By Ron Kaplan, contributor
By default, the best performance of the day came from Richard Bleier, who made his second appearance in two days to pitch the final two innings as the Baltimore Orioles (25-19) were shut out by the visiting Minnesota Twins, 2-0. Bleier was perfect in his stint, striking out two. Craig Breslow did not appear for the Twins (24-18).
So much for 18 being a lucky number. The MOTs managed just one hit in 18 official trips to the plate yesterday, courtesy of a Kevin Pillar single in five at-bats as the Toronto Blue Jays (20-26) beat Ryan Braun (0-for-3 with a walk) and the Milwaukee Brewers (25-20), 4-3.
MLB continues to look into Pillar’s use of a homophobic slur, which cost him a two-game suspension last week. Frankly I don’t understand the need for that. He admits he said it and has expressed remorse, which I believe is genuine. Is there more he can do towards redemption? Perhaps, but it’s time to move on.
As for the rest of the guys…
- Ian Kinsler, 0-for-3 in the Detroit Tigers’ (21-23) 6-2 loss to the Houston Astros (31-15)
- Alex Bregman, 0-for-4 for the ‘Stros
- Joc Pederson, 0-for-3 for the LA Dodgers (27-19), who managed just three hits in 13 innings but still managed a 2-1 win over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. He was involved in a frightening collision with rightfielder Yasiel Puig on this play in the top of the 10th, taking an apparent elbow in the head before hitting the wall. Pederson came out of the game for a pinch hitter and will most likely be observed to see if there are any lingering effects.
- Danny Valencia did not appear for the Seattle Mariners (20-26) in their 10-1 drubbing at the hands of the host Washington Nationals. He was expected to play but was a last-minute scratch as he continues to deal with a sore wrist.
Scott Feldman did not appear for the Cincinnati Reds (21-24) in their 8-7 loss to the visiting Cleveland Indians.
Ron Kaplan (@RonKaplanNJ) hosts Kaplan’s Korner, a blog about Jews and sports. He is the author of three books, including The Jewish Olympics: The History of the Maccabiah Games and the forthcoming Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War.
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