BOYLE BUGLE/WEEK OF APRIL 22-28
We barrel into the month of May, which brings with all the good weather and — soon enough — playoffs! This week sees the league turn the corner into the second half of the season. In the Majors, the hot Giants (6-2) have won six in a row to narrow the gap with the Rays (7-2) at the top, with the Yankees (4-4) and Tigers (3-4) close behind. In the Minors, things tightened up with the Giants (5-5) and Cubs (5-5) both beating the Mariners (6-3) and the Rangers (7-3) winning a pair to inch ahead. In Minors AAA, the Royals (8-0) strengthened their grip atop the pack with a big win over the second-place Cardinals (8-2). Play ball!
MAJORS
Giants 3, Tigers 0 — Brodie Williams and Reid Holbrook each scored on steals of home and Alex James singled then scored on an error to provide the entire offense for the Giants. James and Chance Donahue were the only Giants to notch a hit against Tigers pitching as the Giants rode arms to victory — a combined three-hit shutout by Williams, Donahue, Holbrook and Rory Murphy.
For the Tigers, Jack Chaudhry hurled two scoreless innings and Levi Weber tossed 1 1/3 shutout, while Alex Meleis stood out with a pair of defensive gems in the field.
Red Sox 8, Yankees 4 — Red Sox pitchers Jack Payne and Cole Swift combined for 14 strikeouts in the win, and Jack Lee, Jack Seidel and Leo Tenenbown each had two hits and combined for three RBIs.
For the Yanks, Max Vreede went 2-for-2.
Red Sox 5, Reds 3 — Cole Swift smacked only the third home of the Majors season to help the Red Sox to victory. Jack Lee added an RBI double for the winners, Jack Payne struck out five in two innings and Leo Tenenbown closed the game with two innings on the mound.
For the Reds, Hudson Wayne threw two innings and did not allow an earned run.
Giants 3, Rays 0 —Chance Donahue went 2-for-2 with an RBI and Brodie Williams, Reid Holbrook and Rory Murphy combined on a three-hit shutout.
Teddy Klaassen threw 2 and 1/3 shutout innings fo the Rays.
Yankees 7, Tigers 1 — Oscar Karlen fired four shutout innings, striking out eight and laced an RBI double that plated Charlie Davies to pace the Yanks. Oscar Walker and Max Vreede closed out the game for the Yanks, with Vreede adding a standout defensive play at shortstop.
For the Tigers, Jack Chaudhry had an RBI double and pitched two innings with 5 strikeouts.
Rays 5, Reds 0 — The Rays broke open a scoreless game with five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning in a rally ignited by bunts from Luca Bonistalli, Thomas Gougion and Teddy Klaassen. Boden Medow pitched three shutout innings of relief after coming into pitch with no outs and bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning.
Brooks Merrick and Holden Ryan each pitched scoreless innings for the Reds.
Rays 13, Reds 0 —Beckett Glynn was 3-for-3 with five RBIs, Henry Ellis singled and drove in two runs and Davis Marshall hit a double that plated two. Glynn and Ellis each pitched two shutout innings for the Rays.
MINORS
Rangers 6, Giants 5 — Patrick Dawson singled in the bottom of the sixth in a tie game, then came around to steal home and give the Rangers a walk-off win. Cole Pritchard hurled two scoreless innings with four strikeouts for the winners, and Lennon Oldknow smacked a bases-clearing double. Henry Lawniczak added a key hit.
For the Giants, Charlie McIntosh tossed two scoreless frames and reached base three times, scoring twice. Laszlo Winn added two strong innings and also reached base three times.
Cubs 8, Mariners 6 — Zach Cornelius and Avery Peskin each had multiple hits for the Cubs and key RBIs came from Avery Peshkin, Declan McAteer, Abdullah Mullah, and Rhodes Tewksbury.
On the mound, Tyler Feduska started, pitched two, and gave up one. Tate Shackleton pitched two innings of one-run ball. Ben Locks had a great catch in center for the Cubs, and Will Schluensen made a game-ending double play.
The Mariners had 10 hits combined, led by Les Sollner (2-for-3) and Knox Medow (2-for-3). Ezra Pope-Meyer had two RBIs and Hank Moline went 1-for-2 with a run. On the pitching side, the M's were highlighted by Rivington Lee who tossed a perfect inning giving up zero runs with 3 K's.
Phillies 8, Diamondbacks 6 — Milo Davies, Jack Devin, Camden Nelson and John McClatchy combined on the mound for the winners, and Nelson even threw out a baserunner attempting to steal to lead the Phils. Defensive gems were turned in by Devlin and Bradley Krischer.
At the plate, McClatchy went 3-for-3 and scored twice, Nelson had an RBI double and Krischer added an RBI, while Devlin had a hit and scored three times.
For the D-Backs, Cameron Welstead stole three bases and scored twice, Finn Shumway and Leo Sasoni each knocked RBI doubles and Jasper Persson smacked two hits and drove in three. Lucas Parrett and Finn Shumway both had strong pitching performances in the loss, each striking out three.
Rangers 12, Phillies 2 — Wyatt Droege led the Rangers by pitching two scoreless innings with six whiffs. Droege’s big day included going 2-for-3 and scoring twice. Jake Hollander, Mason Zarem, and Paxton King also each reached base and scored twice. For the Phillies, Henry Schmidt retired the side in the second with a 7-pitch, 1-2-3 inning and Milo Davies and Jack Devlin scored for the Phillies.
Giants 7, Mariners 5 — Henry Levin stroked a key two-run single in the bottom of the fifth then closed out the game in a tight game. Levin added an RBI earlier in the game for the Giants, who saw big games from Laszlo Winn (two runs, a triple, two scoreless innings), Calvin Boehle (single, double), JP Edwards (RBI hit), Oscar Campbell (RBI, two runs scored) and Tato Narganes who made an unassisted double play to end it.
For the Mariners, Beau Bremer went 1-for-1 and scored, Les Sollner had a hit and an RBI, and Rivington Lee reached base four times. Cody Chittenden pitched two innings of one-run ball.
Diamondbacks 8, Cubs 3 — For the Diamondbacks, Jasper Perrson and Cameron Welstead each had three hits and combined for five RBIs and Ryder Glynn reached base three times. Perrson, Wellstead, Finn Shumway and Lucas Parrett combined for 11 strikeouts and were able to slither out of three bases loaded jams.
For the Cubs, Tate Shackleton and Avery Peshkin each had two hits. Rhodes Tewksbury reached base three times and Elijah Boley and Ben Locks each drew RBI walks. Tyler Feduska turned a double play, and Ben Locks made a great catch in the outfield.
Phillies 10, Giants 4 — The Phillies notched their first win of the season in a team effort, as every player reached base. Camden Nelson belted two doubles, Milo Davies had two hits — including a two-run double —while Jack Devlin added two RBIs and Oliver Little knocked an RBI single.
Defensively, Phillies pitchers were led by Henry Schmidt who struck out six of the eight batters he faced. Bradley Krischer threw a runner out who was attempting to steal second base.
MINORS AAA
Royals 11, Cardinals 3 — Cruz Williamson and Henry Wang notched huge hits sandwiched around a couple key walks to fuel a big second inning rally, Parker Caselli fueled a first-inning rally and the Royals won a game between the top two teams in the division.
The Royals rode strong pitching once again, as Oliver Lynch (two innings, five Ks), Quinn Ensley and Joel Sollner finished the job.
For the Cardinals, Wells Lipner and Grey Robinson had key hits, and Hayes Stephens and Knight Bohman each pitched well.
Pirates 13, A’s 3 — Key hits from Otto Fackler, Noah Simons and a triple by Bryce Minkoff led the Pirates, who also received strong pitching from Fackler, Alex Supple, Stefen Sigg and Ian Boley.
The Athletics also had some nice hits highlighted by a deep hit from Ava Johnston.
Cardinals 16, Twins 6 — Aksel Hwang Scheel notched his first base hit of the season, much to the delight of the entire Cardinals team.
Jack Schierberl of the Twins added a great catch in centerfield.
A’s 27, Rockies 11 — The A’s received a grand slam from Paul Coogan, good infield defense and a close-out inning from Will Caddell.
Dawes Foley hit a two-run inside-the-park home run for the Rockies.
Pirates 15, Twins 0 — The Pirates were led by strong pitching from Otto Fackler, Alex Supple and Stefen Sigg. Fackler and Noah Simons each had singles to lead the Pirates offense.
A's 7, Twins 4 — Big hits from Charlie Moore and Paul Coogan led the A’s. Paul Maynard pitched well for the Twins.
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