Major League Update: McCarthy makes Broadway debut

The following are updates on area Major League Baseball players.

Brandon McCarthy (Glendale native) New York Yankees pitcher: What appeared to be a rough start to the beginning of his career on Broadway instead turned into a quality performance from McCarthy.

The 31-year-old made his Yankees debut Wednesday evening versus host Cleveland and was knocked around a bit due to a critical error.

McCarthy surrendered three unearned runs in the first inning versus Cleveland due in large part to a throwing error from first baseman Mark Teixeira on what should have been a routine fielder’s choice and a potential inning-ending double play.

Instead of the Yankees getting out of the first inning or, at worst, allowing Cleveland runners on the corners with two outs, the visitors had the bases loaded with one out.

Cleveland’s next batter, Lonnie Chisenhall, grounded out for what should have been the last out in the inning.

Instead, Cleveland scored one run on the play and then cashed in its free at-bat when former Yankee Nick Swisher drove in two with a single to right-center.

Despite the setback, McCarthy settled in.

McCarthy allowed one earned run over the next 5 2/3 innings in surrendering four runs (one earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings pitched in his debut, which resulted in a no-decision.

As for the Yankees, they won, 5-4, in 15 innings on Wednesday, improving to 46-44, maintaining third place in the American League East and drawing within two games of first-place Baltimore.

McCarthy became Yankees property Sunday as part of a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who received hurler Vidal Nuno in the exchange.

The trade capped McCarthy’s National League statistics as the 6-foot-7 right-hander struggled this season in posting a 3-10 mark and a 5.01 ERA in 18 appearances for the woeful Diamondbacks, who owned the National League’s worst winning percentage of .419 (39-54) heading into Wednesday.

McCarthy, though, had won his last two starts and has fanned 93 batters compared to just 20 walks in 109 2/3 innings this year.

The Yankees are the fifth club that the eight-year veteran has been a member of. Overall, McCarthy owns a 45-60 career record with a 4.21 ERA.

Christian Bergman (St. Francis High, 2006) Colorado Rockies pitcher: While still seven weeks away from being cleared to pitch, the former Golden Knights’ standout was in action earlier this week — sort of.

According to the Colorado Rockies website, the injured Bergman threw 30 pitches of a batting practice session Tuesday afternoon versus teammates. If Bergman is able to fully recover from a fractured left hand, he still might be handicapped by his current designation.

The rookie was placed on the 60-day disabled list on June 25, five days after he was initially injured and won’t be eligible to return until Aug. 20 at the earliest.

Bergman was injured June 20 when he was struck on the left hand by a line drive in the third inning of what was a 13-10 loss to Milwaukee at home.

Bergman finished off the inning, but was replaced by reliever Tommy Kahnle before the fourth inning and has not seen action since.

The 26 year old was under the impression he would be able to make his next regularly-scheduled start.

Unfortunately for Bergman, those plans changed on June 24, when an MRI revealed a fractured trapezium bone. While Bergman was able to wear a soft cast, he was shelved the next day and replaced in the rotation by triple-A call-up Yohan Flande.

Bergman’s shaky final outing inflated what were decent numbers as the one-time UC Irvine star was 0-2 in three starts with a 7.20 ERA.

Prior to the Milwaukee game, in which he allowed seven earned runs, Bergman had given up five runs in 12 innings for a 3.75 ERA with consecutive quality starts.

Bergman made his major league debut June 9.

Marco Estrada (Glendale Community College, 2003) Milwaukee Brewers pitcher: A modest two-game winning streak that saw the right-hander reach a season-best three games over .500 with a 7-4 record has, unfortunately for Estrada, been followed by a mini two-game slide.

Estrada’s record dipped to 7-6 despite back-to-back solid efforts versus the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies.

Estrada allowed two earned runs on six hits with only one walk in the Brewers’ 4-1 defeat at the Skydome on July 1st.

In that contest, Estrada was outdueled by Blue Jays’ starting pitcher Drew Hutchinson (6-7, 3.86 ERA), who allowed one run on three hits with a dazzling 10 strikeouts in seven innings of work.

While Milwaukee has scored the second-most runs of any National League team (402), once again the Brewers’ offense let down Estrada in a 3-2 defeat to the visiting Phillies on Monday.

In that contest, Estrada allowed three earned runs in five innings, as the veteran surrendered a two-run homer to Chase Utley, but did recover to deliver five strikeouts.

For the season, Estrada has a 4.96 ERA while making 18 starts and completing 107 innings. While Estrada’s strikeout-to-walk ratio (92 strikeouts to 35 walks) is better than 2-1, the hurler has been bitten by the homer bug this year.

Estrada has allowed 27 big flies this season, most of anyone in baseball and well ahead of the second-place tie between San Diego’s Eric Stults and Tampa Bays’ David Price (19).

The good news for Estrada and the Brewers is that they sat three games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the hunt for a National League Central crown heading into Wednesday. Milwaukee’s record of 52-39 (.571 winning percentage) was the best in the National League.

Speaking of the Cardinals, Estrada is next set to take the bump against visiting St. Louis and ace Adam Wainwright (11-4, 1.79 ERA) on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. (PDT) in a divisional showdown.