Dugout Digest - 5/10/11
Brewers 4, Padres 3
After a somewhat disappointing Brewers debut, Zack Greinke was more Zack Greinkeish (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K) in this one. Mat Latos, however, has not been so Mat Latoish all season as he falls to 0-5 with a 5.2 inning, 4-run performance. It’s too early to worry about Latos, but with an offense that rivals the DMV in inefficiency, the Padres need better performances from Latos down the road.
Phillies 6, Marlins 4
Mike Stanton almost made a really nice diving catch to preserve Anibal Sanchez’s no-hitter the other night, and he almost made a home run-saving grab to prevent a lead-off Jimmy Rollins home run. After that, Joe Blanton returned from the DL and got the Marlins to ground into 4 double plays on his way to a solid outing. Gaby Sanchez did all he could (3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), but it wasn’t quite enough to beat the division leaders.
Athletics 7, Rangers 2
I got Trevor Cahill for $4 in an intense keeper league, but against the Rangers at Arlington, I decided to leave him on the bench. Bad move. Cahill dominated the Rangers over 7 innings while striking out 7 and walking 1, and he improved to a perfect 6-0 on the season. Josh Willingham provided enough offense to back Cahill as he hit a homer and knocked in 5 total as the A’s slowly march up the AL West leaderboard.Pirates 4, Dodgers 1
Chad Billingsley and Jeff Karstens (yes, Jeff Karstens) were locked in a pitcher’s duel for most of this one. The difference was that the Pirates eventually got to Billingsley in the 8th with a Garrett Jones walk and consecutive doubles from Neil Walker, Lyle Overbay, and Ryan Doumit while the Pirates bullpen (3.1 IP, 3 H) shut down the Dodgers. Several worthy notes from this one. One, Neil Walker hit clean-up, which just shouldn’t be allowed on an above-.500 team, and two, the Pirates are above .500. Hmph.
Tigers 10, Blue Jays 5
Lots of pitchers extending perfect streaks today as Max Scherzer pushed his record to 6-0. It wasn’t pretty as it took him 97 pitches to get out of the 5th, but Brandon Morrow did worse (3.1 IP, 5 R). It was probably the best pitching match-up of the evening on paper, but the offenses, especially Victor Martinez (3-4, HR, 3 RBI) and the Tigers, had the upper hand all night.
Rockies 2, Mets 1
I needed a catcher a few weeks ago because I couldn’t bear to see Kurt Suzuki in my line-up any longer, so I picked up Chris Ianetta. Tonight it worked like a charm as he bashed the go-ahead home run to back Jhoulys Chacin, who was pretty hit or miss (6 IP, 6 BB, 5 K) in this one. Chris Capuano was pretty good in this one (6.2 IP, 2 ER), but it wasn’t enough considering he pitches for the Mets.
Reds 6, Astros 1
The Astros are awful (13-22), and Travis Wood is pretty good. Do you really need me to say more? Okay, Wood stymied the Astros behind 6 innings of shut-out baseball (6 K, 1 BB), and he did himself a favor by hitting his second career home run. Aneury Rodriguez pitched 5 one-hit innings against the Reds the other day, but he got hit pretty hard in this one (5 IP, 8 H, 5 R).
Red Sox 2, Twins 1
The ESPN game pitted Nick Blackburn (6.1 IP, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K) against Josh Beckett (7 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K), and regular time wasn’t enough in this one. With Matt Capps not having pitched in the past few days, the Twins stuck to the “Closer Rules” and put in LJ Hoey (6.75 ERA) in the bottom of the 10th. Predictably, the game ended thus when Ben Revere noodle-armed the ball toward the cut-off man. Carl Crawford (1-5) is still having a rough go of it, but he made his one hit count with it being the walk-off double.
White Sox 8, Angels 0
Chicago jumped on the Angels often in this one with home runs from Carlos Quentin, Gordon Beckham, and Alexis Ramirez, and even Adam Dunn seems to be working himself out of his slump (2-3, BB, 2B). Good Edwin Jackson showed up (7 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K) to keep the Angels off the board, but Good Ervin Santana did not (6 IP, 8 H, 5 R). Making matters worse for the Angels (or better, depending on your point of view), Vernon Wells left this one early with a groin strain.
Tonight’s Match-ups
Philadelphia at Florida, 7 PM
It’s Roy Halladay vs. Josh Johnson. I always watch Braves games, but I may not tonight.
Seattle at Baltimore, 7 PM
I love prospects and young players, so I’m intrigued by the match-up of 25-year old Jake Arrieta (4-1, 4.35 ERA, 33/15 K/BB) and 22-year old Michael Pineda (4-2, 2.58 ERA, 39/12 K/BB). Pineda looks like the real deal behind King Felix, and Arrieta seems to be settling into major-league life after a rough rookie campaign that almost saw him walk (48) as many as he struck out (52).
Detroit at Minnesota, 8 PM
It’s the first game back on the mound for Francisco Liriano after his no-hitter, and if he can’t give another solid performance, the questions about his production will begin anew. On the other side, Rick Porcello got a lot of grief after a sophomore slump, but he’s quietly been one of the Tigers’ best starters (2-2, 3.93 ERA, 26/9 K/BB). He’s still only 22 years old.
