Tag: Detroit Tigers

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MLB General

The Full Count: Yanks and Tigers battle it out



Man Sal Fasano is fat

1. Two top teams, two close games: The Yankees and Tigers, the AL’s top two teams, played a doubleheader yesterday after being rained out Tuesday. The results, not surprisingly, were two interesting games. The Yanks took Game 1 by a count of 2-0 behind the fantastic play of Chien-Ming Wang. Wang pitched seven-plus innings, allowing no runs and getting his 16th win of the year. That ties him with Roy Halladay for the highest win total in the majors. In Game 2, the tides turned and the Tigers won 5-3. Craig Monroe hit a three-run homer in the 9th off of Scott Proctor to win the game. The teams will play a game tonight that will decide the series. Jeremy Bonderman of the Tigers and Randy Johnson of the Yankees will take the mound.

2. Seventh-inning express: The Cardinals were looking to break up the Marlins’ 9-game winning streak when the two teams played last night. While starter Jason Marquis and the Cards got down 5-1 early, they battled back by scoring in 4 consecutive innings. A four-run 4th that included a Marquis RBI settled the score at 5-5. St. Louis tacked on three more runs before blowing the Fish out of the water in the 7th inning. They scored 5 runs, including an RBI apiece for their 3-4-5. The final on this one was 13-6, with Marquis getting the win in as crude a fashion as possible. The game marked St. Louis’ 70th win of the season, and they lead the Reds by 4.5 games.

3. No support: Roger Clemens must just have bad luck. Once again, his Astros failed to give him anything resembling run support. Clemens pitched 7 innings, shutting out the opposing Brewers and striking out 9. However, the `Stros offense didn’t give him a run, so he was left stuck with a no-decision and a 2.29 ERA. But thankfully for Astros fans, this wasn’t another 1-0 loss–it was a 1-0 win! They won on a ninth-inning groundout by Aubrey Huff that scored Mike Lamb. The Astros have now won 5 games in a row and are 3 games out of the Wild Card.

4. Plenty of support: Jon Garland has not had any problem with run support this season. He has a 16-4 record, giving him the second-highest winning percentage in the majors, despite a pedestrian 4.47 ERA. He ranks fourth in the AL in run support, and the ChiSox’s leading offense helped him out yesterday too. Garland threw 8 innings but allowed 4 runs to the D-Rays. The Sox scored three runs in the 8th inning to make the final score 5-4. Jermaine Dye continued his streak of madness by going 3-5, while Jim Thome contributed in his return with an RBI. Tampa’s Delmon Young went 2-3 with 2 RBIs in his second major league start, numbers identical to his first start. The Sox keep on rolling with 3 straight wins and are now just 4.5 back of the Tigers.

5. Plenty of injuries, not enough time: Here’s what you’ve been waiting for: your semi-regular Full Count injury update! We’ll start off with Carl Pavano in this edition. Most people have forgotten Pavano existed, as he has been sidelined ever since the middle of last year. Apparently he had been concealing from the Yankees that he had a car crash, breaking his ribs in the process. The team told him not to pitch for two weeks. But there’s even worse news for Mark Mulder, the Cardinals pitcher who has struggled to stay unhurt the entire season. He has severe shoulder problems and will likely miss the rest of the season. The Twins have good and bad news about two of their pitchers. Francisco Liriano threw off a mound for the first time since hitting the DL on August 8. It’s still undetermined when he’ll start. The Twins’ Brad Radke, meanwhile, will miss his next start and has not pitched since the 25th. That’s all for this edition of the Full Count semi-regular injury update. Hope you enjoyed it.

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MLB General

August 30 in Sports History: Ty Cobb makes his MLB debut


In 1905: In his MLB debut, Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers hit a double off Jack Chesboro of the New York Highlanders for the first of his record 4,191 career hits. Cobb played for the Tigers until 1926, and finished his career with a .366 batting average. Although later findings would reduce his hit total to 4,189, the record stood until 1985, when Pete Rose broke it.

In 1967 What is it with the Yankees and Red Sox playing two ridiculously long games within 24 hours? While most fans are familiar with the recent never-ending doubleheader and the 2004 ALCS marathons in Games 4 and 5 at Fenway Park, a 1967 twin bill in Yankee Stadium tied a Major League record for most innings played in a doubleheader (played by guess who? New York and Boston in 1905). After a 2-1 Red Sox win in game one, the teams played 20 innings in the nightcap, won by the Yankees 4-3. The two-game total was 8 hours, 15 minutes.

In 1998: Many people forget just how dominant Roger Clemens was during the 1997 and 1998 seasons while pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays. Clemens dominated the Twins, 6-0 for his third straight shutout and ran his scoreless innings streak to 29. He was a combined 41-13 with a 2.35 ERA and 549 strikeouts in his brief stint with the Blue Jays and won two Cy Young Awards.

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MLB General

The Full Count: This ship is sinking


1. A great game…: If you like scoring, comebacks, and a little controversy (see next story), then you would have loved the Blue Jays-A’s game yesterday. The Blue Jays developed an 8-0 lead after two innings that featured Alex Rios (16) and Troy Glaus (31) homeruns. But then the A’s stormed back with 7 runs in the third, all off Ted Lilly. They tacked on four more in the sixth to make it a 11-8 Oakland lead, and despite a few more runs by the Blue Jays they held them off 12-10. Jason Kendall had 4 hits while Bobby Kielty had 4 RBIs. Oakland’s win was their 71st of the season, and they have built a five-game lead over the Angels in their division. But the real story from this game was a rare player-manager fight:

2. …leads to another fight: What is it about Blue Jays manager John Gibbons that leads to so many confrontations? Gibbons, who infamously challenged Shea Hillenbrand to a fight earlier this year, got into a scrap with pitcher Ted Lilly. When he went to the mound to take Lilly out after he allowed seven runs, the two exchanged heated words in a face-to-face argument. Then when Lilly went from the dugout to the locker room, Gibbons followed him and they scrapped. Unfortunately there is no clear video of the fight, though both involved said they did not exchange punches. However, several reports claimed that Gibbons had a bloody nose resulting from the fight. Whatever happened, things like this are embarrassments to the organization. With all the money the Jays front office poured into the team this offseason, they should expect a little more discipline from the players and managers. Don’t be surprised if a new manager takes over before next season.

3. 80 is here: The Detroit Tigers were the first team to 50 wins, the first to 60, the first to 70, and yesterday they won the big 8-0. Playing the White Sox in the first game of a four-game series, they easily ousted their rivals in a surprisingly one-sided pitching matchup. Jose Contreras was pitching against Justin Verlander, but he was no match for the rookie. Verlander won his 15th game of the season by allowing one run in seven innings. Meanwhile, Contreras has played terribly since his win streak ended and had one of his worst starts of the season. The Tigers tagged him for 7 runs in just 5 innings, his second consecutive seven-run start. The Tigers got 3 RBIs from Sean Casey and a homerun by Craig Monroe to lead their 7-1 blowout. They now lead Chicago by 6.5 games in the division, though the White Sox are honestly more worried about their Wild Card lead right now.

4. A Wild Series: Can the two-time defending NL Wild Card champion defeat the team that is leading the WC race this year? That’s the basic premise of the Reds-Astros series, which should be entertaining. But so far this season series has been one-sided: the Reds have won 8 of 10 against Houston. That was no different last night, when Cincy slipped by 4-3. Houston was leading 3-0 going into the eighth inning due in large part to Andy Pettitte’s 10 K start. Lance Berkman and Aubrey Huff had also hit homeruns. But then the Reds made their charge in the 8th, with a Rick Aurilla shot tying it up and a Royce Clayton single giving them the lead. Cincinnati’s win kept their Wild Card lead at 2 games and put them the same distance back from the Cardinals in the division. This team just won’t go away.

5. What a start: When John Smoltz is on the top of his game, it can be very hard to stop him. Just ask the Pirates, who couldn’t get anything off of him in yesterday’s game. Smoltz pitched 8 innings, allowing no runs, while sending down 10 Pirates. He held a no-hitter through 5 innings and could hardly miss the strike zone all night. He gave the Braves a 3-0 win after Bob Wickman continued his 12 inning scoreless streak since he joined the Braves. Atlanta is still struggling and is no where near a playoff spot at 59-65.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Can Johan Santana pull off the Pitching Triple Crown?


1. After-break ace: Johan Santana, always an ace after the All Star break, is at it again. He improved to 5-0 after the break this year with a win last night over the Indians. He had a fantastic game, tossing 8 innings of shutout ball against one of the league’s toughest offenses. Santana struck out 9 to elevate his major league-leading total to 187. With a 14-5 record and 3.10 ERA to go along with those strikeouts, Johan has a realistic shot at the Pitching Triple Crown. He is 3rd in ERA (with two rookies ahead of him) and trails only Roy Halladay in wins. He helped the Twins roll along to 20 games above .500.

2. Detroit wins Duels: With the Tigers’ outstanding pitching and efficient offense, they can win just about any game in a pitchers’ duel. That remained true last night, when they ousted the Red Sox 3-2. Jeremy Bonderman and Curt Schilling each pitched very well for their teams. Strikeout specialist Bonderman mowed down 8 Sox in seven innings while only allowing 2 runs. Schilling didn’t walk anybody but allowed 9 hits and 2 runs in seven. The game wasn’t decided until the ninth inning, when Mike Timlin–who was oddly in the game instead of closer Jonathan Papelbon–allowed an RBI single to Craig Monroe. Then Todd Jones was able to save his 16th save chance in a row without blowing one. He has 33 on the year. The Tigers moved to 6.5 games ahead of the White Sox (who lost), while the BoSox fell to 3 games back of the Yankees (who won). Both teams will play their main rivals later this week.

3. Enough of 18: You could call the Houston Astros the most worn-out team in baseball, or you could call them the most dramatic. Whatever the case is, they always seem to be playing in extremely long games. Yesterday they went 18 innings against the Cubs, their third game of such length in the past year. Houston’s Roger Clemens, who has been an automatic quality start so far this year, allowed a season-high 5 runs but still almost got a win. The only reason he didn’t was because of the Cubs’ Matt Murton, whose homerun in the ninth tied the game at 6. it stayed there for a while, for 8 more innings in fact. The tie was finally broken in the 18th, when it was Murton who drove in the winning runs. So the Cubs won, but it is Houston and their sense to play in extremely long games that has us puzzled. Their pitching staff has now thrown an MLB-high 1081 innings on the year, about thirty more than most teams. Could this wear and tear affect them as they try to make another run down the stretch? We’ll see.

4. Another 18: In one of most coincidental twists in the entire MLB this year, another 18-inning game was played yesterday. It was the first time that two games of this length had ever been played on the same day. The other victims were the Diamondbacks and Rockies, who played the longest game in the history of Coors Field. It lasted almost 5 and a half hours and featured 15 pitchers (still short of the Astros-Cubs’ whopping 18). This one was lower scoring from the get-go. The Rockies’ Jason Jennings had another great start with 8 innings pitched and just one run allowed. Miguel Bautista of the D-Backs pitched 6 and also allowed one. That set the stage for an enormous drought in scoring. For a mind-blowing 12 straight innings, neither team put a single run on the board. The 1-1 tie was finally broken in the 18th, when Luis Gonzalez delivered his only hit in 8 at-bats: a single that drove in the winning run. So that was the second 18-inning game on the same day! This might never happen again.

5. LA Law: Los Angeles is “laying down the law” on opposing teams, with 17 wins in their last 18 games. The streak is now reaching the historic. They are only one of two teams in the last 100 National League seasons to have a streak of such magnitude. According to baseball-reference.com, the streak is better than any in Dodgers history over an 18-game period. It is better than any run since the A’s magical 20-game win streak in 2002, a record that might never be broken. LA now leads by 3.5 games in the NL West, and they have the best home record (39-25) in the National League. Can they keep it up? Considering their weak division, yes.

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MLB General

The Full Count: The White Sox remind us who the champs are


1. Remember us?: It seemed as though Detroit had captured the AL Central division title. After all, they were leading at 10 games at one point while their main foe, the White Sox, weren’t looking too good. In fact, many thought Detroit’s main challenger would be the red-hot Minnesota Twins. Not anymore. The Sox just swept up Detroit like they were the last place team of years past. They won their 70th game by defeating the Tigers yesterday. Freddy Garcia picked up his 11th win while Bobby Jenks closed the door for the 33rd time. Now, as the Tigers have lost 5 straight, the White Sox are just 5.5 games back, their lowest deficit in about a month. Minnesota still looms 8 games back.

2. Sunday Night Duel: Last night’s Sunday Night Baseball featured one of the best pitching matchups of the season. The Giants’ Jason Schmidt took on the Dodgers’ Greg Maddux in a memorable affair. Neither pitcher allowed a run and both pitched 8 innings, though they got there in remarkably different ways. Schmidt threw 115 pitches and struck out 9. The high pitch count isn’t unusual for him; he has averaged 110 pitches per start this season. Maddux was much more efficient in achieving the same result. He threw in mere 68 in his outing, 50 for strikes. He allowed just 2 hits and no walk in his third straight gem start since being traded to LA. Both of these pitchers were so brilliant, but both walked away with no-decisions. The ninth inning didn’t decide anything either, as the shutout continued for both sides. But in the bottom of the 11th, the Dodgers’ little-known catcher Russell Martin stepped up to the plate, and ended the game with a solo shot. That gave the first-place Dodgers their 4th straight win and 15th of 16, while the Giants were sent home with their fourth-straight loss.

3. Watch out: The Cleveland Indians, the consensus most disappointing and most inconsistent team of the year, have won their 6th game in a row. They swept up the Kansas City Royals in four games, including a 13-0 demolition yesterday. The Tribe showed what their offense is capable of, putting up 11 runs in the first inning. KC starter Luke Hudson, who recorded only one out, was charged with all 11. His outing was easily the worst of the year by a starter, in fact in was the worst in over 100 years. Hudson became the first pitcher since 1897 to allow 11 runs in the first inning of a ballgame. The scoring that inning was capped off by a Travis Hafner grand slam, his 6th of the year. That ties a major-league record for most grand slams in a season. Hafner, who has the highest OPS in the American League, is on pace for 49 homers and 145 RBI.

4. How wild: The Cincinnati Reds, at least for now, are still in first place for the NL Wild Card. They escaped 7-5 yesterday over Philadelphia in an 11-inning game. Juan Castro and Ken Griffey drove in runs in the 11th to seal the deal. The Reds also got back-to-back-to-back homers in the 6th inning, including Adam Dunn’s 35th. They won despite another big-time effort from Ryan Howard, who hit his NL-best 41st homer and tied the game in the 9th with an RBI single. Still, the Reds won and are ahead of second-place San Diego by a half-game. The Phillies are just four games back.

5. What a year: Can you say 8-0? Jered Weaver can, because he has accomplished that record this year for the Angels. The only significant undefeated pitcher left in baseball, Weaver was on top of things yesterday as the Angels cruised to a 5-3 win over the Yankees. Weaver struck out 8 in six innings of work, and he has been a part of the Angels’ major league best class of rookies. Howie Kendrick is hitting .319 after a 3-5 effort yesterday. Catcher Mike Napoli has 12 homeruns on the year. Both, of course, are rookies. The Yankees, after losing their second consecutive game, now only lead the Red Sox by one game and have a worse record than the Wild Card leading White Sox.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Liriano hits the DL


1. Unlucky Liriano: The Twins just put 12-win ace Francisco Liriano on the 15-day DL. Liriano reported forearm stiffness and had his worst start of the season on Tuesday. He will be temporarily replaced in the rotation by another young stud, Matt Garza. In five Triple A starts Garza has reported a 1.89 ERA and .79 WHIP. So the second-place Twins might be one of the only teams in baseball that has the luxury of replacing one rookie ace with another. But the important thing for them is the severity of Liriano’s injury. Will he stay on the DL for more than 15 days? Let’s just hope he’s not another Kerry Wood or Mark Prior.

2. DeRosa sparks a DeRout: The list of former Braves performing well just keeps getting longer. The Rangers’ Mark DeRosa, who played his first seven seasons with Atlanta, has elevated himself to the level of best utility man in the game. Yesterday he led a 14-0 Rangers defeat of Oakland by hitting 2 three-run homeruns. His four hits upped his average to .327, good for 4th in the American League. DeRosa has played almost every position on the field, and he has excelled in all of them. Among the other Rangers to perform well yesterday, Carlos Lee had 4 hits, 4 runs, and his first homer in a Texas uniform. Texas is still 5.5 games back of Oakland for the West lead.

3. Shocked: The Tigers won Game 1 of their three game set against the Twins, but they dropped the second game on Tuesday. Then yesterday, the Tigers put themselves in the best position possible to win. They led the Twins 3-2 going into the eighth inning, with stud reliever Joel Zumaya in. But then Minnesota’s best hitter stepped up. Justin Morneau, who is having is somehow quiet yet monstrous season, hit his 30th homer to win the game for the Twins. Morneau, and all-around machine of a first baseman, is hitting .323 and is second in the AL with 101 RBIs. Even though teammate Joe Mauer has hit .369 and earned himself a Sports Illustrated cover, it is Morneau that is more valuable to the team. With the win the Twins passed Chicago and now lead the Wild Card race.

4. Back in town: In Mike Piazza’s second game back at Shea Stadium since leaving the Mets for San Diego, he showed fans once again why he will be a Hall of Fame catcher. Piazza hit two solo homeruns for the Padres, both off Pedro Martinez. He drew a curtain call after his first homerun, a rarity for a player on the road. But despite Piazza’s efforts, San Diego couldn’t stop the Mets. Jose Reyes stole his 48th base of the season and drove in a run. Reyes, though he has drawn criticism over the years for his somewhat low on-base percentage, has a career-high .350 OBP and contributes greatly in terms of runs scored (92, second in the MLB). Both teams are still in first place in their respective divisions.

5. Roundup: There were many more important happenings in the MLB yesterday. The Cardinals-Reds series had an exciting game that featured 7 homeruns by both teams. The Reds won on a Dan Ross walk-off two run shot. New York led Chicago 7-0 after six innings but barely inched by them 7-6. Bobby Abreu hit his first homerun in two months and is now hitting .412 as a Yankee. Back to the NL: the Astros crushed the Pirates 14-1, with 6 RBIs and two homers by Aubrey Huff. Starter Roy Oswalt also homered and picked up the win. Finally, the Dodgers lost at last, ending their 11-game winning streak.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Can Big Papi break the non-steroided HR record?


1. 40 down, 61 in sight?: David Ortiz continued his tear yesterday, hitting another homerun. It was his 40th on the season, as he became the first player of the season to reach that milestone. This is important as his homerun pace is now 59, meaning Big Papi is within reaching distance of 62. He might become the first player since 2001 and the first non-cheater ever to reach that mark. Ortiz continued his dominance at Tropicana Field, with his sixth homer there on the year and 13th since 2003. Ortiz now has at least 40 homers and 100 RBIs in three consecutive seasons, and is the only player besides Pujols to have a streak like that going. Oh by the way, the Red Sox lost to the Devil Rays in 10 innings.

2. Back to normal: The St. Louis Cardinals’ recent 8-game losing streak might have been an aberration. The team has looked fine in their last two games, both wins over the Brewers. Yesterday’s 7-1 victory included three hits by Albert Pujols and a homerun by Scott Rolen. Those players, both hitting over .315, are pivotal to the Cardinals success. Jim Edmonds, who has rounded out their 3-4-5 trio the past few seasons, has stumbled this year with a .263 average and only 16 homeruns (low for him). Thankfully, Juan Encarnacion has played better than expected with 62 RBIs. Anyway, the Cards will need all of their hitters to be in top shape for their next series. They play the Reds in a four game set. Right now St. Louis is up by 3.5 over the Reds, but they’ll play seven games over the next two weeks so that could change quickly.

3. Star pitcher out? No problem!: For most teams, the absence of a 14-win ace like Justin Verlander might result in a beatdown. Not the Tigers. They won 1-0 despite Verlander being out with an injury. That was due in large part to Wilfredo Ledezma, a spot starter who was able to shut down the Tribe. He barely outpitched CC Sabathia, who allowed just one unearned run in 7 innings. The strong Cleveland offense got on base easily enough but stranded 20 runners. I guess that’s why they’re 27.5 games back of the Tigers in the division.

4. Maine attraction: Who is John Maine, you might ask? He just has the longest scoreless innings streak in baseball. The rookie pitched his third start in a row–including a July 21st complete game–without allowing a run. Maine, who has been back and forth from AAA to the majors this season, proved another example of why the Mets are the best team in the National League. Even when a player is injured, they have the ability to fill in for him. And just like the Tigers, who do much of the same thing (see above), they have the largest divisional lead (13 games) in their league.

5. On and off: In an anticlimactic move that ended a complex situation, the Braves took Andruw Jones off waivers yesterday. Jones, who seemed perfectly happy with the team, was playing great, and helping the offense tremendously from the cleanup role, was inexplicably placed on waivers last week. One team claimed him, which gave the Braves two days to work out a trade with the team. But stop right there. Why would a competitive team trade probably their best offensive and defensive player? Jones led the majors in homers and RBIs last year and has 26 and 95 this year. Either way, the trade never worked out, the team who claimed him was never revealed, and now Andruw can stay with the team.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Guillen hits for the cycle


1. The kind of Cycling we care about: Who needs the Tour de France when you can see cycling in baseball? That’s right, for the first time this season a player hit for the cycle. It was Carlos Guillen, the Tigers’ underrated shortstop. Guillen finished 4-5 with a single, double, triple, and homerun. On July 23rd he finished a homer short of the feat. Now Guillen is hitting .306 with 13 homers, 64 RBIs, and 15 steals. That makes that he is one of the top all-around shortstops in the game, and he carried the Tigers to a 10-4 victory over the Devil Rays yesterday. Justin Verlander got his 14th win, giving him the major-league lead. Verlander is now 14-4, giving him a 21-win pace. He has led the Tigers to a 71-35 record, matching last season’s win total and the best in baseball by 8 games.

2. Expect the expected: This shouldn’t surprise anyone, but the Yankees and Red Sox are where they usually are–deadlocked. The teams are tied for first place after a Yankee win yesterday while Boston was off. In Bobby Abreu’s debut with the team, he went 0-3 but they still defeated the Blue Jays 5-1. Toronto, after tying New York a few weeks ago, has stumbled and is 6.5 back now. AJ Burnett lost again yesterday and is now 2-5 with an ERA of 4.84. For those who care, the next Yankees/Red Sox series is an enormous 5-game set starting August 18th.

3. Different Directions: The NL West is crazy, has been crazy, and will be crazy for the foreseeable future. Remember when the Giants were in second place? Now they have dropped 9 straight and have free-falled to last. The Dodgers, a few weeks removed from the cellar, are in third after a four game win streak. Last night they downed the Reds 10-4 using a lineup that included the just-traded-for Julio Lugo and Wilson Betemit. As for the rest of the division, San Diego and Arizona are still clinging to the first and second spots while the Rockies are average as usual.

4. Reversal of fortunes: The Astros have been plagued over the last two seasons with 1-0 losses, usually with Roger Clemens or Andy Pettitte on the mound. But yesterday, they finally won a 1-0 game of their own. Pettitte pitched wonderfully in the win while the bullpen allowed just one baserunner. The bad luck went to Jake Peavy of the Padres, who fell to an eye-opening 5-11 after losing. Though Peavy was the Padres’ ace in 2004 and 2005 with sub-3 ERA seasons, this year he hasn’t gotten on track. He has a 4.81 ERA despite striking out more batters than ever. Strange.

5. Who wants scoring?: Apparently the Rockies don’t. According to Brewers infielder Jeff Cirillo, the team is using water-logged balls to decrease scoring at Coors Field. Once the best hitters’ park in the majors with 15 runs scored per game, now only 9 combined runs per game are scored at the park. Cirillo said he compared a ball from Milwaukee with a ball used at Coors yesterday. The one from Denver was apparently puffy, heavy, and water-logged. That’s in part because they use a humidor to prevent balls drying out due to the altitude. But are they over-using the device? Just hear this: Coors Field has hosted the most shutouts in the majors this season with eleven. Last night’s 1-0 game was the third of its’ kind at the park this year.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Juiced on the mound



Canseco

1. If you thought Mark Redman wasn’t an All Star…: Jose Canseco’s All Star appearance was 1 for 2. While he did win the home run derby in the Golden Baseball League All Star extravaganza, his pitching was awful even by independent league standards. He allowed 4 runs while recording just one out; his knuckleball evidently not working. Canseco had pitched in the majors before in a blowout situation. In that appearance he allowed 3 runs while throwing almost double the amount of balls than strikes. He also tore a ligament in his elbow, ending his season. Maybe it’s not such a good idea to let a power hitter like Canseco pitch.

2. Young pitchers rule, Part 1: Where would the Red Sox be without their rookie pitchers? We’re talking about Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon, who have both been lights-out in their action so far this year. They were showcased more than ever yesterday, when they combined to one-hit the Kansas City Royals. Lester pitched 8 near-perfect innings for the victory, while Papelbon cleaned up with his 28th save. Combine those saves with Lester’s 5-0 record and Papelbon’s 2-1 record, and that means that these two pitchers have been a part of a combined 35 Red Sox victories. They are both a part of one of the most intriguing stories in baseball this year–the AL’s rookie pitchers.

3. Young pitchers rule, Part II: Many have already conceded the AL rookie of the year award to Papelbon. While he is very deserving, you cannot have that discussion without mentioning Francisco Liriano. Liriano bounced back from his worst start of the season last week with a shutdown of the Devil Rays yesterday. He was one out short of a complete game and allowed no runs and 3 hits. Liriano outdeuled another young stud, Scott Kazmir, who allowed 4 runs in 6 innings. Now Liriano is first in the majors in both ERA (1.94) and WHIP (.95) among starters. He has held opponents to just a .196 batting average and has more strikeouts (115) than innings pitched (102.0). How could you not give this guy some love for ROTY? With him and Johan Santana, the Twins will have two excellent starters for a long time.

4. Belting Beltran: Carlos Beltran accomplished a very special feat yesterday. For the second game in a row, Beltran hit a grand slam, becoming only the 23rd player ever to do that and the first since 2002. Even more interestingly, prior to the slams he was 0-11 with the bases loaded in the last 2 seasons. Beltran, who was considered a bust last year with a mere 16 homers and 78 RBIs, is on pace for 50 and 144 this year. His OPS has increased from .744 to 1.002, and he is slugging 200 points higher. This is the player the Mets expected when they signed him to a $13 million/season contract two years ago, and that contact is now worth every penny. If it wasn’t for Albert Pujols, Beltran would be considered an MVP favorite.

5. White Sox would have an even record against each other this year since they are the top two teams in baseball. But so far, the #2 White Sox have dominated their Detroit rivals. Last night was no different, as Chicago won 7-1 to improve to 6-1 on the year against the Tigers. Jon Garland, who has been one of the most inconsistent pitchers in the majors this year, had one of his better games. Garland allowed one run over 7, and his offense gave him plenty of support. Paul Konerko homered twice and drove in 4 runs, and Joe Crede hit another homer, his 18th. For the losing Tigers, Nate Robinson had one of his worst games, allowing 6 earned runs. These two teams will become very familiar with each other over the next few months. They play 12 more times, including games today and tomorrow that will both be on ESPN.

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Detroit Tigers

Tiger on the lam



choke artist

An arrest warrant was issued yesterday for Tigers DH Dmitri Young. Young failed to show up for a pre-trial hearing on a domestic violence charge where he is accused of choking a 21-year-old woman in Toledo. Young’s lawyer claimed he had a medical emergency and was out of state but the judge demanded proof from a legitimate medical facility.

Young was placed on the 15 day DL on 5/22. The Tigers said that the warrant would not affect Young’s status with the club and added “cause we’re in first place, bitch!”. That last part was made up…

Dmitri is the older brother of Delmon Young, a Tampa Bay prospect who was suspended 50 games for throwing a bat at an umpire. The Young family must be very proud.

Links:
[Detroit Free Press]: Young, attorney no-shows at hearing; judge wants explanation