Getty Images Who needs CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, anyway? OK, well the Yankees do if they hope to go anywhere. But Hiroki Kuroda is holding things down quite nicely at the moment.
Kuroda was dominant this afternoon, allowing just three hits over seven shutout innings as part of a 4-0 win over the White Sox. He tied a career-high with 11 strikeouts while walking just one batter.
Kuroda got off to a bit of a shaky start in pinstripes, posting a 4.50 ERA through his first eight starts, but he has rebounded with a 1.99 ERA over his last eight and has allowed three runs or less in seven of them. The 36-year-old right-hander now has a solid 3.17 ERA and 80/31 K/BB ratio over 102 1/3 innings. Chatter that he couldn’t cut in the American League is but a distant memory.
The offense this afternoon was supplied by, you guessed it, the home run ball. Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Dewayne Wise all had solo shots. Wise also added an RBI double. Pretty interesting week for that guy, huh?
Kuroda’s performance overshadowed Jake Peavy, who tossed his fourth complete game of the season. Incredibly, he’s taken losses in three of them. Peavy struck out 11 for his first double-digit strikeout game since May 22, 2009 against the Cubs. While he has lost each of his last four starts, he still has an outstanding 2.96 ERA and 101/24 K/BB ratio over 112 2/3 innings this season. He’s an easy call to make the American League All-Star team.
UPDATE: Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com notes that Peavy will honor the memory of former Padres bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds by donating $100 to pancreatic cancer research for every strikeout in MLB games today. There were 24 strikeouts in this game alone. Good on you, Jake.
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Jim Henderson has pitched really well since taking over the closer role from John Axford in Milwaukee, but he could be headed for an extended absence. Henderson strained his right hamstring in the ninth inning last night while attempting to finish off the Brewers’ victory against the Pirates. He appeared to suffer the injury as…
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Chris Davis tore through the first couple of weeks of the season before slowing down a bit, but he’s terrorizing pitchers once again. Davis went 3-for-5 with his major-league leading 16th homer last night as the Orioles defeated the Blue Jays 10-6 in Toronto. Davis’ solo shot in the third inning was one of four…
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It wasn’t a very good night for first-base umpires Friday. Angel Hernandez cost the White Sox a win over the Marlins in the 10th, though they did come back and prevail in the 11th anyway. MLB.com has the video and, more importantly, also has the audio as Hawk Harrelson reacts to the call. Alex Rios was…
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Rangers put one over on Jeff Nelson, get free out against Mariners
May 25, 2013, 1:19 AM EDT
Two on, none out for the Mariners in the bottom of the second inning Friday against the Rangers. Jesus Sucre, making his first major league start, his a grounder to first that appeared to be turned into a 3-6-3 double play. Except…
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Pirates starter Jeff Karstens felt pain in his right shoulder during his throwing program today. As a result, the Pirates have shut him down, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Travis Sawchik. Karstens has not thrown a pitch this season due to the shoulder injury, but was expected to return in early June. Karstens finished 2012 with…
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Ike Davis entered tonight’s series opener against the Braves hitting .147 with a .481 OPS. The first baseman has heard rumors of a possible demotion to Triple-A amid an avalanche of criticism. He did nothing to alleviate concerns as he earned the illustrious golden sombrero, striking out four times tonight. As ESPN Stats & Info…
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Angels starter Jered Weaver has been on the shelf since suffering a fractured left elbow in his second start of the season against the Rangers on April 7. After tossing a light bullpen session earlier today, Weaver feels good, according to manager Mike Scioscia. He’ll have one more bullpen over the weekend before the Angels…
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Rockies activate Michael Cuddyer; Rafael Betancourt and Jeff Francis make progress
May 24, 2013, 10:20 PM EDT
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The Rockies have activated Michael Cuddyer from the 15-day disabled list, tweets Troy Renck. The outfielder had been sidelined due to an inflamed cervical disc, halting a fantastic start to the year. The 34-year-old carried a .319/.383/.580 line through May 8, his last appearance. It should be noted his numbers are much better at Coors…
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Well, that’s not nice. Here’s the full quote from T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times: Mattingly’s critical comments of the team and Ethier came a day after being assured by Colletti that he had management’s support. I’ve been writing it for years: Ethier is the most selfish athlete in town and counterproductive to a team’s…
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Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez has no-hit the Twins through seven innings tonight in Detroit. The only base runners he has allowed came on walks to Jamey Carroll and Chris Parmelee, and he has retired each of the last 17 batters he has faced. Parmelee, Eduardo Escobar, and Aaron Hicks are slated to face Sanchez when…
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Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson was hit in the hand by Rays reliever Cesar Ramos in the fifth inning of tonight’s game against the Rays. He stayed in the game to run the bases, scoring on a bases loaded walk by Jayson Nix, but exited before the top of the sixth. Ichiro Suzuki took his place…
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The Braves are in Queens, New York tonight to open up a three-game series against the Mets. Catcher Evan Gattis isn’t starting, but figures to be used as a pinch-hitter late in the game if the Braves are in need of some offense, as the 26-year-old came up with two big home runs recently: on…
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Two articles were posted recently in stark contract to one another. The first is a very insightful piece by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, detailing Reds first baseman Joey Votto‘s approach to hitting. The second was a not-so-insightful piece by Paul Daugherty of the Enquire, taking a swipe at Votto because he doesn’t have many runs batted…
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Davey Johnson refuses to shave until the National offense wakes up
May 24, 2013, 7:10 PM EDT
AP
Nationals manager Davey Johnson isn’t happy with his team’s offense, which enters tonight’s series opener against the Phillies having averaged 3.38 runs per game, the second-worst rate in the league. Looking for a quirky way to motivate his team, Johnson says he will not shave until the offense makes an appearance: The Nationals manager apologized…
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AP
This is a quick look at the very best and worst each major league lineup spot has to offer this year. Posted along with each line is the player most responsible. We’ll start out with the good before moving on to the bad. 1. Reds: .292/.442/.517, 9 HR, 37 R, 20 RBI, 5 SB (Shin-Soo…
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The K-Crew at Royals games are people who roam the stands, dance on the dugout and fire up the fans. One of them also happens to be a nurse, and she helped save a 14 year-old fan’s life last Friday: Sam Sapenaro, 26, was working her second job as a member of Kauffman Stadium’s K-Crew…
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AP
Mark Teixeira laid out his rehab schedule for Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York, saying the current plan calls for him to play four games in the minors next week and then come off the disabled list to rejoin the Yankees by the end of the week. It’s worth noting that Teixeira has repeatedly laid…
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Danny Espinosa has been playing with a broken wrist since April
May 24, 2013, 5:02 PM EDT
Since that series against the Braves, specifically. The one in which he said he wasn’t impressed by them. Guess he meant it, because one of the Braves pitchers broke his friggin’ wrist and he apparently didn’t take notice of it: Source: #Nats 2b Danny Espinosa‘s right wrist was broken when Paul Maholm hit him with…
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Barry Bloom of MLB.com has a fun, wide-ranging interview with Don Sutton. Lots of good stuff in there as Sutton is never short of opinions. But this is easily my favorite part: MLB.com: Did you cheat? Sutton: No, I never got caught cheating. Bloom did not, sadly, follow up on that. Maybe his mind was…
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Red Sox place Victorino and Middlebrooks on DL, call up Aceves and Iglesias
May 24, 2013, 4:16 PM EDT
AP
David Ross is returning from a concussion tonight but the Red Sox are far from healthy, placing Shane Victorino and Will Middlebrooks on the disabled list. Victorino has a strained hamstring and Middlebrooks has lower back spasms, and Boston has added infielder Jose Iglesias and right-hander Alfredo Aceves from Triple-A to replace them. Iglesias, who’s…
