The first Sunday of August brought with it a full slate of baseball goodness. We saw a Bieber deal, a Central sweep, two East teams stay hot, some late fireworks in Atlanta along with our usual litany of home runs -- one inside-the-park! -- and strikeouts. The night game is of course the Red Sox at Yankees and, boy, could the Red Sox sure use a win if they want to remain relevant in the AL.
All that and more in our daily roundup, which hits you right now.
Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.
Baseball schedule/scores for Sunday, August 4Bieber twirls another gem
Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber entered Sunday having thrown 140 innings on the season with a 140 ERA+ and 5.80 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Those figures are about to look better after he threw a complete game against the Angels as part of a 6-2 Cleveland victory.
Bieber limited the Angels to five hits and two runs with no walks. He struck out eight, inducing 14 swinging strikes on 107 pitches. His breaking balls were particularly effective, generating 10 combined whiffs on his curve and slider.
Worth noting: Bieber's complete game was the third of the season. That makes him the youngest Cleveland pitcher to accomplish the feat in nearly 30 years:
Shane Bieber is the youngest @Indians pitcher with three complete games in a season since Charles Nagy in 1991.
— Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) August 4, 2019
Who needs Trevor Bauer when you have Bieber?
Cubs get out the brooms at Wrigley
The Cubs love their home cooking. After returning from an unsuccessful (again) road trip, all the Cubs needed to do was play in Wrigley Field. They completed the sweep Sunday over the Brewers with relative ease. Yu Darvish allowed a first-inning homer to Christian Yelich, but Jason Heyward lead off the bottom half with a home run and the Cubs cruised from there.
Heyward later tripled home a run and he's now hitting .276/.353/.472 with 17 homers. The Cubs have had issues atop the order ever since Dexter Fowler left after the 2016 World Series title, but Heyward really seems to be the solution here. That's a surprise after how miserable most of his first three seasons were in Chicago, offensively.
Speaking of rough starts in Chicago, Darvish also seems to be settling into his old self. Walks haven't been an issue for months and now in his last five starts, he's allowed only seven runs on 21 hits in 29 innings with 38 strikeouts and just two walks. That's a 2.17 ERA and 0.79 WHIP with a ridiculous 19 strikeouts for every walk. If he pitches like this the rest of the way, there would be argument that he's the Cubs best starter heading to the postseason (if they make it).
Speaking of the zero walks on Sunday, here's a good indication the Cubs' rotation is going well.
As for the Brewers, they've lost four in a row, six of their last seven and are now only one game over .500.
Reds blow lead then take it right back
The Reds took a 3-1 lead to the ninth in Atlanta, but Ronald Acuna tied things up with this bomb:
All for naught, though, as newly-acquired closer Shane Greene coughed up a three-run shot to Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart:
Rays complete winning week
The Rays entered Sunday having not lost in a full week. They'll keep that rolling after defeating the Marlins by a 7-2 score.
Yonny Chirinos, who gets overlooked in the Tampa Bay rotation, delivered five innings of one-run ball. But, perhaps just as importantly, the Rays received some offensive production from Jesus Aguilar, their big deadline addition to their lineup.
Aguilar recorded two hits, including a home run, and drove in two runs on the afternoon.
Tampa Bay is likely to keep their winning ways going -- their next six are against the lowly Blue Jays and Mariners.
Mets thump Pirates
Break up the Mets.
On Sunday, New York beat the Pirates to the tune of a 13-2 final. Noah Syndergaard recorded a quality start, while Jeff McNeil drove in two with a home run and a double. The Mets victory puts them a win away from .500, and continues their recent winning ways.
The Mets have now won nine of their last 10. They've also won 15 of their past 20. Hence going from 40-51 to now 55-56 and within four games of a wild card spot.
The Mets, folks. What a league.
Highlight of the day: Ketel touches them all
Diamondbacks' All-Star Ketel Marte came through with his second career inside-the-park home run on Sunday against the Nationals. And inside-the-park homer highlights are always fun to watch:
Quick hits
