Rick Porcello earns 19th win, continues bolstering Cy Young bid

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.

Considered a possible weak link in the Boston Red Sox rotation coming into the season, Rick Porcello is working on a potential Cy Young campaign that very few could have predicted.

Porcello’s already growing resume was supplemented even more on Saturday. The 27-year-old right-hander carried a perfect game into the sixth inning of Boston’s 11-2 win against the A’s. He ended up tossing seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits. That was plenty good enough to earn his MLB-leading 19th win of the season.

It’s almost been a Corey Kluber-like turnaround circa 2014. Kluber made the explosive leap from middle rotation arm to Cy Young winner that season, winning league-best 18 games. More importantly, he posted a strong ERA (2.44) while leading the league in FIP (2.35). Porcello doesn’t have numbers near that strong across the board, but he’s also facing muddier competition. In fact, Kluber is among those who might present his stiffest competition.

If nothing else, Porcello has been a stabilizing force for a Red Sox rotation that has seemed destined to crumble several times. Instead, it continues to collectively persevere, which allowed Boston to move into a first-place tie with the Blue Jays on Saturday night.

Of course, you can see Boston’s offense played a role in the win as well. Six players produced multi-hit games, including rookie Yoan Moncada. Making his first start at third base, he went 2-for-5 with a run-scoring double and two runs scored. With his presence now in the lineup, a scary Red Sox lineup gets even scarier.

TOP PERFORMERS

Rich Hill: Making only his second start with the Los Angeles Dodgers since being acquired at the trade deadline, Hill showed why they were willing to take a chance. The 36-year-old left-hander, who’s been hampered by reoccurring blisters, pitched six scoreless innings in a 5-1 win against the Padres. Hill wasn’t just good though, he was dominant, limiting San Diego to one hit while striking out eight. If this is the Rich Hill the Dodgers get down the stretch, look out.

Ian Desmond: Desmond finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs in the Rangers 12-4 win against the Astros. He also swiped his 20th base of the season, making him the eighth different player in franchise history to record a 20-20 season. Personally, Desmond has four 20-20 seasons. Overall, he’s hitting .291 on the season and will go down as one of the best free agent bargains after signing a one-year, $8 million deal in February.

Coco Crisp: The veteran’s return to Cleveland was a memorable one. Suiting up and leading off for the Indians for the first time since 2005, Crisp collected three hits and scored three runs as they knocked off Jose Fernandez and the Marlins 8-3. He had some help too as No 2. hitter Jason Kipnis collected two hits and knocked in two. Right behind them was Francisco Lindor, who went 4-for-4.

Robert Gsellman: With the Mets rotation depth dwindling, they’re relying on guys like Gsellman to play big roles. The 23-year-old rookie answered the call by delivering six innings of one-run ball in their 3-1 win against the Nationals. The outing earned Gsellman his second victory in three starts, while lowering his ERA to 2.87.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

Minnesota Twins fans haven’t had a lot to get excited about this season. After contending for a postseason position last season, their team has completely fallen apart in 2016, posting an MLB-worst 51-85 record.

One man is doing his best to provide some thrills. That would be second baseman Brian Dozier. In Saturday’s 11-3 win against the White Sox, Dozier led off the game with his 20th home run In 47 games since the All-Star break. That mark leads MLB, and it’s brought his career-best total to 34 homers on the season.

REST OF SCOREBOARD

Giants 3, Cubs 2: San Francisco wins the Madison Bumgarner-Jake Arrieta pitching battle. Both starters pitched six innings and allowed two earned runs. Unfortunately for the Cubs, there was also an unearned run on Tommy LaStella’s first-inning error. The loss was Arrieta’s first in September since 2013.

Reds 9, Cardinals 1: The Reds played spoiler again, defeating St. Louis for the second straight game. They scored five in the eighth inning, highlighted by Tucker Barnhart’s two-run double.

Rays 7, Blue Jays 5: Speaking of spoilers, the Rays have also won two straight against the first-place Jays. Rookie Blake Snell earned the win, tossing six innings of one-run ball.

Orioles 2, Yankees 0: The Yankees have been held scoreless on six hits through the first two games of this series.

Braves 6, Phillies 4 (12 innings): The Phillies overcame two Adonis Garcia home runs in regulation, but couldn’t overcome the Braves two runs in the 12th.

Brewers 7, Pirates 4: Pittsburgh reversed its curse at Miller Park last week, completing a four-game sweep. That work is going for naught now though after losing the first two game of this series at home.

Royals 5, Tigers 2: Kansas City snapped a three-game losing streak behind Yordano Ventura’s six innings of one-run ball. It’s the 11th straight start Ventura has allowed three runs or fewer dating back to July 3.

Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 4: Arizona bounced back from a lopsided defeat on Friday thanks to a 4-for-4 game from Chris Owings.

Angels 10, Mariners 3: The Angels scored six in the first inning against Taijuan Walker, including back-to-back-to- back home runs from Kole Calhoun, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols.

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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!

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