Friday, July 25, 2008

And That Happened

Giants 1, Nats 0: That's how you play a game on getaway day! The teams combined for 11 hits and no walks, and the whole deal was done in two hours on the nose. Cain pitched a four hit shutout, and the only Giants' run came on an eighth inning sequence of single/sacrifice/single that had fundamental-loving traditionalists pitching tents in their sansabelt slacks.

Mets 3, Phillies 1
: Talk about not getting a win you deserve: Oliver Perez (7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 12K) shuts the Phillies down, but gets in a jam in the eighth, makes way for Aaron Heilman who throws three pitches, and then who goes on to claim the win for himself when the Mets rally in the bottom of the inning. Of course the real culprit was the Mets' offense, who couldn't do a thing against Old Man Moyer, but a win's a win, and the Mets are now all alone in first place.

Blue Jays 7, Orioles 1: Lots of dominant pitching performances yesterday, no? Halladay gives up one run over seven, making quick work of the O's. Yesterday lots of folks were reporting that the Jays were shopping Halladay. Late in the day the Jays denied it. If I had to guess, they are shopping him, as any team in their position should be given the kinds of returns teams are getting for starters this year. Sabathia, Harden, and Bedard all brought back value, and given how well Sabathia has pitched in particular, you can bet that there are some teams out there thinking about how to get the same kind of magic on their side.

Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1: Because this was the continuation of the suspended game, A.J. Burnett picked up a win some 14 hours after the game began. Such a thing hasn't happened since Steve Trachsel was DFA'd last month.

Pirates 9, Padres 1: The Padres were blanked for six innings by a 27 year-old rookie who, before this game, had given up 13 earned runs on 19 hits in his previous six innings over the course of two games.

Brewers 4, Cardinals 3: Ryan Braun homered to left center off of Ryan Franklin, blowing the game in the top of the ninth. Right now, the Cardinals are in the midst of an 18-game stretch without a day off, and as I'm typing this, they are showering off an awful loss and preparing to take a bus to a charter flight that will take them to New York to face the Mets. In the face of all of that, it will take every bit of magic genius dust in La Russa's possession to get this team off the mat. I'm often wrong in these situations, but for now, this humble blogger is left with the distinct feeling that we have seen the last of "St. Louis Cardinals: pennant contenders" this season. Sorry, Sara.

Cubs 6, Marlins 3: It's nice to be home. After a 2-4 road trip, the Cubs right the ship at Wrigley behind Zambrano and a big fifth inning. Eight and a half games separated the Cubs and Brewers a little over a month ago. Now the lead is one. They have A LOT of games left to play against one another. Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come is in Chicago's and Milwaukee's discharge.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the sympathy, pal. It was all I could do not to throw my laptop off the deck.

Honestly, though, I remember blogging before the season got going that I figured I'd enjoy this season more, specifically because I *knew* my team had no chance, and therefore I wouldn't have to get all worked up. Hope sucks!! :-[

Alex Brissette said...

Typo in the Cardinals recap -- who homered off Ryan Franklin?

Craig Calcaterra said...

Thanks Alex. It was Braun. I fixed it.

Matt said...

Royals 4, Rays 2: Gil Meche backs Royal fans away from the ledge.

Craig Calcaterra said...

Thanks James. I have no idea how I missed that. Someone must have erected an improbability field or something.

Mark Runsvold said...

When did the Brewers trade for BraunMets? I've been saying he was the missing piece.

Craig Calcaterra said...

Man, I have no idea what happened to that post. I must have been smoking crack last night.

Mark Runsvold said...

It was a blessing in crack-addled disguise, Craig. Ryan Braun has a new nickname that doesn't come from a lame made-for-Comedy-Central movie.

Ron Rollins said...

The Mets were written off after one bad stretch. The Yankees were given up for dead. The Tigers started the season in a funk, but people talk about how they're surging and are still a good bet to win the division.

The Cardinals have one bad week and they're toast? Isn't that why all 162 games count, and not just a random week in the season?

Where's the love? Where's the respect? Where's the National League playoffs going to be?

St Louis.