The Upper Deck: Moncada Proves A Hero For White Sox

Welcome to The Upper Deck, Baseball America’s daily look at the biggest stories around the game and some lighter fare.

SUPER MONCADA

The Moncada Game. pic.twitter.com/64Wee7Mzha

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 11, 2017

With the Chicago White Sox in desperate need of a savior, No. 1 prospect Yoan Moncada swooped in and saved the day Thursday against the Houston Astros.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Moncada forced extra innings with a 374-foot, opposite-field home run. And in his next at-bat, which came in the 11th inning with no outs and a runner on second, Moncada hit a sharp ground ball into centerfield for a walk-off single.

Moncada’s heroics, which included the first walk-off and second homer of his brief Major League career, earned the White Sox just their second sweep of the season.

TEN FOR YU

Much like his Dodger debut last Friday, Yu Darvish struck out 10 hitters and earned the win in Thursday night’s 8-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Although Darvish lasted just five innings against Arizona, the righthander, who was acquired in a July 31 trade with the Texas Rangers, has now struck out 20 and walked three in 12 innings as a Dodger.

Darvish is the first Dodgers pitcher to have back-to-back 10-strikeout games in his first two starts with the team since Karl Spooner in 1954.

COLE WORLD

Seven strikeouts in eight innings led Gerrit Cole to his seventh consecutive road win, making him the first Pirates pitcher since Don Robinson in 1982 to win seven straight away from home.

Cole, who surrendered three runs and six hits in Pittsburgh’s 7-5 win over Detroit, was supported in part by Josh Bell’s 20th home run of the season, which traveled 437 feet with had an exit velocity of 106.3 mph.

DOWN THE HOME (RUN) STRETCH

Giancarlo Stanton extended his lead in the season-long home run race, hitting a towering shot — his 39th of the year — in the third inning of Miami’s 3-2 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Stanton, who extended his career high with a sixth home run in the last seven games, holds a four-homer advantage over Aaron Judge. Cody Bellinger is third, having hit 34 home runs this season.

MISSING: YADI THE RALLY CAT

#STLCards official statement on the #RallyCat: pic.twitter.com/rCimmnq6hO

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 10, 2017

One day after a stray cat interrupted play just prior to Yadier Molina’s game-winning grand slam, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that the whereabouts of the #RallyCat are unknown.

After a concerned, cat-loving fan in attendance decided to take the stray cat home, and reportedly name it Yadi, the #RallyCat escaped her arms and ran off into the St. Louis night.

Even with the cloud of uncertainty hanging over their heads, the Cardinals extended their winning streak to six games with another go-ahead grand slam, this time by Dexter Fowler, and an 8-6 win over the Royals.

HAPPENINGS AT BA

On Thursday, Kyle Glaser laid out what to expect from Rhys Hoskins, the No. 4 prospect for the Phillies, and Dominic Smith, the No. 2 prospect for the Mets; and Josh Norris had a report from the latest start by Tigers No. 9 prospect Austin Sodders.

Norris also saw this wild play, which sums up play in the Gulf Coast League quite well.