Community Picks: Cincinnati Reds 0% vs Atlanta Braves 0%

It's always fun when celebrities are hardcore baseball fans. Jon Hamm loves the St. Louis Cardinals. Paul Rudd is a lifelong Kansas City Royals fan. Kevin James bleeds New York Mets' blue and orange (and don't you question him about it). But they all fall short of legendary actor and comedian Bill Murray, lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and baseball raconteur. Murray was in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday for the finale of the game between the Cubs and the Atlanta Braves, and made appearances in the Cubs' and Braves' broadcast booths. In both appearances, he flashed his trademark wit.  He commented that Turner Field was not only warm ("it's a wet heat" were his exact words), but it also smelled like hamburgers. A woman apparently called him "Mr. Akroyd" and asked for an autograph, not realizing that Murray wasn't his "Ghostbusters" co-star Dan Akroyd. Not only that, after he corrected her, she didn't believe him. Murray has visited Turner Field just one other time, for the last game of the 1995 World Series. He sat by former president and peanut farmer Jimmy Carter, and ate some of the peanuts that President Carter brought from home. "To this day, best peanuts I've ever had." At that game in 1995, he autographed a napkin for Gabe Caray, the son of Braves broadcaster Chip Caray, with the message "Dear Gabe, learn to drive a tractor. Bill Murray." Wise, wise words. Murray even got to call the action for a moment or two, yelling at a Braves outfielder to hit the wall and drop a long fly ball hit by Ben Zobrist instead of catching it.  That's just a small sampling of Murray's delightful broadcast appearances. All told, he spent nearly 10 minutes in the Cubs' booth and nearly seven minutes in the Braves' booth. You can watch the full Cubs appearance here, and the full Braves appearance here. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] But I'm leaving out the most notable moment of his time in either of the broadcast booths. The Braves broadcasters asked him The Question that all Cubs fans are getting: "Is this, finally, the year?" Here's Murray's answer in full. " This is the year. I think you know that. I think we all know that. The folks at home know that, the American people know that. This is the year. They're really having a lot of fun, they're just having so much fun. It started last year. They weren't quite ready to win it all last year, but gosh they had fun, and they're really having fun now. And they have an amazing amount of talent put together here." Murray is a lifelong Cubs fan who has only missed a handful of games in the last few years. But his words aren't just wishful thinking anymore. The Cubs have a record 43-18, and that's the most wins in all of baseball. They have a nine game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.  Anything can happen between now and September, but Bill Murray's hope is the hope of all Cubs fans.  Watching Murray hold court during Sunday's game was so much fun, it makes me wish he could do that once for every team this season. Does anyone know his agent? Because I have this dynamite idea... More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: - - - - - - Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher Continue to Article

June 13, 2016 10:05:am EST

Highlights of Sunday's Major League Baseball games: Royals 3, White Sox 1 Yordano Ventura struck out a season-high 10 batters in seven innings, and the Kansas City Royals held on for a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon. Whit Merrifield finished 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run to lead the Royals at the plate. Salvador Perez added a solo home run as Kansas City won its second consecutive game. Continue to Article

June 13, 2016 1:09:am EST

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.   It was quite the day for former members of the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday. While playing their former club, both closer Jonathan Papelbon and outfielder Jayson Werth had radically different experiences during the Washington Nationals' 5-4 victory over Philadelphia. With the game tied in the ninth, Papelbon was called upon to keep the Phillies off the board. He couldn't get the job done. Maikel Franco led things off with a solo shot to left field, giving the Phillies a one-run lead. It was far from the first time Papelbon has struggled against his former club. Since Jonathan Papelbon joined the Nats, he's got a 7.27 ERA against the Phillies (9 G) and a 2.33 ERA against everyone else (38 G). — Chase Hughes (@chasehughesCSN) June 12, 2016 With the Phillies now in position to win, the Nationals needed someone to play the hero. Turned out, it was former Phillie Jayson Werth. After a late rally to load the bases, Werth stepped to the plate with two outs looking to put his team ahead. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Werth came through. He knocked a single to center field, scoring two runs and giving his team the walk-off 5-4 win .  Following the win, Werth made Papelbon's day worse ... or better depending on how you look at it. He referred to the closer as the "D.C. Strangler," which was an obvious reference to the whole Papelbon/Bryce Harper choking incident from last season .  TOP PERFORMERS Anthony Rizzo: A number of Chicago Cubs players had strong performances during the team's 13-2 win over the Atlanta Braves, but Anthony Rizzo's stands out the most. The 26-year-old picked up three hits and drove in three runs during the contest. He finished 3-for-6, with two runs scored and three RBI. Matt Moore: After a few tough outings, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Moore seemed to get back on track during the team's 5-0 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday. Moore allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings. He issued one walk, and struck out 10 during the victory. With the win, he improved to 3-4. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] Matt Holliday: St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday may have found the fountain of youth over the past couple days. Holliday homered for the second-straight game in the Cardinals' 8-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. He would finish the contest 3-for-4, with two runs scored and two RBI. MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT The New York Mets couldn't complete the comeback during the club's 5-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, but at least they'll have this Curtis Granderson catch. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Jonathan Lucroy hit a pop up toward the line in right field. Granderson ranged to his left and slid just before he reached the foul line. The ball landed in his glove just inches from hitting the ground. While the play didn't save the game for New York, it may have saved an eventual run. THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD    Royals 3, White Sox 1: Yordano Ventura gave up just one run on five hits over seven innings. He struck out 10 batters, earning his fifth win of the season. Blue Jays 10, Orioles 9: The Blue Jays offense proved to be too much despite the fact that Adam Jones homered twice, and Chris Davis hit a home run in his fifth-straight game for Baltimore. Athletics 6, Reds 1: Marcus Semien and Josh Smolinski homered early to give Oakland a lead, Danny Valencia managed a solo home run later to extend it. Tigers 4, Yankees 1: Michael Fulmer tossed six scoreless innings, and has not allowed a run in his last 28 1/3 innings.  Twins 7, Red Sox 4: With the game tied in the 10th inning, Max Kepler smacked a walk-off three-run homer to give the Twins the victory. Indians 8, Angels 3: Mike Trout had to leave the contest after being hit on the hand with a pitch, but X-rays were negative. Rangers 6, Mariners 4: Seattle's hopes at a come back were ruined when Nomar Mazara nailed Robinson Cano at second as he tried to advance to end the game. Rockies 2, Padres 1: Mark Reynolds broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning, smashing a solo home run to score the eventual game-winning run. Diamondbacks 6, Marlins 0: Robbie Ray was fantastic, holding Miami scoreless over 7 2/3 innings. He gave up three hits and struck out six during the win. Giants 2, Dodgers 1: Jake Peavy held Los Angeles scoreless over six innings while Brandon Belt's two-run homer was the difference during the contest. More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: - - - - - - - Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik Continue to Article

June 12, 2016 11:42:pm EST

Jose Bautista is expected to return to the Toronto Blue Jays' lineup Monday for the opener of a four-game, home-and-home interleague series with the Philadelphia Phillies. The teams are familiar with each other because of the proximity of their Florida spring training sites with the Blue Jays in Dunedin, which is adjacent to Clearwater, where the Phillies train. The Blue Jays are on a roll after taking the final three games of a four-game series against American League East rivals, the Baltimore Orioles. Continue to Article

June 12, 2016 10:35:pm EST