The Cubs helped the Milwaukee Brewers inch closer to their hopes of playing in the Postseason on Wednesday night, which was a very neighborly thing of them to do if you ask me.
Judge Hits No. 61
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run on Wednesday night in Toronto, tying the Yankees and American League record for the most home runs in a single season.
Blue Jays left-hander Tim Mayza served up the pitch that Judge deposited over the left field fence last night, making Mayza an unfortunate part of baseball history. Michael discussed Judge’s historic home run last night, but what about Mayza?
Here’s what Mayza had to say about the 94.5 mph sinker in a 3-2 count that will go down in MLB history:
“That’s not on my mind at all,” Mayza said. “The only thing I thought of was to attack him and get the ball on the ground. I think that approaching hitters, I want to get the at-bat over in four pitches or less. That was the goal, to get him on the ground as quickly as possible.”
Ok, it might not be on your mind right now, but you’ll be on highlight reels until the end of time for being the guy that served up No. 61.
One of the coolest moments of all last night was Roger Maris Jr. embracing Aaron Judge’s mother, Patty, in the stands after Judge drilled No. 61. The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler wrote about Judge and his permanent connection to the Maris family:
The Eduardo Escobar Game
The New York Mets gained a game on the Atlanta Braves last night with a thrilling 5-4 walk-off victory over the Miami Marlins in 10 innings at Citi Field. The hero? None other than clubhouse favorite, Eduardo Escobar.
Minutes before Eduardo Escobar became the first player in Mets history to drive home all of his team’s runs and collect at least five RBIs in a walk-off win; cheers erupted as fans received alerts that the Braves had lost a walk-off of their own in Washington. What makes it even more impressive is that Escobar’s three hits and five RBI all came in his final three at-bats from the seventh inning onward.
Here’s what Eduardo Escobar’s special night consisted of:
- AB1: Escobar pops out to first baseman Lewin Diaz in foul territory for the second out of the second inning.
- AB2: Escobar pops out to second baseman Charles Leblanc for the third out of the fourth inning.
- AB3: Escobar hits a two-run home run to make it 4-2 Miami in the bottom of the seventh inning.
- AB4: Escobar singles to left field, driving in Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso to tie the game at four-a-piece in the bottom of the eighth inning.
- AB5: Escobar singles to left field, driving in Francisco Lindor to give the Mets a walk-off win in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Escobar said after the game that he and the Mets are looking to make the Citi Field crown even happier this weekend in Atlanta.
“I want to make these people happy when we come back from the road,” Escobar told the crowd, beaming. “Let’s go!”
Brewers Inch Closer to Wild Card Spot
With some help from the Chicago Cubs last night, the Milwaukee Brewers inched closer to a Postseason berth with just a week’s worth of games left on the schedule.
A 5-1 victory in St. Louis for the Brewers, paired with a 4-2 Cubs victory over the Phillies allowed Milwaukee to pull to within a half game of Philadelphia for the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League.
Here’s what the NL Wild Card standings look like heading into Thursday’s action:
- ATL (97-59): +13.0
- SD (86-69): +2.5
- PHI (83-71): –
- MIL (83-72): 0.5 GB
- SF (77-78): 6.5 GB
With the top spot going to whomever loses the NL East, that leaves to spots up for grabs between the Padres, Phillies, and Brewers, all of whom are separated by no more than three games.
Odds and Ends
- The Dodgers won their 107th game on Wednesday night, setting a new franchise record for victories in a season.
- Aaron Judge gave No. 61 to his mom last night. You know what I always say; wholesome baseball is the best baseball!
- I’m actually relieved, a little bit. What a disastrous season all around. I only feel bad for Dylan Cease, who won’t get the much-deserved Cy Young Award consideration because he played on this traveling circus of a team.
- Straight filth …
- Not your run of the mill 6-4-3 double play here:
- All of the home runs from Wednesday night!