MLB on Sling TV: Tigers at Nationals on ESPN; regional action on Fox Sports networks
Detroit Tigers (Sanchez 3-3, 5.87) at Washington Nationals (Strasburg 5-0, 2.36) 7pm ET on ESPN
Anibal Sanchez had his best start of 2016 on Wednesday, going 7 innings against the Indians, striking out 7 and giving up all the runs in a game the Tigers lost 4-0. That was his best game, thus far. Sanchez is striking out 9.7 per 9 innings, but he’s also walking 5.6 per 9, and giving up 9.4 hits per 9, which, not surprisingly, leads to a lot of runs. And while the “Quality Start” – 6 or more innings, 3 or fewer earned runs – is kind of a garbage stat, the fact that Sanchez doesn’t have a single one is pretty damning.
The Tigers last night lost their sixth game in a row, falling 8-3 to the Rangers, and dropping their record to 14-16.
Stephen Strasburg, on the other hand, is enjoying perhaps the best start of his career. The 6’ `4” fireball is second in NL wins, 9th in WHIP at 1.00, 7th in K’s per 9 with 10.1, 10th in innings at 42, 4th in strikeouts at 47, 6th in SO/BB at 5.22… you get the idea. Strasburg most recently held in check the World Champion Royals, with a line of 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, on the way to 13-2 victory for the Nationals.
The Washington Nationals are 19-12 after suffering the final loss of a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cubbies, who won it on a Javier Baez walkoff homer in the 13th inning to make it 4-3. The Nats’ Bryce Harper joined Jimmy Foxx, Jeff Bagwell and Andre Thornton as the only players ever to walk 6 times in a single game.
Meanwhile, FOX Sports regional networks across Los Estados Unidos have more baseball than you can watch in a night…
Kansas City Royals (Young 1-4, 5.76) at New York Yankees (Nova 1-1, 5.14) 7:05pm ET on FOX Sports Kansas City & YES
Milwaukee Brewers (Peralta 2-3, 7.50) at Miami Marlins (Fernandez 3-2, 4.28) 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Florida & FOX Sports Wisconsin
Pittsburgh Pirates (Niese 3-1, 5.94) at Cincinnati Reds (Straily 1-1, 3.56) 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Cincinnati
Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez 0-0, 8.44) at Texas Rangers (Lewis 2-0, 3.32) 8:05pm ET on FOX Sports Southwest
San Diego Padres (Vargas 0-1, 1.10) at Chicago Cubs (Lester 3-1, 1.57) 8:05pm ET on FOX Sports San Diego
Baltimore Orioles (Wilson 1-1, 3.04) at Minnesota Twins (Berrios 1-1, 6.75) 8:10pm ET on FOX Sports North
Cleveland Indians (Kluber 2-3, 3.35) at Houston Astros (Fiers 2-1, 5.35) 8:10pm ET on SportsTime Ohio
Arizona Diamondbacks (De La Rosa 3-4, 4.60) at Colorado Rockies (Chatwood 4-2, 2.15) 8:40pm ET on FOX Sports Arizona
Tampa Bay Rays (Moore 1-3, 4.95) at Seattle Mariners (Hernandez 2-2, 2.21) 10:10pm ET on Fox Sports Sun