And That Happened

Red Sox 5, Indians 3: I watched this one, and I gotta tell ya, you've never seen relief like that which appeared on the faces of each team's hitters after the sixth inning when they didn't have to face Tim Wakefield and Paul Byrd anymore. Not that either one of them was stellar or anything -- Wakefield was having a hard time controlling the flutterballs and Byrd got out of some jams with some nice D behind him -- but you could tell that the batters wanted no part of Wakefiled's 59-65 m.p.h knuckler or Byrd's steady diet of curves interrupted by an 87 m.p.h fastball (and that was clocked on what looked to be a hot gun). Was it just a bad night, or have we reached a point in the game where everyone has become such a radar gun fetishist that hitters are only prepared for 90+ gas?

Marlins 4, Braves 0: The Braves' 4-5-6 hitters (Teixeria, Francoeur, and McCann) had runners on base in front of them all night and went a combined 0-12, and the team as a whole failed to draw a single walk. Are they a better team than my 1988 Braves? Sure. But the 1988 Braves at least found far more entertaining ways to lose. Mac's one-word assessment: "Abhorrent."

Tigers 6, Twins 5: Break up the Tigers. After never playing the position in his major league career, Miguel Cabrera gets his third look at 1B in four days. Detroit is coming to Cleveland today, so I'll finally get a chance to see him. I hope Leyland plays him there, because I missed Dancing with the Stars this week, and I want to see some entertaining footwork.

Mets 6, Nats 0: David Wright is a one man wrecking crew (3-4, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, BB) and three Mets pitchers combine for a shutout.

Dodgers 11, Pirates 2: For you early-to-bed east coasters wondering how benching Pierre has worked out: Ethier: .308/.344/.519 2 HR, 11 RBI. I know projections are a bunch of baloney this early in the year, but that works out to a 23 HR, 127 RBI season.

Padres 6, Rockies 0: Randy Wolf is the latest no one special to pitch a gem this year (7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 9K). The Rockies blame the marine layer and are lobbying MLB to have an anti-humidor installed in San Diego.

Cardinals 6, Brewers 1: If you predicted that the Cardinals would be the first team to 10 wins this season, well, technically you'd still be wrong, because the Diamondbacks-Giants game ended first. Nice prediction all the same, though, because I sure as hell wasn't expecting it. Fun line for Prince Fielder: 0-0, 4 BB. Not so fun line for Bill Hall, who hit right behind him: 0-4, 2K, 6 LOB. No word on whether the Braves are interested in trading for Hall.

Mariners 11, Royals 6: Reports of the Royals' stingy pitching are greatly exaggerated, as six pitchers combine to go 8 IP, 13 H, 11 ER, and 6 BB. Hideo Nomo's return to the majors after a two-year absence is not-a goin' so well (1 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 ER). If you read his chat yesterday, you'll know that Rob Neyer made a 350 mile round-trip to see this awful-sounding game. I hope his tickets were comped.

Note: Between an unexpectedly early-rising daughter and a morning meeting, I may be a bit later than usual with the updates today. Please try to remain calm. We'll all get through this together.