By Ron Kaplan, contributor
Scott Feldman had another fine performance on Friday, shutting out the visiting Chicago Cubs for seven innings on just two singles while striking out seven and walking no one in the Cincinnati Reds’ 5-0 victory. Feldman improved to 7-5 and lowered his ERA to a very respectable 3.78. The Reds are 35-46.
The LA Dodgers (55-29) took two of three from the host San Diego Padres with Joc Pederson contributing two hits in four at bats. He entered Friday’s game as a defensive replacement and was 1-for-1 and did not play on Saturday. Dodgersway.com gave him a A-minus for the month of June.
A pretty lost weekend for Kevin Pillar. He went hitless in 12 at bats, striking out four times as the Toronto Blue Jays (37-44) were swept by the visiting Boston Red Sox, losing the final game by an embarrassing 15-1 score.
Alex Bregman was 0-for-9 as the Houston Astros (56-27) took two of three from the host NY Yankees. He only got into the Sunday game as a defensive replacement, going hitless in his only turn at bat.
Things weren’t much better for Ian Kinsler of the Detroit Tigers (36-45), who had a single in nine at-bats in a Saturday doubleheader with the visiting Cleveland Indians. The teams split, but Cleveland won on Sunday, a game in which Kinsler did not appear.
Danny Valencia was 1-for-10, striking out half the time, as the Seattle Mariners (41-42) took two of three from the host LA Angels. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave him a B+ grade in a recent mid-season report card, commenting that “Valencia was an unmitigated bust through the first month of the season, but since then he’s batting over .300 with an OPS over .800.”
After sitting out Friday’s game for the Milwaukee Brewers (44-40), Ryan Braun was 2-for-9 with his eighth double. The Brewers took two of three from the visiting Miami Marlins.
Richard Bleier struck out both batters he faced on Friday in the Baltimore Orioles’ 6-4, 10-inning loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. He allowed two hits the next day in one inning in another loss, as the Rays took two of the three contests. The Orioles are 40-41.
Craig Breslow remains on the disabled list for the Minnesota Twins.
Former JML Ike Davis might return…as a pitcher? Only a little bit far fetched. After all, he did make two relief appearances in 2015 in a couple of blow-out losses by the Oakland A’s. He retired the side in order on just nine pitches in his debut against the LA Angels on April 21 and gave up a walk and a hit while striking out one on August 16 against the Baltimore Orioles. Davis is batting just .183 for the Oklahoma City Dodgers this year with three home runs and 11 RBI. He has not appeared as a pitcher, however. And like many of his Major League brethren, he has spent time on the disabled list.
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