By Ron Kaplan, contributor
Mazel of the weekend: Kevin Pillar was 2-for-3 with stolen base No. 5 on Friday as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the visiting Seattle Mariners, 4-0. Saturday was even better: 3-for-4 with his 11th double, two runs scored, one RBI, and his sixth stolen base in a 7-2 win. But Sunday was the best. He had just one hit but it was a big one: a walk-off home run to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 win and the series sweep. He also made another sensational grab off the bat of Danny Valencia. Toronto has won five in a row and is 17-21 after a awful start. Pillar — whom the Toronto Sun says may be headed for an All-Star spot — is hitting .314, 9th-best in the American League.
The Mariners’ Danny Valencia had a double in four at-bats on Friday; 1-for-4 with a run scored, and an error on Saturday; and again 1-for-4 on Sunday.
Mixed mazel of the weekend: He wasn’t up very long and he wasn’t down very long. The Baltimore Orioles (22-14) promoted pitcher Richard Bleier on Sunday and put him to work immediately. Not to the good, unfortunately. He was the loser in a 9-8 decision against the host Kansas City Royals. Bleier allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk, including a solo home run, in two innings. I wouldn’t be surprised if they send him back down soon.
Bad mazel: Scott Feldman pitched another great game — seven innings, seven hits, two runs, a walk, and two strikeouts. But the game between his Cincinnati Reds (19-18) and the host San Francisco Giants went another 10 innings and ended in a 3-2 loss for the visitors.
Very bad mazel: The Milwaukee Brewers placed Ryan Braun on the disabled list on Friday with a strained left calf. Turns out they didn’t need him, sweeping the suddenly terrible again NY Mets. In Sunday’s game, the Brewers (21-17) overcame a 7-1 deficit, scoring 10 runs over the sixth, seventh, and eighth inning for an 11-9 win.
Alex Bregman got to play against the NY Yankees on the day his hero, Derek Jeter, had his number retired. (That does it for the single digits for the Bronx Bombers. All that’s left is a big fat zero, literally.) The teams had to play a doubleheader on Sunday since Saturday’s contest was a washout. Bregman was hitless in four at-bats in the opener, a 10-6 loss. In the nightcap following the ceremonies, he hit his first career grand slam (see below), his sole hit in four at-bats as the Astros (26-12) earned a split with the 11-7 win. He was 1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, and his third stolen base in Friday’s 5-1 Astros win.
Joc Pederson hit his fifth double and also singled in five at-bats, scoring a run and driving in another as the LA Dodgers beat the host Colorado Rockies, 6-2. He entered Saturday’s game as a pinch-runner in the sixth and was 0-for-1 the rest of the way in a 4-0 win. On Sunday he was 0-for-3 with a walk and came out of the game for a pinch hitter in the eight as the Dodgers (22-16) lost the finale, 9-6. Pederson is even dangerous when he doesn’t put the ball in fair territory.
Ian Kinsler was 0-for-4 on Friday as the host LA Angels trounced his visiting Detroit Tigers, 7-0. He was 1-for-3 with a walk on Saturday and was caught stealing for the first time this year in . He was 1-for-4 on Sunday with just his fourth double in a 4-1 loss (18-18). Brad Ausmus got a mention other than for managing the team.
Craig Breslow threw one scoreless inning for the Minnesota Twins ( 19-15) on Sunday in an 8-3 loss to the host Cleveland Indians, his only appearance for the weekend.
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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