Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Friday, August 21, 2009

And That Happened


Tigers 7, Mariners 6: A game-winning RBI single for Clete Thomas in the ninth got Jarrod Washburn off the hook after yet another dismal post-trade performance. Thomas had hit a walk-off homer earlier this season, and after game said this: “It’s not as good as the homer, but any walk-off is awesome.” Yeah, just ask Ray Chapman. Sorry. Too soon?

Braves 3, Mets 2: Johan Santana falls to 0-7 against Atlanta. He gave up nine hits and only struck out two in seven innings. Kenshin Kawakami pitched well, but man, that's not much of a Mets lineup he faced. UPDATE: I'm told that Santana vs. the Braves record is wrong. Apologies, but I was just parroting something I saw elsewhere (I should have checked). I don't have time to fix it now, but it's corrected in the comments.

Dodgers 7, Cubs 2: Russell Martin has been a millstone for the Dodgers this year, but his sixth inning grand slam broke the tie and effectively won the game for big blue. Lots of fun game story stuff: "The Dodgers improved to 1,015-1,014 all-time against the Cubs." I think it would be hilarious if either Piniella or Torre used that as a motivator in a pre-game speech, totally deadpanning how serious they were about wanting to leave this series with the all-time lead. Also: "Penny Marshall was a pregame dugout visitor with Dodgers manager Joe Torre." What is this, 1983? We're reporting Penny Marshall sightings? Has anyone seen Anson Williams lately? Finally: "Chicago native Jim Belushi got booed when he was spotted wearing a Cubs cap." You sure it was the Cubs hat that set off the booing? It's Jim Belushi. He'd probably be booed even if he was riding piggy back on Sandy Koufax while singing "Hail to the Dodgers." (note to self: write a song called "Hail to the Dodgers").

Red Sox 8, Blue Jays 1: J.D. Drew was 4 for 4 with two homers and three RBI. Best error of the year so far: Jason Bay is on first base. Catcher Rod Barajas throws the ball back to Brett Cecil after a pitch, who drops it. Because no pitcher would ever, ever want to throw a dirty and possibly scuffed ball, he asks for a new ball from home plate umpire Greg Gibson. He gets it, and throws the old ball into the third base dugout. Except he didn't call time out, which allowed Bay to move to third on the play. Bay later scored on a single. Heh.

Phillies 12, Diamondbacks 3: Homers from Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth and eight good innings from Joe Blanton turn this one into a laugher (Ho-ho-ho, hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha . . . see how they smile like pigs in a sty . . .).

Reds 2, Giants 1: Just-called-up Drew Stubbs hit a walkoff homer in the tenth to win it. Man, one wonders what would have happened this year if he had been called up sooner.

Indians 11, Angels 3: Just-called-up Matt LaPorta hit a two-run double in the sixth that chased John Lackey and busted the game wide open. Man, one wonders what would have happened this year if he had been called up sooner.

Astros 4, Marlins 1: Wandy Rodriguez only gave up the one run -- unearned -- in eight innings, and added an RBI double in the fifth. The loss combined with the Braves' win pulls the Marlins down into a tie for second in the East with Atlanta, though being 6.5 back makes it all rather academic. They're both still four back in the wild card.

Orioles 8, Rays 7: Brian Roberts hit a grand slam and Nolan Reimold added a three-run shot. Brian Matusz only lastes five and a third, but he struck out 7 and didn't walk anybody.

Rockies 4, Nationals 1: Fifth inning, two men on for Colorado, and Garrett Mock appears to strike out Carlos Gonzalez on a swing-and-miss. THe Nats walk to the dugout, but then Rockies manager Jim Tracy comes out to argue that the ball had been tipped, the umps agree and Gonzalez resumes his at-bat, who proceeds to hit an RBI double. When was the last time a manager actually got an ump to change his mind like this? Does Tracy possess the power to perform the Jedi mind trick?

Cardinals 5, Padres 1: It's no reason for concern, but Albert Pujols is 4 for his last 24 with only two extra base hits. Thankfully, however, he's getting some help from his teammates these days and the Cards really didn't need him against the Pads last night. Joel Pineiro was strong once again, and Brendan Ryan hit a grand slam. This quote from Pineiro is troubling, however: "The big grand slam by Ryno kind of gave me a little bit of extra breathing room to settle down and go out there and work." Cardinals players are allowed to be nicknamed "Ryno?" What if Carlos Zambrano started calling himself Old Hoot and Geovany Soto started being referred to as "The Man?"

Rangers 11, Twins 1: Marlon Byrd had two homers and had a slick diving catch in left. Nelson Cruz returned from the DL with a homer of his own. Cruz's replacement, Julio Borbon, went 3-for-5 with three RBI, and is hitting .536 (15-for-28) in seven starts since being called up. Someone had better check and see if Neftali Feliz is OK, though, as he only struck out one dude in 1.2 innings instead of the three or four we've come to expect.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:57am (18) Comments