed seven earned runs in 18 2/3 innings.
