MLB Roundup
If the Tampa Bay Rays are going to hang in the AL playoff race, they’ll have to do it without reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.
The 26-year-old left-hander was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday and is expected to be sidelined until at least September due to arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his pitching elbow.
The Rays, who trailed Oakland by one game for the second AL wild card spot entering play Thursday, said team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Koco Eaton will operate on Snell next Monday. The team anticipates the pitcher will be ready to return in September.
Snell said he’s confident the Rays can remain in playoff contention while he’s out. Tampa Bay has slipped following a 14-4 start.
“With the team we have, I know they’re going to ball out. I’m not worried about them,” said Snell, who became the second Cy Young winner in franchise history last season, when he led the major leagues with 21 wins.
The lefty is 6-7 with a 4.28 ERA in 20 starts this season, including 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in outings since June 30.
Snell, who signed a $50 million, five-year contract during spring training, said he initially felt discomfort in his arm “three of four starts ago” and became more concerned while playing catch on Tuesday. He had a MRI following a bullpen session Wednesday.
Tulowitzki calls it quits: Troy Tulowitzki, a five-time All-Star with the Colorado Rockies who has missed most of the past two seasons with leg injuries, announced his retirement on Thursday, more than three months after he played in his last game for the New York Yankees.
“For as long as I can remember, my dream was to compete at the highest level as a Major League Baseball player . to wear a big league uniform and play hard for my teammates and the fans,” he said in a statement issued by the Yankees before a series against Boston. “I will forever be grateful for every day that I’ve had to live out my dream. It has been an absolute honor.”
Tulowitzki was NL Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2007, when he helped the Rockies reach the World Series for the only time in franchise history. He finished in the top 10 of the NL MVP voting three straight years from 2009-11; in all, he received MVP votes in six seasons.
He was traded to Toronto in the middle of 2015 and hit .254 with 24 homers and 79 RBIs the next year, his last full season in the majors. He spent most of 2017 on the disabled list with and ankle injuries, and then missed all of last season with following April 2018 surgery on both heels.
The Yankees signed him in the offseason, and he won the shortstop job in spring training while starter Didi Gregorius opened the season on the injured list following Tommy John surgery. But Tulowitzki lasted just five games before going on the IL himself, straining his left calf on April 3.
Colorado 8, Washington 7: Washington ace Max Scherzer lasted five innings in his return from the injured list, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Nationals 8-7 in a battle of worn-out bullpens.
Ian Desmond led off the ninth with a homer off 42-year-old Fernando Rodney (0-4), who pitched in both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader. Rodney then walked Charlie Blackmon, who advanced on a wild pitch and a single by David Dahl, and Daniel Murphy drove in Blackmon with a groundout.
Murphy homered and scored three times for the Rockies, who avoided a four-game sweep and won for just the fourth time in their past 20 games. Jairo Diaz (3-2) worked a scoreless eighth, and Wade Davis earned his 15th save.
Anthony Rendon hit a three-run drive for Washington, which wasted a chance to gain ground on first-place Atlanta in the NL East.
NY Mets 4, San Diego 0: Jacob deGrom pitched seven innings of four-hit ball while getting a rare bit of first-inning run support, and the New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 4-0.
Todd Frazier hit a two-run double as New York built a four-run lead in its first turn against Eric Lauer, the most runs the Mets have scored in the first inning during deGrom’s 160 starts. New York had scored four or more runs total in six of his 20 prior outings this season.
DeGrom (6-7) struck out nine and walked one on 105 pitches in the matinee, extending his scoreless streak to 17 innings. The ace from the Sunshine State has a 1.86 ERA in 52 day games, best in the majors since at least 1913 for pitchers with at least 200 innings.
The Padres have lost nine of 12, a slump that likely has dropped them out the crowded wild card race. Lauer (5-8) was pulled after 2 1/3 innings with four runs allowed on six hits and three walks.