A pair of young outfield prospects got on the board yesterday. Cam Cauley of the Rangers drove an Anthony Kay heater the opposite way for his first career homer. Ryan Waldschmidt took Yunior Tur deep to left-center for his first long ball, one of five homers hit by the Diamondbacks.
1. No more antics for Caballero
The league is cracking down on the pitch clock manipulation made famous by Yankees utilityman Jose Caballero. The veteran has been at the center of several heated exchanges with pitchers miffed by his tactics. Caballero likes to run the clock all the way down to eight seconds before he makes eye contact with the pitcher. That will no longer be permitted under new enforcement, as relayed by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, which Caballero found out in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s day game after he was issued an automatic strike without warning. “It’s not allowed anymore,” crew chief Adrian Johnson told reporters. “It was the cause of a benches-clearing situation on Monday night. Major League Baseball stepped in. They want it enforced.”
2. Boston’s streak stops at 15
For the first time since July 1, the Red Sox were defeated on Wednesday. The club won the first game of its doubleheader against the Orioles to match a franchise record with 15 consecutive wins. Kyle Bradish silenced the Sox in the nightcap to end the streak. The run helped Boston zoom up the standings. The team is now holding the final AL Wild Card spot. “I think we can beat anybody — that’s Lesson No. 1,” first baseman Willson Contreras told reporters (h/t Sean McAdam of MassLive.com). “We are a good team, in the battles, in our resiliency, in the stick together, win or lose. That was a great ride.”
3. Marlins swept again
Miami’s streak is still going, and it’s not a good one. The Marlins dropped a three-game set against the Astros and have now lost nine in a row. It’s a stark turnaround after the club won a franchise-record 20 times in June. Miami recently held the final NL Wild Card spot, but has now been leapfrogged by several teams. The club is now in the crowded jumble that includes the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Pirates, Nationals, and Padres.
Photo courtesy of John Jones, Imagn Images
