Cole Hamels is getting too much blame for Philadelphia's season. Yeah, he's 1-8, but in his 11 starts, the Phillies have given Hamels a total of 20 runs of support. That's less than two runs of offense per game, and while Hamels' 4.43 ERA isn't ideal, no pitcher can rack up the wins with that kind of run support. Remember Cliff Lee last year? Apparently, Hamels is this year's lucky recipient of the Cliff Lee Memorial "allow two runs and lose the game" award. Congratulations, Cole!
PIC OF THE DAY
Daniel Descalso leapfrogs Dee Gordon (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Day: Blue Jays 6, Orioles 5. On a day that saw numerous late comebacks, I think this was the best. Toronto cut Baltimore's lead to 3-2 in the eighth, but ended up leaving the bases loaded. In the ninth, the Orioles tacked two more runs on thanks to a Matt Wieters double. But in the bottom of the inning, Jim Johnson's rough year continued. The Orioles closer started the inning by allowing a double to Edwin Encarnacion and a single to Adam Lind before a JP Arencibia single cut the lead to 5-3. Brett Lawrie flied out for the first out of the inning. Anthony Gose walked to load the bases for Mark DeRosa, who hit into a run-scoring fielders choice to make it a one run game. That brought up Munenori Kawasaki, who hit a walkoff two-run double, bringing home Arencibia and DeRosa to give the Blue Jays a big win.
Pitching Lines of the Day: Stephen Strasburg annihilated the Phillies in a 6-1 Nationals win, allowing one run on five hits in eight innings, striking out nine without a walk. He also had 13 groundball outs to just two in the air. Corey Kluber pitched very well for the Indians in their 6-5, walkoff loss to the Red Sox, giving up one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out ten. Shaun Marcum made the Braves look silly as the Mets rallied to win 4-2, giving up two runs on four hits in seven innings, walking none and striking out 12. Alex Cobb had a great start for the Rays in their 8-3 win over the Yankees, allowing two runs on five hits over 8 1/3, striking out eight without a walk. Finally, Hisashi Iwakuma kept the Mariners in a game they'd win 4-3 over the Rangers in 13 innings, allowing two runs on five hits in eight innings, walking none and striking out eight.
Hitting Lines of the Day: In the Cardinals' 5-3 win over the Dodgers, Pete Kozma was a perfect 4/4, scoring twice, driving in three, and hitting three doubles. Matt Wieters has a great game for the Orioles in their tough loss in Toronto, going 4/5 with three RBI, three doubles, and a stolen base. Kendrys Morales did well for the Mariners in their win over Texas, going 3/6 with two runs, two RBI, a double, and a homer. Nate Freiman mashed for the A's in their 6-2 win in Houston, going 2/3 with two runs, three RBI, a walk, a double, and a homer. Lastly, there's Lucas Duda, who powered the Mets in their win over Atlanta by going 3/4 with two runs, a double, and a homer.
Other Games: The Tigers beat the Twins 7-1. The Cubs beat the Reds 5-4 in ten innings. The Pirates edged the Brewers 5-4. The White Sox swept the Marlins, winning 5-3. The Giants topped the Rockies 7-3. The Angels rallied late to beat the Royals 5-2. The Diamondbacks slipped by the Padres 6-5.
Today's Games: We've got a rare full slate of games on tap because of Memorial Day today. This will also start the two home/two away interleague series that have come under a lot of scorn this year. Jason Hammel starts for the Orioles against Gio Gonzalez in DC. Francisco Liriano takes on Justin Verlander in Detroit. Adam Wainwright takes on James Shields in KC. Jose Fernandez and Jake Odorizzi will duel in a battle of young Florida starters. Yu Darvish will start in Arizona against Tyler Skaggs in game one of a doubleheader, making his season debut in the majors for the Diamondbacks. Martin Perez makes his season debut for Texas in game two against Trevor Cahill. Madison Bumgarner takes on Dan Straily in Oakland. Zack Greinke and the Dodgers host CJ Wilson and his former team, the Angels. Jeff Samardzija starts for the Cubs against the White Sox.
National TV: Orioles-Nationals (1 PM, MLB Network), Pirates-Tigers (1 PM, MLB Network), Yankees-Mets (7 PM, MLB Network), Red Sox-Phillies (7 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, and happy Memorial Day, everyone.
