Padres win walk off against Casilla's Giants, Hammel leads Cubs
Santiago Casilla faltered as the San Diego Padres trumped the San Francisco Giants, while Jason Hammel starred for the Chicago Cubs.
San Francisco Giants closer Santiago Casilla had an inning to forget as the San Diego Padres claimed a 7-6 walk-off win in MLB on Saturday.
In the bottom of the 10th against the Padres, Casilla already blew the Giants' one-run lead and had runners at the corners with no outs as San Diego appeared ready to clinch the second successive game of the series.
Instead it was Casilla giving the Padres a narrow victory win with an embarrassing mistake.
Casilla's lead foot appeared to get caught in the dirt as he stumbled toward the plate, initiating a balk call that allowed Derek Norris to score the game-winning run from third. It was the fifth blown save for Casilla this season.
Jason Hammel led the way as the streaking Chicago Cubs defeated the Texas Rangers 3-1, with the pitcher striking out seven over six innings.
The Boston Red Sox accounted for the New York Yankees 5-2, the Washington Nationals blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0, the St Louis Cardinals shut out the Miami Marlins 5-0 and the Oakland Athletics closed in on a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 5-4 victory.
Reigning World Series champions the Kansas City Royals defeated the Detroit Tigers 8-4, the Milwaukee Brewers eased past the Cincinnati Reds 9-1, the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 2-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Baltimore Orioles edged the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 and the Philadelphia Phillies were too good for the New York Mets 4-2.
Meanwhile, the Colorado Rockies trumped the Atlanta Braves 4-3, the Los Angeles Angels downed the Chicago White Sox 1-0, the Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros by the same scoreline and the Minnesota Twins needed an 11th inning to down the Cleveland Indians 5-4 following a lengthy weather delay.
SHOEMAKER THROWS COMMPLETE-GAME SHUTOUT
For the third consecutive game, the White Sox were shutout, this time by the arm of Matt Shoemaker, who fired a complete-game shutout with 13 strikeouts in the Angels' win. James Shields took the loss for Chicago despite throwing a complete game himself but one run was all it took.
STANTON MORE THAN A SLUGGER
Giancarlo Stanton may be known as a power hitter but the outfielder showed off his range, laying out to make an inning-ending diving catch in right field to rob the Cardinals Matt Adams.
TILLMAN STARS FOR ORIOLES
With seven innings of one-run ball in the win against the Rays, Orioles starter Chris Tillman (13-2) became the fifth pitcher in franchise history to win 13 of his first 15 decisions.
BLUE JAYS OUT TO AVOID SWEEP
A pair of southpaws take the mound as the Athletics send Rich Hill (9-3, 2.25 ERA) to finish off a sweep against J.A. Happ (12-3, 3.36 ERA) at the Jays on Sunday. Hill, who is likely to get dealt at the trade deadline, is 6-0 with a 2.05 ERA over his last seven starts. Meanwhile, Cole Hamels (9-2, 3.21 ERA) takes the mound as the Rangers look to finish a three-game sweep of National League (NL) Central leaders the Cubs.