And That Happened

Angels 1, Dodgers 0: I imagine Jayson Stark will tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that this is the first time a team has had three hits over the course of two games and split 'em. Nice series for the Angles' bats by the way (1 run in three games).

Mets 3, Yankees 1: Not a bad start for Darrell Rasner (5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER) but you have to wonder if he wouldn't have be sharper over his last couple of games if he hadn't spent so much time talking to Jason at It is About the Money, Stupid.

Twins 5, Brewers 0: The Twins are 13-2 in their last 15. Yeah, I think I'll start paying more attention now. Actually, I may not have a choice, as the White Sox, Twins, and Tigers look poised to make the AL Central the race to watch in the second half. After getting shelled by the White Sox on June 8th, Kevin Slowey has given up only three earned runs on 19 hits in 29 innings.

Rays 4, Pirates 3: Quote from Rays catcher Shawn Riggans: "We've got a lot of work ahead of us. Interleague play is done now." Man, when the backup catcher for the Tampa Bay Rays is dissin' the NL like that, you know there's an imbalance between the leagues. The Rays are in first place again, by the way, and they have tons of young talent to deal if they feel like arming for bear. If you're Boston, you should be nervous. If you're New York, you should be downright terrified.

Reds 9, Indians 5: If there is still anyone out there who thinks the Indians have a chance to make a run, they probably need to take note of the fact that the Reds now have a better record than they do. They're simply not running out a Major League lineup most nights, and that's not a sustainable situation. The buzz among the SABR wiseguys at Progressive Field Friday night was that we may very well have been watching C.C. Sabathia's last start as an Indian. I don't know about that, but if I'm Mark Shapiro, I'm on the phone soliciting the best offers I can find and hoping to pull the Bartolo Colon trade redux.

Blue Jays 1, Braves 0: The Braves aren't running out much of a lineup themselves. If Chipper isn't able to go against the Phillies on Tuesday night, they have to DL him, because Bobby Cox just doesn't have enough warm bodies -- let alone decent players -- at his disposal right now.

Mariners 9, Padres 2: Ichiro goes 5-5, as the Padres lay claim to Seattle's title as "The Worst Team in Baseball." Given the weather and the fish tacos and all of that good stuff, things never get truly ugly in San Diego, but this quote from Jake Peavy is the kind of thing that leads to major shakeups: "You have to be real with yourself. I know that I can't go six innings and give up three runs and think that I'm going to win a ballgame around here. It's just not the way it's going. I knew when I gave up the home run in the sixth inning it was probably the game."

Tigers 4, Rockies 3: Speaking of futile, the Rockies have dropped seven in a row and eight of nine. Next up for the Rockies: our friends the Padres. I suppose someone has to win those games, but I can't feature either San Diego or Colorado doing it.

Marlins 4, Diamondbacks 3: Tough luck loss for Danny Haren (7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER). Eric Byrnes -- who was stinkin' up the joint before he went on the DL and has been stinkin' up the joint since he got back -- was benched today, and Bob Melvin said that he's out of the leadoff position when he comes back. It's obvious this team needs a shakeup of some kind, so that's probably a good start.

Astros 3, Red Sox 2: The Sox drop two of three to the lowly 'Stros, and now have to face a Rays team that is as tweaked as can be. Nothing is do or die before the All-Star break, and given the experience and talent of this Red Sox team, they could drop three in a row and it's not really going to matter that much. Still, you have to think that there are some unsettled stomachs in the more excitable enclaves of Red Sox Nation.

Nationals 3, Orioles 2: Since it's Ronnie Belliard we're talking about here, let's just call his game winning shot in the bottom of the 12th a "waddle off" home run. Looking at the box score reveals that the Nats used four left fielders in this game: Wily Mo Pena, Willie Harris, Kory Casto and Paul Lo Duca. That crew is known in Nats' circles as the SSDD platoon.

Cardinals 9, Royals 6: The AP game story starts off like a diary entry from Andrew Sullivan's annual trip to Provincetown: "The sun, the wind, and Jason LaRue's stocky body proved too much for Kansas City to overcome." Apparently the wind was blowing all game long, and when you're a junkballer who gives up a lot of contact like Brian Bannister does, that's going to make for a long day.

Giants 11, A's 1: What's up with Joe Blanton? He has now lost for the fifth time in six starts for a grand total of 11 pre-All-Star break losses. Yesterday he gave up seven runs in four innings, and 16 runs over his last 14 innings. Wasn't there some notion in the early going that of the A's wanted to compete this year they needed to keep Blanton, but if they wanted to tear it completely down, they'd deal him? Man, false dichotomies suck, don't they?

Rangers 5, Phillies 1: The Phillies pull a 12-14 June out of their rears yet still somehow find themselves a game up as July dawns. One wonders how ugly things would be in Philly if the Braves hadn't entered the season depending on a rotation of Methuselahs and if the Mets hadn't spent the majority of the month as a side show.

White Sox 5, Cubs 1: I was pleased to see Piniella tossed in the second inning because that allowed Alan Trammell to come out and argue the double play Ronny Cedeno hit into in the fourth. He was my boyhood idol, so anytime I get a chance to see him audition for another manager job like that, I'm happy.