Getty Images Rangers 18, Red Sox 3: The Rangers were definitely physically and emotionally into this game. In fact, they did a Gashouse Gorillas-style conga line around the basepaths. Josh Hamilton drove in five, Mike Napoli drove in four.
Rockies 5, Padres 3: Jamie Moyer wins and thus becomes the oldest pitcher to ever win a game. And it wasn’t a cheapie, either: Moyer allowed no earned runs in seven innings while scattering six hits. Doing that with 78 m.p.h. “heat” is one of the more astounding things you’ll ever see on a baseball diamond. Congratulations Old Sport.
Marlins 5, Cubs 2: Ozzie returns and … the world goes on. No protests. One fan kept yelling insulting stuff at Guillen from the crowd, but that was probably a good 10-15 fewer fans doing that in this one than in most games. As for the baseball: the return of an effective Josh Johnson (7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER) was way more important than the return of Guillen.
Nationals 1, Astros 0: This one ended in 2:12. Everyone has someplace to be, I guess. Well, not the offenses, because they weren’t going anywhere. Gio Gonzalez, Tyler Clippard and Brad Lidge combine for the shutout. Wandy Rodriguez was almost as good, giving up a couple of bloop hits to allow a run.
Braves 9, Mets 3: Atlanta finally beats New York. Johan Santana — who at times looked like he was bending in his first two starts — finally broke. The Braves roughed up Santana, knocking him out in the second inning, though they had the help of some ugly Mets defense in the process. It was the shortest start of Santana’s career.
Orioles 3, White Sox 2: Every season the Orioles begin at the top of the standings by virtue of being first alphabetically. It’s strange to see them in first place via their actual record, but there they are. Homers from Nolan Reimold and J.J. Hardy.
Blue Jays 7, Rays 3: Jose Bautista, Adam Lind and Brett Lawrie all hit homers. Two-time Gold Glove winner Evan Longoria had three (3)(III)(tres) errors. The Rays have lost six of eight.
Yankees 8, Twins 3: CC Sabathia and the Yankees were down 3-1 in the third, but the big man tightened up. Russell Martin got the night off, allowing backup Chris Stewart to rack up three RBI.
Tigers 3, Royals 1: Miguel Cabrera snapped an 0 for 22 streak with a single and later added another single, this time of the RBI variety.
Brewers 5, Dodgers 4: A see-saw battle, with the Brewers taking the lead, losing it on an Andre Ethier homer in the eighth and then getting it back in walkoff fashion via a two-run George Kottaras double.
Cardinals 2, Reds 1: A helluva pitching duel between Johnny Cueto and Kyle Lohse goes 10 thanks to Mitchell Boggs being unable to hold a 1-0 lead in the eighth. But never fear, Matt Carpenter is here hitting a sac fly after Reds pitchers loaded the bases with walks in the bottom of the 10th.
Giants 4, Phillies 2: Three hits for Buster Posey and Nate Schierholtz. A stolen base for Posey, which is yet another encouraging thing regarding his recovery from injury. Madison Bumgarner gave up two runs over six.
Pirates 5, Diamondbacks 4: Pittsburgh lost starter Jeff Karstens after one inning due to some shoulder trouble, but as Clint Hurdle said after the game, they got it done with “duct tape and chicken wire.” Which, while people normally refer to that as some crazy, lucky half-ass way of fixing a problem on the fly, does suggest a lot of planning. Who the hell has chicken wire laying around these days? That requires an incredible amount of forethought, frankly.
Indians 9, Mariners 8: A seven-run fifth by Cleveland erased an 8-1 deficit and then Jason Donald hit a tie-breaking single in the seventh. Donald also took a ball to the mouth in the ninth, after which he said “Hopefully my girlfriend still wants to date me after getting smoked in the mouth like that.” That’s what she said.
Athletics 5, Angels 3: Yoenis Cespedes went two for four and drove in two. He only hit singles, though, and only struck out once which is kind of sad given that I was sort of cottoning to the idea of him being the next Rob Deer.
-
Getty Images
Logan Morrison began a minor-league rehab assignment last night, going 2-for-5 with two singles at Single-A. Morrison has been on the disabled list all season as he recovers from September knee surgery and he hasn’t played for the Marlins since last July. He’s already behind the initial timetable laid out, but barring more setbacks Morrison…
-
People who know a bit about EPL soccer sometimes make comparisons between the big English soccer teams and the big major league baseball teams in order to explain the dynamic of that league to we soccer ignoramuses. Like, I once heard someone say Man U. was like the Yankees. Or maybe Arsenal. And Chelsea was…
-
Jim Johnson being nearly flawless in the closer role played a huge part in the Orioles’ unexpected success last season, but suddenly he’s really struggling. Johnson converted 35 straight saves from July 30, 2012 to May 13, 2013, during which time he threw 44 innings with a 0.61 ERA. That streak came to an end…
-
Must-click link: cheesecake pictures of early 80s baseball stars
May 21, 2013, 11:02 AM EDT
I guess whether this is truly “must-click” depends on how you roll. But if you like to look at once-young, once-handsome athletes in swimsuits, towels and, in a couple of cases, nothing but strategically-posed thighs — or if you’re not necessarily into that but are secure enough in your masculinity to appreciate how hilarious such…
-
AP
Josh Johnson made his first minor-league rehab start yesterday, throwing three innings of one-run ball at Single-A. Johnson, who’s been out since April 21 with a strained triceps, struck out five and walked zero while allowing three hits against the Mets’ affiliate. Johnson had hoped to be back in the Blue Jays’ rotation by now,…
-
AP
This is a short article in the Pioneer Press, but two nuggets from it: Justin Morneau is pretty ambivalent about autographs because he knows most of the people trying to get them are memorabilia guys who are going to turn around and sell it; and His autographs are very legible because Harmon Killebrew told him…
-
Getty Images
Corey Hart is eligible to come off the disabled list on May 30, but Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports that the Brewers first baseman won’t be ready to return from right knee surgery by then. However, he has progressed enough to take batting practice yesterday and doing some running on the field. There’s still no…
-
Aroldis Chapman allegedly ate 18 pastries before Sunday’s game
May 21, 2013, 9:46 AM EDT
I heard someone mention this yesterday but thought they were joking. Andy Martino of the Daily News, however, quotes Phillies broadcaster Rickie Ricardo, who claims that Aroldis Chapman ate 18 cream cheese-guava pastries before Sunday’s game. The game in which he blew the save, giving up a walkoff homer to Freddy Galvis: “Could you imagine cream…
-
Some guys have 80 velocity, some guys have 80 movement. Some guys have 80 lack of impulse control: Ryan Mattheus will be placed on the disabled list after breaking his right hand Sunday in San Diego, an injury that didn’t occur during the Nationals’ 13-4 loss to the Padres but afterward when the right-hander punched…
-
Barry Bonds: Miguel Cabrera is the best … but not as good as me
May 21, 2013, 8:53 AM EDT
I’m not sure why anyone would find that sentiment, voiced by Barry Bonds to Bob Nightengale, to be controversial. But I imagine they will. Anyway, here were the Home Run King’s exact words about Miguel Cabrera: “He’s definitely the best. It’s not rocket science here. He’s the best. By far. Without a doubt. The absolute best…
-
Getty Images
And he did it while batting: Vogelsong was in the middle of easily his best start of the season when he swung at an inside pitch from Craig Stammen. The ball appeared to hit him squarely on the knuckles of his right hand, and Vogelsong was in obvious pain. He left the game and was…
-
Move over Clay Buchholz. Marlins starter Alex Sanabia went old school on Monday, bypassing the sunscreen and rosin and simply hocking a big ol’ loogie on the baseball after giving up a home run to the Phillies’ Domonic Brown. The video isn’t embeddable yet, but here’s the link to it at MLB.com, as well as…
-
Jayson Werth could miss another two weeks with hamstring injury
May 20, 2013, 10:36 PM EDT
AP
The Nationals have Bryce Harper back in the starting lineup tonight against the Giants, but it appears that Jayson Werth‘s absence from a hamstring injury will be a little longer than initially expected. Nationals manager Davey Johnson told Amanda Comak of the Washington Times that he received an “alarming” report on Werth today. No word…
-
Braves reliever Eric O’Flaherty to undergo Tommy John surgery
May 20, 2013, 9:45 PM EDT
AP
After Jonny Venters underwent Tommy John surgery last week, another Braves’ reliever is headed for the same fate. According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, left-hander Eric O’Flaherty will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery tomorrow. It doesn’t come as a big surprise, as he was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his…
-
Bryce Harper back in Monday’s lineup after sitting out with sore knee
May 20, 2013, 9:03 PM EDT
Getty Images
Bryce Harper sat out Saturday and Sunday due to lingering soreness in his left knee caused by his collision with the right field fence at Dodger Stadium last Monday, but Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com reports that he’s back in the starting lineup for tonight’s series opener against the Giants. Harper was all banged up after…
-
Getty Images
According to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, right-hander Scott Proctor has decided to retire from baseball. Proctor, now 36, hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2011 with the Braves and Yankees. After spending last season with the Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization, he had an 8.59 ERA and 6/10 K/BB…
-
UPDATE: Dodgers GM Ned Colletti says Don Mattingly is “doing fine”
May 20, 2013, 8:00 PM EDT
Getty Images
UPDATE: Just a quick follow-up from this morning, Dodgers general maanger Ned Colletti told the Associated Press earlier this evening that manager Don Mattingly is “doing fine.” Asked if it was false to say Mattingly would be fired this week, Colletti simply said: “My perspective hasn’t changed. I’m done talking about it.” 8:52 AM ET:…
-
Reuters
Alex Rodriguez isn’t as far along as teammate Mark Teixeira, but he continues to make progress from January hip surgery. According to the Associated Press, Rodriguez began his third week of on-field activity today by fielding grounders and taking 25 swings in an indoor batting cage at the Yankees’ minor league complex in Tampa, Florida.…
