Monday, August 01, 2011
And That Happened
Posted by Craig CalcaterraTigers 3, Angels 2: Wow, this was a wild one. Made all the more wild by the fact that (a) it was going on just as the trade deadline was approaching; and (b) since Justin Verlander had a no-hitter going, it seemed like everyone was watching it. At least everyone in my little corner of the Internet. Read the game stories to get the full flavor, but any game that has home run poses (Carlos Guillen), headhunting (Jered Weaver on Alex Avila), a starting pitcher yelling eff you at an ump right after the ejection (Weaver again) and then eleventeen violations of the unwritten rules (Erik Aybar laying down a bunt to try to break up the no-no), all in the space of a about a half hour, you know it was an awesome game.
Reds 9, Giants 0: Just when you want to write the Reds off they go and sweep the reigning champs. Of course, Barry Zito started this one for San Francisco, and he wasn't even on the roster when they won the World Series, so let's not go too crazy. Johnny Cueto was fantastic, pitching a three-hitter and lowering his ERA to 1.72. Three-run homer for Joey Votto who had five RBI on the day.
Phillies 6, Pirates 5: Remember how I mentioned that the schedule was about to get tough for Pittsburgh and that the fairytale was about to end? This is what I was talking about. Philly sweeps. New hire Hunter Pence doubled in the tenth inning and was then doubled in for the winning run by Raul Ibanez, who had himself a whale of a day, homering twice and hitting the game-winner. Don't worry, though, Pirates fans: Joel Hanrahan is well-rested, not having been bothered during the 10th inning. You'll be happy to know that he will be available to "save" meaningless games against the Astros in August and September.
Yankees 4, Orioles 2: The big hit was Brett Gardner's bases-loaded triple in the fourth, when the Yankees scored all of their runs. Freddy Garcia won his tenth, striking out six in six innings and allowing two runs on five hits. The Yankees made no trade deadline moves. But really, there wasn't a good move out there for them to make.
Brewers 5, Astros 4: The Astros get swept. Not surprising given that (a) they were on a 109-loss pace when the weekend began; and (b) they then traded their two best players over the weekend. Good times in Houston!
Blue Jays 7, Rangers 3: Brandon Morrow struck out 11. Koji Uehara made his Rangers debut and, during the game, Texas traded for Mike Adams. But as this game shows, your bullpen can't do it all for you. C.J. Wilson got rocked.
Nationals 3, Mets 2: The Nats take two of three, winning this one on a Ian Desmond chopper in the bottom of the ninth. There wouldn't have been a bottom of the ninth if Drew Storen had protected the ninth inning lead. But he won the game, so he must have been doing something valuable, right?
Marlins 3, Braves 1: The 10,000th loss in Braves franchise history! Woo! Who cares? Michael Bourn will join the team later today, and all will be right with the world. Or so I'm telling myself.
Royals 5, Indians 3: Homers from Jeff Francoeur and Alex Gordon and a solid outing from Danny Duffy. Going forward, though, this will be a different Indians team thanks to the additions of Ubaldo Jimenez and Ryan Ludwick.
Red Sox 5, White Sox 3: Andrew Miller was eminently hittable -- he gave up ten in five and two-thirds -- but Dustin Pedroia bailed him out with a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh. Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI double in the ninth for some insurance.
Padres 8, Rockies 3: A six-run eighth wraps this one up for the Padres, averting a sweep. Three RBI for Jesus Guzman.
Athletics 7, Twins 3: I guess six-run innings are the new inefficiency, because the A's pulled one off too. Three stolen bases for Coco Crisp. Home run 597 for Jim Thome.
Rays 8, Mariners 1: Ben Zobrist went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and Jeremy Hellickson held the Mariners to basically bupkis.
Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 3: Two homers for Gerardo Parra. And no, I'm not above hackey crap like thinking of this every time I hear his name.
Cubs 6, Cardinals 3: Jake Westbrook looked good until the sixth, when he gave up four runs. A three-run homer from Lance Berkman was all the Cards could muster.
Craig writes the HardballTalk blog for NBC Sports.com
You got Ludwick going to the wrong Cinderella team.
Oh and btw, since I never post, Thank you to Craig, and all the writers here at HBT and Fangraphs for the content you put out.