And That Happened

Athletics 6, Yankees 5: The Yankees were down 6-0 entering the bottom of the eighth whenNick Swisher hit a three-run homer. In the ninth Jorge Posada added another one, and then Robinson Cano walked with the bases loaded to male it 6-5. The bases still juiced with two out when Andrew Bailey induced a harmless fly ball to Swisher. Game over. Close but no cigar, Bombers. Until that Swisher homer, Brandon McCarthy was takin’ care of business.

Indians 7, Mariners 5, Mariners 12, Indians 7: Hit the front of this one up yesterday (short version: Choo!).  The nightcap: revenge of the M’s.  In between the games I did a radio spot on an Ohio station during which the hosts voiced optimism about the Indians’ chances given the dramatic game one win. Me: not feelin’ it.

Tigers 2, Rays 1: One of the reasons I’m not feelin’ it: Detroit is starting to get good pitching performances from guys not named Justin Verlander. Brad Penny here: 6 IP, 8 H, 1 ER.

Phillies 9, Mets 4: Vance Worley may have shut the Mets down while striking out nine over seven innings, but really, the win has to go to Brian Scheneider. Sure, he may have gone 0 for 4 with a couple of strikeouts, but I read all about it yesterday. He’s the key, dude.

Royals 6, Blue Jays 4: Brandon Morrow fooled no one, allowing six runs on eleven hits in four and two-thirds. My main man Frenchie went 4 for 5. Eric Hosmer was 3 for 5 with a homer.

Diamondbacks 2, Nationals 0: Ian Kennedy got his 16th win after throwing seven shutout innings helping the Dbacks snap a six-game skid. This one got a bit chippy with plunkings. Justin Upton, who has been hit A LOT by the Nationals, had to leave the game after getting hit by Jordan Zimmermann. Kennedy subsequently had one get away from him (I presume he’d say that anyway) while facing Michael Morse.

Padres 7, Giants 5: San Francisco fails to keep pace with Arizona. Fifth straight win for the Padres. Three errors for the Giants. And on one play Aubrey Huff and Cody Ross collided while going after a foul ball. This being the Giants, miraculously, no one was decapitated or impaled.

Brewers 11, Pirates 4: Nyjer Morgan gets the cover of Sports Illustrated and he goes 4 for 6 with a double and two RBI. It was a good day to be Tony Plush.

Dodgers 13, Cardinals 2: It’s not like Clayton Kershaw needed all of that support, but hey, whatever. Rod Barajas with two homers. Tony La Russa protested this game on account of the rule that says [“mmfhmmnfggss …..”].  Really, he just mumbled that under his breath, hoping he could at least get a hearing with Joe Torre out of it.

Reds 8, Marlins 6: Johnny Cueto walked six guys in five innings and put the Reds in a hole, but Cincy battled back, rallying against the Marlins pen. Yonder Alonso lies the castle of my faddah … oh, wait. I keep wanting to say that. What I meant to say was Yonder Alonso went 3 for 4 and drove in four.

Orioles 8, Twins 1: Three hits each for J.J. Hardy, Vlad Guerrero and Mark Reynolds. Alfredo Simon, who spent the winter and then spring training in a jail cell, tied the Twins up like nobody’s business (8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 8K).

Red Sox 11, Rangers 5: Two homers for Adrian Gonzalez. John Lackey now has 12 wins, which is more than Josh Beckett has and is only one behind Jon Lester. And wins make a pitcher better, right?

Angels 5, White Sox 4: Another dramatic win for the Halos, this one on a walkoff RBI single for Peter Bourjos, who smacked one through a drawn-in infield. It’s the Angels’ fifth straight win, the third coming on their last at bat.

Rockies 8, Astros 6: Seth Smith hit a 478-foot home run. Jonathan Herrera hit one that lined just over the fence. They each counted for two runs, because them’s the rules. Astros reliever Wesley Wright did that pitch-to-one-guy, move out to right field, pitch-to-another guy thing. Clevah.

UPDATE: If there was any doubt that I am NOT a Braves homer — at least not an irrational, unfair one — I forgot to put the Braves game in the recap when I first published it:

Braves 5, Cubs 4: Jason Heyward went 3 for 4 with a grand slam.  OK Fredi, ya still gonna bench him if Jose Constanza is available tonight?