Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

And That Happened: Bonus Weekend Edition


Why? Hell, I dunno.

Cardinals 3, Nationals 2: Pujols gets a walkoff homer, but the bigger story is that John Smoltz was strong again, giving up one run and striking out six over six innings. Yes, it was again against a weak team, but unlike San Diego, Washington can actually hit and are sixth in the NL in runs per game.

Giants 2, Rockies 0: Eight shutout innings for Lincecum, and the Rockies wild card lead is down to two games.

Angels 11, Athletics 7: The A's led this one 6-1 at one point, but then Anaheim turned on the afterburners, mostly due to Kendry Morales, who was 5-5 with a homer and six RBI. All seven of the Angels' runs in the seventh were unearned.

Reds 4, Dodgers 2: It's tempting to say that Homer Bailey has finally turned the corner after a couple of strong starts (and this one was strong: 8 IP, 0 ER, 7K), but he's done this kind of thing before only to revert back to, well, being Homer Bailey. The difference now is that the Reds have no business messing with him anymore, and should start next season with him in the rotation to either sink or swim for good.

Yankees 5, White Sox 2: Three-run walkoff job for Robinson Cano in the 10th. The Golden Sombrero for Jim Thome (0-4, 4 Ks). Not trying to slam Thome here. I like him. I just like to say "Golden Sombrero."

Phillies 4, Braves 2: Stupid rain. Due to a 45 minute rain delay early in the game the Braves lost Tommy Hanson which, all due respect to Pedro Martinez, is a bigger loss to them than losing Pedro was to Philly. Moyer and Chen mop up for the Phillies, and Ryan Howard went 3 for 3 with two homers. I won't say the Braves are quite done yet, but if you took them off the fire and let them rest covered on the counter for a little while they'll probably be nice and medium rare in a few minutes.

Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 5: Josh Beckett continues to struggle and give up long balls, but the Sox rallied.

Diamondbacks 14, Astros 7: Just like a 68 degree day in August gives you a refreshing but premature taste of fall, a 14-7 game before labor day between two non-contenders gives you a depressing but premature taste of just-playing-out-the-string season.

Tigers 6, Rays 2: From the "You have GOT to be kidding me" department, Brandon Inge: "There's a kid named Noah that I've visited a couple times in the hospital, and he's at home right now, and I spent a couple hours with him today. He asked me the dreaded question -- could I hit a home run for him in the game, and I told him I'd do the best I could." And he did.

Cubs 5, Mets 2: A three-run homer by Alfonso Soriano breaks a tie in the eighth and wins the game. It was his first homer in a month. Milton Bradley had three hits, but don't think for a second he enjoyed any of them.

Orioles 13, Indians 4: Matt Wieters was 3-4 with 4 RBI. Fausto Carmona, who looked so damn good his last time out, got shelled.

Brewers 8, Pirates 6: Braun, Fielder and Jason Bourgeois hit homers. John Russell benched Ryan Doumit in the middle of the game and the two of them had a closed-door meeting after the game. Neither of them are talking to the media, so until we hear anything further, I'm going to assume that they were arguing over whether Pitt the Elder or Lord Palmerston was England's greatest Prime Minister.

Padres 9, Marlins 5: Chris Volstad was lit up like a Christmas tree. The Braves fan in me likes to see that San Diego is effectively ending Florida's shot at the wild card on the same road trip that they killed the Braves' chances.

Twins 3, Rangers 2: Brian Duensing is no fireballer, but he struck out eight in seven innings. The Rangers' Tommy Hunter looked good too. He's also tough: Justin Morneau lined one off his chest, but Hunter stayed in the game.

Mariners 6, Royals 3: Mike Sweeney is 112 years old and really hasn't been able to run since he was in grade school, but he scored from third on a comebacker to the mound in the second, belly-flopping past Olivo as he tried to apply the tag. Calling hours for Sweeney will be held for Sweeney at the Ranier Funeral Home this Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Harold Baines Home for the Aged and Decrepit.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 8:45am (15) Comments