The Juice: Orioles All-Stars lead charge in win over Blue Jays; Marlins pummel Stephen Strasburg
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Baltimore's All-Star bats came out swinging in their 8-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. That includes the MLB leader in homers, Chris Davis, who contributed his 35th of the season with a runner on base in the second inning. After Edwin Encarnacion, an all-star in his right, homered to give Toronto a 3-2 lead in the third, Adam Jones quickly countered with a three-run shot in the bottom half and then three innings later J.J. Hardy added a three-run homer of his own to blow the game open.
Here's more from the Associated Press:
It's been that way all season for the Orioles, who lead the majors with 128 home runs - including a combined 68 by Davis, Jones and Hardy.
All three long balls came off Mark Buehrle, who had allowed only two homers in his previous 11 starts.
''That's what they do in a great park to hit home runs,'' Toronto manager John Gibbons said. ''They had the two big three-run homers, but you've got to expect here that's going to happen. You have to go toe to toe. We had a lot of hits, but we just didn't score a lot.''
Somewhere, Earl Weaver is smiling.
Jordy to the rescue: Sure, the Pittsburgh Pirates have four All-Stars this season, but a very part of their overwhelming success this season is the contributions they're receiving from unlikely sources. That would include 26-year-old shortstop Jordy Mercer, who came through again with a walk-off RBI single to defeat the Mets 3-2 in 11 innings. For Mercer, it's the second game-winning in just over two weeks. The other came on June 27 when his two-run single extended Pittsburgh's winning streak to six in a win over Seattle.
National nightmare: The Washington Nationals staked Stephen Strasburg to a 3-0 first inning lead against the Miami Marlins and then watched on in disbelief as their young ace gave it all back — and more — in the bottom half of the inning. When all was said and done, Strasburg had allowed a career-high five first inning runs, and then he allowed two more in his second and final innings before hitting the showers. The seven earned runs allowed are the same number of runs he'd allowed over his previous four starts combined. Not a good night at the office for Strasburg, but a satisfying night for Miami as they hold on for the 8-3 victory.
MORE SCORES
Cardinals 3, Cubs 2: St. Louis was led by All-Stars Carlos Beltran, who finished a home run shy of the cycle, and Matt Carpenter, who drove home the winning run with a double.
Astros 2, Rays 1: Jarred Cosart pitched eight shutout innings in a dominant big league debut.
Indians 3, Royals 0: American League-leading 12th shutout for Cleveland.
Yankees 2, Twins 0: Mariano Rivera records his 30th save at rain-soaked Yankee Stadium.
White Sox vs. Phillies (PPD, rain): Let's play two on Saturday!
Tigers 7, Rangers 2: Detroit does all of their scoring in the first two innings. Miguel Cabrera added his 95th RBI.
Reds 4, Braves 2: The Braves are missing their top four outfielders after both Upton brothers were lost to strained muscles.
Diamondbacks 2, Brewers 1: All-Star Patrick Corbin strikes out 10 for the second straight start and improves to 11-1.
Red Sox 4, A's 2: Seven quality innings from a resurgent John Lackey. He's 19-6 lifetime against Oakland.
Mariners 8, Angels 3: Raul Ibanez homered twice to give him 24 on the season. He's not an All-Star, but it would be fun to see the 41-year-old slugger take some hacks at the Home Run Derby.
Rockies 3, Dodgers 0: Yasiel Pug left early for the second straight game with soreness in his left hip. A couple days off before the all-star break seem likely.
Giants 10, Padres 1: Season-high five RBIs for Buster Posey.
''I had a 1-hour, 15-minute at-bat. First time I ever had to deal with that.''
— Lyle Overbay on his fourth inning at-bat being interrupted by a rain delay.
• The Indians have 12 shutout victories in their first 93 games of a season for the first time since 1968. (Via ESPN Stats & Info)
• Chris Davis joined Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Reggie Jackson as the only players to hit 35 home runs prior to the all-star break. (via Hardball Talk)
• The Mets have lost eight games in walk-off fashion this season. Only the Marlins have more with nine walk-off losses.
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