Friday, May 22, 2009
NBA playoffs
I have been out of commission for a week, following nba playoffs and dealing with business. I will return very soon!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
20% of the season gone, time to reassess
Allright, I am not prone to overreact based upon a small sample size, but because of injuries and a major suspension, I am going to do some new divisional and final record standings, with summarized reasons. I will do this again in June, July, August, and September. Today I will do the AL, tomorrow the senior circuit.
AL West:
1. Rangers 85-77. I know they don't have the pitching, but they do have the hitting, and suprisingly, the defense. Also, nobody knows how healthy the Angels pitching will be if/when it comes back.
2. Angels 84-78. I admit this is me being a bit hopeful, and it is subject to change in another month, but the Angels pen is a mess. The three best bullpen guys they have (Fuentes, Shields, and Arredondo) all have ERA's above 5.
3. Oakland 79-83. Injuries have throttled Oakland very early. Mark Ellis is out for awhile, Nomar is too (shocking), and they simply cannot hit thus far.
4. Seattle 75-87. I thought they would be worse than this, and I may still be right. They are going to be in last, they cannot hit. Their saving graces are twofold: they play great D, and they play in a garbage division. Still, I think Bedard is dealt by August.
AL Central.
1. Detroit 86-76. This one hurts the most, as I am no fan of the Tigers at all. In fact, I really thought Cleveland would have a big bounceback year, but I was wrong (as of now). Detroit has the best hitter in the league in Miguel Cabrera, and their defense has really gotten good by moving Inge back to third and acquring Adam Everett to play shost. Verlander's resurrection also helps.
2. Minnesota 82-80. Their pitching simply is not going to be as good as it was last year, it seems. Their young guys also have yet to make the leaps I expected of them (Casilla is in AAA, Young still swings at everything).
3. KC 81-81. They have gotten a ton out of the best pitcher in the AL (Zack Greinke) but the upside of their offense is nil, and with the back end of their rotation consisting of Sidney Ponson and Kyle Davies, they won't win this year.
4. Cleveland 77-85. Everything has gone wrong so far. Hafner has been good, but hurt. Cliff Lee has been great, but the team can't score when he pitches. The pen has been beyond bad, having one of the worst months I have ever seen in my life. They have blown small leads, big leads, come from behind to blow leads, come from ahead to blow them. The pen is awful. Just awful.
5. Chicago Whitesox 74-88. One thing I know, the WhiteSox are also garbage. They are old, they cant do anything but hit homers, they can't play D, and can't run. They have two good pitchers in Buerhle and Danks, but everyone else in the rotation may be out of it by July. Colon is awful. Contreas is awful, and Floyd is doubly awful.
AL East.
1. Boston 94-68 . Toughest division in baseball, by a mile. I had no idea it would be a 4 team race, but it will be. Toronto is here to stay. Boston is still great, and Ortiz has done nothing, and Smoltz is still out. I can only imagine they will get better.
2. Tampa 90-72. I am probably alone in believing this team still has enough to do it again, but I do. They still play great d, they still steal bases and get on base, they still have good pitchers. The problem is the pen, but I think it gets better. Or at least I hope so.
3. Yankees 89-73. Mariano Rivera is getting older, still good, not great. Joba Chamberlain is good, but can't get past the sixth. The team is old, and has no speed and no healthy catcher. I am sure they will start hitting, but I don't think they have the chemistry or bullpen to win this division, or make the playoffs.
4. Blue Jays 85-77. I had no idea this team would hit like this, and I know it will cool off, but it has yet to. Their starters have been incredible, they are loaded with pitching. Just imagine what happens if they get Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum back. Wow!
5. Orioles 73-89. They can hit, no doubt about it. But they have no pen and no starters, at all. They are going to be very good, very soon. not this year though. They simply have no pitching or pen. But they do have chemistry, and they do have offense, a ton of it!
AL West:
1. Rangers 85-77. I know they don't have the pitching, but they do have the hitting, and suprisingly, the defense. Also, nobody knows how healthy the Angels pitching will be if/when it comes back.
2. Angels 84-78. I admit this is me being a bit hopeful, and it is subject to change in another month, but the Angels pen is a mess. The three best bullpen guys they have (Fuentes, Shields, and Arredondo) all have ERA's above 5.
3. Oakland 79-83. Injuries have throttled Oakland very early. Mark Ellis is out for awhile, Nomar is too (shocking), and they simply cannot hit thus far.
4. Seattle 75-87. I thought they would be worse than this, and I may still be right. They are going to be in last, they cannot hit. Their saving graces are twofold: they play great D, and they play in a garbage division. Still, I think Bedard is dealt by August.
AL Central.
1. Detroit 86-76. This one hurts the most, as I am no fan of the Tigers at all. In fact, I really thought Cleveland would have a big bounceback year, but I was wrong (as of now). Detroit has the best hitter in the league in Miguel Cabrera, and their defense has really gotten good by moving Inge back to third and acquring Adam Everett to play shost. Verlander's resurrection also helps.
2. Minnesota 82-80. Their pitching simply is not going to be as good as it was last year, it seems. Their young guys also have yet to make the leaps I expected of them (Casilla is in AAA, Young still swings at everything).
3. KC 81-81. They have gotten a ton out of the best pitcher in the AL (Zack Greinke) but the upside of their offense is nil, and with the back end of their rotation consisting of Sidney Ponson and Kyle Davies, they won't win this year.
4. Cleveland 77-85. Everything has gone wrong so far. Hafner has been good, but hurt. Cliff Lee has been great, but the team can't score when he pitches. The pen has been beyond bad, having one of the worst months I have ever seen in my life. They have blown small leads, big leads, come from behind to blow leads, come from ahead to blow them. The pen is awful. Just awful.
5. Chicago Whitesox 74-88. One thing I know, the WhiteSox are also garbage. They are old, they cant do anything but hit homers, they can't play D, and can't run. They have two good pitchers in Buerhle and Danks, but everyone else in the rotation may be out of it by July. Colon is awful. Contreas is awful, and Floyd is doubly awful.
AL East.
1. Boston 94-68 . Toughest division in baseball, by a mile. I had no idea it would be a 4 team race, but it will be. Toronto is here to stay. Boston is still great, and Ortiz has done nothing, and Smoltz is still out. I can only imagine they will get better.
2. Tampa 90-72. I am probably alone in believing this team still has enough to do it again, but I do. They still play great d, they still steal bases and get on base, they still have good pitchers. The problem is the pen, but I think it gets better. Or at least I hope so.
3. Yankees 89-73. Mariano Rivera is getting older, still good, not great. Joba Chamberlain is good, but can't get past the sixth. The team is old, and has no speed and no healthy catcher. I am sure they will start hitting, but I don't think they have the chemistry or bullpen to win this division, or make the playoffs.
4. Blue Jays 85-77. I had no idea this team would hit like this, and I know it will cool off, but it has yet to. Their starters have been incredible, they are loaded with pitching. Just imagine what happens if they get Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum back. Wow!
5. Orioles 73-89. They can hit, no doubt about it. But they have no pen and no starters, at all. They are going to be very good, very soon. not this year though. They simply have no pitching or pen. But they do have chemistry, and they do have offense, a ton of it!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Tigers (Verlander) @ Indians (Lee)
Should be a fun game to watch, two different pitchers, different styles, and the Indians simply cannot score for him, or hold leads:
Top 1: Apparently Cletus Thomas is going to be playing every single day now, and is batting third with Carlos Guillen on the DL. Ordonez is now DHing regularly I believe. Granderson leads off today, and batted 5th a few days ago. Jim Leyland is all over the place with this Tigers team. They just arent very good, I think. Granderson flies out to start, and Polanco does the same one pitch later. Lee is dealing strikes right now, as he did last year, getting batters to get themselves out, since he isnt a dominant strikeout guy. Thomas grounds one up the middle, weakly hit but enough to notch himself at first base. The best hitter in the AL steps up to bat now, Cabrera. After about 5 or 6 pitches on the corners, he pops out.
Bottom 1: Sizemore leads off the game for Cleveland now. Verlander has been on fire for a few starts now, but I will believe it is legit when he does it all year long, and on the road. He is a big phony. Sizemore k's on a letter high outside fastball. Nice pitch. Cabrera cracks a single to left field, slightly into the gap (but not really), he is thrown out by about 30 feet stretching. Bad move. Really bad move. Martinez works the count full, and cracks the hell out of the ball, but Polanco snow cones it, robbing him of a single.
Top 2: Ordonez singles down the 1st base line to lead off. Luckily, Inge is up next. The guy swings at anything. 3 pitches later, he is out on strikes. Par for the course, says I. Raburn ends the inning on one more pitch, 6-4-3 DP.
Bottom 2: Choo pops out to very short left field. The Indians would do well to work counts and get this guy out of here, and into that shoddy pen of Detroit. DeRosa strikes out on 3 pitches, and swings at a heater above his belt. Dellucci can't check his swing and thats 3 k's for Verlander, and less than 30 pitches. Not where the Indians need to be today.
Top 3: Everett leads off. Lee is also under 30 pitches, and he is throwing nothing but strikes so far. Full count fastball is driven on the ground to right, single for Everett. 1-2 breaking ball in the dirt, swing on and missed by Sardina, who made Lee work for that K. Granderson pops out to right. Polanco is up, trying to make somethng happen after the leadoff single. He drives one deep and almost gone, off the very top of the wall in left! Cletus Thomas pops out to left on the first pitch, threat ended.
Bottom 3: Francisco strikes out looking on a knee buckling curve. Valbuena walks on 4 pitches. Shoppach can't hold up on a breaking ball, K. Sizemore flies out to medium right. No score after 3.
Top 4: Cabrera grounds out to third to begin the inning. Ordonez walks on 5 pitches. Inge hits one to left field for a single. Raburn flies out to deep right, and with 2 down, Ordonez moves to third. Everett is up now, first pitch ground out to short, another threat over. Eventually, one would think the Tigers would break thru here...
Bottom 4: Cabrera comes up, Verlander is at only 45 pitches to start the 4th. Cabrera grounds out to first, another weak out for Cleveland. Another K for Verlander, his 6th, as Martinez goes down swinging. Choo hits one on the ground to short for the final out. Verlanders pitch count remains low.
Top 5: Sardina pops out on pitch number 60 for Lee. This game is flying by, in a bad way. Slow and not at all riveting like some 0-0 games. This one is devoid of any kind of scoring threats. Hell, both of the Tigers threats were with 2 down. Granderson goes down swinging on a down and away changeup. Lee is pretty much cruising, though not like Verlander. Polanco pops out to shallow center. Very fast inning.
Bottom 5: DeRosa leads off, Cleveland has yet to get a leadoff runner. Line drive out though, right at Cabrera at first. Nice swing though. Dellucci grounds out to second. This game may end up 1-0 or so. It all depends upon just how bad Cleveland's god awful bullpen is. Francisco hits a sinking bloop down the line, or near it, but he is robbed on a diving catch by LF Rayburn. Inning over.
Top 6: Cletus Thomas grounds out to second. Cabrera thru the left side hole for a 1 out single. Ordonez takes strike 3 called and Cabrera is thrown out on the hit and run.
Bottom 6: In the last 3 games, Lee has 1 run of offensive support. That is shameful for this offense, the best in the AL Central, I think. Valbuena is up now, looking to get on for the 2nd time tonite. He strikes out on a very very high fastball. Shoppach also K's, looking at a called strike three on the outside corner. Verlander is absolutely rolling. Sizemore up with 2 down now. He drives one to the wall but Granderson runs it down and saves a triple. Fairly routine play, but very well hit.
Top 7: Inge leads off the inning. 6 hits so far for Detroit, but only 1 for Cleveland. He flies out to centerfield. Other than Polanco, nobody on Detroit has hit the ball well at all, thus far. Rayburn with a very weak grounder to short. 2 down. Everett bloops a fly to center, 7 shutout for Lee.
Bottom 7: Cabrera swings and misses on another waist high outside fastball. That is 9 K's now for Verlander. Martinez hits one off the wall for a double, first time all day Cleveland has any threat whatsoever. Choo has a chance to get a run home here. Choo lines one to the hole at short but Everett robs him, and catches Martinez off the bag for a double play. 0-0 after 7. Good god.
Top 8: Sardina leads off the inning, Lee needs to get him out because the top of the order is up next. Strikes out looking on a fastball on the outside corner. Looks like the Cliff Lee of 2008 so far tonite. Granderson walks and I imagine he will be running soon. Granderson takes off and Shoppach makes a high throw, the call is safe at 2nd. He had Granderson by a mile if he made a good throw, but it was awful. Polanco now has a big chance here. Big trouble for Lee. Polanco grounds out to short, but Thomas is up and already has a single off Lee earlier. Slow grounder to second. Valbuena has it stick in his glove and the run scores on an error. The scorer gave him a single, but rest assured, it was a completely routine ground ball. It was an error. That will probably win the game with the way Verlander is pitching. Shameful way to lose, if they do.
Bottom 8: DeRosa leads off the bottom 8th with a strikeout. That is 10 now for Verlander. Dellucci grounds out to second, 2 down. Francisco pops up to 2nd, inning over. Shameful performance by the Tribe, at home, with a GREAT start by Lee, no less. This team is a joke.
Top 9: Rafael Betancourt is in for Lee now. Betancourt sucks. Ordonez flies out to center, 1 down. Inge up, and on an 0-2 breaking ball, swings and misses. Cliff Lee is steaming in the dugout, like someone took a dump on his porch. He is mad, rightfully so I would say. Rayburn pops out to shallow center. Inning over.
Bottom 9: Now or never for the Tribe. Verlander stays in to finish the shutout. No reason he won't. Valbuena leads off the inning. He is trying to make amends for his misplay, even though ruled a hit, it was not. Full count to Valbuena, HUGE pitch upcoming. He reaches base on the walk. Two walks today for Valbuena, 2 walks for Verlander. Strange but true fact of the day. Shoppach lays down a bunt, a bad one, and Valbuena is out at 2nd. Free out for Verlander. Bad bunt by Cleveland. Eric Wedge has done a shoddy job managing this year, I think. Josh Barfield pinch runs for Shoppach, and Sizemore is up now. Barfield may be running. 2-2 count to Sizemore here. It's a shame the Indians could not move the runner over with no outs. Sizemore hit one over the wall but Granderson pulls it back over the wall. WOW! What a play. Cabrera up now, last chance. Thats a top 5 play I have ever seen, I might add. Cabrera strikes out to end the game.
 (14-13) |
|  (11-18) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top 1: Apparently Cletus Thomas is going to be playing every single day now, and is batting third with Carlos Guillen on the DL. Ordonez is now DHing regularly I believe. Granderson leads off today, and batted 5th a few days ago. Jim Leyland is all over the place with this Tigers team. They just arent very good, I think. Granderson flies out to start, and Polanco does the same one pitch later. Lee is dealing strikes right now, as he did last year, getting batters to get themselves out, since he isnt a dominant strikeout guy. Thomas grounds one up the middle, weakly hit but enough to notch himself at first base. The best hitter in the AL steps up to bat now, Cabrera. After about 5 or 6 pitches on the corners, he pops out.
Bottom 1: Sizemore leads off the game for Cleveland now. Verlander has been on fire for a few starts now, but I will believe it is legit when he does it all year long, and on the road. He is a big phony. Sizemore k's on a letter high outside fastball. Nice pitch. Cabrera cracks a single to left field, slightly into the gap (but not really), he is thrown out by about 30 feet stretching. Bad move. Really bad move. Martinez works the count full, and cracks the hell out of the ball, but Polanco snow cones it, robbing him of a single.
Top 2: Ordonez singles down the 1st base line to lead off. Luckily, Inge is up next. The guy swings at anything. 3 pitches later, he is out on strikes. Par for the course, says I. Raburn ends the inning on one more pitch, 6-4-3 DP.
Bottom 2: Choo pops out to very short left field. The Indians would do well to work counts and get this guy out of here, and into that shoddy pen of Detroit. DeRosa strikes out on 3 pitches, and swings at a heater above his belt. Dellucci can't check his swing and thats 3 k's for Verlander, and less than 30 pitches. Not where the Indians need to be today.
Top 3: Everett leads off. Lee is also under 30 pitches, and he is throwing nothing but strikes so far. Full count fastball is driven on the ground to right, single for Everett. 1-2 breaking ball in the dirt, swing on and missed by Sardina, who made Lee work for that K. Granderson pops out to right. Polanco is up, trying to make somethng happen after the leadoff single. He drives one deep and almost gone, off the very top of the wall in left! Cletus Thomas pops out to left on the first pitch, threat ended.
Bottom 3: Francisco strikes out looking on a knee buckling curve. Valbuena walks on 4 pitches. Shoppach can't hold up on a breaking ball, K. Sizemore flies out to medium right. No score after 3.
Top 4: Cabrera grounds out to third to begin the inning. Ordonez walks on 5 pitches. Inge hits one to left field for a single. Raburn flies out to deep right, and with 2 down, Ordonez moves to third. Everett is up now, first pitch ground out to short, another threat over. Eventually, one would think the Tigers would break thru here...
Bottom 4: Cabrera comes up, Verlander is at only 45 pitches to start the 4th. Cabrera grounds out to first, another weak out for Cleveland. Another K for Verlander, his 6th, as Martinez goes down swinging. Choo hits one on the ground to short for the final out. Verlanders pitch count remains low.
Top 5: Sardina pops out on pitch number 60 for Lee. This game is flying by, in a bad way. Slow and not at all riveting like some 0-0 games. This one is devoid of any kind of scoring threats. Hell, both of the Tigers threats were with 2 down. Granderson goes down swinging on a down and away changeup. Lee is pretty much cruising, though not like Verlander. Polanco pops out to shallow center. Very fast inning.
Bottom 5: DeRosa leads off, Cleveland has yet to get a leadoff runner. Line drive out though, right at Cabrera at first. Nice swing though. Dellucci grounds out to second. This game may end up 1-0 or so. It all depends upon just how bad Cleveland's god awful bullpen is. Francisco hits a sinking bloop down the line, or near it, but he is robbed on a diving catch by LF Rayburn. Inning over.
Top 6: Cletus Thomas grounds out to second. Cabrera thru the left side hole for a 1 out single. Ordonez takes strike 3 called and Cabrera is thrown out on the hit and run.
Bottom 6: In the last 3 games, Lee has 1 run of offensive support. That is shameful for this offense, the best in the AL Central, I think. Valbuena is up now, looking to get on for the 2nd time tonite. He strikes out on a very very high fastball. Shoppach also K's, looking at a called strike three on the outside corner. Verlander is absolutely rolling. Sizemore up with 2 down now. He drives one to the wall but Granderson runs it down and saves a triple. Fairly routine play, but very well hit.
Top 7: Inge leads off the inning. 6 hits so far for Detroit, but only 1 for Cleveland. He flies out to centerfield. Other than Polanco, nobody on Detroit has hit the ball well at all, thus far. Rayburn with a very weak grounder to short. 2 down. Everett bloops a fly to center, 7 shutout for Lee.
Bottom 7: Cabrera swings and misses on another waist high outside fastball. That is 9 K's now for Verlander. Martinez hits one off the wall for a double, first time all day Cleveland has any threat whatsoever. Choo has a chance to get a run home here. Choo lines one to the hole at short but Everett robs him, and catches Martinez off the bag for a double play. 0-0 after 7. Good god.
Top 8: Sardina leads off the inning, Lee needs to get him out because the top of the order is up next. Strikes out looking on a fastball on the outside corner. Looks like the Cliff Lee of 2008 so far tonite. Granderson walks and I imagine he will be running soon. Granderson takes off and Shoppach makes a high throw, the call is safe at 2nd. He had Granderson by a mile if he made a good throw, but it was awful. Polanco now has a big chance here. Big trouble for Lee. Polanco grounds out to short, but Thomas is up and already has a single off Lee earlier. Slow grounder to second. Valbuena has it stick in his glove and the run scores on an error. The scorer gave him a single, but rest assured, it was a completely routine ground ball. It was an error. That will probably win the game with the way Verlander is pitching. Shameful way to lose, if they do.
Bottom 8: DeRosa leads off the bottom 8th with a strikeout. That is 10 now for Verlander. Dellucci grounds out to second, 2 down. Francisco pops up to 2nd, inning over. Shameful performance by the Tribe, at home, with a GREAT start by Lee, no less. This team is a joke.
Top 9: Rafael Betancourt is in for Lee now. Betancourt sucks. Ordonez flies out to center, 1 down. Inge up, and on an 0-2 breaking ball, swings and misses. Cliff Lee is steaming in the dugout, like someone took a dump on his porch. He is mad, rightfully so I would say. Rayburn pops out to shallow center. Inning over.
Bottom 9: Now or never for the Tribe. Verlander stays in to finish the shutout. No reason he won't. Valbuena leads off the inning. He is trying to make amends for his misplay, even though ruled a hit, it was not. Full count to Valbuena, HUGE pitch upcoming. He reaches base on the walk. Two walks today for Valbuena, 2 walks for Verlander. Strange but true fact of the day. Shoppach lays down a bunt, a bad one, and Valbuena is out at 2nd. Free out for Verlander. Bad bunt by Cleveland. Eric Wedge has done a shoddy job managing this year, I think. Josh Barfield pinch runs for Shoppach, and Sizemore is up now. Barfield may be running. 2-2 count to Sizemore here. It's a shame the Indians could not move the runner over with no outs. Sizemore hit one over the wall but Granderson pulls it back over the wall. WOW! What a play. Cabrera up now, last chance. Thats a top 5 play I have ever seen, I might add. Cabrera strikes out to end the game.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Phils (Park) vs Mets (Santana)
 (14-10) |
|  (12-13) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
My favorite team in the NL (Philly) vs my least favorite. Best pitcher in baseball perhaps (Santana) bs the worst. Should be fun.
Top 1: Rollins k's on a sweet changeup and Victorino pops up to second. 2 down very fast. Utley is back in the lineup after missing a few games, and works a full count walk. Howard comes up with 2 down and 1 on and strikes out on a high fastball.
Bottom 1: Phils Manager Charlie Manuel says this may be Park's last start, if he sucks, which he does, so it will be interesting to see how he does. Reyes grounds out to first to leadoff. Cora pops up, 2 down. Beltran strikes out looking and its on to the second.
Top 2: Werth leads off with a strikeout on a 1-2 changeup. He looks good today. Ibanez strikes out looking, thats 4 k's already for Johan. Feliz strikes out also. That's 5.
Bottom 2: Delgado flies out to very short center. Wright walks on 4 pitches and the Mets finally have a baserunner. I say finally because the Mets shold have like 8 runs by now. Park makes Vicente Padilla look like AJ Burnett. Park is horrible. Awful. Garbage. Wright is thrown out attempting to steal second. Murphy k's to end the inning.
Top 3: On an 0-2 pitch, Ruiz grounds out to third. No his for Phils thus far. Park draws a 5 pitch walk, somehow! Second runner on so far. Rollins is up now. First pitch swinging, drives a single into left-center, Park moves on to second. Victorino grounds out to first, both runers advance into scoring position for Utley. He grounds out to second, side retired.
Bottom 3: Reed strikes out to lead it off. Santos pops up to first. Park looks solid right now, I do not expect it to last. I want to reiterate this: he sucks. Santana strikes out, thats 4 now for Park.
Top 4: Howard k's again, to lead off. Werth k's next, that's 7 already. Ibanez strikes out but reaches on the passed ball. Thats 8 now for Johan. The guy is somehting else. Feliz groundsout to pitcher and the inning ends.
Bottom 4: Reyes drives one to the track but Werth runs it down. The Mets are a joke of a team, they have no chemistry, they do not seem to enjoy playing with each other, whereas the Phils seem like the best of friends. IF Santana were on a team worth a damn, he would win 22 games every single year. Cora lines out to short on the first pitch he sees, 2 down. Beltran, probably the only Met who is carrying his weight, comes up with 2 down. He grounds out to first, no hitter thru 4.
Top 5: Ruiz pops out to center. Thats just the first ball the Phils have hit into the outfield, aside from Rollins single. Park is up again. For the second time today, Park walks. Suprising. Rollins can't drive him in though, as he fouls out to first. 2 down. Victorino pops out to center. Still no score.
Bottom 5: Delgado drives the first pitch very deep, but very foul. Next pitch hits Delgado and the Mets have just their second runner of the day. Wright,m continuing his awful year, is jammed on a 2-0 heater and grounds to Feliz, who starts the double play. The no hitter ends on the next pitch, as Murphy drives a two out double to deep left-center. It was a pretty routine fly ball but Ibanez could not get to it. That should have been an out, we will see if the Mets can make it hurt. Reed works the count full, and rolls over a breaking ball and grounds out to Utley. 0-0.
Top 6: Utley drives one right in front of the wall but it is caught. Howard grounds out to first. Werth strikes out for the third time. Santana has 9 k's now.
Bottom 6: Santos strikes out on 5 pitches. Santana drives one deep but the park holds it. Reyes hits one into the hole and Howard stabs it on a dive, but Park drops it and Reyes reaches base on the error. Cora is up now, and Reyes will be running, I would imagine. The Mets, due to the fact they are worthless, need to create runs somehow, and sending Reyes is pretty obvious. Reyes bluffs and Cora takes a ball outside, 2-1 count. Fastball count now, and Reyes steals 2nd, taking third on the throwing error by Ruiz. Cora walks, runners on the corners for Beltran now. This inning should be over, and frankly, Park should have a no hitter still. Beltran, on a 3-1 count, pops up to left field to end the inning. WOW! Still 0-0!
Top 7: Ibanez doubles to lead it off, but the next two batters go quietly, unable to advance the runner to third. Park is pinch hit for, and Eric Bruntlett steps up with 2 down. Bruntlett k's, making it 10 on the day for Santana.
Bottom 7: Scott Eyre is in for Park, if only to face Delgado. Delgado walks on a full count fastball. David Wright is up now, and they are leaving Delgado in to run for himself, and leaving Eyre in to pitch vs a guy who destroys lefties. Wright pops up on a 3-1 fastball. 1 out and Eyre is left in due to the 2 lefties after Wright, Manuel's gamble pays off. Eyre gets Murphy to fly out, and Manuel makes a change and brings in Chad Durbin with 2 down. Fernando Tatis is called in to pinch hit, as he is 1-1 career vs Durbin, with a homer. A slow grounder rolls out to third, and Feliz throws it into the outfield, Delgado hustles all the way around and scores. What a horrid way to allow a run. Feliz is normally a great fielder, he had no chance to get Tatis and first and should not have made the throw. Gary Sheffield pinch hits for Santos. 3 errors for Philly today, first unearned run they have allowed all season long! Very strange play by Feliz. Ryan Church now pinch hits for Santana. So he will get the win, if it holds. Church strikes out, but a run is scored. 1-0 Mets, time for the bullpen.
Top 8: Pedro Feliciano comes in, and Rollins grounds out to him to start the inning. Victorino bloops one on the first base line for a double. Utley grounds out to pitcher, runner stays put at 2nd. Howard strikes out to end the top half.
Bottom 8: Reyes lines out to left. Cora flies out to deep right. Beltran k's. On to the 9th.
Top 9: K-Rod is in to nail it down for the Mets. Werth grounds out to third. Ibanez pops out to center and Matty Stairs is in to pinch hit for Feliz. He pops up to end the game. Hell of a game. Tough loss though.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Twins (Blackburn) @ Tigers (Procello)
 (12-13) |
| (13-11) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
One of my favorite teams (Minnestoa) versus one of my most hated teams. I expect a Minnesota win here versus a garbage Tigers team who has yet to hit the ball this year.
Top 1: A quick and uneventful 1-2-3 inning.
Bottom 1: 2nd batter up (Polcano) walks, and AAA callup Cletus Thomas immediately doubles and sends Polanco to third, which means a very careful AB for Cabrera, I'd guess. They pitch to him, he grounds out to third, but a run scores as Thomas stays put on 2nd. 1-0 Detroit. Granderson hits a grounder up the middle but he is robbed on a diving stop by Punto to save the run.
Top 2: 1 out single for Kubel is the first Twins hit of the day. Crede hits into a 6-4-3 DP to end it.
Bottom 2: Ordonez, slumping badly with no power at all, is batting sixth and grounds out on one pitch. Inge does the same, on 3 pitches. Laird walks but a 2 out double by Santiago scores him, 2-0 Tigers. Anderson bloops one to left but Young misplays it, another run scores, 3-0 Tigers, with Anderson at 2nd. Another error by the Twins as Casilla muffs a grounder, 1st and 3rd, still two outs. Thomas then hits a sinking liner to right and Cuddyer misplays it, 2 more runs score, 5-0 Tigers. Wow, what an awful inning for the Twins. Another run scores and its 6-0. this game is over.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Chisox (Danks) @ Texas (Harrison)
Here are the lineups:
Thome is sitting today, Dye is sitting today, Pierzynski is sitting today. If Rangers are ever gonna win with Matt Harrison on the mound, today is the day. I am eagerly awaiting the day that reliever Eddie Guardado is released, he is god awful. I also expect to see rookie prospect Derek Holland pitch today, unless somehow Harrison has learned how to pitch.
The leadoff batter barely misses a homer, and the next hitter is nailed with a 3-2 fastball. This is the 3rd or 4th hitter who has been HBP in the last 2 games and one of the Rangers are gonna get nailed today, I'm guessing. Konkerko strikes out looking to end the top half.
Kinsler leads off yet another game with a homer. 1-0. Andrus stretches a bobbled single into a double but the Rangers, predictably, can neither move him over or drive him in. Just awful baseball.
Betemit crushes a double to lead off the 2nd, we will see if Chicago can move him over now. Miller grounds out to short, the runner stays put at 2nd. Podsednik grounds out to first, runner goes to third. Ramirez strikes out swining to end the inning.
Bottom 2: The Rangers swing at everything, as usual. It is why they will never contend. If they had good pitching, then I would say "fine, swing away." But they have garbage pitching, or at least subpar starters, and a garbage pen. They never work counts, and rarely get into the opposing team's pen any earlier than the 7th or 8th. I don't know who is telling them to swing away, because they never work counts at all, and it trickles down thru the entire lineup. The Rangers have 2 hits, and Chicago has made two errors, and the Danks has still thrown only 36 pitches. Harrison has allowed only one hit, but he is at 45 pitches already. It goes to show why one team wins 85-88 games, and the other wins 75-78.
top 3: An easy inning for Harrison gets us to the bottom half of the 3rd, nothing noteworthy for Chicago so far...
Bottom 3: Andrus doubles after Kinslers fly out. First pitch to Young and he steals third, this is how you play ball! I like it! However, again, for the 4th time in the last 3 days, Young cant get the runner home from third with less than 2 outs. He really swings at everything. He is a good player, but he seems to be unable to simply get a sac fly lately. Jones gets the job done with a 2 out single, thankfully.
Top 4: another easy inning for Harrison, a one out double but nothing more.
Bottom 4: Byrd leads it off with a double off the wall and another leadoff runner for Texas. Cruz fights off an inside pitch for a single, runners at the corners, no outs. Davis GIDP but the run scores. 3-0 Texas.
Top 5: Harrison is in very quick trouble, one out, with runners on 1st and 2nd and the top of the lineup coming up. Harrison is bound to have innings like this, the key is not to have them with no outs. Nix is up with 2 on and a 2-2 count, he fouls off several pitches. Harrison simply has no put-away pitch, no sure pitch to get out of jams. He allows a single and they are now loaded. Rangers are in some trouble now. Fields up now, and with the help of a quesitonable call by the ump, strikes out on 4 pitches. Quentin up now, biggest moment in the game so far. Full count to Quentin. Trouble brewing. But alas, a fly out to right. that may be the night for Harrison. Very lucky he is facing a depleted ChiSox lineup.
Bottom 5: Kinsler beats out a single for another hit to lead off an inning. Andrus bunts him over, I dont know why, but he does it anyway. Keep in mind he was 2 for 2 prior to that, and facing a lefty, but oh well. He is a kid, he is leanirng. I love him though. Young comes thru with a single thru the hole at short and Andrus' sac bunt proves important. I love this kid! Jones walks and Blalock hits one squarely, but right at first. Runners at the corners, 2 down for Byrd. Pop up to short. Inning over. 4-0.
Top 6: As I guessed, that was it for Harrison. Jason Jennings is in now. I suspect he will give up a run or two if he pitches more than 1 inning. Konerko leads off. Elvis ranges far to his left and makes a nice play on the plodding Konerko's grounder up the middle. Betemit flies out to left. This is a suprisingly easy game thus far. Miller pops up to third. Wow, this is really easy for Texas so far.
Bottom 6: Cruz singles and steals second. Teagarden singles with one out, corners for Kinsler. Kinsler sac fly, 5-0 Texas. Elvis grounds out to end the 6th.
top 7: Jennings is still in. Podsednik pops out to third. Ramirez doubles to deep left with 1 out. Lillibridge cracks a single to right and again, runners at the corners with 1 out. Thankfully, Texas is up 5-0 and Jermaine Dye is unavailable today. Nix comes up again, already 2-3 today. Sac fly and its 5-1 Texas. Fields k's. Inning over. I also suspect the game is done, as well.
| Chi White Sox | |||||||||
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | LOB | Season Avg | ||
| J. Nix 2b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| J. Fields 3b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .265 | |
| C. Quentin lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .256 | |
| P. Konerko dh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .313 | |
| W. Betemit 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .292 | |
| C. Miller c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .267 | |
| S. Podsednik rf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | |
| A. Ramirez ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .195 | |
| B. Lillibridge cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .143 | |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Texas | |||||||||
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | LOB | Season Avg | ||
| I. Kinsler 2b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .330 | |
| E. Andrus ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .254 | |
| M. Young 3b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .309 | |
| A. Jones lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | |
| H. Blalock dh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .268 | |
| M. Byrd cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .311 | |
| N. Cruz rf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .262 | |
| C. Davis 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .208 | |
| T. Teagarden c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .160 | |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Chi White Sox | |||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | Season ERA | ||
| J. Danks | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.74 | |
| Texas | |||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | Season ERA | ||
| M. Harrison | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.89 | |
Thome is sitting today, Dye is sitting today, Pierzynski is sitting today. If Rangers are ever gonna win with Matt Harrison on the mound, today is the day. I am eagerly awaiting the day that reliever Eddie Guardado is released, he is god awful. I also expect to see rookie prospect Derek Holland pitch today, unless somehow Harrison has learned how to pitch.
The leadoff batter barely misses a homer, and the next hitter is nailed with a 3-2 fastball. This is the 3rd or 4th hitter who has been HBP in the last 2 games and one of the Rangers are gonna get nailed today, I'm guessing. Konkerko strikes out looking to end the top half.
Kinsler leads off yet another game with a homer. 1-0. Andrus stretches a bobbled single into a double but the Rangers, predictably, can neither move him over or drive him in. Just awful baseball.
Betemit crushes a double to lead off the 2nd, we will see if Chicago can move him over now. Miller grounds out to short, the runner stays put at 2nd. Podsednik grounds out to first, runner goes to third. Ramirez strikes out swining to end the inning.
Bottom 2: The Rangers swing at everything, as usual. It is why they will never contend. If they had good pitching, then I would say "fine, swing away." But they have garbage pitching, or at least subpar starters, and a garbage pen. They never work counts, and rarely get into the opposing team's pen any earlier than the 7th or 8th. I don't know who is telling them to swing away, because they never work counts at all, and it trickles down thru the entire lineup. The Rangers have 2 hits, and Chicago has made two errors, and the Danks has still thrown only 36 pitches. Harrison has allowed only one hit, but he is at 45 pitches already. It goes to show why one team wins 85-88 games, and the other wins 75-78.
top 3: An easy inning for Harrison gets us to the bottom half of the 3rd, nothing noteworthy for Chicago so far...
Bottom 3: Andrus doubles after Kinslers fly out. First pitch to Young and he steals third, this is how you play ball! I like it! However, again, for the 4th time in the last 3 days, Young cant get the runner home from third with less than 2 outs. He really swings at everything. He is a good player, but he seems to be unable to simply get a sac fly lately. Jones gets the job done with a 2 out single, thankfully.
Top 4: another easy inning for Harrison, a one out double but nothing more.
Bottom 4: Byrd leads it off with a double off the wall and another leadoff runner for Texas. Cruz fights off an inside pitch for a single, runners at the corners, no outs. Davis GIDP but the run scores. 3-0 Texas.
Top 5: Harrison is in very quick trouble, one out, with runners on 1st and 2nd and the top of the lineup coming up. Harrison is bound to have innings like this, the key is not to have them with no outs. Nix is up with 2 on and a 2-2 count, he fouls off several pitches. Harrison simply has no put-away pitch, no sure pitch to get out of jams. He allows a single and they are now loaded. Rangers are in some trouble now. Fields up now, and with the help of a quesitonable call by the ump, strikes out on 4 pitches. Quentin up now, biggest moment in the game so far. Full count to Quentin. Trouble brewing. But alas, a fly out to right. that may be the night for Harrison. Very lucky he is facing a depleted ChiSox lineup.
Bottom 5: Kinsler beats out a single for another hit to lead off an inning. Andrus bunts him over, I dont know why, but he does it anyway. Keep in mind he was 2 for 2 prior to that, and facing a lefty, but oh well. He is a kid, he is leanirng. I love him though. Young comes thru with a single thru the hole at short and Andrus' sac bunt proves important. I love this kid! Jones walks and Blalock hits one squarely, but right at first. Runners at the corners, 2 down for Byrd. Pop up to short. Inning over. 4-0.
Top 6: As I guessed, that was it for Harrison. Jason Jennings is in now. I suspect he will give up a run or two if he pitches more than 1 inning. Konerko leads off. Elvis ranges far to his left and makes a nice play on the plodding Konerko's grounder up the middle. Betemit flies out to left. This is a suprisingly easy game thus far. Miller pops up to third. Wow, this is really easy for Texas so far.
Bottom 6: Cruz singles and steals second. Teagarden singles with one out, corners for Kinsler. Kinsler sac fly, 5-0 Texas. Elvis grounds out to end the 6th.
top 7: Jennings is still in. Podsednik pops out to third. Ramirez doubles to deep left with 1 out. Lillibridge cracks a single to right and again, runners at the corners with 1 out. Thankfully, Texas is up 5-0 and Jermaine Dye is unavailable today. Nix comes up again, already 2-3 today. Sac fly and its 5-1 Texas. Fields k's. Inning over. I also suspect the game is done, as well.
Friday, May 1, 2009
ChiSox (buerhle) @ Rangers (Feldman)
I am a big believer that Scotty Feldman should not be in the major leagues. We will see if he has any plans to prove me wrong today , at home vs Chicago.
The first half of the 1st is uneventful for him, 3 grounders quckly get him thru the inning.
Ian Kinsler leads off the bottom half with a homer, perhaps making up for the one stolen from him yesterday afternoon. Marlon Byrd follows with a towering drive that sounds better than it looks, fly-out. Michael Young does the same thing, 2 outs. Andruw Jones k's and that was the fastest inning I have ever seen, including the dong.
I highly doubt Feldman gets thru 6 innings, and I will apologize and be happy to do so, if he does.
Jim Thome leads off the 2nd with a groundout, thats 4 grounders for the Chisox, perhaps Feldman has some serious movement on his pitches? My guess is that its more likely they will pound him the second time thru the order though. Jermaine Dye flys out to medium right. Every batter that Feldman gets out shocks me, to be honest. I want to reiterate the point: I am cheering for him, but he sucks. Paul Konerko ends the inning with another groundout. This is a glorious beginning. But short lived, Im certain.
Texas gets nowhere in the bottom half and its Feldman time again, top of 3. Pierzynski leads off with another groundout, this is getting a bit weird, but its only 2.1 innings so no conclusions can be drawn yet. I am noticing his ball does have a lot of downward movement though, so maybe he has a good feel for it today. Alexi Ramirez grounds out next, thats now 7 of 8 outs on the ground. Podsednik pops out to 3rd and thats 9 up, 9 down.
The first half of the 1st is uneventful for him, 3 grounders quckly get him thru the inning.
Ian Kinsler leads off the bottom half with a homer, perhaps making up for the one stolen from him yesterday afternoon. Marlon Byrd follows with a towering drive that sounds better than it looks, fly-out. Michael Young does the same thing, 2 outs. Andruw Jones k's and that was the fastest inning I have ever seen, including the dong.
I highly doubt Feldman gets thru 6 innings, and I will apologize and be happy to do so, if he does.
Jim Thome leads off the 2nd with a groundout, thats 4 grounders for the Chisox, perhaps Feldman has some serious movement on his pitches? My guess is that its more likely they will pound him the second time thru the order though. Jermaine Dye flys out to medium right. Every batter that Feldman gets out shocks me, to be honest. I want to reiterate the point: I am cheering for him, but he sucks. Paul Konerko ends the inning with another groundout. This is a glorious beginning. But short lived, Im certain.
Texas gets nowhere in the bottom half and its Feldman time again, top of 3. Pierzynski leads off with another groundout, this is getting a bit weird, but its only 2.1 innings so no conclusions can be drawn yet. I am noticing his ball does have a lot of downward movement though, so maybe he has a good feel for it today. Alexi Ramirez grounds out next, thats now 7 of 8 outs on the ground. Podsednik pops out to 3rd and thats 9 up, 9 down.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)