It might be Saturday, but there was still plenty of baseball last night, which means there are plenty of highlights to share with you. In fact, possibly the best one will come later today. But for now, there is still plenty to share, and, unfortunately, the first one is another Cardinals walk-off win.
Who likes those, anyway?
1. Indeed, not one day after posing a fantastic, five-run come back starting in the eight inning and capped-off by a bases loaded, walk-off single, the Cardinals have done it again. This time, first baseman Matt Adams played the role of hero, by crushing his 11th home run at the most opportune time possible, the bottom of the 16th inning. (Although, technically this isn’t a highlight from last night, because the bottom of the 16th inning happened at 12:25 am this morning.) This was another big win for the Cardinals, who remain 6.5 games behind the Cubs. It is certainly still a large deficit, but they’ve cut it significantly from the depths of 10+ games back at the beginning of June.
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2. There have been a ton of really great throws to the plate by outfielders lately. First, Michael Conforto threw a 94 MPH rocket from right to get Jake Arrieta at the plate, potentially saving the game for the Mets. And then, the very next day, Jason Heyward made that look like soft-toss, when he unleashed a 98.9 MPH fastball from center field to get James Loney at home to end the inning. Today – or rather, last night – Carlos Beltran made a great toss from right field, to get a tagging Gregor Blanco at the plate and complete the double play. The funny thing is, he would have been safe, had he actually touched home plate:
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3. Lastly, the Phillies (45-53) aren’t really having that fun of a season. They have a losing record, are well below .500, and are in fourth place of the NL East with no obvious path to the playoffs. That said, one of the brightest spots this year, has been center fielder Odubel Herrera. Through just less than 100 games, Herrera, 24, is slashing .285/.367/.416 with 10 home runs and 12 stolen bases. But, as he displayed last night, he can add a lot more to his team than just offense. Check out this fantastic leaping grab in left-center field that is far easier said then done:
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Oh, and also:
What you may have missed: