Morning Rewind, 8/17: When you play baseball backwards

By JOHN DORN


See that up there? You're looking at a pitcher, a catcher and a batter. Seems innocent enough, right?

Wrong!

That's Oakland first baseman Ike Davis on the mound, pitching against Baltimore pitcher Jason Garcia -- in an American League park.

Bizarro baseball was in effect in Baltimore after the Orioles shifted their designated hitter, Steve Clevenger, to first base, causing them to lose their DH. After five Athletics pitchers combined to allow 18 runs over the first seven innings, Oakland threw in the towel and brought in Davis -- a pitcher in college at Arizona State from 2006 through 2008 -- to cap off the losing effort.

Things got weird, but Baltimore is surely happy with the win. At 60-56, they're quietly in position for a Wild Card spot in the AL.

Orioles 18, A's 2

Around the League

Blue Jays 3, Yankees 1
After the Yankees threw some water on their scorching 11-game streak, the Blue Jays salvaged a game against their division leader at home. Luis Severino impressed again for the Yanks, striking out nine over his six innings, but is still winless in his Major League career.

Pirates 8, Mets 1
Something about the Mets and rain delays just doesn't gel. We saw it on July 30, when two poorly timed rain delays capped off the most Metsy 24 hours in history. It happened again on Sunday, with the game tied 1-1 headed into the seventh, and the precipitation too strong to play through. Seven runs later, the Pirates escaped Citi Field with a season sweep.

Braves 2, Diamondbacks 1

It took 10 innings, but the Braves pulled out a walk-off winner over Arizona. Cameron Maybin did the honors with a homer in Atlanta's final at-bat.

Mariners 10, Red Sox 8
More extras, this time at Fenway. But the home Sox weren't lucky enough to pull off a victory, falling on a pair of 12th-inning singles by Seattle.

Twins 4, Indians 1
Minnesota is trying to cling to playoff contention, and after back-to-back 4-1 victories in Cleveland, they're 1.5 games behind the Orioles for the final Wild Card spot.

Brewers 6, Phillies 1
A Ryan Braun grand slam in the fifth was all Milwaukee needed to knock off the cellar-dwelling Phillies.

White Sox 3, Cubs 1

The Cubs salvaged a run in the ninth, but Chris Sale's 15 strikeouts over seven innings was way too much filth to handle. The Chi Sox took the Crosstown Cup.

Marlins 6, Cardinals 4
The Cardinals lost to the Marlins, because sometimes nothing makes sense.

Rangers 5, Rays 3
Tampa Bay tallied three runs in the first two innings, but hit a dry spell the rest of the afternoon against Texas.

Giants 5, Nationals 0
The Nationals just can't get out of their own way. Three games up in the division on July 31, they're now 4.5 games back of the Mets, and have fallen under .500, at 58-59, for the first time since May. Oh, and Madison Bumgarner struck out 14 batters and hit a home run.

Dodgers 2, Reds 1
When Zack Greinke's on the hill, it's usually a good day for the Dodgers. Allowing just a run over seven innings has his ERA at a league-best 1.58.

Astros 6, Tigers 5

When you're on the Astros and you knock in the game-winning run, you get tackled by Carlos Correa in the outfield. Jose Altuve learned the hard way.

Rockies 5, Padres 0
If you've never heard of Chris Rusin, well, now you have. The Rockies pitcher tossed a complete game shutout at Coors Field -- just the 20th in the stadium's history.

Royals 4, Angels 3
The night ended with theatrics in Kansas City, as Kole Calhoun capped the late-game rally for the Royals, giving KC its 71st win of the year.