By Ron Kaplan, contributor
MOT of the Weekend honors go to Danny Valencia, who was 4-for-5 on Sunday with his fifth home run, three runs scored, and four RBIs to help the Baltimore Orioles (13-28, last in the AL East) annihilate the visiting Tampa Bay Rays, 17-1. The solo shot came in the second inning and gave the woeful O’s a 1-0 lead. Valencia drove in another on a force out in the third, another on an infield hit in the fourth, and the last on a bloop hit in the seventh. He was 0-for-3 in Saturday’s 10-3 loss and did not play in Friday’s 9-4 win.
As for Richard Bleier, well, you knew his streak of scoreless appearances couldn’t go on forever. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk on Friday — his only appearance for the weekend — and saw his ERA “soar” from 0.44 to 1.17. Before that, he had gone 14 straight appearances without yielding a run.
Kevin Pillar was 3-for-13 with his AL-leading 17th double and his eighth stolen base (tied for fifth in the A.L.) as the Toronto Blue Jays (21-20, third in AL East) lost two of three to the visiting Boston Red Sox.
Alex Bregman was 3-for-8 with two doubles and three walks as the Houston Astros (26-16, first in the AL West) took two of three from the visiting Texas Rangers.
Ryan Braun had a double and walk in three plate appearances in Friday’s 11-10, 10-inning win by the Milwaukee Brewers over the host Colorado Rockies. He also scored one run and drove another in. Braun was 0-for-8 for the rest of the weekend, including striking out four times in yesterday’s contest. The Brewers (24-17, first in NL Central) took two of the three games.
Ian Kinsler was 2-for-10 but walked four times as the LA Angels (24-16, second in AL West) dropped two of three to the visiting Minnesota Twins.
Joc Pederson was 2-for-12 with two RBIs as the LA Dodgers (16-24, fourth in NL West) lost three to the visiting Cincinnati Reds, who swept the four-game series.
Gabe Kapler’s Philadelphia Phillies (23-16, second NL East) split a two-game series with the visiting NY Mets. The second game was rained out.
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 Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War.
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