First off, I'd like to apologize for that terrible pun. Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez remains the best free agent signing of the winter. He threw 8 1/3 no-hit innings on Friday night against the Twins, and struck out 12 during the game. For the season, Sanchez has a 2.38 ERA in 64 1/3 innings with 80 strikeouts and 17 walks. His 2.8 fWAR is tops among all pitchers in baseball, including teammates Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander (who rank thrid and fifth in the AL in fWAR on their own). Only Yu Darvish has a better strikeout rate among starters. Yeah…life is pretty good right now for Sanchez. Cubs fans are probably sick thinking about how close they were to signing him, especially with as poorly as Edwin Jackson has pitched for them.
PIC OF THE DAY
Ben Revere tries (and fails) to make another spectacular catch. (Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Night: Athletics 6, Astros 5. A five run fifth inning nearly held up for Houston. They led 5-3 after a Seth Smith solo homer in the sixth inning, and that score held until the ninth. Jose Veras came in for the save, and he pitched like…well, Jose Veras. John Jaso led off the inning with a walk. After striking out Eric Sogard, Veras proceeded to walk Coco Crisp to put two men on for Chris Young. The former Diamondback hit a three-run homer to put Oakland in front 6-5, and break Houston fans' hearts across the league. The Astros put two men on with one out against closer Grant Balfour in the ninth, but he managed to strike out Robbie Grossman and get Jose Altuve to ground into a fielders choice to end the game.
Hitting Lines of the Night: In that win in Houston, Chris Young went 3/5 with two runs, three RBI, and a homer. Michael Cuddyer led the Rockies to a 5-0 win over the Giants, going 2/4 with two runs, three RBI, a double, and a homer. Chris Davis continued to smash the ball in Baltimore's 10-6 win over the Blue Jays, going 3/4 with a walk, a double, and a solo homer, his 16th of the year. David Freese and Allen Craig combined to destroy the Dodgers in a 7-0 Cardinals win, with Freese going 2/3 with three RBI, a walk, a double, and a homer, and Craig going 2/4 with three RBI, a double, and a homer.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Anibal Sanchez's full line in that 6-0 Tigers win over the Twins: one hit in nine shutout frames with 12 strikeouts and three walks. Whew. John Lackey continued his amazing rebirth, allowing one unearned run on two hits in seven innings, walking three and striking out eight in Boston's 8-1 win over Cleveland. Lance Lynn dominated the Dodgers in that Cardinals win, allowing just two hits in six scoreless innings, walking one and striking out nine. The Brewers beat the Pirates 2-1, but both starters pitched well. Marco Estrada allowed one run on four hits in seven innings for Milwaukee, striking out eight without a walk, and AJ Burnett gave up two runs on three hits in seven innings, walking two and striking out six.
Other Games: The Braves and Mets were suspended after eight innings with the game tied at five. The Nationals beat the Phillies 5-2 as Jordan Zimmermann shut down Philly. The Reds rode a five run fourth to a 7-4 win over the Cubs. The Yankees smashed the Rays 9-4, but lost Curtis Granderson again. The White Sox beat the Marlins 4-3 in 11 innings, but should have won in the tenth after a blown call. The Diamondbacks beat the Padres 5-2. The Angels beat the scuffling Royals 5-2. The Rangers topped the Mariners 9-5, but all the talk after the game was about Jeff Nelson's blown call in the second.
What You Missed: This week's watchability rankings from Garrett. Amanda put together a great Q&A with Ozzie Smith.
Today's Games: RA Dickey starts for the Blue Jays against the Orioles. Scott Kazmir takes on Jon Lester in Boston. Jeremy Guthrie starts for the Royals, hosting the Angels. Doug Fister gets the nod for the Tigers against the Twins. Jeff Locke starts for the Pirates in Milwaukee. Matt Moore will start for the Rays against the Yankees. Travis Wood will start for the Cubs in Cincinnati against Homer Bailey. Ricky Nolasco takes on Jake Peavy in Chicago. Phillies rookie Jon Pettibone starts in Washington against Dan Haren. Mike Minor gets the nod for the Braves at Citi Field. Felix Hernandez and the Mariners host the Rangers. Wade Miley and the Diamondbacks host Andrew Cashner and the Padres.
National TV: Yankees-Rays (4 PM, MLB Network), Twins-Tigers (4 PM, MLB Network), Braves-Mets (7 PM, Fox), Phillies-Nationals (7 PM, Fox), Cardinals-Dodgers (7 PM, Fox), Marlins-White Sox (7 PM, Fox), A's-Astros (7 PM, Fox)
Enjoy your day of baseball and your Memorial Day weekend, everyone.
