The top two teams in MLB opened a four-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday, with the San Francisco Giants taking a 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The latest installment in the decades-old rivalry started with a bang, as the Giants got home runs from Buster Posey and Wilmer Flores in the top of the first inning and the Dodgers answered with two of their own from Max Muncy and Justin Turner in the bottom half.
But the pitchers recovered from there and the teams went scoreless until the seventh, when the Giants put four more on the board thanks to a sacrifice fly from Jason Vosler and run-scoring doubles by Thairo Estrada and Austin Slater.
That proved to be the winning margin as the Dodgers' bats went silent. After Giants starter Kevin Gausman escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second by striking out Will Smith to end the inning, San Francisco pitchers allowed only two more Dodgers to reach base the rest of the game.
The victory improved San Francisco's MLB-best record to 59-34 and gave the Giants a two-game lead on the Dodgers in the National League (NL) West.
Red Sox explode early against Jays
The Boston Red Sox got a grand slam from Hunter Renfroe and two-run homers from Jarren Duran and Kike Hernandez in an eight-run first inning, then added three more homers later in the game on the way to a 13-4 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Oakland Athletics had no luck against Shohei Ohtani, so they bided their time until he left the mound. After Ohtani limited them to three hits in six scoreless innings, Oakland pounced on Los Angeles Angels reliever Steve Cishek in the seventh, with Ramon Laureano's three-run homer providing all the offence they needed in a 4-1 win.
A day after rallying from a 6-0 first-inning deficit, the New York Mets won another wild game, this time in Cincinnati. Trailing 7-3 after two innings, the Mets fought back to take a 9-8 lead in the eighth, saw the Reds tie it in the ninth, then scored five in the top of the 11th for a 15-11 victory, hitting seven home runs in all.
Rangers blanked again
After being shut out in both games of a doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, the Texas Rangers lost 14-0 to the Detroit Tigers on Monday. They have not scored a run since putting two on the board in the ninth against the Blue Jays on Friday, giving them 23 consecutive scoreless innings, and have been outscored 39-2 since the All-Star break.
Lester does it all for Nats
Washington Nationals pitcher Jon Lester turned in his first scoreless outing since his April 30 season debut, striking out seven without walking a batter in seven innings, but the real highlight of the Nats' 18-1 demolition of the Miami Marlins was Lester's fourth career home run.
Noted Slugger Jon Lester launched a 419-foot home run.
NOTED SLUGGER JON LESTER LAUNCHED A 419-FOOT HOME RUN @JLester34 // #NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/SRlV0zoFBS
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 20, 2021
Monday's results
Minnesota Twins 3-2 Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox 5-3 Minnesota Twins
Washington Nationals 18-1 Miami Marlins
Baltimore Orioles 6-1 Tampa Bay Rays
New York Mets 15-11 Cincinnati Reds
Boston Red Sox 13-4 Toronto Blue Jays
Detroit Tigers 14-0 Texas Rangers
Houston Astros 4-3 Cleveland Indians
St Louis Cardinals 8-3 Chicago Cubs
Oakland Athletics 4-1 Los Angeles Angels
Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 Pittsburgh Pirates
San Francisco Giants 7-2 Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres v Atlanta Braves (postponed)
Phillies at Yankees
The Philadelphia Phillies send Aaron Nola to the mound on Tuesday as they open a two-game series at the New York Yankees, who will give Domingo German the start.
McKenna fired up for 'biggest game in world football' against Man United
Kieran McKenna believes Ipswich Town's Premier League clash with Manchester United will be the "biggest game in world football" this weekend.
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%
Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills
Arne Slot deserves praise for not being "arrogant" with his approach to succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss, according to Danny Mills.
The Dutchman has made a hugely positive start to life at Anfield since replacing long-serving Klopp ahead of the 2024-25 season.
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.
Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Mills has been particularly impressed by Slot's approach to a new era at Anfield.
"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'.
"That's smart because Liverpool were very successful under Klopp. If you come in and rip up the playbook and it doesn't work, players will question why they're not doing what worked under Klopp."
Liverpool have conceded just six goals in the Premier League this season – four fewer than next-best Nottingham Forest.
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).
"Slot has tweaked things slightly, maybe made them more defensively solid, which they needed to really challenge," Mills said. "Championship-winning or Champions League-winning teams are built on solid defences.
"You don't win without that. He's shored up the defence and allowed the players to continue doing what they were doing before."
Sale, Skubal win MLB's Cy Young Awards
Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal and Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale were each named the winner of their respective league’s Cy Young Award on Wednesday.
The announcement was hardly a surprise after each ace won their league's pitching triple crown during the 2024 regular season.
This is the first Cy Young for both pitchers.
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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