Tigers 3 - Rangers 2
- Brandon Inge with the heroics today as he launched a Darren Oliver pitch over the fence in the bottom of the 9th.
- Another 1-run Rangers loss where Neftali Feliz never made an appearance. That's two now, if you're keeping track. When I see this happen it strengthens my belief that Feliz belongs in the rotation.
- Memo to Ron Washington: Stop managing by the save rule. Feliz is not on your fantasy team.
- Another fine outing from Max Scherzer as he went 6 innings and gave up only 2 earned runs. He struckout 7 and walked 2 in the no decision. His velocity is still down (91.9 mph) from where it was last season (93.1 mph).
- David Murphy with 2 hits and 2 stolen bases. Playing time isn't an issue, now with Hamilton on the DL.
- W: Jose Valverde (2-0), L: Darren Oliver (1-1); HR: Brandon Inge (1); SB: Michael Young (2), David Murphy (3 & 4), Brennan Boesch (2); CS: David Murphy (2)
Royals 10 - Twins 5
- What is wrong with Francisco Liriano? Today he allowed 7 earned runs on 8 hits and 1 walk in only 5 innings. That makes three straight outings where he's pitched 5 innings or less and allowed at least 4 earned runs. Maybe it's his velocity, which like Scherzer, is down from last season. Today he sat 91-92 and topped out at 94 mph. He got 15 ground balls to just 2 fly balls, which is encouraging considering he started the season with a 34.5|PERCENT| ground ball rate.
- Tiny Tim Collins with 1.1 cleaning innings and 2 strikeouts, in relief of Kyle Davies.
- Jeremy Jeffress pitched 2 scoreless innings to end things and get the save.
- Another game with Michael Cuddyer at 2B. He's up to two now. Matt Tolbert went 2-5 with a run, filling in at SS.
- Alex Gordon went 2-5 with 2 RBI and hit his 6th double. That's 8 straight games with a hit.
- Mike Aviles might have awoken from his slumber. Today wrapped out 2 doubles with 3 RBI.
- W: Kyle Davies (1-1), L: Francisco Liriano (0-3), SV: Jeremy Jeffress (1); CS: Alcides Escobar (1)
A's 7 - White Sox 4
- Chris Sale, who threw 34 pitches the night before, came in for his first save chance of the season in the 9th with a 4-1 lead. He allowed a run and left with runners on 1st & 2nd, when Jesse Crain came into the game. Crain walked a man to load the bases and then struck out Kurt Suzuki. Matt Thornton then entered and struck out Ryan Sweeney. Cliff Pennington then hit a ball into shallow center to plate two runners and tie the game. Thornton hung around in the 10th and allowed 3 runs to finish off the meltdown. If you're trying to figure out what to make of all this, I suggest you check out an earlier post discussing this. The short of it is Sergio Santos is in everyone's good graces… for now.
- Before this game was blown by the White Sox bullpen, John Danks pitched a gem. He allowed 1 earned run over 8 innings with 7 strikeouts. The lone run came off a Hideki Matsui homer. Speaking of which, Danks has now given up a homer in each of his three starts. With a 3.15 ERA and 20/8 K/BB, he's better than his 0-1 record shows.
- Brett Anderson pitched 5.2 innings with 3 runs (2 earned) allowed with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk. It's early, but his ground ball rate might be on the rise. Coming into today it was 63.4|PERCENT| and today he got 14 ground balls (66.7|PERCENT|).
- Conor Jackson, a .291 career hitter vs lefties, hit third against Danks, a lefty. He went 2-4 with 2 runs and a walk.
- W: Grant Balfour (1-1), L: Matt Thornton (0-2), SV: Brian Fuentes (5); HR: Hideki Matsui (2); SB: Mark Ellis (1), Conor Jackson (1), Coco Crisp (5), Alex Rios (2); CS: Juan Pierre (3 & 4)
Blue Jays 8 - Mariners 3
- Jason Vargas struck out 7, walked 1, and allowed 1 earned run in 6.2 innings. He took the no decision, after Chris Ray imploded in the 7th. Vargas had a very similar line in his first start against Oakland with 1 earned run in 6.2 innings and 6 strikeouts to 1 walk. His second start was as you probably guessed, disastrous.
- Kyle Drabek didn't have his best stuff (4 walks & 6 hits over 5.2 innings), but the light hitting Mariners didn't take advantage (2 runs).
- Corey Patterson went 2-5 with a run in CF. I didn't even know he was with the Blue Jays before I saw today's box score. He's filling in for the injured Rajai Davis and ready to torment your roster.
- An odd lineup of sorts for the Blue Jays as Edwin Encarnacion (E5) played 1B, Jayson Nix was at 3B, and J.P. Arencibia hit DH with Travis Snider on the bench.
- Jon Rauch got 4 outs to end the game, in a non-save situation.
- W: Marc Rzepczynski (1-0), L: Chris Ray (1-1); HR: Jose Bautista (3), Justin Smoak (1); SB: Travis Snider (3), Jayson Nix (2),
Yankees 7 - Orioles 4
- A.J. Burnett received his 3rd win, after being staked a 6-0 lead after the 2nd inning. He pitched 6.1 innings with 5 strikeouts and 4 earned runs. The earned runs came via two 2-run homers. That's now three starts and 3 home runs given up.
- Chris Tillman got shellacked, giving up 6 earned runs, while only getting 5 outs. A 3-run homer to A-Rod in the first inning was the beginning of the end for him.
- Mariano Rivera pitched a clean 9th with 1 strikeout for his 5th save. I swear he is not human.
- Derrek Lee (0-4), Adam Jones (0-4), and Curtis Granderson (0-3) are all hitting below .200. Then again, it's still very early.
- Matt Wieters went 2-3 with a 2-run homer, his first round tripper of the season.
- Robert Andino played SS, in place of the injury J.J. Hardy.
- W: A.J. Burnett (3-0), L: Chris Tillman (0-1), SV: Mariano Rivera; HR: Brian Roberts (3), Matt Wieters (1), Alex Rodriguez (4), Jorge Posada (4); CS: Brett Gardner (1)
Angels 4 - Indians 3
- Ervin Santana aka "Big Erv" and Carlos Carrasco both went 7 innings and allowed 3 earned runs. Carrasco had a rough debut, but has pitched much better in his last two outings. He showed a strong ground ball rate (56.8|PERCENT|) in his 44.2 innings last season with the club.
- Torii Hunter has been my favorite player for some time now, mostly because of how he carries himself and the all around talent that he is. Wednesday he went deep for his third dodger.
- Vernon Wells went 1-5 with a run, the game winning one. He was dropped in one of my 12 team mixed leagues because of his bad start (4-44). I'm not sure when it's time to drop a hitter that's not producing, but 2 weeks isn't it for Wells, at least not to me.
- Peter Bourjos took the Golden Sombrero going 0-5 with 4 Ks.
- Fernando Rodney struckout 2 and got 4 scoreless outs. Youngin' Jordan Walden struckout 1 in a scoreless 10th.
- W: Hisanori Takahashi (1-0), L: Chad Durbin (0-1); HR: Torii Hunter (3); SB: Shin-Soo Choo (1 & 2),
Rays vs. Red Sox was rained out.
Padres 3 - Reds 2
- Travis Wood allowed 1 earned run in 6.2 innings. He also allowed 1 earned run in his season debut. The start in the middle (6 earned runs in 5 innings) is the stuff Oreos are not made of.
- Pitching on back-to-back days, Aroldis Chapman's velocity was noticeably down, sitting at 92 mph and topping out at 94. His velocity was similarly down on Sunday, when he pitched on back-to-back days. Hopefully his stamina will build and this won't be an issue for long.
- Nick Masset has had a rough start to the season. Wednesday he allowed an inherited runner to score in the 8th to tie the game. Then in the 9th he loaded the bases, before giving up the winning run.
- Tim Stauffer needed 99 pitches to make it through 4.1 innings. He allowed 2 earned run with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks. The 4 strikeouts are encouraging as he had a total of 3 in his first two starts.
- Brandon Phillips went 0-4, before leaving with a slight groin injury. It's not expected to be serious.
- Orlando Hudson bunted with Jason Bartlett on second and no outs in the 8th. It completely backfired and Bartlett was out at third, while Hudson was safe at first. Fail.
- Nick Hundley singled in a pinch-hit at-bat and scored the game winning run. He's the Padres hottest hitter and batting a cool .406.
W: Heath Bell (1-0), L: Nick Masset (0-3); SB: Joey Votto (2), Orlando Hudson (5)
Phillies 3 - Nationals 2
- Roy Halladay fired off a complete game for his second win. He entered the 9th with a shutout, but allowed 2 runs to score with one out, before striking out Matt Stairs and Ivan Rodriguez to end things.
- John Lannan didn't embarrass himself as he allowed 3 runs (2 earned) to the Phillies in 6 innings. Three strikeouts and three walks is what showed up in the box score.
- Adam LaRoche, who has been battling a shoulder and groin injury, got two hits.
- Raul Ibanez went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. Against a lefty, not surprising.
- Ian Desmond again hit leadoff and went 0-3, but he took a walk, his second of the season.
- W: Roy Halladay (2-0), L: John Lannan (1-1); SB: Ian Desmond (4)
Brewers 6 - Pirates 0
- Shaun Marcum pitched 7 shutout innings with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. No runners even made it to second base, Marcum was that good.
- Kevin Correia allowed 6 runs (4 earned) in his 6 innings. One strikeout and two walks makes me yawn, yet some owners will see his 2-1 record and the 2.70 ERA and add him to their NL team.
- The Pirates bullpen pitched 3 scoreless innings. Evan Meek was among those involved and now has his ERA down to 9.82, which sounds like a 100 meter dash time.
- Jonathan Lucroy made his first start of the season at backstop and went 1-4 with a double. He should be behind the plate plenty, so if you're out there looking for catchers in a NL league, check him out.
- I'm not sure what Matt Diaz was doing hitting 5th against the righty, Marcum, but he went 2-4. Diaz is a career .269/.326/.380 hitter against righties.
- W: Shaun Marcum (2-1), L: Kevin Correia (2-1); HR: Prince Fielder (3); CS: Casey McGehee (1)
Marlins 5 - Braves 1
- Josh Johnson took a no-no into the 8th inning. Freedie Freeman doubled off him at the top of the inning and he was pulled in favor of Ryan Webb. He was at 109 pitches, 71 of which were for strike. All told he had 9 strikeouts and 3 walks. He's now 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA.
- Tim Hudson pitched 6 innings with 5 earned runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Most guys wouldn't have had a chance with the way Johnson pitched, but loading the bases in the 2nd inning and allowing 3 runs to score, pretty much sealed his fate.
- Jason Heyward again batted 6th for the Braves… (sigh).
- Former NL Rookie of the Year, Chris Coghlan went 3-4 with 2 RBI and a run, from the leadoff spot.
- W: Josh Johnson (2-0), L: Tim Hudson (2-1); HR: Logan Morrison (3), Chipper Jones (1)
Rockies 5 - Mets 4
- A career .232/.321/.400 hitter in March & April, Troy Tulowitzki has been a notorious slow starter. Wednesday he hit his 5th homer of the season to put him at .306/.447/.806. He also hit a double and single to give him 3 RBI and 2 runs. The mullet possesses great power.
- Esmil Rogers lasted 5.2 innings and gave up 3 earned runs on 7 hits and 4 walks. Through two starts he has a 2-0 record with a 9/5 K/BB ratio in 13 innings.
- Jonathon Niese gave up 5 earned runs over 6 innings. He was cruising with a 3-1 lead, until Tulowitzki cracked him in the 5th.
- Huston Street nailed down his MLB leading 6th save with a clean 9th inning. It's interesting that his velocity (89.6 mph) is down a bit from where it was last season (91.3 mph) and that he's been throwing his change-up more, in this early season.
- Daniel Murphy went 1-4 with a double at 2B. Brad Emaus came off the bench and got a pinch-hit single.
- Jonathan Herrera went 2-4 and swiped two bases, while playing second base. Jose Lopez was busy playing 3B, while Ian Stewart (1-17) was on the bench.
- W: Esmil Rogers (2-0), L: Jonathon Niese (0-2), SV: Huston Street (6); HR: Troy Tulowitzki (5), Ryan Spilborghs (1); SB: Jonathan Herrera (3 & 4)
Cubs 9 - Astros 5
- Carlos Zambrano hit his first homer of the season. I say it's the first because there's a good chance there will be another. He did hit four in '08 and '09. If you're in a league drafting pitchers that only uses their batting stats, chances are Big Z is high on your cheat sheet.
- Zambrano also pitched in this game, allowing 5 earned runs over 5.2 innings. He was carrying a shutout into the 6th inning, but then the vaunted Astros offense struck.
- Wandy Rodriguez got roughed up again, this time to the tune of 5 earned runs over 5 innings. The first inning involved a 2-run double from Jeff Baker and a 3-run homer from Alfonso Soriano. After that he settled in, but the damage was done.
- Mark Melancon struckout 2 in a scoreless 8th. That's 7 strikeouts in 6 innings for the reliever that came over in the Lance Berkman trade.
- Darwin Barney went 2-4 with a RBI and run at 2B, while Jeff Baker went 2-5 with 2 RBI and 1 run at 1B.
- W: Carlos Zambrano (2-0), L: Wandy Rodriguez (0-2); HR: Alfonso Soriano (4), Carlos Zambrano (1), Matt Downs (1); SB: Starlin Castro (2)
Cardinals 15 - Diamondbacks 5
- Ian Kennedy got lit up for 9 earned runs over just 3 innings. Things weren't going well for him in the 2nd when he had already staked the Cards 4 runs, but then he served up a grandslam to Lance Berkman. After going 8 innings with 9 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 1 earned run in his last outing against the Reds, this is not what his owners (me) expected.
- Jake Westbrook got 13 ground balls, en-route to giving up 5 runs (2 earned) over 5.1 innings.
- Ryan Theriot, Colby Rasmus, Albert Pujols, Daniel Descalso, David Freese, and Gerald Laird all had at least 2 hits.
- Russell Branyan went 2-4 and hit his first homer of the season. He also collected 2 RBI and 2 runs. Juan Miranda went 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance. Not sure what Brandon Allen did in the minors (sigh).
- W: Jake Westbrook (1-1), L: Ian Kennedy (1-1); HR: Lance Berkman (4), Skip Schumaker (1), Russell Branyan (1)
Giants 4 - Dodgers 3
- Jonathan Sanchez struckout 9 and allowed 3 earned runs over 6 innings.
- Ted Lilly struckout 2 and walked none, but gave up 4 earned runs in his 6 innings. Solo homers off of Pablo Sandoval and Mike Fontenot in the 6th didn't help.
- Brandon Belt went 2-3 with a walk and run.
- With James Loney in a 7-44 (.159) slow start, Casey Blake started at 1B, Juan Uribe manned 3B, and Aaron Miles, who had 3 hits, played 2B. Loney is a career .258/.317/.375 hitter off of lefties, so don't be surprised to see more games where Blake plays 1B, when a southpaw is on the bump. At some point Jerry Sands will figure into this picture.
- Sergio Romo got 3 outs and no one scored. In the process he struckout 2 batters.
- W: Jonathan Sanchez (1-1), L: Ted Lilly (0-2), SV: Brian Wilson (2); HR: Rod Barajas (3), Pablo Sandoval (2), Mike Fontenot (1); SB: Buster Posey (1), CS: Tony Gwynn Jr. (1), Aaron Rowand (1)