And That Happened

Angels 5, Red Sox 4: The stories today will all be about David Ortiz’s 0-7, 12 LOB performance. Which they probably should be. Pedroia was on base in front of him five times alone. Give the man a day off. Move him down in the order. Something. As for Anaheim, Ervin Santana made his season debut, but wasn’t a big factor (5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER). Torii Hunter had three hits and three RBIs and now sits at .320/.384/.623. It’s early, but he’s an MVP candidate, ain’t he?

Cardinals 5, Pirates 1: St. Louis salvages one. I see that only 12,000 attended. I can’t do it justice in this space, but an odd little personal quirk of mine is that I really, really like going to baseball games in half-empty stadiums when games mean very little. It’s relaxing and comfy and gets at the essence of all I love about baseball. Cincinnati and Cleveland draw too well to replicate the experience I’m after properly, so since it’s only three hours away, I think one of the first things I do once someone pays me to write about baseball full time is to buy a half-season package at PNC and spend every other home series there or something.

Rangers 3, Mariners 2: All three Ranger runs come in the bottom of the ninth off of Brandon Morrow. Take a bow, Brandon! The game took 2:10. Can you say “getaway day?”

Astros 5, Rockies 3: Where are the Astros without Wandy Rodriguez? (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 11K, 0 BB). In other news, stealing home is the new black, with Michael Bourn doing it yesterday. It was a double steal though, so it was nowhere near as impressive as Ellsbury’s or Werth’s. The whole concept is getting old, though. Let’s try something new. How about this: challenging the old maxim and see if someone can’t steal first. Be honest: brilliant, or really, really brilliant?

Cubs 11, Padres 3: Game story: “Scalesie is swinging the bat,” manager Lou Piniella said. “He wants some playing time. He’s taking advantage of it. It’s a nice story.” Look Lou, the man spent 11 years in the minors while dudes with way less talent than him became millionaires. He’s now enjoying what is likely to be an all-too-brief moment in the sun. Don’t freakin’ ruin it by saddling him with “Scalesie.” How about “Red”? You know, like from Shawshank? The man who, despite all reasonable expectations, never became institutionalized. Never resigned himself to a life inside — or in his case the minors — even when he had every excuse to do so. OK, maybe that’s dumb, but it beats the living hell out of “Scalesie.”

Twins 6, Tigers 5: Justin Verlander deserved a heck of a lot better than what he got (6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 13K). Game story: “The Twins improved to 2-7 in day games this season, worst in the majors.” When you play in the Metrodome, how is a day game any different than a night game?

Dodgers 5, Phillies 3: Nice duel between Billingsley and Hamels for seven innings before it was taken over by the pens. After the game, The Dodgers called up Eric Milton, who will start on Saturday in place of Jeff Weaver, which is really a case of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Brewers 5, Marlins 3: Ken Macha on Dave Bush: “It’s not a lot of bling for him. He just goes out there, and it’s workmanlike.” It’s cute when guys pushing 60 use 10 year-old slang.

Indians 11, Rays 7: Just an ugly game all around for the Rays. The fifth inning in particular was a defensive apocalypse. Iwamura booted what would have been out number three. Then Victor Martinez hit a double to centerfield that would have been caught if Upton wasn’t playing so shallow. Then Choo hit a double to left that would have been caught if Zobrist wasn’t playing so shallow. Then Longoria let a ball play him on a grounder to third that allowed DeRosa to reach. The last one didn’t result in any runs being scored, but it just underscored how ugly an evening it was out there. For the Indians: Asdrubal Cabrera: 4-5, 2 RBI, 4 R and a sick range into the hole/jump-throw in the fifth that probably relegate Jhonny Peralta to third base for the rest of his career.

Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2: We now appear to have reached the portion of the season in which CC Sabathia ceases to suck. It began about this time last year, with a nice performance on May 9th and a shutout against the A’s on May 14th. As for today: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER and the win. He’ll take it, as will Yankees fans.

Orioles 9, Royals 5: Six straight losses for the suddenly human Kansas City Royals.

Mets 7, Giants 4: What were the odds that the Mets would set a team stolen base record — seven swipes — while Jose Reyes was sitting on the bench? Certainly longer than the odds that Brian Wilson would blow up in the ninth, because he does that from time to time.