While you were hunting Easter eggs, teams were putting up goose eggs all over MLB scoreboards.
Mets 8, Diamondbacks 4: Don’t look now, but the Mets have now won four straight and finally have a good thing going. David Wright kept his resurgent play alive in a big way today, smacking two homers to plate three runs. Alas, the Mets did suffer one minor setback with their bullpen coughing up one run, perhaps making the untimely demise of Stanley the Toolbox in vain.
Tigers 3, White Sox 0: For the second game in a row and third time this week, the Chicago White Sox got whitewashed. This time it was Max Scherzer doing the blanking as he held the ChiSox down for eight shutout innings before Jose Valverde finished them off. The win completed a series sweep for the Tigers and left a struggling Chicago squad searching for answers.
Red Sox 7, Angels 0: The Red Sox have to be wishing they could face the Angels everyday. After getting a strong performance from Daisuke Matsuzaka last night, it was struggling John Lackey’s turn to get a dose of medicine, and that he did, shutting out his former team for eight innings. As if that weren’t enough, Carl Crawford hit his first homer of the season as the Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Halos. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving for Boston.
Marlins 6, Rockies 3: This game featured two of the best young pitchers in baseball squaring off in the form of Josh Johnson and Ubaldo Jimenez, but the game was largely decided by the respective bullpens failing at their jobs. Clay Hensely coughed up a two-run lead in the top of the eighth inning, but Mike Stanton quickly broke that tie by blasting a three-run jack off of Matt Belisle to secure the victory for the Marlins.
Rays 2, Blue Jays 0: Even with all of the other shutouts on the slate today, James Shields’ performance takes the cake as he was the only man who was able to finish what he started, going the full nine innings and needing a mere 95 pitches to do it. For Shields, it was his second straight complete game four-hitter. It was a good thing Shields was so good too, because the only offensive support he got was a two-run home run from Ben Zobrist.
Nationals 6, Pirates 3: Mike Morse finally showed some signs of life as he keyed this victory for Washington. His first home run of the season got the Nationals started early and they never looked back as they snapped their three-game losing streak. For you fantasy freaks out there, it is worth noting that Drew Storen picked up his third save in his last three appearances.
Yankees 6, Orioles 3 (11 innings): Two starts as a Yankee and Freddy Garcia has now twice spun six shutout innings. Garcia didn’t get to pick up a W to show for his hard work tonight though as Mariano Rivera blew the save, his second in as many opportunities. This actually would have been a loss for Mo too had Nick Swisher not gunned down Robert Andino at the plate to end the ninth inning. Ironically, it was then Andino who made a wild throw in the eleventh that allowed the Yankees to break the tie and go on to win the game.
Brewers 4, Astros 1: I’m not sure what was more bizarre to see in this game, a large hawk hanging out in the field of play for an inning of this game or Prince Fielder hitting a triple. Either way, Randy Wolf pitched eight dominant innings to earn the win for the Brew Crew.
Twins 4, Indians 3: It took until April 24th for the Twins to finally win their first series of the season, but at least they picked the right team to do it against, knocking off the upstart AL Central-leading Indians. Jason Kubel and a flu-free Justin Morneau each chipped in two RBIs to take care of all the necessary offense for Minnesota.
Dodgers 7, Cubs 3: The MLB takeover of the Dodgers doesn’t seem to be affecting the on-field product much as the Dodgers have now won four of their last five and Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 21 games. LA jumped out early with five runs against Carlos Zambrano who suffered his first loss since last June.
Rangers 8, Royals 7: The Rangers and Royals tried to play a baseball game but a home run derby broke out with each side connecting for three home runs including two from Mike Aviles. The Rangers also got their first dose of what life might be like without Neftali Feliz closing as Brett Tomko nearly gave away a four-run lead before being bailed out by Arthur Rhodes who got one out to register his first save of the season.
Phillies 3, Padres 1: Roy Halladay tried his best to join the ranks of pitchers who had shutouts tonight, but a two-out RBI single in the ninth spoiled those plans even though Doc racked up a career-high 14 strikeouts in the process. Halladay actually had a no-hitter going into that final inning as well, but it seems that the Philadelphia workhorse finally ran out of gas.
Athletics 5, Mariners 2: Coco Crisp spent all game setting the table and the heart of the lineup, especially Josh Willingham, who did their job clearing him up. Crisp scored three times and Willingham drove in three runs as Brett Anderson held the Seattle lineup in check long enough for the Mariner bullpen to meltdown and allow the A’s make a comeback victory.
Braves 9, Giants 6 (10 innings): The Braves fear neither the beard nor the Giants it would seem. Atlanta used the big bat of Jason Heyward and an extra inning to exact revenge for last season’s playoff ouster at the hands of the Giants by way of a sweep. In fitting fashion, Atlanta finally got over on San Francisco by going through Brian Wilson who was tagged for three runs on a barrage of singles in the tenth inning.
Cardinals 3, Reds 0: Our final game, our final shutout. Jake Westbrook combined with three relievers to limit the Reds to a four-hit no-run evening of work. The only runs of the game came off of a Yadier Molina homer.
Pitchers of the Night:
Max Scherzer, Tigers: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K
John Lackey, Red Sox: 8 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K
Roy Halladay, Phillies: 8.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 14 K
James Shields, Rays: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K
Randy Wolf, Brewers: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K
Hitters of the Night:
David Wright, Mets: 2-for-4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, 1 BB, 1 SB
Mike Morse, Nationals: 3-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR
Curtis Granderson, Yankees: 3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 1 HR
Mike Aviles, Royals: 3-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, 1 SB
Jason Heyward, Braves: 3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 1 HR
Links of the Day:
Tim Lincecum hates the idea of adding another wild card team
Neftali Feliz has landed on the 15-day disabled list
Increased use of creatine may be the cause of the rash of oblique injuries in MLB this year
The relationship between Derek Jeter and Yankee management may be strained after his contract negotations this off-seoson
What To Watch For:
Athletics vs. Angels (10:05 p.m. EST): Jered Weaver aims for his sixth win of the season before the month of April is even up, but to do it he’ll have to find away to get some runs out of the anemic Angel lineup against the formidable foe of Gio Gonzalez.
Enjoy your day of baseball as well as any Cadbury eggs that you might have stolen from your nephew’s Easter basket.
