Last Night’s MLB Recap
Historic night for Aaron Judge as Yankees get walk-off grand slam from Stanton
Aaron Judge became the third New York Yankee to hit 60 HRs in a season tying Babe Ruth in 1927 and now sits just one back of the mark set by Roger Maris in 1961 of 61 in a season.
Maris’ mark is not only the Yankees team record, but also the American League record and the unofficial non-steroid era record for home runs in a season. Tying this 60 year old record, would make Aaron Judge the record holder for HRs in a season in the eyes of many baseball fans. It is perhaps the most coveted and celebrated records in all of baseball and possibly in all present day sports.
The Yankees trailed the Pirates 8-4 when Judge lead off the 9th inning with his 430-foot blast and the analytics their chances of winning at just 1.6%. That meant nothing to the Bombers last night as they loaded the bases for Giancarlo Stanton who promptly ended the night with a dramatic walk-off grand slam to send the already excited crowd into a frenzy.
Guardians score 7 runs in extra innings
The Cleveland Guardians won game 1 of a critical 3-game series with the Chicago White Sox that could determine the winner of the AL Central. Cleveland stretched their lead to 5 games over Chicago with just 14 games remaining in the season.
The Guardian’s Amed Rosario appeared to score what would have been the winning run in the top of the 7th inning but was called out by the home-plate ump. The Guardians who were out of challenges were forced to battle into extra innings to claim victory.
After the Guardians scored twice in the 10th, the usually dominant Emmanual Clase could not close the game out in the bottom half and conceded two runs of his own. But Cleveland prevailed with emphatic 5 runs in the 11th which was too much for the White Sox to match.
Phillies score 11 runs but lose by a touchdown to Jays
It was a crazy night at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia where the Toronto Blue Jays crushed 21 hits and 18 runs. Toronto scored in every inning except the 4th, including 4 times in the 8th and 9th innings.
Toronto improves to 20 games over (.500) and is now considered a lock to claim an AL wild-spot. The Phillies remain 2.5 ahead games ahead of the Brewers in their quest for a playoff spot in the National League.
Featured Game of the Night
New York Yankees (Severino) Vs Pittsburgh Pirates (Contreras), 7:05 EST
Line: Yankees -275, 7.5
All eyes will once again be on Yankee Stadium tonight as Aaron Judge attempts to tie, or even break, the AL home run record.
With all of the playoff races mostly settled in the American League, the winners of the remaining games seem of little importance down the stretch. That only makes Judge’s pursuit of the record even more interesting. Expect all games to cut away from their local action to bring live updates of every at-bat for Judge for the foreseeable future. It is a situation reminiscent of Mark McGwire when he was pursuing the same record in 1998.
My Pick: Over (7.5)
Expect Judge to get multiple walks tonight and be on base with good hitters behind him. If he does get a pitch to hit, it will likely result in home run. The Yankees will be in high spirits tonight after the emotional game last night and the chances of them scoring a bunch of runs should be high.
To get ALL of my picks for this weekend’s games in NCAAF and in the NFL you have to be subscribed to my Blackbook Sports account. I have several picks available for some of the lesser watched games of the weekend so be sure to follow and let’s make some money together.
You can also follow me on Twitter to stay up to date on all my latest blog posts and free picks this football season.