MLB

Dodgers down Cardinals as Rays finish May on a roll

By Sports Desk June 01, 2021

There is no margin for error in the top-heavy National League (NL) West, and the Los Angeles Dodgers kept the pace Monday with an impressive 9-4 win over the St Louis Cardinals. 

Trevor Bauer surrendered three home runs in a game for the first time since July 13, 2019, but the defending World Series champions got enough timely hitting to prevail. 

Chris Taylor led the way with three hits for Los Angeles, including the second of back-to-back home runs along with Gavin Lux to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the second inning. 

But the real highlight for Taylor came in the sixth, when he capped a remarkable 14-pitch at-bat against Genesis Cabrera with a three-run double that gave Los Angeles a 6-3 lead. 

The Dodgers gained a game on the San Diego Padres with the win and sit two back of the rival San Francisco Giants for the division lead. 

 

Rays finish May on fire

The Tampa Bay Rays may be sad to see May come to an end, as their 3-1 victory against the New York Yankees gave them a 35-20 record to finish the month after a 13-14 start to the season. According to Stats Perform, they are the first MLB team to be under .500 at the beginning of a month and at least 15 games over at the end since the Boston Braves did it in August of 1933.

Making his first start for the Chicago Cubs, Kohl Stewart shut down the powerful Padres line-up for five innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run, as the Cubs rolled to a 7-2 win that moved them past the Cardinals and into first place in the division. 

The Houston Astros closed in on the Oakland Athletics in the American League (AL) West with an 11-2 pounding of the Boston Red Sox, the hitters backing a strong outing by Jose Uquidy. 

 

Orioles come up empty again

The Baltimore Orioles took the Minnesota Twins to extra innings but fell once again, 3-2 in the 10th, for their 14th defeat in succession. On the plus side, the Orioles have a long way to go before matching their club-record losing streak of 21 in a row to open the 1988 season. 

While the Arizona Diamondbacks managed to break their lengthy losing streak Sunday, a 6-2 defeat to the New York Mets on Monday gave them a 5-24 record in May as the month came to a close.

 

Two-way heroics for deGrom

Jacob deGrom was his usual dominant self on the mound against the woeful Diamondbacks, allowing two hits and striking out eight in six scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 0.71, but the Mets star also demonstrated his abilities at the plate with a run-scoring single. According to Stats Perform, deGrom is the only pitcher since ERA became an official stat in 1913 to have a sub-1.00 ERA and a batting average of at least .450 over any span of eight starts with a minimum of 10 plate appearances. 

 

Monday's results

Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 New York Yankees
Minnesota Twins 3-2 Baltimore Orioles
Cincinnati Reds 11-1 Philadelphia Phillies
Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 Detroit Tigers
Chicago Cubs 7-2 San Diego Padres
Chicago White Sox 8-6 Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians 3-1 Chicago White Sox
San Francisco Giants 6-1 Los Angeles Angels
Houston Astros 11-2 Boston Red Sox
Seattle Mariners 6-5 Oakland Athletics
Atlanta Braves 5-3 Washington Nationals
Kansas City Royals 7-3 Pittsburgh Pirates
Los Angeles Dodgers 9-4 St Louis Cardinals
New York Mets 6-2 Arizona Diamondbacks

 

Rays at Yankees

Domingo German will get the ball for the New York Yankees (29-25) as they attempt to end a four-game losing streak against Tyler Glasnow and the seemingly unstoppable Tampa Bay Rays (35-20), who have won 16 of their last 17 games.

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