While we were watching baseball yesterday, some soldiers killed Osama Bin Laden. Does anyone else feel lazy?
Angels 6, Rays 5: Jered Weaver was a late scratch due to illness, so he didn’t get his chance to win his seventh game in as many starts. It seemed like that stroke of fate would cost the Angels the game when they fell behind 5-0 in the first inning, but the Angel bullpen stepped up in a big way and the Halos rallied to win 6-5 thanks to some heady baserunning from Vernon Wells. For those keeping score at home, it took until May 2nd for someone to say something nice about Vernon Wells this season.
Braves 6, Cardinals 5: Despite getting busted for drag racing while driving drunk, Derek Lowe made the start for the Braves in this one. Lowe didn’t fair very well, but the Cardinal bullpen was even worse. Jason Motte picked up his first blown save of the season in the seventh inning, but it was Ryan Franklin, who continues to go out of his way to remind everyone why he is no longer the closer, who took the loss after allowing a walk-off single to Brooks Conrad. To be fair to Franklin, the run was unearned thanks to an error by Ryan Theriot to start the ninth. The error was Theriot’s seventh of the season, tying him for the major league lead.
Nationals 5, Giants 2: Ivan Rodriguez may not be having the best of seasons, but he came up big for the Nats today both at the plate and behind it. After gunning down a base stealer in the top of the eighth inning, Pudge gave Washington some breathing room with a two-run single in the bottom half of the inning.
Indians 5, Tigers 4: It may be a new month, but the Indians are still just as hot as they were in April. Cleveland won their sixth straight game and now has sole ownership of the best record in baseball. The Tribe relied on a strong performance by Justin Masterson and some more late-inning offensive magic to finish off the sweep of the Tigers.
Astros 5, Brewers 0: Even when the Astros have a good game, they still lose. Carlos Lee looked to be busting out of his season-long slump in this game, but that wasn’t meant to be as Lee had to be carted off the field with a ribcage injury after colliding with Angel Sanchez in the field. Not to be lost in that stroke of bad luck was a dazzling performance by Bud Norris who fanned eleven Brewers over seven-plus innings of shutout baseball.
Yankees 5, Blue Jays 2: The two sides combined for only six hits a piece in this game, but the Yankees made their hits count as Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson both homered for the Yankees.
Pirates 8, Rockies 4: Things just keep getting worse for Ubaldo Jimenez. Last year’s breakout star could barely get the ball over the plate in this one, walking four batters in four innings and uncorking three wild pitches in the process. Jimenez command issues and a big night by the top of the Pirate order worked out to an easy victory for Pittsburgh
Red Sox 3, Mariners 2: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Felix Hernandez had a great start but didn’t get the win because the Mariner offense let him down. Seattle mustered just four hits but still made a bit of a game of it only to be done in by a rare positive feat by Carl Crawford who won the game with a two-out walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.
Marlins 9, Reds 5: The Marlins went yard and did it often, smashing five home runs off the Reds pitching staff. The power surge didn’t come until late for Florida as they launched four of their long bombs in the seventh and eighth inning to turn a tie ballgame into an easy victory.
Orioles 6, White Sox 4: Ozzie Guillen returned from his Twitter-induced suspension but the results weren’t much different. The White Sox offense was held down by rookie Zach Britton for six innings before the youngster left due to a blister on his pitching hand. That opened the door for the ChiSox to get to the Oriole bullpen, which they almost did, but Kevin Gregg overcame a walk and a single to start the ninth.
Padres 7, Dodgers 0: Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 27 games, but that was where the good news ended for the Dodgers who got shutdown by Dustin Moseley. Moseley continues to be a huge surprise this season and now boasts a 1.63 ERA, but this game was just his first win on the year.
Royals 10, Twins 3: I swear, every time I get to recap the games Mike Aviles has a big night. He and the rest of the Royals stomped all over the hapless Twins with Aviles driving in four runs in the process. Amazingly, there are only 11 players in the AL with 20 or more RBIs and three of them are on Kansas City as Aviles, Jeff Francoeur and Alex Gordon all breached that threshold on Sunday. The loss was the sixth in a row for Minnesota.
Diamondbacks 4, Cubs 3: With only one hit in the fourth inning, the Diamondbacks scored three runs and never looked back. After a walk and a single to start the inning, the Cubs proceeded to balk in one run, allow another run on a sacrifice bunt and then let a third, and ultimately game-winning run, on a wild pitch. It must be fun to be a Cubs fan.
Athletics 7, Rangers 2: It was the Texas Rangers getting pounded on for a change this matchup as the Athletics jumped all over Matt Harrison early, knocking him out before he even finished the second inning. It was the second straight terrible outing for Harrison whose hot start to the season is being quickly forgotten.
Mets 2, Phillies 1 (14 innings): The Mets and Phillies picked a great time for an extra inning marathon. The last game of the day was marked by the announcement of the US special forces finally killing Osama Bin Laden, news that was received by huge cheers and chants of “U-S-A” throughout the ballpark. Despite fantastic starts from both Chris Young and Cliff Lee, the extra innings forced each side to use six pitchers before Ronny Paulino’s double finally broke the tie to win it for the Mets.
Pitchers of the Night:
Bud Norris, Astros: 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 11 K
Felix Hernandez, Mariners: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K
Dustin Moseley, Padres: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K
Chris Young, Mets: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K
Cliff Lee, Phillies: 7 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K
Hitters of the Night:
Carlos Lee, Astros: 2/3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR
Greg Dobbs, Marlins: 3/3, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
Mike Aviles, Royals: 3/5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 HR, 1 SB
Curtis Granderson, Yankees: 2/4, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR
Garrett Jones, Pirates: 2/4, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 2B
Links of the Day:
Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell was suspended for two weeks due to his homophobic slurs and threats against some Giants fans
Neftali Feliz is no longer interested in converting to a starting pitcher
Pedro Martinez appears to be ready to retire
What To Watch For:
Angels vs. Red Sox (7:10 p.m. EST): Jered Weaver will try and shake off illness to win his seventh game in as many starts but will have to do so against the Red Sox who have owned the Angels in recent years, including a four-game sweep in Anaheim two weeks ago.
Yankees vs. Tigers (7:05 p.m. EST): The best pitching matchup of the night somehow features Justin Verlander against a resurgent Bartolo Colon. Check this one out to see if Colon’s comeback is actually for real.
Enjoy your first Bin Laden-free day of baseball.
