Tag: MLB

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MLB General

The Full Count: All-Star Game auditions


This isn’t Guys and Dolls, but if yesterday was an audition for All-Star pitchers to prove they’re worthy of starting next Tuesday in the Midsummer Classic, some passed with flying colors, while others just gave up big flys. And lots of them. Yesterday’s winners were Justin Verlander of the Tigers, Josh Beckett of the Red Sox and Jake Peavy of the Padres; while Brad Penny of the Dodgers and C.C. Sabathia of the Indians should have Leyland and LaRussa screaming “Next!” Verlander beat Sabathia head-to-head, going seven strong innings and striking out seven. Sabathia, on the other hand, was brutal, only lasting four innings and giving up three homers. Beckett dominated the D-Rays, but doesn’t everybody? Peavy, though, was a victim (again) of lack of run support, but still had a great outing going seven innings with 6 K. Penny, who has been the best pitcher in the National League, was a nightmare, lasting only four innings while giving up six runs in his worst outing of the year.

Maybe it’s the beer talking, but how pathetic is the NL Central? The Milwaukee Brewers were enjoying the most comfortable division lead outside of New England, but if they don’t improve their play on the road, they could be crying in their drinks come October. After losing three of four to the pathetic (if they improved) Pittsburgh Pirates, the Brewers road record stands at 18-24, worst of all the first place teams. Lucky for them, they’re 30-13 in the house of hops. It was a rough series for the Crew, as Ben Sheets and the staff couldn’t keep Adam LaRoche and Ryan Doumit in the yard. Those modern day Ruth and Gehrig clones combined for five HR and 10 RBI in the series. Even worse, star outfielder Billy Hall sprained his ankle trying to catch one of them. Hall is out indefinitely. Mmmmmmm….beer.

They like us! They really, really like us. As expected, starting pitcher Chris Young of the Padres and reliever Hideki Okajima of the Red Sox won the online voting for final roster spots on the All-Star team. Over the last few years, the race to be Mr. Irrelevant on the squad has taken on a life of its own. According to mlb.com, over 23 million votes were cast for ten players, with Young and Okajima winning with about 4.5 million each. Even more interesting is the campaigning that goes on for a guy who might not even get into the game. Brandon Webb’s hometown of Ashland, KY held “Vote for Brandon Webb” day and in Pittsburgh, the Pirates set up laptops in the PNC Park concourse so fans could cast an online ballot –or 25– for lefty Tom Gorzelanny. In the American league, Red Sox Nation proved again to be the most nerdy (and far reaching, as we’re sure all of Japan clicked on) as they voted a Sox player in for the third time in five years.

Player of the day: Mike Lowell, Red Sox 5 for 6, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R against the Devil Rays

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MLB General

The Full Count: Chris Young makes his case

There is a possibility that there will be NO SOUP FOR YOU!! Every year there is that one All-Star snub that just baffles everyone. This year’s candidate has to be Padres pitcher Chris Young. Young will probably make the NL team, one way or the other. He can be voted in in the final online voting, which ends at 6 p.m. Eastern today, or he could replace an injured player, such as John Smoltz of the Braves. However, in last nights game against the Marlins, Young made the proverbial statement that he should’ve already freakin’ been there, LaRussa, with another stellar outing. Young went seven innings, allowing no runs while striking out nine. Like the proverbial broken record, he got a no decision for his effort. It was the seventh time Young has carried a shutout into the seventh inning this season, and the fourth in which he got no decision. In 17 starts, Young has allowed only 23 earned runs. Not to get all editorial after your July 4 hangover, but if the game is going to count as far as awarding home field advantage in the World Series, then managers Tony LaRussa and Jim Leyland should be able to pick the best team available, and not be hamstrung by the every-team-must-be-represented rule.

Old Man River does it againThe Tigers snapped the Indians six-game winning streak 6-4, with the help of Kenny Rogers. Rogers won his third straight start since coming of the DL and kept the Tigers two games behind Cleveland in the Central and 1.5 games ahead of the Mariners for the Wild Card. Carlos Guillen led the offense by going 3 for 4 with a run-scoring triple. It was Rogers’ sixth straight win going back to last year’s postseason, and he has allowed only four earned runs this year.

I love New York, it’s the rest of the league that’s the problem. The Colorado Rockies became the first team since 1956 to sweep two New York teams in the same season. The Rock gave the Mets an old fashioned Coors enema, pounding out 20 hits and 17 runs and forcing Mets pitchers to throw 233 pitches (including 107 in 4 innings by El Duque Hernandez). The Rockies swept the Yankees three weeks ago, and outscored the Gothams 47-17 overall. Unfortunatley, they have no more games left against New York teams. Bye bye wild card hopes.

Player of the Day: Garrett Atkins, Rockies. 4 for 5, HR, 5 RBI and 2 runs scored in a 17-7 win over the Mets.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Barry inching closer


The crawl to Aaron continues: Barry Bonds hit no. 751 on Tuesday against the Reds, a first inning blast off Aaron Harang into the right-centerfield seats. The Giants lost the game 7-3, and Bonds made sure to backhand his teammates by saying, “I’m playing pretty good for an old guy. I just wish we were playing better as a team.” That’s our Barry, always making nice. What made this game interesting was that it was the first time in over 30 years in which two players with that many homeruns played in the same game. Bonds (751) and Ken Griffey Jr’s (585) 1,336 homers are the third-most all-time between two players in the same game.

The players might have liked you, but I think you suck. We believe those were the words Rockies’ manager Clint Hurdle used when taking the closer’s job away from Brian Fuentes. Fuentes had already sewn up his third straight selection to the NL All-Star team before blowing four consecutive save opportunities, the first time anyone has done that in almost 20 years. Fuentes was one of the best closers in the league before melting in games against the Blue Jays, Cubs and Astros, with his ERA jumping from 1.89 to 4.17. He probably won’t lose the job permanantely, but Hurdle now plans on using the dreaded “bullpen by committee” approach.

Rookie what we have here Although his name may sound more like a NASCAR driver than a baseball player, Houston rookie Hunter Pence has been tearing it up for the Astros. Pence has been doing it all for Houston, including hitting a walk-off homerun for a 5-4 victory over the Phillies last night. It was the third time during their homestand that an Astro has sent ’em home happy with a game-winning homer. Since being called up on April 28th, the Fort Worth, TX product has hit 10 homeruns with 39 RBI while leading the Astros with a .345 batting average. He’s even outslugging Carlos Lee .590 to .517. He’s also playing a remarkable centerfield, as evidenced by his ridiculous catch off a Ryan Howard shot in the eigth inning. Pence climbed that stupid Tal’s Hill and caught the ball right next to the waiting-to-kill-somebody flagpole, 436 feet from home.

Player of the day: Brad Wilkerson, Rangers. 3-4, 3 HR, 6 RBI in an 8-3 win over the Angels.

Honorable Mention Player(s) of the day: The Kansas City Royals entire starting lineup. The Royals are a team that has never gotten a lot of respect offensively, but when they beat a team, they beat them like they stole something. For the third time in a month, the Royals put a 17 spot on the board –all in home games– by pounding the Mariners 17-3. 21-year-old Billy Butler led the way, driving in six runs by the second inning. The Royals beat the Phillies 17-5 on June 10th and the Cardinals 17-8 on June 14th. They also lost a 17-3 game to Oakland at home on May 10th.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Clemens notches win #350


It’s still not as awesome as the Mile High Club, but Roger Clemens joined some exclusive company Monday night by notching career victory no. 350 as the Yankees beat the Twins 5-1. Clemens was his old dominant self, going eight innings, giving up two hits while walking none. He joined Warren Spahn as the only pitcher in the live ball era to win at least 350 games. Clemens now stands at eighth all-time in victories. If he can get 14 more, he can pass Spahn’s for fifth place. Perhaps unrealistiically, he can try to catch Grover Cleveland Alexander and Christy Mathewson for third place at 373 wins. Or, he can finally admit what we’ve been suspecting for years…that he’s replaced all of his muscles with cyborg parts and he plans on winning 512 games to surpass Cy Young as the all-time leader.

Let’s register firejohncclaren.com right now, because he now has a winning percentage of .000. John McClaren made his surprise managerial debut for the Seattle Mariners last night in Kansas City, as their eight-game winning streak came to an end against the Royals. McClaren, who was the bench coach as of Sunday, replaced possible AL manager of the year candidate Mike Hargrove, who suddenly resigned, citing a lost passion for the game. Despite a great outing from Felix Hernandez, the Mariners were only able to scratch out two runs and lost the game in the 11th on an anti-climatic sacrifice fly.

HEY! In case you haven’t noticed, the Indians have managed to win a few here and there, and are now threatening to lap the Detroit Tigers for first place in the AL Central. The Indians completed a four-game sweep of the perpetually lowly Devil Rays at Jacobs Field over the weekend and are playing great baseball just in time for a pre All Star Break Showdown in Mowtown (has anyone used that slogan before? If not, we call dibs). Surprising youngster Fausto Carmona had a great outing, striking out eight in six innings to pick up his ninth win of the season. Grady Sizemore hit his second career grand slam in the laugher. The Tribe currently leads the Tigers by two games.

Player of the day: Damian Miller, Brewers. Having not played since hitting a walk-off homer last Wednesday, Miller picked up where he left off by going 4-5 with two HR (including a grand slam) and 7 RBI’s against the Pirates. Hey (manager) Ned Yost, you might not want to start this guy just once every five days.

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Colorado Rockies

The Full Count: The Rockies rebound late


1. Double Comeback: The Cubs and Rockies played eight normal innings and one wacky one at Wrigley Field on Monday. Through the eighth inning, the Cubs led 8-3. Then the real action started. Todd Helton, Garrett Atkins, and Brad Hawpe pounded out RBI hits with two outs to make the score 8-6. Then with two men on, Troy Tulowitzki blasted a homer to give the Rockies a lead and complete an incredible six-run comeback. However, the game wasn’t over quite yet. A throwing error by the Rockies with two outs in the bottom of the ninth loaded up the bases for Alfonso Soriano. Soriano then singled, driving in two and giving the Cubs a wacky 10-9 win. This is one of those games that shows why you should never leave a ballgame after the eighth inning, no matter what the score is. It was the Cubs’ third straight win, while the Rockies were hit with their fourth straight loss.

2. Another start, another win: The day after Josh Beckett reached 11 wins, CC Sabathia of the Indians matched him. Sabathia improved to 11-2 with a complete-game shutdown of the A’s. It was his third complete game in his last five starts, good for the AL lead. Sabathia allowed two runs, walked none and struck out eight in the Indians’ 5-2 victory. Like Beckett, Sabathia’s record is aided by great run support (he has a 3.24 ERA) but he is still worthy of Cy Young consideration. The A’s continued their downward fall after a great first half of the month, losing their fourth straight game.

3. Who wants first?: The NL West has made a remarkable turnaround from the league’s worst division two years ago to its most competitive one today. It seems like every week first place is up for grabs as the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Padres have all posted strong records. Right now the key series is Dodgers-D-backs, as the two teams are separated by a half-game in a series that will decide who’s in first place. The Dodgers won game one on Monday 8-1, as Brad Penny made another excellent start. Penny improved to 3-0 on the month and 10-1 overall as he allowed one run to Arizona in 8 innings of work. Penny, who started the All Star game last year, might do so again this year as he leads the league with a 2.04 ERA.

Player of the Day: Brian McCann, Braves: 2-3, HR (6), 4 RBIs in the Braves’ 4-1 win over the Nationals. McCann provided the Braves some much-needed offense as they ended their five-game slide.

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General Sports

Odds and Ends: $20 says he eats it


Chris Berman has ruined basically everything good about sports and specifically football with his fat face and his ridiculous anchor work (just think “well dressed Amani Toomer” and “whoop whoop whooop”). So while this story may or may not be true, we’re going to go ahead and assume that it is and spread it around.


So here I am staring at this guy, feeling a little weird about it and it happens. This guy, Chris Berman takes his finger and shoves it as far up his nose as he can get it!! (LOL, I am laughing and typing this at the sametime) WTF..I think, maybe the booger is really bothering him. The only problem was, THE MAN DIDN’T STOP THERE.

He picked his nose none (sic) stop and in-between picks you would think he would have wiped them on a tissue, his shirt, hell, the back of the seat in front of him! But no, this man proceeded to pop each booger in his..umm..yup you got it…MOUTH. These weren’t average sized boogers either, my husband to this day refers to them as Earthworms!! Same color, shape everything. HOW GROSS!!

Does this surprise anyone? (Via Sports By Brooks)

In other news…

[Orlando Sentinel]: MLB wants to charge fantasy sites for using players’ names

[Sportsline]: Former NFL DL charged with bank fraud

[Philly.com]: Brett Myers, former wife beater, is rehabbing his image while on rehab

[Our Book of Scrap]: Ghetto Tranny Fight Club?

[Bright Side of the Sun]: Suns fans just a little bitter about the Spurs dynasty

[Steroid Nation]: TMI, Cuban, TMI

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MLB General

The Full Count: Yankees are creeping up


1. Make it 9: The Yankees extended the longest winning streak in the majors to 9 games after sweeping the Diamondbacks. They won 7-1 on Thursday thanks mainly to Andy Pettitte’s eight-inning, one-run start. Pettitte has quietly posted a 2.93 ERA this season, the best mark on the Yankees’ staff. The Yankees’ offense and pitching are on a roll as they’ve outscored their opponents 67-24 during the streak. Alex Rodriguez drove in two runs to give him 21 RBIs in his last nine games. Hideki Matsui’s three RBIs give him 12 during the nine-game win streak. The Yankees took advantage of another loss by the Red Sox to move within 7.5 games. They will face the Mets, who are on a five-game losing streak, over the weekend.

2. Start Wasted: Tim Hudson outdeuled Johan Santana, but the Braves wasted his efforts with a meltdown by the bullpen. Hudson pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. Santana went seven strong as well and struck out nine, but he allowed two runs. The pitcher’s duel didn’t decide the game though, as Bob Wickman gave up three runs in the ninth inning to lose the game for Atlanta. The 3-2 win completed a sweep for the Twins, who have won four in a row and are just 5.5 back of the Indians. The Braves moved behind the Phillies for the first time all season, albeit by just a half game. The road won’t get any easier for the Braves, as they travel to Cleveland, who has the second-best home record in the majors.

3. How `bout that Royals offense!: In a bizarre occurrence, the Royals of all teams have scored 17 runs in two of their last four games. After beating the Phillies 17-5 last Sunday, they topped the Cardinals 17-8 on Thursday. Mark Teahen had five RBIs and leads the team with 35 on the year, and Alex Gordon homered as the Royals destroyed St. Louis. They scored 8 runs in the second inning, then 6 runs in the fourth. What a powerhouse! The Cardinals’ Kip Wells had six earned runs in one-plus inning and extended his major league lead in losses to 11. Now the Royals rank 22nd in runs scored, leaving their usual last place in that category. Now the White Sox can be considered the league’s worst offense.

Player of the Day: Justin Germano, Padres: 6 innings, no runs, in a 7-1 win over Tampa. The nearly unknown Germano is 5-0 with a 2.36 ERA on the year.

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MLB General

The Full Count: It’s all about the pitching


1. 10 wins for Lackey: John Lackey became the majors’ first 10-game winner after another solid start on Wednesday. As the Angels beat the Reds 6-3, Lackey went six innings and allowed just one earned run. He improved to 10-4 on the season with a 2.53 ERA, making him one of the leading candidates to start for the AL in the All Star game. The Angels won their 41st game of the year, tied with the Red Sox for most wins in the majors. Vlad Guerrero broke out of a mini-slump with a 3-5, 4-RBI performance. The Angels will play at Dodger Stadium this weekend in what will be an intriguing showdown between division leaders.

2. West Coast Aces: The Dodgers and Padres are tied for the NL West division lead, and both are helped tremendously by their aces. The Dodgers’ Brad Penny and the Padres’ Jake Peavy have turned into two of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. Both are 8-1 after winning again on Wednesday. Penny allowed one run in seven innings as the Dodgers completed a sweep of the Mets with a 9-1 victory. His 2.18 ERA ranks second in the NL only to Peavy, who has a 1.82 mark. Peavy pitched seven scoreless innings against the Devil Rays and struck out 8. He is now one strikeout behind Cole Hamels for the major league lead. The Padres crushed the D-Rays 9-0, as Tampa starter Edwin Jackson fell to 0-8 with an 8.20 ERA. Jackson is now on pace for an 0-20 record this season.

3. Aces for the Day: Some pitchers that usually aren’t that good pitched very well on Wednesday. Carlos Silva entered a game against the Braves 3-7 with a 4.40 ERA, but he pitched a complete-game shutout. Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals one-hit the Royals in eight innings, lowering his ERA by 0.52. Ian Snell of the Pirates pitched a complete game against the Rangers, allowing just one unearned run. Snell is having a breakout season with a 2.63 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.

Player of the Day: Carlos Silva, Twins: CG, no walks, no runs in a 6-0 win over the Bra

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MLB General

The Full Count: Verlander finishes what Schilling can’t


1. No Hits for You!: Less than a week after Curt Schilling came within one out of a no-hitter but couldn’t finish it, Justin Verlander pitched a no-no against the Brewers. Verlander walked four, but other than that he was perfect as he went the distance. He struck out 12 and had 112 total pitches in the second no-hitter in the majors this season. It was also the first no-hitter for the Tigers since 1984, when Verlander was only one year old. Verlander threw over 100 mph on his fastball as he improved to 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA and made history along the way. The Tigers are now tied with Cleveland for first place in the AL Central. They have won three in a row, while the Indians have dropped three straight. With the no-hitter, Verlander has now secured his place as one of the best (if not the best) young pitchers in the game.

2. Here comes Philly: Their season seemed over in April, but now a great start to June has the Phillies in contention in the NL East. The Braves and Mets lost again on Tuesday, but the Phillies won for the seventh time in their last ten games. They beat the White Sox 7-3 on the strength of two of their best young players–Chase Utley and Cole Hamels. Utley went 3-3 with a homer and four RBIs, giving him 52 runs driven in this year. Hamels improved to 9-2 with eight innings, two runs allowed, and eight strikeouts in this contest. Philly is now a mere three games back of the Mets and just one behind the Braves.

3. Finally .500!: The Yankees improved to .500 for the first time since April 20 after winning their 7th straight game. They beat the Diamondbacks 4-1 on the strength of Chien-Ming Wang’s pitching. Wang, the most underrated pitcher on the Yankees’ staff, went seven strong innings, with one run allowed and no walks. Also for New York, red-hot Bobby Abreu hit a three-run homerun. Abreu has 12 RBIs in his last 8 games and is hitting .500 in that span. The Yankees still may be 9.5 out, but they are on a roll. They will be in contention by the All Star break.

Player of the Day: Justin Verlander, Tigers: No-hitter, 12 strikeouts in a 4-0 win over the Brewers.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Mets’ hot start fading fast


1. Cold at the Wrong Time: The Mets are in the middle of one of their tougher parts to the schedule, and they’ve struggled through it. In June so far they’ve played Arizona, Detroit, Philly, and LA, all teams with winning records, and their record is 2-8 for the month. The Mets started their series against the Dodgers with a 5-3 loss, as Orlando Hernandez had one of his worse starts of the year. The only player that’s been good for the Mets recently is David Wright, who had a four-game homer streak snapped yesterday and has a 13-game hitting streak going. The rest of the team is in a slump, which has allowed the Braves to climb back within two games despite their own struggles. The red-hot Phillies are also only four games back after winning seven of their last ten. The interleague schedule for the Mets doesn’t get any easier, as they travel to Yankee Stadium and then play the Twins and A’s.

2. Surprise Contender: Besides the four elite teams in the American League (the Red Sox, Indians, Angels and Tigers), could anybody guess who has the next best record? Shockingly it’s the Seattle Mariners, who have come out of nowhere with a 34-26 record. Sure, their payroll is over $100 million, but most of that is spent overpaying players like Richie Sexson and Jeff Weaver. The reason why they are winning is an excellent lineup, which has the second-highest batting average in all of baseball and the eighth-most runs scored. Ichiro is tearing it up with a .337 average and is on pace for 232 hits and 46 steals. Catcher Kenji Johjima is batting .330, Raul Ibanez has 41 RBIs, and five players have at least 30 RBIs. Also, their underrated closer, JJ Putz, has been excellent. He has 18 saves in 18 chances, a 1.23 ERA, and a microscopic 0.58 WHIP. The Mariners out-powered Cleveland on Monday in an 8-7 win as Ibanez hit two homers and five RBIs. They are holding off the A’s for second place in the AL West, though Oakland has a winning streak going as well.

3. Bonds finally homers: Barry Bonds came into Monday’s game in a huge slump, with no homers in his last 13 games and one since May 9. He was finally able to reach career homer number 747 though, with a solo shot off Josh Towers of the Blue Jays. Bonds is still struggling though in every area except walks. The nine remaining homers he has to break the record will take him until after the All Star break, unless he heats up. The Giants won 4-3 by the way, with Matt Morris tossing a complete game.

Player of the Day: Carlos Zambrano, Cubs: 8 innings, no earned runs, 8 strikeouts, homerun (2) in a 2-1 win over the Astros.