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Jeurys Familia joins elite company by converting 50th consecutive save

Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.

It hasn’t necessarily been pretty this week, but New York Mets closer Jeurys Familia continues getting the job done at a remarkable rate.

In Friday’s 5-3 win against the Marlins, the first-time All-Star recorded his 50th consecutive regular season save dating back to July 30 of last season. That put him in some pretty elite company among closers, as he became just the fourth ever to convert 50 straight save chances.


Familia was scored upon for the first time since June 4, allowing one run on two hits and a walk. He escaped by retiring Adeiny Hechavarria, who represented the winning run. On Tuesday, Familia escaped a bases loaded, nobody out situation at Wrigley Field in Chicago, ultimately getting a strikeout and double play to protect a 2-1 win.

Jeurys Familia walked the tightrope again, but notched his 50th straight save for the Mets. (AP)
Jeurys Familia walked the tightrope again, but notched his 50th straight save for the Mets. (AP)

A closer’s job often requires a slow heartbeat and a lot of confidence in his best pitches. Familia showed he has both this week, and that’s why Terry Collins is confident with him in the ninth inning.

This was a big win for the Mets too in what some are considering the biggest series of the season so far. With the win, the Mets moved to within a half-game of the Marlins and Cardinals, who are currently tied for the second wild-card spot. The Dodgers hold the top spot by one game, so their series in St. Louis is equally important.

TOP PERFORMERS

Dexter Fowler: How much did the Cubs miss their leadoff hitter during his month long stint on the disabled list? Quite a lot we’d say, but it only took one at-bat and one swing to confirm he’s back. Fowler started Friday’s 5-2 win against Milwaukee with a leadoff home run. One inning later, he added a two-run double, and the Cubs never looked back. Overall, Fowler finished just a triple shy of the cycle, while the Cubs improved their record with him in the lineup to 44-18.

Matt Kemp: San Diego may soon be sellers, but they were spoilers on Friday thanks to two big home runs from Matt Kemp. The veteran outfielder smacked a solo shot in the first inning and then a game-changing three-run homer in the sixth as the Padres topped the Nationals 5-3. Both of Kemp’s blasts came against Washington starter Tanner Roark, and they made a winner of Luis Perdormo.

Zach Eflin: Not to be confused with Zac Efron, this Phillies rookie right-hander was absolutely dominant on Friday. Eflin went the distance, completing his first complete game shutout in only his eighth career start. He limited the Pirates to three hits, walked none and struck out three as Philadelphia cruised to a 4-0 win.

Matt Adams: The Cardinals and Dodgers played deep into the night on Friday, and it was Matt Adams who provided the finish. With one out in the 16th inning, Adams launched a majestic walk-off home run to give St. Louis a 4-3 win, and he capped it off with an equally epic bat flip. Adams’ walk-off came seven innings after Jedd Gyorko tied it with a home run against Kenley Jansen. What a night in St. Louis.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

Miguel Cabrera became the 56th player in MLB history to reach 1,500 career RBIs in the Tigers 7-5 win against the White Sox. Cabrera’s milestone moment was also pretty clutch, as he drove home the go-ahead runs with a two-run single in the seventh. The puts him at 1,501 for his career, and that number figures to keep climbing as there’s still plenty of life left in his bat.

THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD

Yankees 3, Giants 2: The always sure-handed Brandon Crawford committed three errors, including one that allowed the winning run to score for New York in the eighth inning. San Francisco has now lost a season-high six straight games.

Mariners 2, Blue Jays 1: An old-fashioned pitcher’s duel went the way of Seattle as James Paxton (seven innings, one run, three hits) topped All-Star Marco Estrada (six innings, seven hits, two runs).

Orioles 5, Indians 1: Baltimore got home runs from Mark Trumbo (No. 29) and Manny Machado (No. 20).

Twins 2, Red Sox 1: Right-hander Kyle Gibson was brilliant, limiting Boston to one run — a Mookie Betts home run — on just two hits over eight innings.

Reds 6, Diamondbacks 2: Arizona loses again as rumors swirl around Chip Hale’s job security.

Royals 3, Rangers 1: Kansas City gets the win despite a huge 11-strikeout performance from Texas starter Yu Darvish.

Astros 2, Angels 1: The Angels won’t go undefeated in the second half. After winning six straight out of the All-Star break, they were done in by a masterful performance from Lance McCullers. Houston’s right-hander tossed eight innings of one-run ball, striking out 10 and allowing four hits.

Rockies 4, Braves 3: Colorado got two-run home runs from Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story to pick up their second straight win over Atlanta.

A’s 1, Rays 0: It took 13 innings, but Coco Crisp finally ended this epic struggle with a walk-off single.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!