Crawford’s 7 hits lead Giants over Marlins
Logjam atop AL East as Jays win, Orioles lose Cardinals pull off 9th-inning magic to stun Reds
Any major league game that ventures into the 14th inning takes on the feel of a street fight, but on Monday night, the San Francisco Giants had Brandon Crawford in their corner. And he just kept on punching, and punching, and punching until the Giants emerged with an 8-7 extra-inning victory.
Crawford authored one of the most remarkable and historic offensive performances in baseball history, becoming just the fifth major league player since at least 1913 to collect seven hits in a game.
Crawford finished 7-for-8 with five singles, a double and a triple. And the final hit, a line drive up the middle with two out in the 14th inning, drove in the tiebreaking run at Marlins Park.
The hit earned the Giants a victory in a 5-hour, 34-minute game that bench coach Ron Wotus orchestrated because manager Bruce Bochy had taken ill earlier in the day. The hit also earned Crawford this distinction: the first seven-hit game by a big leaguer since the Pirates’ Rennie Stennett in 1975. The Giants’ previous franchise record was six, last accomplished by Mike Benjamin in 1995.
“I mean, in the history of the Giants and all the great players that came through, it’s pretty crazy to be in that small company,” Crawford said. “I was trying to have a good at-bat. Whether it’s 0-for-4 with four strikeouts or 6-for-7, you try to take every one separate. I was trying to get the run in any way I could.”
Crawford’s litany: infield dribbler against right-hander Jose Fernández in the second inning; a double that barely skipped over the corner of first base in the fourth; a seeing-eye single to the right side in the seventh; a flared RBI single in the eighth; a line-drive single up the middle in the 11th; a triple to right field in the 13th; and then the difference maker in the 14th after Brandon Belt and Buster Posey had drawn two-out walks against right-hander Andrew Cashner.
“It’s historic,” Posey said. “It’s pretty cool we got to see that tonight. As long as baseball has been around, as many games as we play, how many times do we see something that’s only happened four other times? I mean, that’s pretty special.”
(Contra Costa Times/TNS)
Blue Jays 7, Rays 5
Devon Travis drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning with his fourth hit of the game, Jose Bautista followed with a two-run double and Toronto defeated Tampa Bay.
Edwin Encarnacion added three RBIs and a solo home run for the Blue Jays who had lost their two previous games. Brad Miller had two doubles and two RBIs for the Rays. Bautista also had three RBIs.
Athletics 3, Orioles 2
Kendall Graveman pitched seven strong innings, Stephen Vogt hit his ninth home run of the season and Oakland defeated Baltimore in the opener of a four-game series.
Graveman (8-7) allowed one run on six hits, struck out four and walked none as he beat the Orioles for the first time in four career starts.
Mariners 3, Tigers 0
Hisashi Iwakuma outdueled rookie Michael Fulmer to lead Seattle to a shutout of Detroit.
Iwakuma (13-7) threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just five hits, before new Mariners reliever Arquimedes Caminero and rookie closer Edwin Diaz finished off the win.
Diaz, who replaced Steve Cishek as closer last week, now has five saves in as many chances as Seattle won for the sixth time in seven games.
Cardinals 5, Reds 4
The St Louis Cardinals scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 at Busch Stadium, the two-out rally capped when Yadier Molina was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded from Ross Ohlendorf.
Molina started the inning with a leadoff single but Tony Cingrani (2-4) retired the next two hitters. Tommy Pham then walked, and pinch hitter Kolten Wong was plunked by a pitch to fill the bases.
Matt Carpenter singled home two runs and Stephen Piscotty lined a single to left to drive in a third run. After Matt Holliday drew a four-pitch walk, Ohlendorf relieved Cingrani.
Braves 4, Brewers 3 (12)
Gordon Beckham’s sacrifice fly in the 12th inning gave Atlanta a victory over Milwaukee.
The Braves loaded the bases against Brewers right-hander Carlos Torres (2-2) to open the 12th and Beckham followed by popping a fly ball to deep center that scored Matt Kemp.
Brewers centerfielder Keon Broxton dropped the ball, allowing Beckham to reach keeping the bases loaded with nobody out.
Rangers 4, Rockies 3
Mitch Moreland lined a double into the right-field corner with two outs in the ninth, completing a three-run uprising and giving Texas a win over Colorado.
Rockies closer Carlos Estevez (2-7) blew a save for the second straight start and gave way to left-hander Boone Logan, who had held left-handed hitters to an average of .141 (11-for-78) with 27 strikeouts before Moreland connected.
Dodgers 9, Phillies 4
Corey Seager homered twice and set a club record for homers in a season by a Los Angeles shortstop, leading Los Angeles to a victory over Philadelphia.
Seager, who now has a club-leading 21 home runs, broke Hanley Ramirez’s 2013 mark of 19.