Tuesday, July 05, 2011
And That Happened
Posted by Craig CalcaterraNats 5, Cubs 4: Jayson Werth was getting booed like crazy -- especially when he struck out with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh -- but then he unexpectedly steals third base in the 10th inning and subsequently scores on a wild pitch, winning the ballgame, and the cheers rained down. His postgame quote is the sort of thing that's gonna come back on him, I think, be it for good or for ill: "Cheer me, boo me, whatever. I'm still going to go out there and play my game."
Diamondbacks 8, Brewers 6: Oh, Milwaukee's bullpen, you are giving Wisconsin a sad. I mean, no Sean Marcum was no great shakes -- at least on the mound; he hit a grand slam -- but no one called after him could do anything to stop the bleeding. Seventeen hits for the snakes.
Pirates 5, Astros 3: I think the most impressive part of all of this is not that the Pirates are winning, but that the fans are certainly responding. Four home sellouts in a row, and this one against the worst team in baseball. Pirates fans have waited a long time for a good product. But I bet they remember how to support it when it arrives.
Mariners 2, Athletics 1: Brandon McCarthy returned from the DL, but there wasn't much doin' for A's hitters against Michael Pineda and the M's pen, which allowed only three hits.
Twins 7, Rays 0: A six-hit shutout for Brian Duensing. A three run homer for Danny Valencia. A shattered bat went back and hit the home plate umpire too, but he was alright. One of these days someone won't be alright.
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 7: John Lackey continues to look utterly lost out there, allowing seven runs in two and a third. Travis Snider hit three doubles and drove in a couple. He must have communed with some sort of mysterious sensei when he was down on his minor league stint.
Padres 5, Giants 2: The Padres got to Lincecum early and, with the exception of a Pablo Sandoval two-run homer, the Giants' bats had no magic in 'em.
Braves 4, Rockies 1: The last time Atlanta faced Ubaldo Jimenez he no-hit them. This time? Not so much. Can I tell you that this Freddie Freeman kid is starting to grow on me? Two homers for the 21-year-old, who is now hitting .272/.347/.448 on the year.
White Sox 5, Royals 4: Aaron Crow -- correction, the All-Star Aaron Crow -- commits the walkoff balk. I think that's the second one this year after the Mets lost one that way to the Braves.
Cardinals 1, Reds 0: Chris Carpenter vs. Johnny Cueto in St. Louis and no one lost their heads. It was a shame that either of them had to lose, though, as both pitchers were fantastic. An RBI infield single for St. Louis was the only run in the game as Chris Carpenter continues to make up for a poor early season. Cueto is only 5-3, but he has a 1.77 ERA on the year.
Indians 6, Yankees 3: It took hitters from both teams a long time to settle in -- it was 0-0 when the seventh began with the Yankees being no-hit -- but big homers from Austin Kearns and Carlos Santana changed all of that. Derek Jeter went 0 for 4 in his return.
Phillies 1, Marlins 0: I said something in the Power Rankings yesterday about how the Phillies would be doing if they really had four aces. Well heck, Vance Worley has been a reasonable facsimile of one in his last couple of outings. Seven two-hit shutout innings for him in this one.
Angels 5, Tigers 1: The Angels keep rolling, taking their ninth win in 11 games. Homers from Vernon Wells and Torii Hunter.
Mets 5, Dodgers 2: Rubby De La Rosa had a no-hitter going through five, but Angel Pagan, Carlos Beltran and Daniel Murphy each had RBI doubles in the sixth inning.
UPDATE: Wow, forgot a game! first time I did that this year. Which has to be a record for me, because in past years I did this at least once every couple of weeks. Anyway:
Rangers 13, Orioles 4: Two homers for Mark Reynolds, but that was the only bright spot for the O's as they're throttled by Texas. Endy Chavez drove in four, including a two-run homer and a two-run double. Which is rather surprising considering I bet that, among people who have heard of Endy Chavez, 85% of them assumed he was out of baseball.
Craig writes the HardballTalk blog for NBC Sports.com