Friday, April 27, 2012
And That Happened
Posted by Craig CalcaterraRays 4, Angels 3: Pinch hit walkoff bomb from Brandon Allen to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Albert Pujols got a hit but he was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double. I think that's what the fancy commentators on those evening baseball television programs call "pressing." The Angels are nine games back of the Rangers already which, dude, wow.
Mariners 5, Tigers 4: As my Twitter friend Grey said yesterday: "Brandon Inge is gone and the Tigers still have 24 other guys who have also struggled this week! woooooo!" Yeah, not a week to write home about if you're the Tigers. Which is worse considering they were at home for all of it. Chone Figgins was 3 for 4 with an RBI double. If Chone Figgins is kicking your butt, you gotta look in a mirror.
Royals 4, Indians 2: Break up the Royals, they're on a winning streak! Two straight for Kansas City. Alex Gordon after the game: ""We can't lose now. It's unbelievable." Yes, he actually said that.
Orioles 5, Blue Jays 2: Brian Matusz went six allowing two runs -- but neither were earned -- as the O's sweep the Jays and take their fourth straight overall. You know who's happy Albert Pujols is struggling so much? Jose Bautista. Because not that many people are paying attention to his .194/.349/.343 line.
Mets 3, Marlins 2: Rule of thumb: if your closer comes in to a one-run game and throws 46 pitches, he's not having a good day and you're not winning. Heath Bell threw 46 pitches, he was not having a good day and the Marlins didn't win.
Giants 6, Reds 5: I hit the ending of this one up yesterday. In the comments to that post someone suggested that I pointed out the fact that Angel Pagan -- who hit what proved to be the game-winning three-run homer -- should have struck out but for the bad call because "you still can’t get over the fact that the Giants beat your Braves in the 2010 DS. Stop hating and give a little credit." Yes, that's exactly why I pointed that out. You got me. I've been harboring my hate for the Giants for over a year and a half and finally -- finally! -- found my chance to pounce.
Red Sox 10, White Sox 3: I'm sure someone has done a study of how dudes do after throwing a perfecto, and I imagine they do quite poorly on average. Maybe not as poorly as Phil Humber did, though (5 IP, 8 H, 9 ER). Saltalamacchia hit two homers.
Padres 2, Nationals 1: Edinson Volquez gave up one run over seven. Which was one more than Edwin Jackson gave up over six, but Volquez had a better bullpen on his side last night.
Craig writes the HardballTalk blog for NBC Sports.com
Ask and the shall receive.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2009-07-27-perfect-follow-up_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
That was written up after Buehrle’s perfect game. He had mixed results. He retired the first 17 batters to set a record of 45 straight and tempt fans that he might do it again, But ended up giving up 5 runs on 5 hits and a walk in 6 and a third.