Friday, August 26, 2011
And That Happened
Posted by Craig CalcaterraYankees 22, Athletics 9: Heavens to Betsy, this was bad. The grand slams were notable to be sure, but the 13 Oakland walks -- 12 by the pen -- simply beat this game with an ugly stick. The game was four and a half hours and started an hour and a half late due to rain too. I'm sure the comeback and pounding amused Yankees fans, but this was about as miserable as a game could get to the casual observer. Although Jorge Posada playing second base was pretty interesting.
Tigers 2, Rays 0: Doug Fister looked pretty spiffy, allowing five hits over seven innings without walking anyone. Austin Jackson provided all the offense for Detroit with a homer and a sac fly.
Orioles 6, Twins 1: Good for the O's for winning their fourth in a row -- and no offense to them meant here -- but this is easily the lowest point the Twins have reached in years. Baltimore outscored Minnesota 24-4 in the four-game sweep.
Braves 8, Cubs 3: Brian McCann socked two homers, Michael Bourn went 4 for 5 and Brandon Beachy struck out eight over six innings.
Red Sox 6, Rangers 0: Adrian Gonzalez smacked two homers for the second time in three games. The Rangers have dropped six of eight and now stand only two games ahead of Anaheim as they begin a three-game series.
Royals 9, Blue Jays 6: Jeff Francis had been pitching horribly. But he's from Canada, see, so he was able to replenish himself in the healing Canadian air. We understand so little about these strange creatures, really.
Diamondbacks 8, Nationals 1: After dropping six straight, the Dbacks leave Washington as winners of three in a row. Six scoreless innings for Wade Miley, who got his first big league win. A two-run homer for Paul Goldschmidt.
Astros 3, Giants 1: San Francisco can't keep pace with Arizona and now sit three back. They've lost three of their last four to the Astros who, with all due respect, are a team that anyone with pretensions of playing in October should be feasting on. First career win for Henry Sosa, a former Giants' prospect.
Cardinals 8, Pirates 4: How to tell that the guy writing the AP game story has not yet gotten his mind around the state of the current St. Louis Cardinals:
The Cardinals ended a three-game losing streak and moved within 9½ games of first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
Craig writes the HardballTalk blog for NBC Sports.com