Friday, August 20, 2010
And That Happened
Posted by Craig CalcaterraWhite Sox 11, Twins 0: Paul Konerko was a triple short of a cycle. (Oh crap; now I'm in trouble!).
Angels 7, Red Sox 2: Anaheim finally wins one against Boston. A three-run homer from Hideki Matsui in the 6th opened things up for the Angels. Know what ain't lookin' good right now? Josh Beckett's contract extension (6 IP, 7 H, 6 ER).
Orioles 4, Rangers 0: Brian Matusz shut the Rangers out over eight. He had struggled mightily against them in two previous starts this year so maybe our children is learning. Texas is 2-5 since Greenberg and Ryan took over, by the way. I think I'm gonna try and get some sort of curse started. By the time it gains cultural purchase, people will have forgotten that I invented it from whole cloth.
Giants 5, Phillies 2: Jonathan Sanchez shut the Phillies down until tiring in the ninth. Bruce Bochy removed Sanchez from the game in the
middle of Placido Polanco's at bat in the ninth while he had a five run lead. At the time he had exactly 100 pitches. Someone want to give Bochy the pitch count lecture again? I mean, yeah, monitor it, but no one is gonna die if they get to 101.
Astros 3, Mets 2: Hard to expect a hell of a lot more from Pat Misch than three runs in six innings. The Mets just couldn't get it done with the bats.
Padres 5, Cubs 3: I'm beginning to think that this Mat Latos character can pitch a little bit (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 10K). And this was fun. Pro tip: when you call time out, make sure time out is granted before you lollygag around the infield.
Nationals 6, Braves 2: Atlanta pop-fouled and ran its way out of potential rallies in both the sixth and eighth innings and the Nats pen shut the Braves down in the final innings, preventing one of their increasingly common late game comebacks.
Yankees 11, Tigers 5: When the sixth inning began it was 2-2. when it ended it was 11-2. Robinson Cano hit a two-run bomb and an RBI double that inning. He also finished a triple short of the cycle! (Damn!)
Dodgers 2, Rockies 0: The season hasn't gone the way the Dodgers want it to, but you can't blame their main trade deadline pickup. Ted Lilly was masterful, throwing a two-hit shutout with a 11 strikeouts.
Reds 9, Diamondbacks 5: The Reds are on their longest winning streak of the year -- six games -- and now have their largest lead over the Cardinals all year as well: three and a half games.
Athletics 4, Rays 3: Most of Trevor Cahill's recent starts have been dominant. This one was less so -- he was in a bit of trouble -- but he fought through it and got some timely offensive support and some great defensive behind him. Included in that was a couple of double plays and this spiffy catch from Coco Crisp.
Indians 7, Royals 3: The winning team had five errors. There were 23 hits in the game. It lasted 3:24. The stands were basically empty. Gametime temperature was 90. I love baseball with a passion, but being at this game would seriously test it.
Marlins 4, Pirates 2: Susan Sontag once said that "the life of the creative man is led, directed and controlled by boredom. Avoiding boredom is one of our most important purposes." While I believe that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap, there's something to that quote. It's something that inspired me not to spend any time reading the box score or dwelling too deeply on the specifics of a mid-to-late August, midweek Marlins-Pirates game. Life is too damn short. I'm sorry.
I'm goin' on vacation next week. Based on the fact that I punted those last two recaps I probably need it.
Craig writes the HardballTalk blog for NBC Sports.com
I don’t think Bochy took Sanchez out because he hit the magical number of 100 pitches. The Giants haven’t been playing well and it seemed like he didn’t want to take any chances. Plus, Bochy really doesn’t seem to have a problem letting the SP’s go well beyond 100 pitches.