Bases Covered is a roundup of the most interesting stories in baseball.
Here’s some hard-hitting journalism for you (you’re welcome): The Oakland Athletics lost to the Blue Jays in extra innings on Wednesday, but the team won another battle on the day, albeit a weird one. Oakland’s Twitter account, which is known to be a bit feisty, got into a little scuff with the Wendy’s Twitter account. The A’s clearly took the W.
It started out like this:
We'd eat @Wendys for lunch.
— #Voteland 5 x Daily (@Athletics) June 7, 2017
The whole thing escalated pretty quickly:
One thing we have in common: we both give people runs.
— #Voteland 5 x Daily (@Athletics) June 7, 2017
It continued beyond that, too. You can read more about it here, if you’re so inclined.
Astros are proof that tanking works
The Houstron Astros’ 11-game win streak came to an end on Wednesday, when they took a 7–5 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Dallas Keuchel had been scheduled to make the start for Houston, but the ace was scratched due to illness.
Never mind the end of the streak, though: the Astros, currently 42-18, are still by far the best team in baseball. As one writer, Zachary D. Rymer, notes, this team is a fantastic example of the powers of tanking.
“The Astros are proof that a tanking team doesn’t need all its schemes to work to get where it wants to go,” he writes. “It only needs most of them to succeed.”
But just what makes them such a powerhouse? They’re a team without weakness.
Speaking of the Astros, the team has called up top pitching prospect Francis Martes from triple-A. The hard-throwing right-hander is expected to work out of the bullpen.
Back to .500 thanks to a walk-off homer
The Seattle Mariners defeated the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday thanks to Mike Zunino, who hit a two-out, two-run home run in the ninth inning.
With the win—their fifth straight—the M’s moved back to .500 for the first time since May 10.
In other Mariners news, the team locked up shortstop Jean Segura to a five-year contract extension on Wednesday. Segura was traded three times in five years and spoke of his desire for stability. The 27-year-old received a no-trade clause as part of his new deal.
“I feel like this is home for me,” Segura said during a press conference. “And as a player, you choose where you best fit and what’s comfortable for you.”
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Resurgent
CC Sabathia shut out the Red Sox on Wednesday, earning his fifth straight win. The 36-year-old pitched eight innings, allowing five hits and zero walks, and striking out five. It was his longest outing since April 20, 2015.
“His stuff was really good tonight. We needed this,” said New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi. “Just a big performance by CC. I think he takes a lot of pride in it. He’s been that guy his whole career that you can turn to when you needed a big win, and he still does it.”
Without Trout
In the absence of Mike Trout, who is enduring his first ever appearance on the disabled list, who is baseball’s greatest player? Is it Clayton Kershaw? Francisco Lindor? The Ringer’s Michael Baumann takes a look at the candidates.
