By Ron Kaplan, contributor
L’shana tova, y’all. Hope you had an easy fast.
Just a quick recap of erev Yom Kippur: Ryan Lavarnway had a walk-off pinch hit single to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 2-1, 11-inning win over the visiting KC Royals.
On the other hand, Ian Kinsler hit into a game-ending 1-4-3 double play for the Boston Red Sox in their 3-2 loss to the host NY Yankees. Jump to about the 1:45 mark in the video.
None of the other MOTs who played that night did much of anything, so I won’t even mention them.
As far as Wednesday night goes…
Kinsler was 0-for-3 as the Yankees once again prevented the Sox (103-49) from clinching the East, this time by a more definitive score, 10-1.
The Pirates (77-74) again defeated the Royals, 2-1, but this time in regulation and without the services of Lavarnway.
Alex Bregman — the new pride of Jewish Houston — continues to struggle, relatively speaking, going 0-for-2 with a walk as the Houston Astros (95-57) lost to the visiting Seattle Mariners, 9-0. Sure, he’s got his 30 HR, 50 doubles and 100 RBIs, but his batting average has “dwindled” to .289; he has just one hit in 17 official at-bats the past week.
Kevin Pillar was 0-for-3 and Rowdy Tellez popped out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth as the Toronto Blue Jays (69-83) lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1.
Robert Stock allowed two hits but no runs in an inning of relief for the San Diego Padres (61-92) amid a 8-4 win over the visiting San Francisco Giants. Stock picked up his third hold, lowering his ERA to 2.15.
Joc Pederson popped out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning as the LA Dodgers (85-68) beat the visiting Colorado Rockies, 5-2. But his fan fist bump caught the camera’s eye.
Ryan Braun did not play for the Milwaukee Brewers (87-66) in their 7-0 win over the visiting Cincinnati Reds. Evidently he’s still dealing with back issues.
Max Fried did not appear for the Atlanta Braves (84-68) in their 7-3 win over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.
Gabe Kapler’s Philadelphia Phillies (78-73) shut out the visiting NY Mets, 4-0.
Belated Happy Birthday to Danny Valencia — remember him? — who turned 34 yesterday. Still can’t understand how nobody signed him after the Orioles let him go last month.
Ron Kaplan (@RonKaplanNJ) hosts Kaplan’s Korner, a blog about Jews and sports. He is the author of three books, including The Jewish Olympics: The History of the Maccabiah Games and Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War.
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