Bases Covered is a daily roundup of the most interesting stories in baseball.
Headed to Omaha
Good news for the Kansas City Royals: Left-fielder Alex Gordon is ready to start a rehab assignment. He’s headed to the triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers for a Sunday game. “I’m tired of watching games from the bench and not being able to participate,” he said on Thursday. “But slowly I’ve been able to do more and more stuff. We feel like Sunday’s a good time to get things rolling.”
Archer dominates
Chris Archer pitched a brilliant game against the Astros Thursday: a complete-game one-hitter with 11 strikeouts for a 1–0 win. And it took just 98 pitches, making it a Maddux. “There’s really no better feeling than when you accomplish your goals, and it happens so infrequently that it’s very exhilarating,” said Archer post-game.
Yankees dejected, Girardi ejected
Yankees manager Joe Girardi got into a heated war of words with umpire Dan Iassogna during Thursday’s game versus Cleveland, a 3–2 loss for New York. In the ninth inning, Girardi emerged from the dugout to protest Iassogna’s strike three call on Brian McCann. Girardi was ejected before a single word was spoken, but proceeded to have it out with the umpire. “I thought the ball was up,” he said afterwards, adding, “He is a good umpire.”
Disappointment in Washington
The Washington Nationals were expected to be major contenders this season. Instead, they’ve disappointed; they currently sit second in the NL East with a 60-60 record. Grantland‘s Jonah Keri has a look at what’s gone wrong with the team this season.
Goldschmidt, MVP
The Diamondbacks rallied from a four-run deficit Thursday to earn a win, 5–4, against the Reds. Arizona first baseman Paul Godschmidt has been contributing in a big way all season, though the 27-year-old didn’t have the typical career path of a baseball star. As Sports Illustrated’s Ben Reiter explains, he was “a lightly recruited high schooler who ended up at Texas State, a Cape Cod League reject, an eighth-round draft pick and a prospect who never once appeared on any Top 100 list.” So how did Goldschmidt become a perennial MVP candidate?
