MLB ROUNDUP: ROYALS’ NOAH CAMERON (1 HIT) DAZZLES IN 1ST COMPLETE GAME
Noah Cameron tossed a one-hitter and Michael Massey and Bobby Witt Jr. each homered to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in the rubber match of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
Cameron (7-8), making his first career appearance at Angel Stadium, threw five perfect innings before issuing a leadoff walk to Oswald Peraza in the sixth and didn’t allow a hit until Vaughn Grissom blooped a single into shallow left-center with one out in the seventh.
After allowing one hit over eight shutout innings in a start against the Minnesota Twins on July 30, Cameron walked one and struck out eight, including Mike Trout to end the game. He threw 115 pitches, 73 for strikes, en route to his first career complete game.
Massey finished 3-for-4 at the plate for Kansas City, which won its first road series since June 4-7 at Minnesota. Ryan Johnson (2-7) took the loss for the Angels, allowing two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Yankees 4, Blue Jays 3 (10 innings)
Ben Rice clubbed a two-run home run in the 10th inning and visiting New York defeated Toronto to salvage the finale of a three-game set.
Rice, whose error led to Toronto’s tying run in the ninth, took a 2-0 slider from Braydon Fisher (3-4) to right for his 33rd homer. Rice was 0-for-12 in the series before his 10th-inning homer. Ryan Weathers limited the Blue Jays to one run and six hits over 7 1/3 innings.
Andres Gimenez flared an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th against Tim Hill, who earned his second save. Dylan Cease struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings and Daz Cameron had an RBI double for the Blue Jays.
Mets 4, Nationals 3
Luis Torrens hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the fourth inning, and host New York continued its post-trade deadline hot streak by closing out a three-game sweep of Washington.
Torrens’ homer capped a three-run fourth for the Mets, who have won nine of 12, while Jared Young added pivotal insurance with a fifth-inning RBI double. Young finished 2-for-4 while Bo Bichette was 3-for-3 with a walk.
Abimelec Ortiz hit a solo homer in the third and Keibert Ruiz collected two run-scoring singles for the Nationals.
Orioles 10, Rays 2
Colton Cowser, Jackson Holliday and Christian Encarnacion-Strand drove in all seven runs in an explosive sixth inning as Baltimore won its third straight contest against American League East-leading Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Holliday went 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a walk, while Cowser had two hits and popped a two-run homer. Encarnacion-Strand had a double and three RBIs. Trevor Rogers (8-8) fired six innings of two-run ball on seven hits. He fanned six with a walk.
The Rays’ Ryan Vilade was 3-for-4 with a double and a homer, and Chandler Simpson doubled and singled to combine for five of the club’s nine hits. Freddy Peralta (5-10) allowed two runs on one hit in 4 2/3 innings.
Braves 5, Diamondbacks 3
Matt Olson’s tiebreaking three-run home run in the seventh inning was the difference as Atlanta defeated visiting Arizona to salvage the finale of their three-game series.
Olson crushed a 3-0 sinker from reliever Brandyn Garcia 437 feet to straightaway center to snap a 2-2 deadlock. It was his 36th home run and major league-leading 66th extra-base hit.
The Diamondbacks got solo home runs from Gabriel Moreno in the fourth and Ildemaro Vargas in the seventh. Vargas was in the game for third baseman Nolan Arenado, who left in the fourth with trunk discomfort.
Marlins 7, Reds 1
Miami scored seven times over the final two innings to take the rubber match of a three-game series against host Cincinnati.
Starter Eury Perez went six frames for the Marlins, limiting Cincinnati to two hits while walking five and fanning five. Josh Ekness (1-1) retired the Reds in order in the seventh to earn the win, Miami’s sixth in its last eight games.
Reds starter Nick Lodolo held Miami scoreless on three hits and two walks and struck out a pair in five innings. Tyler Stephenson accounted for the Reds’ only run, and only base hit, with an eighth-inning homer.
Pirates 8, Red Sox 3
Nick Yorke had three RBIs in his first game since being recalled from the minor leagues, while Bryan Reynolds and Brandon Lowe each drove in two to help host Pittsburgh secure a series victory over Boston.
Yorke was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday and played in his first major league game in exactly three months. The former Red Sox prospect hit a two-run single off Boston starter Patrick Sandoval (1-2) to highlight a five-run third inning for Pittsburgh.
Connor Wong, who finished with two hits, gave the Red Sox hope when he belted a three-run home run off Pirates reliever Hunter Barco in the fifth inning.
Padres 5, Guardians 0
Luis Rengifo and Gavin Sheets hit back-to-back home runs and Casey Mize tossed six strong innings as visiting San Diego defeated Cleveland in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Jase Bowen and Jake Cronenworth also slugged solo homers for the Padres, who claimed their third straight series victory and won for the 17th time in their last 22 games. Mize (5-7) allowed three hits before Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon and Yuki Matsui each pitched a hit-free inning to seal the Padres’ ninth shutout of the season.
Jose Ramirez had two of the Guardians’ three hits. Tanner Bibee (4-13) allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings. The Guardians have lost six of their last eight games and 17 of their last 23. Cleveland right fielder Chase DeLauter exited the game in the third inning with mild left hamstring tightness.
Phillies 7, Twins 5
Bryan De La Cruz hit a two-out, two-run, go-ahead single in the eighth inning, and Philadelphia rallied for a win over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Alec Bohm went 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs for the Phillies, who completed a three-game sweep. Luis Arraez also drove in a run. Philadelphia trailed 5-0 before scoring seven unanswered runs for the comeback victory.
Brooks Lee hit a grand slam to lead Minnesota at the plate. Kody Clemens finished 2-for-4 with a solo home run.
White Sox 7, Tigers 5
Munetaka Murakami hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning as visiting Chicago extended its lead over Detroit in the AL Central to 5 1/2 games.
Drew Romo and Miguel Vargas also homered for the White Sox, who swept a three-game series in Detroit for the first time since 2022. Hagen Smith (2-0) tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to collect the victory. Sean Newcomb did not allow a hit in 2 1/3 innings of relief for his fourth save.
Colt Keith had two hits, including a solo home run, and scored twice for the Tigers. Brett Callahan, called up from Triple-A Toledo earlier in the day, had a two-run triple in his major league debut. Detroit starter Drew Anderson gave up three runs and four hits in five innings.
Rockies 13, Giants 7
Adael Amador and Brett Sullivan, the bottom two hitters in the batting order, smacked three-run home runs and visiting Colorado won the season series over San Francisco with a victory.
The Rockies took advantage of 10 walks to complete the series with a 7-6 edge against their National League West rivals. The Giants led 7-6 before Colorado scored seven unanswered runs, while four Rockies relievers combined for five innings of shutout ball. Nick Frasso (1-1), who pitched a scoreless fifth, was credited with his first career win.
Amador and Jordan Beck scored three runs apiece, and Moniak joined Amador and Sullivan with three RBIs apiece for the Rockies. Rafael Devers homered, doubled and scored twice for the Giants.
Athletics 5, Rangers 2
Zack Gelof’s tiebreaking two-run home run in the seventh inning lifted the host Athletics past playoff contender Texas in the rubber game of their series in West Sacramento, Calif.
The 403-foot opposite-field shot to right field off Jakob Junis (1-2) was Gelof’s 14th homer of the season and third in the past week. Tommy White provided an insurance run in the eighth with his first major league homer. Lawrence Butler hit a two-run homer for the A’s in the second.
Jake Burger hit a solo homer in the second and drove in both Texas runs as part of a 3-for-4 day.
Brewers 6, Dodgers 2
Jake Bauers delivered a pair of RBI hits, Logan Henderson went seven strong innings and visiting Milwaukee completed a statement series with victory over Los Angeles.
Bauers had four hits after driving in the game-winning run in the series opener Thursday as the Brewers won three of the four games over the weekend and also took the season series against the Dodgers 4-3. Henderson (7-2) rebounded from a loss Monday to give up one run on three hits with six strikeouts as Milwaukee opened a three-game lead over Los Angeles for the best record in the majors.
Max Muncy and Andy Pages hit home runs and Tarik Skubal (7-7) gave up two runs (one earned) over six innings in his third start for the Dodgers. The most coveted prize at the trade deadline earlier this month is 0-2 with a 3.18 ERA over 17 innings since making his debut with Los Angeles on Aug. 4.
Cardinals 11, Cubs 4
Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker both had three hits, a home run and four RBIs to help visiting St. Louis breeze past Chicago to win its fourth game in five tries and clinch its fourth straight series victory.
JJ Wetherholt, Blaze Jordan and Ivan Herrera drove in a run apiece for the Cardinals, who posted 19 runs across the final two games of the series. Hunter Dobbins (3-3) went five innings for St. Louis, allowing two runs on two hits, striking out seven and walking four.
Making his first major league appearance since June 23 due to a left hamstring strain, Edward Cabrera (5-5) lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits while walking three and striking out two. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a two-run homer for the Cubs, who dropped their first series since July 31-Aug. 2. Miguel Amaya also homered in the loss.
Mariners 3, Astros 2
Cal Raleigh homered for the first time in two weeks and Bryan Woo produced a rare quality start on the road as visiting Seattle held on for a victory over Houston in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Raleigh delivered the deciding blast in the top of the sixth inning when he popped a solo homer with two outs off Astros reliever Bennett Sousa. Randy Arozarena also homered for Seattle, providing Woo (9-8) the run support he needed as he allowed two runs on three hits over six innings. Andres Munoz recorded his 22nd save with a scoreless ninth.
Jeremy Pena and Nick Allen hit solo homers for the Astros, who loaded the bases in the eighth down one run but saw Daulton Varsho strike out to end the threat. Houston right-hander Hunter Brown (3-3) labored throughout his five-inning stint, walking five and allowing three hits and two runs.
###############
TOMMY JOHN, NAMESAKE FOR A PIONEERING ELBOW SURGERY THAT SAVED HIS CAREER, DEAD AT 83
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tommy John, who won 288 games during a 26-year big league career and became the first pitcher to successfully return following groundbreaking elbow surgery that later was named after him, has died. He was 83.
He died at his home in Bradenton, Florida, on Saturday night, agent Mike Maguire said Sunday. He had been in hospice care.
On Aug. 8, the New York Yankees released a social media post in which John wrote that he wanted to say goodbye to everyone, including friends and fans who followed him throughout his career, saying, “I will never forget you.”
The Yankees called John “a bedrock of our rotation during his time in pinstripes and a longtime favorite of Yankees fans.”
John was a four-time All-Star with a record of 288-231 and a 3.34 ERA during a career that stretched from 1963 to 1989. He pitched for Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees, the California Angels and the Oakland Athletics.
“Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball, and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated,” Stan Kasten, Dodgers president and CEO, said in a statement. “His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come.”
The left-hander was 31 years old when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow in 1974, a death knell for pitchers’ careers to that point.
John allowed Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers’ team physician, to replace the ligament with a tendon from his right forearm. Jobe gave the surgery 100-to-1 odds of being successful.
John was a great pitcher, but his elbow surgery made him a baseball legend
The procedure had been done on others before, although it was usually performed on wrists and hands. John was the first pitcher to have it done on his elbow.
More than 2,600 big leaguers and thousands more amateurs have since had UCL reconstructions, better known as Tommy John surgery. It’s been a godsend for many of baseball’s greatest stars, including two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander and even Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper.
“If you put it in dollars and cents, I think there’s no question that Tommy John is the most valuable reconstructive procedure there is,” Dodgers team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache told The Associated Press in 2024.
Born Thomas Edward John Jr. on May 22, 1943, in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was a top baseball and basketball player at the city’s Gerstmeyer High. He graduated in 1961 as valedictorian but did not give the commencement speech because of a stutter. Despite being recruited by the University of Kentucky to play basketball, John chose baseball and signed with Cleveland.
“The day I left for my first job as a pitcher, my father looked at me & said, ‘Good luck, Tommy. Just remember one thing: whether you make it big in the big leagues or you don’t, you’ll always just be Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana.’ I’ve never forgotten those words,” John wrote in his Aug. 8 post.
John recorded 2,245 strikeouts but never led either league in wins or strikeouts. He had the second-most wins of any pitcher since 1900 not to be elected to the Hall of Fame. From 1995 through 2009, John was on the Hall of Fame ballot, but he never received more than 31.7% of the votes, falling well short of the 75% required for election.
“Tommy was a wonderful person who competed to the utmost and did what no player had ever done to save his career, in conjunction with the esteemed Dr. Frank Jobe,” former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti posted on X. “The HOF is missing Tommy John.”
John won more games after his eponymous surgery
Known for his longevity, John was the opening day starter for both the 1966 Chicago White Sox and the 1989 New York Yankees. He won 124 games before his UCL repair and 164 after. His final appearance came days after his 46th birthday.
“While his incredible longevity and post-surgery achievements changed the fortunes and trajectory of countless athletes around the world, it also overshadowed his excellence as a pitcher,” the Yankees said in a statement. “We pause to remember the totality of his legacy — his competitiveness and skill, his penchant for conversation, his kind and gracious nature, and his stature as an athletic and medical pioneer.”
John made his major league debut on Sept. 6, 1963, pitching one inning in relief for Cleveland.
He was traded to the White Sox in 1965 and worked his way into the starting rotation. The following year, he tied for the American League lead with five shutouts and in 1967, his six shutouts led the AL.
In 1971, he was traded to the Dodgers.
In 1974, John had a 13-3 record and led the National League in victories going into the All-Star break. He was pitching against the Montreal Expos when he permanently damaged the UCL in his left arm. After a month, the injury had not improved.
During the four-hour surgery on Sept. 25, 1974, Jobe made holes in the humerus and ulna bones of John’s left arm and used anchors to insert the tendon in a figure-eight pattern.
At first, John’s left hand was shriveled and he lacked feeling in several of his fingers because of damage to the ulnar nerve. Jobe performed a second procedure to reroute the nerve that was necessary to John’s full recovery.
John’s arm was in a cast for four months. He had recovered the full range of motion in his left arm by spring training of 1975 and spent that season resting, healing and rebuilding strength in his arm. John worked with fellow Dodgers pitcher Mike Marshall, who had a doctorate in kinesiology, on learning a different grip.
That September he made five appearances during an offseason instructional league, working his way up to seven innings by his final game.
John resumed pitching for the Dodgers in 1976 as the fourth starter in their rotation. He allowed three runs in five innings and took the loss in his first start against Atlanta, the first time any pitcher had started a game following UCL reconstructive surgery.
John donated the original cast from his surgery to the Smithsonian Institution in June 2022. His teammates on the 1974 Dodgers signed it, as well as Jobe and the team’s Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully.
The procedure has become so widely known that in 2019, Merriam-Webster added the term to its dictionary.
John made 31 starts for the Dodgers in 1976, posting a 10-10 record, a 3.09 ERA, 91 strikeouts, 61 walks and 207 hits allowed in 207 innings.
In 1977, he won 20 games for the first time in his career, finishing with a 20-7 record. He finished second behind Philadelphia’s Steve Carlton in voting for the NL Cy Young Award.
John and his family had mixed feelings about the legacy of his operation
Over 50 years later, Tommy John surgery is as much a part of baseball as peanuts and hot dogs. Advanced training methods are helping pitchers of all ages throw harder than ever. They take comfort knowing a torn UCL won’t necessarily end their careers.
“I am sick my name is attached to a surgery happening in kids more than pros,” John tweeted in July 2018.
John’s oldest son, Tommy III, became a chiropractor who wrote a book suggesting ways to prevent young athletes from having to undergo major sports-related surgery similar to what his father endured.
After his pitching career ended, John worked as a broadcaster for the Minnesota Twins and Yankees in the 1990s. He managed the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Bluefish from 2007-09.
John was hospitalized in December 2020 because of COVID-19 and later had Guillain-Barré syndrome, in which a person’s immune system attacks their nerves. John told the New York Post in May 2022 that he was paralyzed in his lower extremities for several months.
John and his wife Sally Simmons had four children: Tamara, Tommy III, Travis and Taylor, who died of a prescription drug overdose at 28 in 2010. The couple divorced in 2013.
Besides his children, he is survived by his second wife, Cheryl, and son-in-law Patrick Mannelly, a retired NFL long snapper who played 16 years for the Chicago Bears.
About The Author
