Almost seemingly under the radar, Zack Greinke carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning in Seattle last night. He lost it when Austin Nola singled with one out. Greinke seems to thrive pitching behind Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander for Houston while notching his 18th win of the season tossing 8.1 scoreless innings yielding only two hits and a walk with nine strikeouts. Over 108 pitches, Greinke generated 20 swinging strikes and 18 called for a 35.2 called plus swinging strike (CSW) percentage, including this beauty: 

Greinke’s durability aligns with another starter from Wednesday night along with two of his teammates:

This provides a segue to Jacob deGrom putting a bow on his quest for a second straight National League Cy Young Award. deGrom fired seven shutout innings giving up two hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. He produced 18 swinging strikes and 12 called for a 31.6 CSW percentage while becoming the first Mets starting pitcher to record at least seven innings in each of his last eight starts (Al Leiter in 1998). deGrom leads the National League in strikeouts (251) and WHIP (0.97) along with being second in ERA (2.43) and innings (204). Plus: 

Here’s the other notable starting pitcher performances from last night:

  • Randy Dobnak, Minnesota: 78 pitches, 16 swinging strikes, 15 called, 39.7 CSW%. Dobnak won his second decision this month allowing one unearned run on a hit with six strikeouts. He’s getting married this weekend and in line to start the second game of the playoffs for the Twins. 

  • Aníbal Sánchez , Washington: 90 pitches, 12 swinging strikes, 18 called, 33.3 CSW%. Since returning from the injured list in May, Sanchez owns a 11-2 record with a 3.42 ERA over his last 21 starts. 

  • Charlie Morton , Tampa Bay: 100 pitches, 16 swinging strikes, 21 called, 37 CSW%. In winning his 16th game, while extending the Rays lead in the Wild Card to one and a half games, Morton fired six shutout innings yielding one hit and three walks with nine strikeouts lowering his ERA to 3.05 this year. 

  • Frankie Montas , Oakland: 87 pitches, 10 swinging strikes, 15 called, 28.7 CSW%. Making his first start back from the restricted list, Montas did not get his 10th win, but worked six innings allowing four hits, one earned run and two walks with six strikeouts. He cannot pitch in the postseason, but if Oakland needs to appear in a play-in game, Montas would be in line to start. 

Bullpen Notes: Momentum swing in Los Angeles

Of course, after highlighting the breakout season by Hansel Robles earlier this week, he served up a two run go ahead home run to Matt Chapman on Wednesday night resulting in his first loss and fourth blown save of the year. Oakland countered with Liam Hendriks who recorded his 24th save during a clean inning with two strikeouts. Since taking over as the closer on June 21st, Hendriks leads the major with the 24 saves. He’s also recorded 71 strikeouts against four walks (two intentional) with a 1.76 ERA. 

Here’s the rest of the high leverage events from Wednesday: 

  • Archie Bradley secured his 17th save despite allowing two inherited runners score during his two-thirds of an inning. 

  • Save number 29 for Sean Doolittle working around a hit with three strikeouts. This marks his first save since August 16th. 

  • It’s been a rough stretch for the Pirates, but Keone Kela locked down his first save walking one in a scoreless ninth inning. 

  • Ken Giles racked up his 22nd save striking out the side. 

  • Giants pending free agent, Will Smith garnered his sixth win also striking out the side preceding a walk-off home run. 

  • Pressed into duty with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Alex Colomé struck out the only hitter he faced stranding all three runners for his 30th save. 

  • Closing out the Astros shutout in Seattle, Will Harris notched his third save striking out one of the two hitters he faced. 

  • Kenley Jansen locked down his 32nd save with a clean ninth in San Diego. 

Hitter Highlights: Alonso within one of the rookie home run record

It’s been a year to remember for Pete Alonso and teammate Jeff McNeil . Alonso moved within one home run of tying Aaron Judge for the most by a rookie in major league history last night: 

Alonso’s the sixth player in major league history with 50 or more home runs in his age-24 season or younger and his at-bats will be monitored this weekend to see if he can break the record. Jeff McNeil will miss the remainder of the season with a fractured wrist incurred when he was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning. McNeil finishes the year with a .318 average, 23 home runs and 75 RBI. Remember when these two were not ready to be promoted last September? 

Rookie Randy Arozarena had himself an afternoon in a loss in Arizona. Arozarena went 2-for-4 with two runs, his first major league home run and stole two bases. Fueling the Diamondbacks win, Wilmer Flores racked up three hits including his ninth home run driving in four. Over his last 27 games, Flores owns a .393 average with six doubles, seven home runs and 22 RBI. 

Ryan Braun launched a grand slam in the first inning in Cincinnati leading the Brewers to another win. Eric Thames added his 24th and Keston Hiura his 19th. 

Blue Jays rookie Rowdy Tellez launched two home runs pushing his season total to 20 becoming the fourth player in team history to reach the mark in his first full season. He’s reached base in 15 of his last 28 plate appearances during the last seven games. 

Scoring 10 runs in Texas, Christian Vázquez (23), Mitch Moreland (19) and Rafael Devers (32) all homered for the Red Sox. 

Getting Josh Donaldson back on track will benefit the Braves. Donaldson hit three doubles in his six at-bats last night driving in four. Ozzie Albies recorded his 187th hit moving into a tie with Ketel Marte for the National League lead. Marte’s done for the season. 

What To Watch For

With only the American League Wild Card still being fought for in regards to the postseason, Cleveland will send Aaron Civale to the mound in Chicago trailing the Rays by one and a half games. Oakland leads Tampa Bay by a half game and will send Sean Manaea to the bump versus the Mariners. 

Milwaukee trails Washington by one game to host the play-in game with Chase Anderson slated to face Luis Castillo in Cincinnati. Washington will counter with Stephen Strasburg looking for his 18th win of the year facing the Phillies at home. Stay tuned. 

Be sure to stay with Fantasy Alarm across all fantasy formats to remain ahead of the competition. 

 

Statistical Credits: 

BaseballSavant.com

Fangraphs.com

MLB.com - Game Notes