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MLB News & Moments You Should Know – July 5

Walkoffs galore on Indepence Day!

Colin Fong
MLB Morning News 7/5/2022

Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.

 

Today’s Headlines

 

Orioles Win in Extras With Walk-Off Hit by Pitch

The Orioles found an innovative way to triumph over the Rangers in their Independence Day matchup. They found themselves trailing by a run in the top of the ninth after Jorge López, their normally reliable closer, gave up a run on a home run to Texas second baseman Marcus Semien.

Down to their last three outs, Trey Mancini gave the O’s a chance with a single on Texas closer Joe Barlow’s first pitch. He was replaced by pinch-runner Ryan McKenna before Barlow induced flyouts from Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle, which left Baltimore with one out and brought rookie Adley Rutschman to the plate.

Rutschman, who is one of the top prospects in baseball, was in the midst of an 0-15 slump coming into the game. He took a curveball from Barlow for a strike, and then hammered the next pitch into the outfield for a double that brought McKenna home from first.

 

It was the first of many heroic moments that Baltimore fans will get to enjoy from their young catcher in the years to come. Austin Hays stepped in next but was unable to seal the deal. He grounded out to Marcus Semien, sending the game to extras.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde lifted Lopez in favor of reliever Bryan Baker, and the change paid off. Baker navigated around a walk to Kole Kalhoun by striking out Steven Duggar and Jonah Heim before inducing a flyout from Texas rookie third baseman Josh Smith.

In the bottom of the frame, Rougned Odor led things off with a picture-perfect bunt down the first baseline. He reached first safely and moved Austin Hays, who was the designated extra-innings runner, over to third. The Rangers then intentionally walked Ramón Urías, bringing Jorge Mateo to the plate.

On his first pitch to Mateo, Texas pitcher Matt Moore drilled the O’s shortstop on his left leg and raised a cheer from around Camden Yards. Mateo limped his way to first to end the game with help from his teammates and celebrated as best he could on one leg.

 

Brewers Walk-Off Cubs After Suzuki Inside-the-Park HR

Monday was a roller coaster for Brewers and Cubs fans. The majority of the game was a pitcher’s duel between Chicago’s Justin Steele and Milwaukee’s Eric Lauer. Each gave up a single earned run on two hits, and the middle relievers kept the game tied into the ninth.

In the top of the frame, the Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki crushed a pitch from Milwaukee closer Josh Hader into the outfield. The ball caromed off the outfield wall and away from Jonathan Davis, allowing Suzuki to motor his way home and earn a Cubs lead. It was Suzuki’s first game back from a long stint on the IL.

 

Hader yielded a double to Nico Hoerner in the next at-bat, but struck out third baseman Patrick Wisdom and induced a flyout from catcher Yan Gomes to escape the inning without further damage.

Chicago’s closer David Robertson came on in the bottom of the ninth. He allowed a single Luis Urías, struck out Victor Caratini, and gave up a ground-rule double to Keston Hiura that moved Urias to third. He then hit Kolten Wong to load the bases and walked Christian Yelich to tie the game before striking out Willy Adames to send it into extras.

Milwaukee swapped Brad Boxberger in for Hader and he got through the inning without allowing any runs despite loading the bases. Chicago turned to reliever Scott Effross to get them into the eleventh.

Effross got off to a good start by inducing a flyout from Andrew McCutchen before intentionally walking Rowdy Tellez. He then got the second out of the frame by popping up Luis Urías. That brought Victor Caratini to the plate, who ended the game emphatically in the Brewers’ favor and unleashed pandemonium at American Family Field.

 

Alvarez Delivers for Astros

The Royals put in an impressive display for the first six innings of their July Fourth meeting with the Astros. Starter Jonathan Heasley kept Houston off balance, holding them to two runs off three hits. His offense did their part by scoring five runs off of Astros starter Jake Odorizzi. But no lead is safe against Houston this year.

The Astros put together one quality at-bat after another and climbed back into the game. They tied it in the eighth thanks to two RBI singles from Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel. Reliever Ryne Stanek kept the game locked at six by pitching a clean top of the ninth. That set the stage for Yordan Alvarez and his red hot bat.

Kansas City reliever Scott Barlow earned outs Jose Altuve and Pena on his first four pitches to bring Alvarez to the plate. Alvarez got ahead in the count when Barlow missed with several fastballs and then launched a flat slider beyond the Astros’ bullpen to end the game.

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

Jacob deGrom Starts for Single-A St. Lucie

Mets’ ace Jacob deGrom took his first step back to Citi Field with a rehab start for the Single-A St. Lucie Mets against the Jupiter Hammerheads. The result was what every baseball fan not located in Jupiter, FL could have hoped for.

 

deGrom racked up five strikeouts in 24 pitches in the outing. He’s expected to have at least one more start with St. Lucie before moving forward.

 

Twins Turn First-Ever 8-5 Triple Play

In the bottom of the seventh inning between the Twins and the White Sox, AJ Pollock hit a long fly ball to center field. Center fielder Byron Buxton tracked it down, made a great over-the-head catch, and caught Chicago’s runners napping.

 

This pretty much sums up Chicago’s first half. The only good news is they have a lot of time to turn things around.

 

Red Sox Top Pitching Prospect May Get the Callup

With the Red Sox forced into a bullpen day on Monday due to starter Michael Wacha suffering from “dead arm“, the team is scrambling for starters. Top prospect Brayan Bello may just fit the bill.

 

While the Red Sox have not officially confirmed that Bello will be called up, manager Alex Cora did mention him as an option. The 23-year-old righty is 6-2 with a 2.81 ERA for Triple-A Worcester.

 

Injuries

 

Diamondbacks RP Ian Kennedy was placed on the 15-day IL with right calf inflammation.

Red Sox SP Michael Wacha was scratched from his planned start with “dead arm”.

Tigers SP Alex Faedo left the game with hip soreness.

 

Articles You Should Read

 

Baseball, barbecue and losing freedom this Fourth of July – Howard Bryant, ESPN

Exploring Brendan Donovan’s Success with Isolated Bases Taken (IBT) – Grant Washburn

 

Fantasy Baseball Coverage

 

Starting Pitcher Roundup

Hitter Performances

Reliever Ranks

Starting Pitcher Streamers

 

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)

Colin Fong

Colin lived near Cooperstown and collected signatures from Hall of Famers for his Dad's collection every summer as a kid. He thought it was super boring at the time, but thinks it's incredibly cool now. He's an A's fan and loves writing about the beautiful, absurd, infuriating, and inspiring world of baseball.

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