Let us recap all the games you missed yesterday while you were paying tribute to the mothers in your life. You did remember to call your mother, right?
Dodgers 4, Mets 2: Yesterday, the Mets ended Andre Ethier’s hitting streak. Today, Ethier got his revenge by breaking a 2-2 tie by way of a seventh inning two-run homer that wound up being the game-winner, saving Clayton Kershaw from having his strong performance go to waste.
Tigers 5, Blue Jays 2: Good news, Toronto fans! You didn’t get no-hit this game. Better news, Jose Bautista is back from a stiff neck and he homered!!! Bad news, the Jays didn’t do much else and lost 5-2 to Brad Penny, who got his ERA under 5.00 for the first time all season.
Marlins 8, Nationals 0: Speaking of no-hitters, Anibal Sanchez had one going through six innings before finally giving up two hits to the Nats in the seventh. Sanchez finished the inning and the evening with seven shutout innings and eleven strikeouts to his credit. But he wasn’t the only Sanchez having a big night for the Marlins. Gaby Sanchez exploded for Florida, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored, three RBIs, two doubles and a homer.
Pirates 5, Astros 4: James McDonald owes Ryan Doumit a beer. It seemed like MacDonald’s six shutout innings of work were going to be flushed down the toilet after the bullpen gave away a late lead, but the Pirates proved victorious thanks to a big three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.
Rays 5, Orioles 3: Upton was supposed to be suspended for this game, but he appealed the two-game suspension he was handed yesterday. To put it mildly, he chose wisely. Upton drove in four of Tampa’s runs and helped them win their eighth straight road game.
Cardinals 3, Brewers 1: The latest creation from the mind of Dave Duncan continues his reign of terror. Converted reliever Kyle McClellan improved to 5-0 by holding the Brewers to just one run on four hits over eight innings.
Angels 6, Indians 5: Mike Scioscia got his 1000th career, but it wasn’t without a little drama. Both sides took turns blowing late leads, but the Angels were the last team standing, even though Jordan Walden gave up a run and very nearly re-blew the save for the Halos in the ninth.
Red Sox 9, Twins 5: The Twins probably thought they were in great shape early when they scored three runs in the top of the first, but Daisuke Matsuzaka settled down and allowed just two more hits over the next five innings and the Boston bats came alive to rack up nine runs, including seven runs off of the very disappointing Carl Pavano.
Reds 2, Cubs 0: Ryan Dempster has been a new man since the calendar turned to May. Dempster finished April with a 9.58 ERA. But in May, he has now gone seven innings deep in his two starts and allowed just three runs total, including the two he allowed today. That has to make him feel good, but it wasn’t good enough to get him the win. Instead, it was Johnny Cueto, making his first start of the season who picked up the win on the strength of his six shutout innings.
Yankees 12, Rangers 5: Rejoice, Yankee fans, Derek Jeter is alive and well. Captain Jetes smacked his first home run of the season at long last and then promptly deliverd an encore performance in his very next at-bat. Even with Jeter’s explosion, this game was much tighter than the score indicates seeing how the Yankees didn’t take the lead until the seventh inning only to crack it wide open with a six-run eighth.
Padres 4, Diamondbacks 3: All the Padres did on offense was score four runs in the first inning, but that is all it took as they got a solid outing from Aaron Harang who went seven strong to keep Joe Saunders winless on the season.
Athletics 5, Royals 2: Kevin Kouzmanoff and Kurt Suzuki both homered late to give the A’s the win and the series victory over the Royals who are dipping dangerously close to .500 after their hot start to the season.
Giants 3, Rockies 0: Ryan Vogelsong may have been out of the majors for four-plus seasons, but the wait has been well worth it. The 33-year old shut down the Rockies for 6+ innings and earned his second win of the season to keep his Cinderella story alive for just a little while longer.
White Sox 5, Mariners 2 (10 innings): Paul Konerko was almost a late-scratch in this game because of a recurring wrist issue, but he decided to tough it out. Good Call. Konerko went a perfect 5-for-5 for Chicago, who outlasted the Mariners in 10 innings.
Braves 5, Phillies 2: Cole Hamels had a great night, fanning nine Braves over seven innings of work, but the Braves utilized three homers to overcome Hamels’ performance and earn the win.
Pitchers of the Night:
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K
Anibal Sanchez, Marlins: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K
James McDonald, Pirates: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K
Kyle McClellan, Cardinals: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K
Ryan Vogelsong, Giants: 6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Hitters of the Night:
Gaby Sanchez, Marlins: 4/4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB
BJ Upton, Rays: 2/4, 4 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox: 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR
Derek Jeter, Yankees: 4/6, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, 1 SB
Paul Konerko, White Sox: 5/5, 1 R, 1 2B
Links of the Day:
Tony LaRussa is headed to the Mayo Clinic to have his weird infected eye looked at
Kendrys Morales is headed to Colorado for a second opinion on his slow-healing broken ankle
The Red Sox are calling up top prospect SS Jose Iglesias
What To Watch For:
Marlins vs. Phillies (7:10 p.m. EST): An early season battle for NL East supremacy begins
Padres vs. Brewers (8:10 p.m. EST): Mat Latos tries to right his ship and get his first win of the season against Zack Greinke who is making just his second start of the season
Athletics vs. Rangers (8:05 p.m. EST): The pitching matchup of the night: Trevor Cahill (5-0, 1.79 ERA) takes on CJ Wilson (4-1, 2.92 ERA)
Enjoy your day of pink-free baseball.
