Scores and happenings from around the MLB on Thursday.
Around the Bases: Tigers win again, Pirates walk off against Marlins
Your happenings and scores from around baseball on Thursday.
Justin K. Aller
Mets 2, Rockies 1: A day after Matt Harvey threw the first complete game shutout of his career, Dillon Gee tossed 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball as the Mets swept away the Rockies on Thursday afternoon. The Mets are quietly putting together a solid season despite being in rebuilding mode, and they now sit just one game back of the Washington Nationals for second place in the NL East. A second place standing would be quite the accomplishment for Terry Collins' club, even if that is 15.5 games back of the red-hot Braves.
Pirates 5, Marlins 4: There's something special going on in Pittsburgh these days. The Pirates improved their record to 70-44 on the season with a walk-off win over the Marlins. Josh Harrison led off the bottom of the 10th with a single, and after two outs and a walk were recorded, Russell Martin singled home Harrison from second on a single to left field.
The #Pirates have 9 walkoffs this season, a new single season record at PNC Park! #RAISEIT #BUCN #PACKPNC pic.twitter.com/OV1lyTVRmF
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) August 8, 2013
Marlins phenom Jose Fernandez struggled with his command, tossing five innings of two-run ball. His ERA is now 2.58 on the season. He remains firmly in the hunt for National League Rookie of the Year.
Phillies 12, Cubs 1: The Phillies took out some frustration on Chicago in a wet Citizens Bank Park, smacking Jeff Samardzija around for nine runs on 11 hits during the first four innings. Chase Utley continued his fine season with a pair of doubles, while Cody Asche hit his first career homer to cap off a six-run fourth.
Giants 4, Brewers 1: Tim Lincecum put together one of his best starts of the season, working eight scoreless innings while surrendering just one hit and one walk to a battered Brewers lineup. He struck out eight and has now allowed just three runs to score in his last 22 innings. Brandon Belt belted his 12th home run of the season off Donovan Hand in the first inning to get things going for San Francisco.
Tigers 10, Indians 3: Detroit completed its four-game sweep of Cleveland on Thursday night, increasing its lead in the AL Central to seven games with a 12th straight win. That's good for the franchise's longest winning streak since 2011, also tying its longest mark in the post-World War 2 years, per research by Matthew B. Mowery of the Oakland Press, as well as its first four-game sweep in Cleveland since 1988.
Max Scherzer continued his dominance on the road, pitching seven innings of two-run ball to win his seventh straight road decision of the year. There's some history behind that, as ESPN's Stats and Info reports. Even the best hitter in the world took a little tumble when seeing Scherzer's numbers.
Royals 5, Red Sox 1: Kansas City continued its winning ways behind yet another impressive performance from Bruce Chen. He tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings, improving his record to 5-0 while dropping his ERA to 1.79. It's been a trend all season long that if the Royals can score three runs, they tend to win. They scored three in the first inning against Jon Lester and then added on two more runs in the eighth with solo homers from Billy Butler and Justin Maxwell. Kansas City is now just 4.5 games back of the second wild card spot in the American League.
Don Mattingly's club battled back in the fifth with a three-run blast from A.J. Ellis. Jerry Hairston added an insurance run in the eighth, and Kenley Jansen closed it out in the ninth to push the Dodgers lead in the NL West to 5.5 games.
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