Thursday, June 12, 2008

Around the Horn - 6/12

Willie Randolph must have been thinking things couldn't get much worse. His team was saddled with a 5-game losing streak, but had a 3-0 lead against the Diamondbacks in the 9th inning. Mike Pelfrey may have been pitching his best game in a Mets uniform. Then he allowed a base runner and Randolph pulled him for his closer Billy Wagner. Moments later Wagner was hanging his head after Mark Reynolds hit a game tying 3-run home run. But Carlos Beltran saved the day and his manager's stomach with a 13th inning walk off 2-run home run.

The Mets won 5-3, but the news wasn't all good. After 2 games back, it looks like Moises Alou is headed back to the DL.

Talk about tough losses in a win. The Cubs rolled over the Braves 7-2, but lost Alfonso Soriano for at least 6 weeks with a broken hand after he was hit with a Jeff Bennett pitch. Kosuke Fukudome belted a 3-run home run to help Ryan Dempster improve to 8-2.

Milton Bradley is nuts unstable. It's been documented on several occasions. Last night Bradley added to his resume by trying to go after KC Royals announcer Ryan Lefebvre in the press box when Bradley found otu that Lefebvre had spoken despairingly about him. Teammates stopped him and he returned to the clubhouse in tears.
"All I want to do is play baseball and make a better life for my kid than I had, that's it," Bradley said. "I love all you guys. I'm strong, but I'm not that strong."

Lefebvre said, from what he remembers, that he was complimenting Josh Hamilton and how he's been accountable for his mistakes and said "it doesn't appear Milton Bradley has done the same thing in his life."

"It is an interesting contrast between the two guys," Lefebvre said. "We also spent a lot of time complimenting Milton Bradley, but that's not what he heard when he was in the clubhouse."

Seriously, this guy needs meds if he's not on them already. Meanwhile his teammates came back from a 5-1 deficit for the second straight night to beat the Royals 11-5. Rookie David Murphy homered twice and drove in 5 runs.

Justin Verlander won his first game since May 20 and pitched in the 9th inning for the first time all season in Detroit's 5-1 win over the White Sox. Marcus Thames gave the Tigers offense a jolt with a 2nd inning 3-run home run.

Felix Hernandez won his third straight game as he moved down the Blue Jays over 8 innings in the Mariners 2-1 win. Closer J.J. Putz had to leave the game with a sore arm after facing just one hitter in the 9th inning.

The pitching match up of the night featured the Giants Tim Lincecum and the Rockies Ubaldo Jiminez. Each throw shut out ball for 7 innings and the game was scoreless in the 9th. The Rockies loaded the bases and Yorvit Torrealba's sac fly brought home the game winner.

Maecir Izturis' 2-run single in the 7th gave the Angels a 4-2 win over the Rays. John Lackey picked up his 3rd win in defeating Scott Kazmir. Rays starter James Shields dropped the appeal of his 6-game suspension stemming from the brawl with the Red Sox on June 5.

Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel combined for 5 RBI in the Twins 8-5 win over the Indians. Nick Blackburn won his first game since getting drilled by a Bobby Abreu line drive on June 1. Indians catcher Victor Martinez had to leave the game with a sore elbow and will be going for an MRI today.

The Padres won for the 5th time in 6 games, beating the Dodgers 4-1. Randy Wolf improved to 5-4 with 7 stellar innings, supported by home runs from Khalil Greene and Edgar Gonzalez. Jake Peavy comes off the DL today for the Padres and will start the finale of the series.

Baseballs were flying out of Minute Maid Park in Houston. 8 home runs in total in the Brewers 10-6 win. Corey Hart lead the way with a pair of home runs and 4 RBI. The Astros, who started out so surprisingly, have lost 10 of 13.

Bartolo Colon improved to 4-1, 3.41 with a 6-inning, 7 strikeout performance against the Orioles. Jason Varitek's 3-run home run capped a 5-run 1st inning in the Red Sox 6-3 win. Dice-K threw his first bullpen session since going on the DL on May 30.

Dan Uggla gave the Marlins a 6-2 with a 9th inning walk off grand slam, his 19th home run of the season. Chase Utley drove in both Phillies runs including a game tying RBI in the top of the 9th. That got Cole Hamels off the hook. Incredibly, he stood to take the loss after pitching 3-hit ball for 8 innings with 13 strikeouts. Two of those three hits were solo home runs by Jorge Cantu. The Marlins also ended the Jacques Jones experiment, designating him for assignment.

In case anyone cares, the Pirates beat the Nationals 3-1. 'nuff said. Bad news though for Nats fans, Ryan Zimmerman will miss at least another 4-6 weeks with his cranky shoulder.

The Cardinals played their first of many games without Albert Pujols and pounded the Cincinnati Reds 10-0. Rick Ankiel, Jason LaRue, and Ryan Ludwick all went deep. Braden Looper threw a complete game shutout to improve to 8-5. Pujols is expected to miss at least 3 weeks with a calf strain (our imagination or is the calf strain the new hamstring injury?).

No comments:

Post a Comment