MLB News Today: Aaron Judge sings Oswald Peraza's praise; Mookie Betts leads Dodgers to win and more
Things moved forward on Friday, with the top MLB teams, like the Dodgers, registering big wins to separate themselves from the chasing pack. The New York Yankees and the LA Dodgers emerged victorious, while their chasers, the Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks ended up on the losing side.
Meanwhile, some key players stepped up for their teams to get the wins. Let's take a look:
1) Oswald Peraza receives praise from his captain
Following Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s left elbow injury, the Yankees called up third baseman Oswald Peraza from the minors to fill the spot in the lineup.
He immediately impressed with a solo home run in his season debut against Detroit's Brant Hurter in the fifth inning, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Eventually, the Yankees won 3-0. Captain Aaron Judge lauded his contribution in the post-game interaction.
"It's huge. He's a player I know and saw when he first got called up a couple years ago. It's impressive. He plays great defense, has great at-bats, and we saw the power tonight, but he's another guy that can hit the ball around the field," Judge said.
"Like you said, it hasn't been the year he's probably wanted, but coming up in a moment like that and giving us an extra run is huge."
2) Mookie Betts stars in Dodgers win
The Los Angeles Dodgers took their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium with a narrow 7-6 win.
The Cardinals were leading until the sixth inning. Mookie Betts started the offensive juggernaut with his solo shot to the left field against Miles Mikolas.
That ignited Dodgers offense as they went on to add four more runs in the inning, helping them take a 7-6 lead, which their bullpen sustained until the very end.
3) Three Jacksons in the league scored triples on the same day
On Friday, something interesting unfolded. All three Jacksons in the league, namely Jackson Holliday, Jackson Merrill and Jackson Chourio, recorded triples in their respective games.
Holliday was the first, hitting an RBI triple in the third inning as a part of a four-hit performance. Moments later, Chourio ripped down his first triple for the Brewers. Later Merrill joined the party with his triple, making up for a rare night.