Blue Jays 14, Yankees 3: I'm writing this recap right after the game went final and I don't have the benefit of the post-game stories or anything, so when I say "Ponson is going to get DFA'd," that's a bona fide prediction. Here's another: this score represents a reasonable facsimile of what Carl Pavano's grand return on Saturday is going to look like. By then there's a good chance the Jays will have passed the Yanks. New York last finished as low as fourth place in 1992, when Scott Kamieniecky and Bob Wickman were starting games for the Bombers. Both of those guys were better than Pavano and Ponson are, by the way.Cubs 3, Reds 2: Carlos Zambrano almost single handedly beats the Reds by throwing seven innings of one-run ball and hitting a dinger of his own.
Indians 10, Royals 3: Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee almost single handedly -- er, double handedly? -- beat the Royals, with Sizemore hitting a homer, a triple, and driving in seven runs and Lee going seven innings to notch his 18th win of the year.
Dodgers 3, Rockies 1: On Wednesday night Torre was all like "yo, I'd run that Martin at third, Blake at first, Ardoin behind the plate lineup out there again without hesitation!" Then last night he goes back to Martin catching, Blake at third, Loney at first. And Loney goes 2-3 with a homer and a couple of RBI. I'll bet you a finsky he doesn't go with Wednesday night's lineup again all year.
Giants 4, Marlins 3: Emmanuel Burriss advanced to third on a fly to left in the ninth and then came home to win it on a wild pitch, so the whole story of the game is about his aggressive base running. The story goes like this: "During a Giants loss at Atlanta on Sunday, Burriss was cut down trying to steal third after hitting a one-out double in the first. That killed San Francisco's scoring threat and earned Burriss a visit with Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who told his young infielder to stay aggressive but be more selective." I don't know about you, but that sounds like bullshit. The only point to "stay aggressive but be more selective" is "don't get caught." What else can it mean?
Mets 5, Braves 4: Pedro Martinez vs. Mike Hampton. They both even threw over 100 pitches. And it isn't even 1998!
Nationals 4, Phillies 3: I'm happy for all sixteen of the Nationals fans out there, because losing streaks can be tough. This victory is sad for me personally, however, in that I had not even scratched the surface of my "man, do the Nats stink" jokes.
Diamondbacks 4, Padres 1: Brandon Webb (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER) ensures that that whole Lee-Webb Cy Young thing stays intact. He also took a comebacker off his chest in the sixth only to walk away unhurt, laying a stronger claim to Superman status.
A's 2, Mariners 0: Smith, Devine, and Ziegler combine to shutout Seattle. I don't think it's any coincidence that, on a night-by-night basis, the best pitching performances always seem to come against Seattle and San Diego. Frank Thomas was run out of the game for arguing balls and strikes. I haven't seen the video, but given that the dude has over 1600 walks and a career OBP north of .400, I'd be inclined to say that he probably was right.
Twins 2, Angels 1: Minnesota set up the winning run when Torii Hunter just whiffed when trying to catch a Nick Punto fly ball in the 12th, turning it into a triple. That's simply Ludacris.
6 comments:
is sizemore still batting lead-off?
man that guy is fast...
Still batting leadoff. Lucky for his RBI totals, Carroll and Cabrera got on base a few times in the 8 and 9 spots.
No more Luda jokes. Just terrible.
Also, I have this sneaking suspicion Pavano comes back, throws six innings while giving up one run. In his next start, he gives up four in four and gets injured.
Next, why can you not make more Nats Stink jokes? It's not like they're getting better.
Finally, I will always be happy for a University of Kentucky Wildcat (Go Big Blue!) that has lots of success in the majors (Webb). It just reminds (or gives the illusion) that Kentucky is useful in some ways.
Kentucky will always have its place as one of the only four commonwealths in the nation. So you've got that going for you.
APBA Guy-
Bob Wickman as a starter-that's going back a ways. Slimmer, no beard, you can barely recognize him from his baseball card.
http://www.wickmanswarriors.com/
Frank Thomas argument was not just the one pitch, borderline low, borderline inside. He'd been boxed in on both his previous at-bats by calls that went the pitcher's way, and he just snapped at this call in his 3rd at-bat. I'd characterized Frank's outburst as a professional hitter's outrage at having the bat taken out of his hands.
Geren's reaction was interesting because he wanted to keep getting the calls for his guy, since Seattle is an even weaker offensive team than the AAA's. He backed Frank out of the action quickly and never raised his voice or directly confronted the ump, but gave his team the impression of supporting Frank.
Both pitcher's recognized that the umpire was giving the corners and the low strike, and they both went after it eagerly. Rowland-Smith just lost a few pitches up, whereas Greg Smith missed his throws outside for balls.
Another interesting note was that both Suzuki's picked up on the pitching patterns. Ichiro went 3-4 and Kurt Suzuki 2-4, and both were sitting on the outside pitch.
As a White Sox fan, I can tell you that just because Thomas walks a lot doesn't mean he never bitches about calls. His attitude has always been, "I'm Frank Thomas! You can't call me out!" But, of course, he did strike out a few times while amassing all those walks, too...
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