It is that time again folks. As the rest of the sports landscape tapers off, the baseball season powers towards the All-Star Break. Only one of the men on this week’s Top of the Heap will be making the trip to Cincinnati for the Mid-Summer Classic. Nevertheless, these fine ballplayers made their own statement through a spectacular play over the course of the past week. Without further ado, here are the top five plays that defined the week that was in baseball.
5. The Butler Did It
We had two no-hitters in the month of June in the Major Leagues. Max Scherzer got his after losing a perfect game with one out remaining after a hit batsman. Chris Heston also twirled a no-hitter against the Mets, hit batsmen be damned in his perfect game quest as well. Cleveland’s Carlos Carrasco was trying to start off July right with a no-hitter of his own. He was one strike away from etching his name in the MLB history books when Joey Butler struck; or should I say struck again. Butler broke up Carrasco’s perfect game bid by working a walk in the seventh inning. The 29 year old rookie ended the Indians’ right hander’s chances at both a no-hitter, shutout, and complete game with a lined single to center field. Just like every hack murder mystery, in the end the Butler is always the killer.
4. Gordon Gets His First Homer In A Flash
Dee Gordon has had a spectacular first half. He is third in the National League in batting average (.339), second in the MLB in stolen bases (29), and first in the league in hits (116). He has continued to gel with Adeiny Hechavarria as one of the deadliest middle infields in the sport. Put that all together and you can see why he’ll be making his second consecutive All-Star appearance next week, his first start. With all that praise, it must be said that there is a substantial deficit in Gordon’s game: power. Not every player has to hit 30 home runs a season, but Gordon hadn’t even left the yard in 2015 entering Tuesday’s game with the Giants. Well, he still hasn’t but at least he has his first home run. Down a run in the bottom of the second inning against Ryan Vogelsong, Gordon slapped a 84 MPH pitch into the gap between right and center field. J.T. Realmuto and Ichiro scored easily to take the lead, but the real story was Gordon’s track meet around the bases. He got a bit of help from San Fran as Gregor Blanco tried to fancily flip the ball back to Angel Pagan, which predictably failed. Gordon did not look back or slow up as he chugged around the bases and slid into home way in front of the relay throw for a 3-run inside-the-park home run. It was the fastest home run on record and more importantly the Marlins would go on to win.
3. Jake Marisnick Meets The Green Monster
Jake Marisnick is no stranger to the Top of the Heap. It’s been a while, but the Astros center fielder made two consecutive appearances on the countdown at the end of April and beginning of May. His chances of a sooner return have been limited by injuries and a stint on the disabled list. Marisnick was reinstated from the DL on Sunday, yet made no qualms about quickly putting his body back on the line. The Red Sox had chased brilliant young starter Lance McCullers after five innings with a pitch count of 101. The game was tied 1-1. The Sox pounced on reliable Houston righty Will Harris in the sixth, scoring twice following an Evan Gattis error in left field. They were looking to make a good inning a great one when Brock Holt stepped to the plate. Holt would send a Harris offering deep to the opposite field gap between left and center field. Marisnick ran down the ball as if he didn’t just spend half a month rehabbing a hamstring injury. He crashed into the scoreboard on the face of the Green Monster and ended a potentially disastrous inning. The Astros would come back to take the lead in the next half inning following Marisnick’s tremendous catch, but Hanley Ramirez would launch a two run shot off Tony Sipp in the bottom of that frame to get the W for the home side.
2. Alex Avila Continues The Stand Dive Trend
Last week saw a member of the Toronto Blue Jays dive into the stands to record an out. This week a member of the Toronto Blue Jays would be the victim of such a play here on Top of the Heap. It was a 4-0 game in favor of the home Tigers when Russell Martin went inside out on a foul ball down the first base line. It is an event that happens many times over the course of the game. You expect the ball to reach the seats. You double expect it when the person at first, Alex Avila, was making his first start at the position in his MLB career. As you can probably infer from this paragraph’s second sentence, Avila made a pretty awesome snag before going head over heels into the first row. The former All-Star catcher looked like a seasoned vet at first as he calmly fell into a group of travelling Blue Jays supporters for the inning’s third out.
1. Avisail Garcia Puts Out Potential Fireworks
The Fourth of July is always a great day for baseball. Teams wear star spangled jerseys and there is plenty of day baseball to be had throughout America. Most teams also have some sort of fireworks display to accompany the game for the younger fans. In addition to the actual pyrotechnics, there are plenty of metaphorical fireworks to go around the Majors on the Fourth of July. Many home runs were hit on Saturday, including a very patriotic dinger from NL MVP front runner Bryce Harper and a grand double dip from NL Rookie of the Year lead horse Kris Bryant. Avisail Garcia would have none of that in his game with Chicago against Baltimore on Independence Day. It was 3-2 White Sox in the ninth inning as Manny Machado’s eighth inning home run off Zach Putnam had brought Baltimore near level pegging. David Robertson was in to close for the South Siders. He looked to have not done his job as his 1-0, 1 out pitch to Chris Davis got blasted to right field. Luckily for Robertson, Avisail Garcia leaped at the wall and saved the game for Chicago by bringing Davis’ mammoth shot back into U.S. Cellular Field. Garcia had every right to be as pumped up as he was after the great play. Robertson tipped his cap to his right fielder for saving his behind. He would strike out Matt Wieters in the next at-bat to make sure Garcia’s catch sat up the Top of the Heap in a winning effort.