And That Happened

Orioles 2, Yankees 1: Even Superman gets beat up once in a while. Adam Jones handed Mariano Rivera his second blown save of the year and the first blown save in Yankee Stadium in a dog’s age when he smacked a two-run homer in the ninth.

Speaking of Superman, I finally got around to seeing “Man of Steel” yesterday. It was OK, and the whole creation story was handled well I think, but man, the whole second half is problematic. I don’t think I’m giving anything away here because it’s a standard Superman trope, but please tell me how Superman’s long-held weakness/motivation of “protecting the precious human beings he’s adopted” becomes such a motivator/game changer in the climax of his battle with General Zod after he’s just spent the previous hour literally knocking down dozens and dozens of skyscrapers. I mean it: the damage he and the bad guys do to Metropolis during the battle is like 100 9/11s and he doesn’t friggin’ blink, but one family of three is in harm’s way at the end and THAT’S what sets him over the edge? It was a pretty movie and I think the actors were great and all of that, but at some point the filmmakers got carried away in portraying Superman-scale damage to a city simply because they had the special effects skills to do so without once thinking about or dealing with the consequences of the human damage and what it would mean for any of the characters involved.

OK, back to baseball.

Mariners 3, Reds 1: Joe Saunders pitched seven strong innings and Nick Franklin and Justin Smoak each homered. The M’s took two of three from the Rangers and then two of three from the Reds. Not a bad little road trip.

Nationals 11, Padres 7: Ryan Zimmerman hit a grand slam. Bryce Harper had three hits and two stolen bases. The Nats sweep the reeling Pads, who have lost nine straight. Washington is now four back of the Braves and finally — finally — looking like it’s making a move.

Indians 9, Tigers 6: Michael Brantley had two homers and five RBIs. In other news, I went to Cleveland for the game on Saturday and was gobsmacked at how many Tigers fans invaded the city. Back in the mid-to-late ’90s I went to Tiger Stadium a couple of times when the Indians were there and was gobsmacked at how many Indians fans had invaded Detroit. Guess these things go in cycles. Also fun: for Saturday’s game Carlos Carrasco was called up from Columbus, pitched awfully, and was sent back down on Sunday. I wish the Tribe had given us a heads up about all of that. We totally would have let him road trip back and forth with us.

Phillies 7, Braves 3: Domonic Brown with a triple and a homer and two RBI. The Phillies took two of three from a Braves team that looks like a last place team on the road.

Blue Jays 11, Twins 5: Rajai Davis hit a three-run homer and Jose Reyes and Colby Rasmus each homered too. Todd Redmond allowed one hit over five innings. If the Jays could play the Twins all the time they’d be a playoff team.

Mets 2, Brewers 1: Juan Francisco had two throwing errors which led to two unearned runs by the Mets. It’s almost like maybe he shouldn’t be playing first base.

Rays 3, White Sox 1: David Price tossed a complete game, allowing one run on eight hits (the official scorer has deemed the term “scattered” appropriate for those eight hits) as Tampa Bay sweeps Chicago. That’s four in a row overall for the Rays, who are now tied for second in the East, 4.5 back of the Sox.

Cardinals 3, Marlins 2: Lance Lynn outdueled (also an official scorers designation) Jose Fernandez and the Cardinals climbed back into a tie with the Pirates at the top of the Central. Lynn earned it, striking out Giancarlo Stanton all three times he faced him.

Athletics 10, Royals 4: Josh Reddick homered and drove in four and Jed Lowrie had three hits and a homer. Eric Sogard homered too, his first since April 2012. Jesse Chavez got a four-inning save, which is weird.

Cubs 4, Pirates 3: Dioner Navarro with a walkoff sac fly in the 11th. Which isn’t quite as dramatic as a walkoff anything else, but ’twas enough. ‘Twill serve.

Rangers 5, Astros 4: Joakim Soria pitched for the first time since 2011. He was one of five Rangers relievers who combined for five shutout innings to save the bacon of starter Justin Grimm. A.J. Pierzynski had a two-run bomb.

Dodgers 4, Giants 1: Tied 1-1 in the top of the ninth with three men on, A.J. Ellis hit a bases-clearing double off Sergio Romo. Clayton Kershaw allowed one run over eight innings. Chad Gaudin nearly matched him, allowing one run in seven.

Angels 3, Red Sox 0: The Angels have won 10 of 12 after Jered Weaver tossed six shutout innings and three relievers finished it off. Homers for Mike Trout and Hank Conger.

Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 1: Patrick Corbin was stuck on nine wins for seven straight starts but finally got his 10th after fanning 10 Rockies and allowing one run on three hits over eight innings.  Five wins in a row for the D-backs helps solidify their hold on the otherwise shaky NL West.


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shibboleth
10 years ago

Solid starts against tough competition for both Kluber and Corbin.  I’m hoping to catch lightning in a bottle here…  How do you think their RoS plays out compared to the season to date?

Jim G.
10 years ago

RE: Juan Francisco – he wasn’t. He was playing 3rd base.