Best – Fernando Tatis, Jr. SS San Diego Padres – 2-5 2R 2HR 7RBI
To think that going into the 7th inning, Tatis was 0-3 in Monday’s game against the Texas Rangers. 0-3 before making this one of the biggest nights of his young career.
The Rangers had cut the Padres lead down to four when Tatis stepped up and blasted a three-run blast for his first hit of the night and put the Padres up 10-3. Tatis got up again in the 8th inning with a chance to put this game further out of reach for the Rangers, and he did not disappoint. He smashed a pitch for his first grand slam of the year, capping off his two home run night with 7RBI. Tatis took over the Major League lead with 11 home runs, which should make him a favorite for MVP. The wins do need to start coming with a little more consistency, but in only his second season, Tatis has already established himself as one of the most exciting young players in the game.
Other Notables: Brandon Bielak SP Astros – 6IP 1H 1ER 4BB 4K 1W; Luis Robert – 2-4 2R 2HR 3RBI; Zac Gallen SP Dbacks – 7IP 3H 1ER 1BB 8K; Robinson Cano – 3-4 3R 2HR 4RBI; Hyun-JIn Ryu SP Blue Jays – 6IP 4H 1ER 0BB 3K 1W.
Worst – Daniel Hudson CP Nationals – .2IP 3H 4ER 0BB 1K 1BS 1L
The Nationals finally have the majority of their team back and would have had a great start to their week, beating a division rival, but Hudson imploded in the 9th inning and blew the sure win for the Nationals.
After this blown save, Hudson might have to worry about keeping his closer role with Sean Doolittle waiting in the wings. This loss dropped the Nationals 8-12, last place in the division. The Nationals will not have time to wait and see if Hudson can have a clean inning. Hudson came into the bottom of the ninth inning with a three-run cushion to protect, but he blew the whole buffer and let the Braves get a walk-off victory to take the lead. The Nationals started badly last season before going on to win the world series, but with this truncated season, they do not have the luxury of time to allow anymore wins blown.
Extra Trash: Jacoby Jones OF Tigers – 0-5 3K; Ross Stripling SP Dodgers – 3IP 8H 6ER 0BB 2K; Willi Castro SS Tigers – 0-4 4K; Trevor Gott CP Giants – .1IP 2H 2ER 0BB 1K 1L 1BS; Jo Adell OF Angels – 0-4 3K.