It was the beginning of interleague play last night, and regardless of how you feel about it, I’m going to tell you about it anyway.
Marlins 5, Rays 3
Anibal Sanchez continued his excellent work to date (7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K), and he got help from Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton as the Marlins continue to make surprising noise in the NL East. No one really talked about them, but they look really good early on. And do you remember me talking about Matt Joyce earlier in the week? Two triples in this one.
Pirates 10, Tigers 1
I’ve made fun of the Pirates a little bit for having Neil Walker in the clean-up spot, but he told me to shove it in this one. One home run and 5 RBIs came off his bat in this to back a solid start from Jeff Karstens. In other news, Austin Jackson, last season’s darling, continues to hit in the lead-off spot despite his .294 OBP.
Mets 2, Yankees 1
RA Dickey was in control of his knuckleball (6 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K), and the Mets bullpen dominated the rest of the way (3 IP, 5 K). Daniel Murphy provided a nice home run to put the Mets in the lead for good. Mark Teixeira hit his 11th home run of the season to help Freddy Garcia (7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K), but it wasn’t enough as the Yankees continue to struggle.
Astros 5, Blue Jays 2
Poor Jo-Jo Reyes. Last night was his 26th start of his career, and he doesn’t have a win yet. He did all he could (7 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 7 K), but the bullpen imploded by giving up all five runs in this one. Hunter Pence (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and Chris Johnson (2-3, HR, 2 RBI) provided the offense to back Aneury Rodriguez (5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K).
Phillies 3, Rangers 2
The Phillies called up uber-prospect Dominic Brown before this one, and fearing for their jobs, Ben Francisco and Raul Ibanez homered. Talk about incentive/motivation. And per usual, that was enough for Roy Halladay (8 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K) and was-skittish-now-manly Ryan Madson.
Royals 3, Cardinals 0
Well, the AL finally gets one, and somehow, it’s on the back of Jeff Francis. Not a lot of offense in this one, but it came from equally unlikely sources—Brayan Pena, Alcides Escobar, and Melky Cabrera. In other news, Cabrera and Jeff Francouer are playing well this season, and I hate myself.
Indians 5, Reds 4
It’s your first major-league at-bat, and it’s the bottom of the eighth with two outs and a runner on third in a 4-4 tie. What would you do? Well, Ezquiel Carrerra laid down a nifty bunt and avoided a tag by Joey Votto to win the game for the Tribe. Well, that’s certainly one way to do it.
Nationals 17, Orioles 5
If you Jake Arrieta or Jason Marquis on your fantasy teams, last night was not a good night to start them. The Nationals hit 6 home runs, including 2 by Jayson Werth, and Danny Espinosa came up a double short of the cycle, which is actually somewhat close to a cycle unlike being a triple short. The Nationals came 2 innings away (1st and 3rd) from scoring in every inning.
Red Sox 15, Cubs 5
A few things to note in this one, none of them on offense. Doug Davis got shellacked (3.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 3 K). Jon Lester didn’t do a whole lot better (6 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K), but it was enough for the win. And Scott Atchison, of all people, picks up the rare 3-inning save (3 IP, 3 K) with three perfect innings.
Dodgers 6, White Sox 4
Ted Lilly and Phillip Humber have very similar, productive nights, but Sergio Santos probably wishes he had stayed home (loss, blown save, 1.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 K).
D-Backs 8, Twins 7
I was told the Twins intentionally walked Willie Bloomquist. If everything is right in the world, that’s enough reason for the Twins to lose. Well, Ryan Roberts followed with a bases-clearing double, and the Twins mounted a three-run comeback in the ninth before falling short. Even if the Rapture doesn’t happen, justice was served.
Mariners 4, Padres 1
Erik Bedard pitched like he did back in the glory days of offense (8 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 9 K), and Mat Latos continued his bleh 2011 campaign (6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 4 K). Miguel Olivo (.213/.278/.307) had a double and home run in this one. Stuff like that happens.
Angels 9, Braves 0
Tim Hudson hit 3 people in this one, and it really didn’t get any better from there. Ervin Santana, however, was spectacular in a complete-game shut-out. He gave up 4 hits and struck out 7 without walking anyone, and he only needed 103 pitches.
Brewers 7, Rockies 6
It took 14 innings, but the game finally ended with a Prince Fielder rapture … walk-off home run. The score was 4-4 until the 13th when both teams scored once, and the Fielder homer off-set another run scored in the top of the 14th. In other news, Yuniesky Betancourt and Jason Giambi hit home runs.
Giants 2, Athletics 1
Trevor Cahill (6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K) and Ryan Vogelsong (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K) did their jobs, and the game came down to a duel between the bullpens. In the bottom of the 11th, Aubrey Huff nailed the walk-off single off Brian Fuentes, and the NL takes day 1, 9-4.
Tonight’s Games
Houston at Toronto, 1 PM
Brett Myers against Brandon Morrow in probably the second-best pitching match-up of the day.
Texas at Philadelphia, 7 PM
Cliff Lee faces off against the team that he helped get to the playoffs. Now, he tries to get the other team to the playoffs. Colby Lewis takes on his former team while trying to also get his team to the playoffs. You follow?
Atlanta at LA Angels, 10 PM
In the pitching match-up of the night, Tommy Hanson faces off against Joel Pineiro.
