WSOU

Joe Cammarota recaps this week in baseball

Date: May 19, 2019

By: Joseph Cammarota

This week in baseball

This week in baseball saw the injury depleted Yankees briefly take first place in the AL East on a walk-off home run by Gio Urshela. In the National League Central, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant achieved a difficult feat.

The Yankees had a great week, not only did they claw their way into a tight divisional race, but they had a nice double-header sweep of the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. This weekend, the Yankees dropped the first two games of their series against the Rays but bounced back on Sunday with a 13-5 victory. The Bronx Bombers regained their division lead on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the Bronx Bombers had more injury news this week. Third basemen Miguel Andujar decided to have surgery on his torn labrum in his throwing shoulder that will sideline him for the rest of the season. This leaves the Yankees with 14 injuries this season, including some key players such as Didi Gregorius, Aaron Judge, and Luis Severino.

The Pittsburgh Pirates had an interesting week. Although they had a losing record this week, first basemen Josh Bell continued his hot streak, hitting five home runs and driving in 14 runs. Recently back from an injury, right fielder Gregory Polanco quietly put up good numbers. In his 73 at-bats, he has a .280 batting average and has driven in 11 runs.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, they struggled with injuries, as Jameson Taillon was placed on the 60-day IL. On Friday, starter Trevor Williams was placed on the 10-day IL with a right-side strain, after getting hurt during his Thursday start.

In addition, the Bucs bullpen woes have cost them some games, including Thursday’s game when Richard Rodriguez continued to struggle. Rodriguez gave up a home run to Padres second baseman Ian Kinsler, that put San Diego ahead of Pittsburgh. Rodriguez’s struggles led the Pirates to option him to Triple-A and the club called up right-hander Geoff Hartlieb.

Elsewhere in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs have been on a roll. The Cubs thrashed the Nationals 14-6 on Friday evening. A notable event happened on Friday, when Kris Bryant hit three home runs in three consecutive innings. Bryant became only the 12th player in MLB history to achieve this accomplishment.

This week, rookie sensation Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his first two career home runs against the San Francisco Giants. The 20-year-old’s first career homerun was a moon-shot to dead center in Oracle Park that was reminiscent of his father’s many homers.

In the AL Central, the upstart Minnesota Twins continued to roll by taking two of three from Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels. The Twins had a great start to their four-game series against the Seattle Mariners. Minnesota won the first three games against Seattle by substantial margins, 11-6, 7-1, and 18-4.

The Twins have been led this season by the hot hitting Jorge Polanco. The young shortstop is batting .343 this season and has driven in 21 runs. The Twins also have the sixth lowest team earned run average in the MLB, which has helped them secure a five and a half game lead in the AL Central.

This season has seen many exciting moments and there have been several surprises. So far this season, there are several teams in each league that are in the mix to make the postseason. Come back next Monday for another recap of the week in baseball.

Joe Cammarota can be reached at joseph.cammarota@student.shu.edu

 

Posted in: Sports, WSOU

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