And That Happened

Red Sox 4, Angels 1: Say what you want about the guy, but Dice-K has always done well on 89 days rest (6 IP 3 H, 0 ER). I’m not sold yet. Even Dontrelle Willis had a good game his first time back this year.

Blue Jays 10, Yankees 4: Fisticuffsmanship! Jorge Posada and Jesse Carlson threw down in front of the Yankee dugout in the eighth. Unlike most baseball fights, however, someone connected. Girardi got popped once too. Even an umpire was taken out, with crew chief Derryl Cousins leaving the game after the fight. Either Cousins got a case of the vapors or else someone is going to be suspended for about a decade for roughing up an ump. UPDATE: according to the game story he was hit in the knee with a bottle of soda thrown from the stands. So basically everyone was misbehaving.

Giants 10, Rockies 2: Barry Zito struck out nine and the Giants pull to two and a half back. Nervous Jim Tracy?

“Here’s the deal. Here’s our situation. It’s very simple. It’s black and white. There’s no gray. There’s no middle area. We’ve got an opportunity to win a game in this series, which is something that we’re obviously striving for, and you move on and you’re 3½ ahead. Or you lose and you’re 1½ ahead and then everything’s up for grabs. I’m not sitting here saying to anybody that we’re trailing. We’re not going to trail. We’ve still got a lead. But the opportunity of having a cushion versus giving it back — that’s what tomorrow is all about.”

With quotes like that, I give it greater than even odds that that man is sitting in a broadcast studio someday.

Dodgers 5, Pirates 4: Andre Eithier gets his fourth walkoff home run of the year. He’s the first Dodger to hit 30 home runs since 2004.

Braves 6, Mets 0: The Mets had absolutely no answers for Tommy Hanson. Couldn’t even get a man past second base on him during his seven innings of shutout ball (his second straight start without allowing a run). Adam LaRoche homered twice and drove in three, doing nothing to harm his second-half-stud reputation. Too little too late for Atlanta, but it’s nice to see them play out the schedule on a high note.

Phillies 5, Nationals 0: After three lackluster starts, Cliff Lee returns to being Superman (CG SHO 6 H, 9 K). Lee is an Adam LaRoche All-Star himself, improving to 20-3 after the break over the past two seasons.

Royals 11, Tigers 1: Good thing Detroit doesn’t have to play Kansas City in the playoffs, because KC has their number, taking their fifth straight from the Tigers. Magglio hit an $18 million groundout in the fifth. Play was delayed briefly in the top of the seventh when a shirtless fan ran onto the field. I have some nogoodnik kin up in Detroit who don’t do much all summer besides drink beer with their shirts off, so I’m expecting the call for help with bail any moment now.

Orioles 10, Rays 5: After lulling the American League into a false sense of security, Matt Weiters finally decides to strike: 3-5, 5 RBI. It begins.

Marlins 2, Cardinals 1: Wainwright pitched well, but got the loss because Sean West and the Marlins’ bullpen pitched better. Wainwright stays at 18 wins. Unless La Russa decides to give him extra rest heading into the playoffs, he probably has three starts to go. I’m going to assume at this point that if he wins 20, he’s a lock for the Cy Young.

Reds 5, Astros 4: I’m not going to say that it’s hard to find something interesting to talk about in a late-season, no-hope Astros-Reds series, but here are two of the “game notes” from the game story: “Janish became the first Reds batter with three doubles in one game since Jorge Cantu on Sept. 21, 2007, at San Francisco” and “ESPN college basketball announcer Dick Vitale watched the game with Reds owner Bob Castellini.” Feel the magic.

Cubs 13, Brewers 7: The Brewers walked 12 guys and hit three more, so this wasn’t exactly a crisp one. Carlos Zambrano kind of melted down after four good innings. I’m sure this has absolutely nothing to do with him being rattled at the “we’re gonna trade you” talk from earlier in the day, because Carlos is totally composed and cool when he’s out there and let’s no emotions intrude on the task at hand. Total iceman.

Athletics 6, Rangers 1: That sound you hear is the Rangers’ playoff hopes being stuffed into a burlap sack and thrown into a river. The sack’s technically still floating, but it’s about to go under any minute now. Michael Young came back as a DH after missing two weeks, but he pulled himself from the lineup because he tweaked the hamstring again. It’s been a nice season for the Rangers and the future is bright, but it’s just not happening.

Twins 5, Indians 4: The game stories still talk about the Twins having a chance to make a run at Detroit, but then you read something like this: “Along with Morneau, third-baseman Joe Crede is likely out for the season with back problems, and recent call-up Justin Huber is day to day with a strained oblique. But Gardenhire said his desire to call up reinforcements was “squelched” by the front office.” Has the front office thrown in the towel, or is Gardenhire asking for unrealistic things? And why is he telling reporters about that kind of family business? Stange.

Diamondbacks 4, Padres 2: Mark Reynolds hit what proved to be the game winning homer in the 9th. Nick Hundley made a pretty spiffy defensive play, acrobatically pursuing an overthrown ball into the dugout (he went in, not the ball) and throwing out Eric Byrnes at the plate, who was tagged out by Ardian Gonzalez, who was sliding/diving for the throw. I’m guessing video does that play better justice than that description did.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

White Sox 6, Mariners 3: The White Sox have gone back and fourth between wins and losses for nine games. One more and they get their Dutch 200 patch, right?


16 Comments
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John_Michael
14 years ago

RE: Weiters:  See, god does have a plan afterall.

Gerry
14 years ago

You only need one fill ball in the 10th if you started your Dutch 200 with a strike in the 1st (so you had a spare in the 10th). But anyway alternating wins and losses is more like alternating strikes and opens, no?

MooseinOhio
14 years ago

Candlepin Bowling Rules.

Mark
14 years ago

“…he was hit in the knee with a bottle of soda thrown from the stands.”

Nice to hear tradition hasn’t died at the New Yankee Stadium.

The Rabbit
14 years ago

@Wooden
Yeah but I can’t find candlepin lanes anywhere except New England….and averages in ten-pin bowling have increased over the years.  Must be PED’s or corked balls. Where is the press outrage?
If you get to St. Louis, you can visit the Bowling Hall of Fame. It’s across the street from Busch Stadium. Includes a nice little display of Neanderthal bowlers. (No, I’m not making this up.)

Craig Calcaterra
14 years ago

The Rabbit:  I have visted, and I happen to be the proud owner of a “Cardinals and Bowling Hall of Fame” T-shirt.  At least the Cardinals used to occupy the other half. Not sure if that aprt of the Hall is still there.  Pic of the Hall in 2003:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccalcaterra/4441124/in/set-112275/

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccalcaterra/4441128/in/set-112275/

Wooden U. Lykteneau
14 years ago

@The Rabbit – There is no candlepin bowling in Worcester anymore, if you can believe that. Sadly, I didn’t know the Bowling HoF was across the way from Busch when I visited in ‘94 – we spent our downtime at the Gateway Arch. I found it monumentally disappointing (thank you, I’m here all week – try the veal). If I make it back, I’ll definitely check it out.

APBA Guy
14 years ago

You could sense the air coming out of the Rangers’ balloon when Michael Young walked back into the dugout after his at bat.

The A’s have won 6 of their last 7 against Texas and most of those haven’t been close. It’s not like the A’s are anything more than spoilers, but everybody on the team understands their role, they play good team defense, and the back end of the bullpen is quite good (Breslow, Wuertz, Bailey).

Texas simply does not have the players to compensate for their injuries, and their young pitchers are either tired, or feeling the playoff pressure, or both. They just aren’t executing their pitches as well as they were a month ago. They look done, just as Boston’s pitching is starting to look formidable.

The Rabbit
14 years ago

@Wooden
No way!  I lived in Worcester for 5 years and commuted to Boston.  Worcester was my first candlepin bowling experience.  On Saturday mornings, you could watch Candlepin Bowling for Dollars. It was great.
Note: I didn’t find the Arch all that interesting either.
@Craig
As of last summer, the Cardinals still had part of the Bowling Hall for its exhibits.  Didn’t get to the museum this year.

Wooden U. Lykteneau
14 years ago

@The Rabbit – I can’t find the story, but I remember there was a bit in the Globe about how it had been invented there and now Worcester had no candlepin alleys, which would be like no duckpin in Baltimore. I was taught by Paul Romani Sr. and was proud to lose to Jeff Atkins by only 30 pins when I rolled a 163 in 1990.

The Rabbit
14 years ago

@Wooden
I’m not even worthy to speak to you.  I was ecstatic when I actually broke 100.  163 is really impressive.
My dad bowled semi-pro. He would have loved to do it full-time professionally but my mother insisted he have a real job. Candlepin frustrated the living h*ll out of him.

jwb
14 years ago

Gardenhire wants MiLB 3B Luke Hughes, who is on the 40 man roster but is playing for the Australian national team in the other World Cup tournament.

DGL
14 years ago

No, the White Sox need three more alternating wins and losses for a Dutch 200.  Two fill balls in the tenth frame.

Yes, I bowl in a league.  Want to make something of it?

Dennis
14 years ago

The Rockies are reverting to form and Tracy is starting to appear Hurdle-esque with his daily manipulations of the line up.  I wouldn’t rule out Bruce Boche as “Manager of the Year.”  A Giants/Cardinals pitching matchup would be great for all fans to see.

Wooden U. Lykteneau
14 years ago

Meh. 200 in ten-pin bowling is like hitting .300 in slow-pitch softball. Now, if it were candlepin – that would be impressive.

george
14 years ago

Freudian-Stange at end of Cleveland summary???