And That Happened

Marlins 8, Astros 6: Houston put a late scare into the fish, but it was all for naught. Florida wins its fourth in a row, and now sit 3.5 behind Philly. As Pinto notes, having guys getting on base in front of Hanley Ramirez is a good, good thing for the Marlins.

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4: You have to think that this is the end of the line for Sergio Mitre (5 IP, 6 H, 5 R). And don’t tell me that only three of those runs were earned. Cano was charged with an error on that throw to second, but it looked like Mitre really was the one to blame. And even if he wasn’t, Cano didn’t give up that triple to Joe Inglett. So, sure, I’ve accepted the fact that no one wants to make Phil Hughes a starter this year. How about a good old fashioned four man rotation? Joba rules, schmoba rules; all four of the Yankees good starters are the kinds of guys that could pull it off. Sabathia would probably thrive on it. Maybe Joba would even revert back to that quick-pitch, hyper-efficiency thing he broke out a couple of starts ago. OK, I’ll shut up now. I realize that by obsessing on the best team in baseball’s fifth starter that I’m starting to sound like some deranged Yankees fan.

Athletics 9, Orioles 1: Mark Ellis (5-5, 4 RBI) and Gio Gonzales (6 IP, 7 H, 0 ER) lead the charge against Baltimore, and now the As have taken nine straight from the Os. I haven’t mentioned it much for a long time, but now is as good a time as any to note that the Matt Wieters Takes Over the World Campaign is currently floundering (.263/.309/.374).

Red Sox 6, Tigers 5: After being stymied by the Yankees, the Sox, surprisingly, get to Edwin Jackson (4 IP, 9 H, 4 ER). I guess that’s home cookin’ for ya.

Cardinals 4, Reds 1: Kyle Lohse gets his first win in months. Johnny Cueto had to leave the game early with a hip injury. Pujols flew out with the bases loaded in the fifth. Man, that guy just ain’t clutch.

Rockies 11, Cubs 5: Troy Tulowitzki was a one-man gang, hitting for the cycle and going 5 for 5 with seven RBI. Tulo said after the game that, under most circumstances, he would have stopped at second on the hit that ended up being the triple, but that Brad Hawpe had egged him on earlier in the game to stretch anything even close in order to get the cycle. I guess I don’t have any problem with that, even though Colorado had an seven run lead at the time. Anyone know if anyone ever willingly stopped at first base to get a single to complete the cycle on a hit that should have been extra bases? That’s the kind of guy I’d go after. Tom Gorzelanny won’t be inspiring any more of those “the Cubs steal Gorzelanny” articles like we saw last week after this start (1.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER), and then he had to leave the game after taking one off the foot.

Diamondbacks 7, Mets 4: Diamondback Trent Oeltjen made his Major League debut on the 6th, has played in four games, and now has three homers. He’s Australian, and says that people back home are watching. I know baseball is increasingly popular down there with leagues and everything, but I get a giggle thinking of people gathered around a TV, taking it in with a certain WTF-ness, much the way people of a certain age here used to watch Aussie football on ESPN in the early 80s. Miguel Montero had three doubles, Doug Davis gave up two runs and four hits in seven innings and the Dbacks have won eight of ten.

Angels 8, Rays 7: Vlad hit his 399th and 400th career homers, the latter of which proved to be the game winner. According to the game story, the milestone home run was discussed at the Guerrero home over the weekend: “My mom kept telling me there’s two more. My brother Wilton had bad math and said it was one more,” said Vlad. I get this image of 35 year-old Wilton and 34 year-old Vlad sitting at the dinner table with their mom, arguing like my brother and I did when we were kids. They’re eating pasta with marinara, and their mom made them take their shirts off because they’re messy. Then mom smacks Wilton and chides him for (a) being bad at math; and (b) slurping his spaghetti. Wilton cries and Vlad retreats to a peaceful place deep in his head where no one argues. Then my dad gets up from the table, pours himself a tall glass of liquor, walks into his den and grumbles about how his life didn’t turn out the way he imagined it would. Um, I mean Vlad and Wilton’s dad. Not my dad. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment with my therapist I have to keep.

Dodgers 4, Giants 2: Matt Kemp (3-run double) and Hiroki Kuroda (6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER) weren’t having any of that “watch out for the Giants” talk. As expected, “Ramirez was loudly booed by a sellout crowd in his first game in San Francisco since coming back from a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug rules — payback for the treatment former Giants slugger Barry Bonds used to get in Los Angeles.” I knew it was too much to ask Giants fans to show a little grace and understanding and take the high road on that point, but I had kind of hoped they would have anyway. I mean, sure, it’s satisfying to boo Manny, but wouldn’t not booing him and, instead, just greeting him with silence send a big F-U to Dodgers’ fans? Or is that too much nuance to expect 40,000 people to grok?

Mariners 6, White Sox 4: Not only did the Sox lose this one, but after the game they claimed my mortgage and credit card debt after I put it on waivers. Seriously, you guys should try this. Kenny Williams will take anything.


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RickyB
14 years ago

Well, it seems the official scorers that be agree with your assessment of the Cano error. I noticed last night that Cano had the error, but I just took another glance at the box score, and it was changed to an error on Mitre. Shouldn’t an error by the pitcher be treated just like a balk or wild pitch for earned run purposes? Is that too much to ask?

ecp
14 years ago

I had heard this morning (from ESPN radio, no less) that Mitre was given the error, so Craig’s commentary made me go look.  ESPN’s box score concurs with their radio report, as does CBS Sports, but Yahoo says it went to Cano.  Maybe the official scorer made a change after the game, that happens sometimes.

a qwerty
14 years ago

I can confirm that Jeff Frye stopped at first on purpose to get his cycle with the Jays. I recall the coach doing everything but tackle him as he rounded first. It was definitely a ball where a player normally goes to second. I also recall Kelly Gruber (the only other Blue Jay to hit for the cycle) being in attendance for some reason.

Frye’s cycle is likely the cheapest ever, with an inside the park homer and a “single”. I don’t recall the specifics of the inside the park homer, but since it was in the Skydome, it must’ve been a bad misplay or a collision – not a lot of funny nooks and crannies.

Will
14 years ago

Tulo’s triple was, to be honest, a double and an error. The Cubs did a lousy job, with Soriano bobbling it and an off-line throw to third. If they’d done a better job fielding, Tulo would have either stopped with a double or have been out by a mile at third.

Which isn’t to say that I’m not pleased that the official scorer gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Also noteworthy in the game was that Troy was one short of the team RBI record, and nearly hit a grand slam. That ball went over the foul pole and triggered the first instant replay review at Coors Field.

APBA Guy
14 years ago

I think part of Wieters problem is that he’s actually a clone, much as Papelbon, Lester, and Masterson were cloned (ever see those three standing next to each other?)

MASN had a shot Saturday of Wieters on the bench sitting next to Tillman and Reimold. While there were some minor facial differences, those guys were identical from the neck down, just like the above mentioned Boston pitchers.

How do we know who is really catching one day from the next when all three look so much alike?

Seriously, since the automatic outs of Giambi and the “just visiting” attitude of Matt Holliday have vanished, the A’s are showing signs of life. Or is it that they’ve been playing Cleveland, KC, and Baltimore?

We’ll see starting this weekend when the White Sox and Yankees come to visit the mausoleum Jeter and A-Rod will probably have the place cleaned before they set foot in it.)

Anderson, Gio Gonzalez, and Braden are all pitching well right now. But something tells me the Yanks and Sox will adjust to the the young pitchers approach a little better than the O’s and Royals have.

Daniel
14 years ago

Not only would it be too much nuance for Giants fans to pull off en masse, but it would be much too nuance for Dodger fans to understand. 

Giants fans would be sitting there, smug in their pointed silence while Dodger fans would be watching the game at home thinking, “Why don’t these idiots boo?  They probably don’t even know who Manny Ramirez is.”

Jason F
14 years ago

Here’s a question I’ve always had: Say you’re a triple short of the cycle and you hit one out—do you have to score? Or do you have the option of staying on third base?

Chuck
14 years ago

“Anyone know if anyone ever willingly stopped at first base to get a single to complete the cycle on a hit that should have been extra bases?”

I seem to recall, but may be mistaken, that Jeff Frye did this while on the Blue Jays. He stopped at first on what should have been a double. (I think.)

TC
14 years ago

I, too, long for a stadium to choose silence over booking just once.

Grant
14 years ago

I guess the silver lining of Matt Wieters’ ordinariness is that now the preseason statistical projections for stud prospects might be a bit more accurate? Just grasping at straws, here. Still think he’ll be just fine.

Hollywood Joe
14 years ago

“Or is that too much nuance to expect 40,000 people to grok?”

Yes

These are Giant fans after all, they have Dodger envy for just about everything

Kevin S.
14 years ago

While there was extenuating circumstances preventing him from circling the bases, Robin Ventura’s walk-off grand slam against the Braves in ‘99 was only a single because he got mobbed between first and second.