MLB

Tatis helps Padres stun Astros, Giants pound Dodgers

By Sports Desk May 30, 2021

Fernando Tatis Jr. did it again, hitting a two-out, three-run home run in the ninth inning to tie the game before the San Diego Padres got another long ball in the 12th to defeat the Houston Astros 11-8. 

Houston led 6-1 after seven before the Padres scored two in the eighth, then three on the Tatis shot in the ninth to send the game to extra innings. 

The teams traded runs in the 10th and 11th innings before Wil Myers homered with one out in the 12th -- two batters after Houston intentionally walked Tatis -- to provide the winning margin. 

The victory kept San Diego (34-19) ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays (33-20) for the best record in MLB.

 

Giants pound rival Dodgers

The San Francisco Giants pounded out 16 hits as they defeated the rival Los Angeles Dodgers 11-6 for their second consecutive win after dropping four straight to the defending World Series champions. Logan Webb allowed only one hit and did not walk a batter while striking out seven for the Giants. 

The New York Mets scored seven runs in the sixth inning to run away from the Atlanta Braves in a 13-2 rout. James McCann had four hits, including the first of five home runs the Mets hit in the game, while the entire Braves lineup managed only one extra-base hit. 

For the second consecutive day, a young Detroit Tigers starter shut down New York Yankees batters, as Spencer Turnbull allowed only three singles in a 6-1 Detroit win. 

 

Diamondbacks, Orioles skids continue

A late rally came up short as the Arizona Diamondbacks fell 7-4 to the St Louis Cardinals for their 13th consecutive defeat, while the Baltimore Orioles were swept in a double-header by the Chicago White Sox to run their losing skid to 12 straight. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates held Colorado Rockies batters to just six hits in 49 at-bats in sweeping a double-header with 7-0 and 4-0 victories. Colorado hitters struck out 14 times after their best player, shortstop Trevor Story, landed on the injured list earlier in the day due to right elbow inflammation. 

 

Rendon on the run

Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon had to cover a lot of ground to get to this foul pop off the bat of the Oakland Athletics' Matt Olson, then made a blind heave to double off Tony Kemp. 

 

Saturday's results

Chicago Cubs 10-2 Cincinnati Reds
Boston Red Sox 3-1 Miami Marlins
Detroit Tigers 6-1 New York Yankees
Minnesota Twins 6-5 Kansas City Royals
Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 Philadelphia Phillies
Chicago White Sox 7-4 Baltimore Orioles
Chicago White Sox 3-1 Baltimore Orioles
San Diego Padres 11-8 Houston Astros
Los Angeles Angels 4-0 Oakland Athletics
St Louis Cardinals 7-4 Arizona Diamondbacks
Seattle Mariners 3-2 Texas Rangers
San Francisco Giants 11-6 Los Angeles Dodgers
Pittsburgh Pirates 7-0 Colorado Rockies
Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 Colorado Rockies
Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 Washington Nationals
Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 Washington Nationals
New York Mets 13-2 Atlanta Braves
Toronto Blue Jays-Cleveland Indians (postponed)

 

Giants at Dodgers

Kevin Gausman (5-0, 1.53 ERA) looks to stay unbeaten for the San Francisco Giants as they visit Clayton Kershaw (7-3, 2.94) and the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

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    United are in action under new manager Ruben Amorim for the first time since the Portuguese officially replaced Arne Slot as head coach.

    While plenty of focus is on the visitors at Portman Road, Ipswich are fired up after beating Tottenham 2-1 before the international break.

    That was Ipswich's first league win of the season – and their first in the Premier League in 22 years – and now attention turns to facing United.

    McKenna, who previously coached United, said at a fan event this week: "Sunday, what a game. It's one we're really, really looking forward to.

    "Not for the personal connection, but as manager of Ipswich Town, to be on that stage, it's what we've worked so hard for.

    "It's the biggest game in world football anywhere this weekend, the biggest game in the world in the biggest sport in the world and it's at Portman Road."

    Ipswich's surprise win at Tottenham last time out moved them up to 17th, while United are 13th after beating Leicester City 3-0 in Ruud van Nistelrooy's final game in caretaker charge.

    Amorim took his first training session on Monday, albeit with many first-team stars away on international duty, and the former Sporting CP boss believes his style of play will be clear to see from the off. 

    "I think you will see an idea," he told the club's website. "You could like it or not, I don't know, but you will see an idea. 
     
    "You will see a positioning. You will see something that we want to reach that kind of level. You will feel that. 
     
    "We have to know it's [only] two trainings before the first match. This is the best league in the world. But if I have to say something to you, [it's that] you will see an idea. This I can guarantee."

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Ipswich Town - Liam Delap

    Delap scored what proved to be Ipswich's winner against Tottenham and has now netted six of his side's 12 Premier League goals this term.

    That makes the Manchester City academy product one of only three players to have scored at least half of his side's goals in the competition this season, along with Erling Haaland at City (55%) and Chris Wood at Nottingham Forest (53%).

    Manchester United - Alejandro Garnacho

    Garnacho was among the scorers against Leicester two weeks ago and has now been directly involved in 20 Premier League goals for United (13 goals and seven assists).

    The Argentina international is one of only two non-British players to reach that figure for United before turning 21, along with Cristiano Ronaldo (25 goals).

    MATCH PREDICTION: MANCHESTER UNITED WIN

    Ipswich are seeking back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since February 2022, with that run also beginning with a 2-1 victory against Tottenham.

    The Tractor Boys are the only side in the competition without a home win this season. Only five newly promoted clubs have failed to win any of their first six home matches, all of whom went back down.

    United have won 17 of their past 19 Premier League games against newly promoted opponents, meanwhile, including nine wins in a row in away fixtures.

    The Red Devils were 1-0 winners on their most recent league trip to Portman Road in April 2022, but only once have they won successive league games away to Ipswich.

    However, the Tractor Boys have lost four of their past five league matches against Man United, failing to score in each of those losses.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Ipswich Town - 22.2%

    Draw - 23%

    Manchester United - 54.8%

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    The 28 points Slot has collected is the joint-most of any manager in their opening 11 Premier League games along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.

    Liverpool's only blemish on an otherwise perfect start to the top-flight campaign was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in September.

    Indeed, only in 2019-20 (31 points) have Liverpool collected more points after 11 games of a Premier League season than their 28 this campaign.

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    "Arne Slot has surprised me," Mills told Stats Perform. "They did have a difficult defeat against Nottingham Forest at home. That was a defeat not many people saw that coming, but the start he's had is unbelievable. It's incredible.

    "Training might be slightly different, but the style of play is very similar. The players are comfortable with it. They've been high-energy, closing people down, and playing at 100 miles an hour when they win the ball back.

    "It shows managerial intelligence to understand the players' qualities and build on what they had when they were successful. He hasn't overthought it or tinkered too much. 

    "He hasn’t been arrogant and said, 'I'm going to rip it up and start fresh'. It wasn't broken; it was already successful. He's just added to it."

    Liverpool won a first ever Premier League title during Klopp's eight-and-a-half years in charge, as well the Champions League in 2018-19.

    Klopp also lifted the FA Cup, two EFL Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, setting a high benchmark to follow.

    "Liverpool identified the man they wanted, brought him in, and he's been very clever," Mills added. "He looked at the squad and thought, 'these are good players. I don't need to change too much'. 

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    They are conceding at a rate of around 0.5 goals per game, compared to around 1.1 in Klopp's final season in charge (41 goals in 38 matches).

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    The announcement was hardly a surprise after each ace won their league's pitching triple crown during the 2024 regular season.

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    Skubal, who turned 28 on Wednesday, enjoyed a break-out year in his fourth full MLB season, and was a unanimous winner, receiving all 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The Kansas City Royals' Seth Lugo finished second and Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase finished third in the balloting, which was completed before the play-offs.

    Sale received 26 of 30 first-place votes, while Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler finished second, ahead of Pittsburgh Pirates righty Paul Skenes, who was selected as the National League Rookie of the Year on Monday.

    The 35-year-old Sale has come close to winning the award before, finishing as runner-up to Cleveland's Corey Kluber in 2017, with five other top-five finishes in voting since his first full season in the majors in 2011.

    Since the inception of the Cy Young Award in 1956, there have been 16 pitchers to win his league's pitching crown. And now, every one of them has also won that year's Cy Young.

    Skubal and Sale each won an MLB-best 18 games, while Skubal led all pitchers with 228 strikeouts – three more than Sale. Sale's ERA of 2.38 was just a tick better than Skubal's 2.39.

    Both were dominant down the stretch in leading their teams to the play-offs, with Sale permitting two earned runs or fewer in each of his final 18 regular-season starts, though he was unable to pitch in the season final or the Braves' NL Wild-Card series loss to the San Diego Padres because of a back injury.

    Skubal posted a 1.94 ERA in his final nine outings, and then threw 13 shutout innings in his first two play-off starts in helping the Tigers surprisingly reach the American League Division Series. He ended up going 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three post-season starts.

    Skubal became the fifth Tiger to win the Cy Young trophy – and first since Max Scherzer in 2017 – and Sale is the fifth Brave to earn the award – and first since Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in 1998.

    Despite several close calls in Cy Young voting for Sale, he has dealt with injuries for the past five seasons, and was limited to a total of 151 innings over the past three years for the Boston Red Sox.

    In his first season with the Braves, however, he threw 177 2/3 innings and was awarded the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award last Thursday.

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