And That Happened

Nationals 4, Mets 0: Not to take too much away from John Lannan (CG, SHO, 7 H, 1K 0 BB), but David Wright was the only player in the Mets’ lineup who has any business starting for a Major League team, let alone one that still pretends that it’s contending.

Indians 2, Blue Jays 1: Cliff Lee’s starts are beginning to take on the air of street sale rather than a baseball game:

Live from 47th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue-you can’t miss it!-it’s SABRA PRICE IS RIGHT! Alright so let’s go with the game then. Here is the host, URI SHURINSON!

Uri: Alright-alright-alright! Good-good-good! Yes-yes, welcome-welcome to Sabra Price Is Right! I am Uri! Okay so we show you beautiful merchandise; and you people, you guess price. So okay let’s look at first merchandise!

[Shot: 30 year-old lefthander]

Harvey: Alright is Cliff Lee! Is pitcher from Cleveland. Is good! (CG, 7 H, 1 ER, 4 K 0 BB)

Uri: Okay-okay now who can tell me the correct price for the Cliff Lee?

Brewers 2, Pirates 0: Milwaukee blanks the Pirates. And Braden Looper beaned five guys because Kevin Young hit a homer off of Doug Jones back in May of 1998. Maybe you think that’s extreme, but that’s just how the Brew Crew rolls.

Angels 8, Royals 5: You’re not going to believe this, but Sidney Ponson got rocked (5 IP, 8 H, 6 ER). Jose Guillen drove in two. It’s amazing what you can do when you take ownership over your problems.

Yankees 6, Orioles 4: Neyer yesterday:

The Yankees are probably good enough to get into the playoffs with Sergio Mitre in their rotation … but is it really worth the risk? And I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe it must take a month to get Hughes conditioned for 100 pitches. Anyway, why is that the threshold for acceptability? How many times do the Yankees think that Mitre’s going to last for 100 pitches?

Last night’s results: 91 pitches, even when pitching with a four-run lead. It’s great that he won and everything, but is there any doubt that Phil Hughes could do at least that and maybe save the bullpen some innings?

Braves 8, Giants 1: It’s amazing what ridding your lineup of automatic outs can do. With Jordan Schafer, Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francoeur gone, the Braves have been on an offensive tear. In this one, Martin Prado had three hits and scored three runs and Brian McCann hit a three-run homer and drove in four. Now if only the Phillies would lose a game . . .

Phillies 4, Cubs 1: Damn. Jayson Werth with a walkoff three-run homer in the bottom of the 13th.

Tigers 9, Mariners 7: Not a lot of pitching in this one, as seven homers were hit, two by Jack Hannahan of the Ms and one grand slam by Magglio Ordonez. Franklin Gutierrez slammed into the wall and had to leave the game, but x-rays were negative. Which, strangely enough, is a positive thing.

Rangers 4, Red Sox 2: Losing four of five out the gate in the second half is probably not what the Sox had in mind, but that’s what happens when you can’t figure out rookies with names like Tommy Hunter. They should trade him to the Braves to team up with Hanson. Both “Hunter & Hanson” and “Tommy and Tommy” sound like 1980s action/adventure shows that I totally would have watched back then. It would air right before “Riptide” and right after “The A-Team.”

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Rays 3, White Sox 2: Bobby Jenks loaded the bases in the ninth but got out of it on Monday night, but last night he wasn’t so lucky. Coming in with a one run lead, Jenks allowed single-HBP-single-walk-sacrifice-hit-walk before getting out of it. Spoiled a nice Clayton Richard start too (8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7K).

Astros 11, Cardinals 6: This has to have been Todd Wellemeyer’s last start for the Cardinals, no? That one nice start against the Giants back on July 2nd didn’t buy him a mile of rope, did it? Wandy Rodriguez (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER), Carlos Lee (grand slam) and Miguel Tejada (2-3, 3 RBI) lead the charge for the Astros.

Angels 10, Royals 2: Erik Aybar was a beast in this doubleheader, smacking seven hits between the two games. He’s also 24 for his last 43. Kansas City used nine pitchers in yesterday’s games.

Dodgers 12, Reds 3: I think the Homer Bailey experiment is nearing its end as he has a 14.53 ERA over his past two starts and isn’t fooling anyone. And I’d like to think that this Dusty Baker quote was meant as a dig at Joe Torre, though it probably wasn’t: “You know you’ve got a good lineup when your eighth hitter’s hitting .320-something. I don’t know If I’ve seen that ever.” He’s referring to Matt Kemp, of course, who has no business hitting eighth. Not that it’s hurting the Dodgers at the moment or anything.

Twins 3, A’s 2: Runs were a bit more scarce in this one. And, unlike yesterday, Mike Muchlinski called Michael Cuddyer safe when it mattered, this time on his 10th inning RBI triple.

Marlins 3, Padres 2: I have absolutely nothing interesting to say about this game, so I’ll just note that “Stripes” was on AMC last night. It’s been years since I’ve seen it, and yes, it holds up. Lee Harvey, you are a madman. When you stole that cow, and your friend tried to make it with the cow. I want to party with you, cowboy. If the two of us together, forget it.

Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 5: Same here, really. Sorry, I guess last nights west coast games just aren’t speaking to me like Monday night’s did. C’mon, it’s Czechoslovakia. We zip in, we pick ’em up, we zip right out again. We’re not going to Moscow. It’s Czechoslovakia. It’s like going into Wisconsin.


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MooseinOhio
14 years ago

As for the stumbling Red Sox this reminds me of the less than stellar July of 2004 when the wheels were also falling off and the Garciaparra trade turned things around.  Not the same situation this year but with the right move(s) the Red Sox can make a strong run for the playoffs and with Beckett and Lester at the top of the rotation and a strong bullpen can make some noise.

However – winning it all will need greater productivity on the offensive side of the game and their OBP is dismal and has been plummeting all year.  The inability to sign Teixiera has exposed a serious hole in Boston’s lineup that needs to be addressed with a bigger/bolder move than I think Theo was hoping to make. 

Gonzalez would be ideal but will cost more than I think Theo would be willing to pay.  Teahan would cost less and Theo may be able to accept the Royals price, especially if they continue asking for lessor than prospects.  Not sure if Sanchez can play third but the Pirates seem ready to dump him and may I suspect could be had with a Teahan type deal.  Lowrie could always plays third, Sanchez SS and bat lead off solving another issue the SOx are having.

Randy
14 years ago

Ahhh…Stripes. One of my favorite “lay on the couch and do nothing” Sunday afternoon movies.

Jason B
14 years ago

Your “ATH” feature today is not going to start any arguments or lead to any lengthy diatribes or tirades.  I’m, like, *so* disappointed. 

Although my productivity should skyrocket.

kendynamo
14 years ago

i think its been established that luis castillo still has business being in SOME major league starting lineups (towards the back at least), but otherwise yes, the mets JV line up blows right now.  hope youre enjoying it, craig.

ecp
14 years ago

Cliff Lee has figured out that the only way he is going to win on THAT team is to go complete. 

Honestly, between Cleveland and KC, that division has the two worst bullpens in the majors.  If you’re a starter on either of those teams, you’re doomed.  It’s amazing that Zack Greinke has managed to get ten wins.

mgflolox
14 years ago

Yeah, well I got the sh-t kicked out of me in Wisconsin.

Geoff Young
14 years ago

Kyle Blanks hit his first big-league homer in the Padres game, although that probably is of little interest to most people.

Jack Marshall
14 years ago

Oh, chill out, Moose. The Sox offensive slump is not representative of what the team can and will do. Bay, Drew and Youk will start hitting again; the team has an above average offense. A bad stretch of hitting combined with trips to two places the team historically sucks in—-Toronto and Texas—-is hardly “the wheels coming off.”

MooseinOhio
14 years ago

Maybe the Red Sox should consider Adam LaRoche … what they just traded for him.

That’s the latest report and after viewing my previous post more confirmation that I made the right career choice in going the academic route.  However I did get the position correct and was in the one of the right cities.

APBA Guy
14 years ago

The A’s reverted to their normal situation of losing gracefully to better teams, perhaps embarrassed by their 10 run comeback Monday night.

Unfortunately they victimized Dallas Braden, their own starter who turned in a very nice 7 inning, 2 ER performance against a solid Minnesota lineup, and included two very nice defensive plays off the mound. At 25 Braden is the leader of the young A’s staff and for the most part has pitched better than expected showing great poise to go with his 3.40 ERA.

We all know that Geren is Beane’s favorite “yes man” manager after his purge of seasoned baseball men (Terry Francona, Ken Macha, Ron Washington, Don Wakamatsu) but his insistence on running closer Andrew Bailey out for in tie games and then keeping him in for a second inning has cost the A’s two games now, further evidence that the A’s are positioning themselves for a premium draft pick this year at the expense of any other consideration.

Attendance swelled to 12,000 from 10,000 after Monday’s game, but that still constitutes a decline of over 30% from 2008. After Beane trades away the veterans in the next two weeks, average attendance should drop below 10,000. No stars, management playing to lose, and unemployment pushing 12% in California. Why spend a nickel watching the A’s?

Bing
14 years ago

Since when is Denver a coast? Ah, I kid, I kid.

george
14 years ago

Or maybe Dusty just never saw a .320 hitter bat eighth… if the Dodgers go 54-0 with Kemp batting eighth, is it dumb?

Joe
14 years ago

TOSHIBA GUTS! IS GOOD!

Awesome.

MooseinOhio
14 years ago

I can hear Schuerholz walking around the clubhouse by the Tommys proudly declaring “I love it when a plan comes together” and then lighting up a big stogie.