You know, I was planning on writing an article about the NL Cy Young award race yesterday. I decided to put it off until today since RA Dickey, one of the first half favorites, was starting yesterday afternoon against the Marlins. Since the break, Dickey has been good…but not really "transcendent" like he was in the first half. Well, yesterday…he was transcedent again. In New York's 6-1 win over Miami, Dickey threw a complete game and allowed just one run on five hits. Dickey also did what he did best: struck out ten hitters while walking none. Any doubts about the awesomeness of RA Dickey are gone in my mind.
Game of the Night: Cubs 5, Reds 3. The Reds have lost five straight. IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT! Zack Cozart led the game off for the Reds homer with a homer, and a Ryan Ludwick groundout made it 2-0. The Cubs answered with one of their own in the first, but a Todd Frazier homer in the fourth made it 3-1 in favor of Cincinnati. With Mat Latos running on fumes, he allowed a two-run, game-tying double to Starlin Castro in the sixth before being chased from the game.Then in the eighth, Sean Marshall walked Anthony Rizzo with one out and was pulled from the game for Logan Ondrusek. Of course, he immediately allowed a homer to Alfonso Soriano to give Chicago the lead. Carlos Marmol had a typical shaky outing, but eventually escaped the ninth unscathed to finish off the Cubs win.
Pitching Lines of the Day: Aside from Dickey's masterpiece, the best start of the day came from Jordan Zimmermann in a 5-0 Nationals win in Houston. Zimmermann allowed three hits over six shutout innings, and struck out 11 Astros hitters without a walk. I'll give a hat tip to Matt Moore as well, who allowed one run on two hits over six innings, walking two and striking out six in Tampa Bay's 7-1 win over Toronto.
Hitting Lines of the Day: Dickey got some support from center fielder Andres Torres, who went 3/3 with two runs, three RBI, a walk, a double, a triple, and a homer. The Royals smacked the Orioles 8-2, and Billy Butler went 3/5 with three runs, three RBI, a double, a triple, and a homer. Shame that neither hitter could get that elusive single to finish off their cycle. The Diamondbacks beat the Pirates 6-3, and Jason Kubel continues to prove be wrong, going 2/5 with two homers and four RBI. Zimmermann also got some support in his game from Michael Morse, who went 2/3 with two solo homers and three RBI.
Other Games: Back to back homers by Mark Teixeira and Eric Chavez gave the Yankees a 4-3 win over the Tigers. Adam Wainwright outdueled Madison Bumgarner in a 3-1 Cardinals win over the Giants. Ubaldo Jimenez struck out ten in a 5-3 Indians win over the Red Sox.
Today's Games: Kyle Lohse takes on Roy Halladay in Philly. Edinson Volquez takes on James McDonald in Pittsburgh. Max Scherzer starts for the Tigers in Texas. Paul Maholm goes for round two with the Braves against Mets uber prospect Matt Harvey. Brandon McCarthy returns to the A's rotation for the first time in nearly two months, starting in Chicago against Gavin Floyd. Clayton Kershaw and Mark Buerhle will duel in Miami, and Friday will also mark Hanley Ramirez's first career game against the Marlins. Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals travel to the desert to take on Trevor Cahill and the Diamondbacks. Felix Hernandez and the Mariners take on a scuffling Angels team. Tim Lincecum and the Giants host the Rockies.
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
