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Gary Sanchez leading Yankees resurgence with historic start
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
It’s not just a hot streak anymore. New York Yankees rookie Gary Sanchez is officially making history while helping lead a team resurgence that few outside the Yankees organization saw coming.
In Friday’s 14-4 win against the Orioles, Sanchez went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. His big game included his 10th home run in 19 games since being called up on Aug. 10. Overall, Sanchez now has 10 homers in 22 games, which is a power feat only accomplished by two other players. One of them is Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, who did so earlier this season. The other was George Scott of the Red Sox back in 1966.
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Beyond that, Sanchez became the first Yankees rookie to hit 10 home runs in a single month, which is almost mind-boggling considering the team’s history.
There’s also this tidbit, which may be the most impressive of all.
Gary Sánchez is the 1st rookie to have 10 HR and 20 RBI in his first 20 games of a season since RBI became an official stat in 1920.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 27, 2016
Whatever the case, he’s there now and he’s not going away anytime soon. It’s too soon to call Gary Sanchez a difference maker, but he’s at least instilled some life in an offense that had no pulse throughout the summer.
TOP PERFORMERS
Kris Bryant: The National League MVP was probably Bryant’s to lose even before Friday night. It certainly is now after the second-year Cubs slugger mashed two critical home runs in their 6-4 win against the Dodgers. Bryant smoked a solo blast against Joe Blanton in the eighth. After the Cubs tied it against Kenley Jansen in the ninth, Bryant did it again, mashing a two-run shot in the 10th that held up as the game winner. Bryant now has a NL-leading 35 homers on the season while leading a historically good Cubs team.
Bryce Harper: Don’t look now, but Harper appears to be getting locked in. Since missing over a week with neck stiffness, Harper has now hit safely in 11 of 13 games. That includes seven multi-hit games, which is what he produced in Friday’s 8-5 win against the Rockies. Harper went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBIs. Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy added home runs to aid the offensive attack.
Russell Martin and Justin Smoak: The relentless Blue Jays offense posted some huge numbers in a 15-8 win against Minnesota. Martin and Smoak led the way by each homering and driving in five runs. Martin delivered a two-run homer in the seventh just one inning after hitting a three-run double. Smoak smoked a three-run homer in Toronto’s five-run second inning before ripping a pair of run-scoring singles later in the game.
Bartolo Colon: Big Bart did it again, coming through with his arm and his bat to lead the Mets to a 9-4 win against the Phillies. Colon allowed four runs over his seven innings, but three of those came during his final frame. At the plate, Colon picked up two hits, including his fourth career double. It’s Colon’s second career multi-hit game, and his first since 2002.
Bartolo Colón went just over 14 years between multi-hit games, longest by anyone since Jamie Moyer went nearly 20 years (@EliasSports)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 27, 2016
A potentially painful loss for the Houston Astros was flipped by two dramatic swings. After Mikie Mahtook gave Tampa Bay a one-run lead in the top of the ninth, Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis went back-to-back in the bottom to give Houston a 5-4 win.
REST OF SCOREBOARD
Royals 6, Red Sox 3: Kansas City scored five in the first on a three-run Eric Hosmer homer and a two-run shot from Alex Gordon. That helped them overcome Dustin Pedroia and Mookie Betts going a combined 9-for-9.
Tigers 4, Angels 2: Make that nine quality starts for Justin Verlander in his last 11 dating back to July 2. The veteran right-hander limited the Angels to two runs over 7 1/2 innings to earn his 14th victory.
Marlins 7, Padres 6: The Marlins postseason push is alive and well thanks to Chris Johnson’s walk-off double.
Indians 12, Rangers 1: Cleveland bounced back impressively from a 9-0 loss in the series opener. Abraham Almonte led the way with three hits and four RBIs.
Pirates 5, Brewers 3: All the scoring happened in the sixth inning. Pittsburgh got the edge on Jordy Mercer’s grand slam.
Mariners 3, White Sox 1: Despite a 14-strikeout complete game from Chris Sale, the Mariners get a win. Felix Hernandez allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings.
Cardinals 3, A’s 1: A Jedd Gyorko two-run homer in the first inning provided the difference.
Diamondbacks 4, Reds 3: These teams are merely playing out the string, so it’s only appropriate Jean Segura scored the winning run on a Blake Wood wild pitch.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
