I think you can safely say that in regards to the Colorado Rockies, the other shoe has dropped. One day after Shelby Miller set down 27 in a row against them, Adam Wainwright threw a two-hit shutout against Colorado, pitching 7 1/3 hitless innings to start the game. Since topping out at 13-4 on April 20th, the Rockies are 6-13 as their schedule has gotten tougher. They've won just one of their last six series, and that was over the reeling Dodgers. Colorado gets a brief respite this week by taking on the Cubs, but then have ten straight against the Giants and Diamondbacks, the two teams ahead of them in the NL West standings. It's nice to see things righting themselves a bit.
PIC OF THE DAY
adam dunn playing defense dot jpg (Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Night: Rays 8, Padres 7. Tampa Bay is finally at the .500 mark, and they did it in dramatic, gut-wrenching fashion. After a Chase Headley first inning homer gave San Diego a 2-0 lead, the Rays stormed back and scored six in the second against Burch Smith, making his major league debut. Tyson Ross relieved Smith and threw four scoreless innings to fan the flames, but the damage was done. But in the seventh, Jeremy Hellickson allowed a game-tying grand slam to Jesus Guzman, and Jaret Wright proceeded to walk in a run to give the Padres a 7-6 lead. In the ninth, with Huston Street on to close things out, things got hairy. Street got the first two outs without much trouble, then walked Ben Zobrist to bring up Evan Longoria. Longoria blasted a walkoff, two-run homer to give the Rays the win, and make Padres fans ill.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Adam Wainwright's magical year continues in St Louis' 3-0 win over Colorado. Wainwright threw a complete game shutout, allowing two hits and striking out seven while walking one. Madison Bumgarner had a great start for the Giants in their 10-1 thumping of the Braves, allowing one run on four hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out 11. Ubaldo Jimenez looked like the Ubaldo of old in Cleveland's 7-6 win over Detroit, giving up one run on three hits in six innings, striking out eight with one walk. Mark Buerhrle helped the Blue Jays to a 3-2 win over the Red Sox, giving up one run on five hits over seven frames, striking out five and walking two. Finally, there's Cliff Lee, who powered the Phillies to a 3-1 win in Arizona, allowing six hits in seven shutout innings, walking two and striking out three.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Jose Tabata and Jordy Mercer made up the unlikely duo that led the Pirates to an 11-2 romp over the Mets. Tabata went 4/5 with three runs, three RBI, a double, and a homer, while Mercer went 2/5 with a pair of solo homers. Jean Segura continued his great start to the year in Milwaukee's 13-7 loss to Cincinnati, going 4/5 with three runs, a double, a homer, and a stolen base. On the other side of the diamond, Jay Bruce powered the Reds offense by going 3/5 with two runs, two RBI, two doubles, and a homer. Matt Dominguez did well for the Astros in their 8-7 loss to the Rangers, going 2/4 with two homers and three RBI.
Other Games: The Angels edged the White Sox 3-2. The Cubs pounded the Nationals 8-2. The Yankees slipped by the Royals 3-2. The Twins beat the Orioles 8-5. The Dodgers smashed the Marlins 7-1. The A's hit three solo homers in a 4-3 win over the Mariners.
What You Missed: Joel Hanrahan is out for the rest of the season.
Today's Games: Ryan Dempster and the Red Sox host the Blue Jays. Matt Harvey starts for the Mets against the Pirates. Gio Gonzalez gets the nod for the Nationals against the Cubs and Scott Feldman. Hiroki Kuroda starts for the Yankees in Kansas City against Ervin Santana. Wei-Yin Chen takes on Scott Diamond in Minnesota. Jorge de la Rosa looks to stop the bleeding for the Rockies against Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals. Kris Medlen and the Braves take on Tim Lincecum and the Giants. CJ Wilson takes on Chris Sale in Chicago.
National TV: Blue Jays-Red Sox (1:30 PM, TBS), Angels-White Sox (8 PM, ESPN)
Enjoy your day of baseball, and Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there.
