SteemSports Presenter:
SteemSports Editor:
There was plenty of action on a busy Tuesday around Major League Baseball. There were a total of five inter-league games and of course the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry taking center stage. We start in St. Louis, where the Twins dispersed the Cardinals in St. Louis, 7-1, in early action yesterday. The Phillies got their second straight win over the Giants to start their 4-game set, and the Mariners went to Toronto and not just blanked the Blue Jays, but got a no-hitter out of James Paxton.
We start in Toronto, where left-hander James Paxton of the Mariners needed 99 pitches to complete his no-hit bid. Paxton threw 64 pitches for strikes and allowed only three base-runners all game long, finishing with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. Josh Donaldson stepped into the batter's box for the Blue Jays with 2 down in the bottom of the 9th, the only man left between Paxton and history. Paxton reared back and fired an inside fastball that Donaldson ripped right at 3rd baseman Kyle Seager. Seager fielded it cleanly and fired to first for the final out as Paxton and his teammates broke into celebration.
It was the sixth no-hitter in Seattle Mariners history, and it was just the second no-hitter tossed by a Canadian-born pitcher, and first no-hitter thrown by a Canadian in his home country. It was a night to remember for Paxton and the Mariners as they improved to 20-14 on the season. Leadoff man Dee Gordon went 3/5 with a run scored for Seattle and is now second in the AL in hitting at .353 to start the season.
Down to Philadelphia, where the Phillies once-again got a great pitching performance from Aaron Nola. Nola went 7 strong innings for the Phils, allowing just 5 hits and 1 run. He displayed dominant control as he struck-out 12 batters and didn't issue a single walk. He's now 5-1 with just a 2.05 ERA early on the season. The Phillies have won each of his past four starts, and Nola has only allowed more than 2 earned runs in one of his eight starts thus far. Philadelphia used solo home runs from Aaron Altherr, Jorge Alfaro, and Carlos Santana to propel them to the 4-2 victory. A pinch-hit solo home run from Pablo Sandoval in the top of the 8th wasn't quite enough for the Giants, as they couldn't generate any more offense and have now cooled off a bit after a hot stretch saw them rise to a season-best 4 games above .500 heading into the series with the Phillies. They will once again battle today from Philly.
Our last stop takes us to St. Louis, where the Twins got an excellent pitching performance themselves to cruise past the Cardinals 7-1. It wasn't that long ago, the Twins were reeling and falling back in the weak AL Central. Apparently all they needed was a little road trip to help right the ship. They've now won 5 straight, including both games of a 2-game stop in St. Louis on Monday and Tuesday.
The win, coupled with Cleveland's 3-2 loss to the Brewers yesterday, have brought the Twins all they way to within a 0.5 game of the Indians for first-place in the AL Central. Jake Odorizzi got it going for Minnesota, tossing 5 innings and surrendering only 2 hits and 1 run to go along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. The bullpen was even better as three different pitchers slammed the door shut on the Cardinals over the final four innings and didn't even allow a single base-runner. Odorizzi improved to 3-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.83 for the season. St. Louis contributed uncharacteristically poor defense, committing 3 errors in this one that led to a pair of unearned runs for the Twins. Minnesota is on to Los Angeles to take on the Angels tomorrow, and St. Louis is headed to San Diego to start a weekend series tomorrow.
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