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Dugout Digest - and there's 100

Written by Joe Lucia on .

Two nights after Tim Hudson won his 200th career game, Jake Westbrook of the Cardinals won his 100th career game, as St Louis held on to beat Milwaukee 6-5. We were actually deprived of the exact same historical moment for Ervin Santana, who also came into Thursday sitting on 99 career wins and got the start. But his outing against the Rays ended through three and a half innings thanks to snow in Kansas City, and he'll have to wait until next week to pick up his milestone.

PIC OF THE DAY

Game of the Night: Tigers 7, Astros 3 (14 innings). Hey look, another long game. A Victor Martinez single tied the game at three in the eighth inning, and then, the two teams fell into an abyss of zeroes. Detroit had chances in the 11th, 12th, and 13th innings, but finally broke through in the 14th, when Don Kelly singled home the go-ahead run after both Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder were intentionally walked by Dallas Keuchel to load the bases. After Kelly singled, Jose Cisnero replced Keuchel on the hill, and allowed a two-run double to Matt Tuiasosopo and a sac fly to Jhonny Peralta to extend the Tigers' lead to four. Luke Putkonen successfully finished the game off, and the Tigers earned a hard-fought win in Houston.

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Jack Morris accuses Clay Buchholz of throwing spitballs

Written by Joe Lucia on .

Prior to the Red Sox-Blue Jays series finale in Toronto on Thursday night, former Blue Jays pitcher and current commentator Jack Morris accused Boston starter Clay Buchholz of throwing spitballs during Boston's 10-1 win on Wednesday night.

Jack Morris, a former World Series hero and a Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster, said Thursday that he watched video after Wednesday night's game between the Jays and Red Sox and came away convinced Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz is throwing a spitball.

Morris said he didn't notice it during Wednesday's telecast.

"I found out because the guys on the video camera showed it to me right after the game," he said. "I didn't see it during the game. They showed it to me and said, 'What do you think of this?' and I said, 'Well, he's throwing a spitter. Cause that's what it is."  

During the outing, Buchholz shut down the Jays, allowing only two hits in seven shutout innings, striking out eight and walking three. Red Sox manager John Farrell, who managed the Jays last year, shot down Morris' theory, as did Buchholz.

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Roy Oswalt joins the Rockies on a minor league deal

Written by Garrett Wilson on .

Not a lot of people are buying into the Colorado Rockies as a legitimately good team, but they do apparently have one player who thinks they are for real. After spending the off-season saying that he was only interested in signing with a contender, Roy Oswalt has jumped about the Rockies bandwagon, inking a minor league deal with the club.

For Oswalt, this smacks of desperation. Even if he truly believes that the Rockies can continue to lead the NL West, there is a very short list of pitchers in this league that would choose to go to Colorado if they had other options on the table. As a 35-year old coming off of a season where he posted a 5.80 ERA in 59 innings with Texas, one can assume that Oswalt wasn't exactly being bowled over with better offers.

It is hard to see how this move is going to pay big dividends for the Rockies, but you can't really blame them for picking him up, if only because he is another pitcher with a pulse that they can throw into their rotation at some point. And there is little doubt that Oswalt will get a chance as the Rox rotation building plan appears to be nothing more than "throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks." This is how you end up with Jon Garland and Jeff Francis in a rotation.

The one thing that Oswalt has going for him that other Colorado pitchers don't is that he has demonstrated an ability to still miss some bats, fanning a batter per inning last season. Whether that translates to the altitude at Coors Field remains to be seen, especially since Oswalt has resorted to using his off-speed pitches more and more the last two years.

On the other hand, Oswalt allowed a .316 BABIP in 2011 and .378 BABIP in 2012, so this probably isn't going to work out well for either side, but at least they are giving it a try. At worst, Colorado can try and trick another name brand pitcher to sign with them down the line because, "Hey, Roy Oswalt thought we were cool!"

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Anthony Rizzo falls behind the tarp making a catch

Written by Joe Lucia on .

In Thursday's Padres-Cubs game, San Diego third baseman Chase Headley hit a pop up near the crowd on the first base side of the field. Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo settled under the ball, reached over the tarp, and made the catch. After making the huge stretch, Rizzo proceeded to fall between the tarp and the Wrigley Field brick wall behind it. He held on to the ball, and somehow avoided injury during his remarkable catch.

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Making extra innings shorter, safer and more fun

Written by Garrett Wilson on .

This Monday we saw how much fun a marathon inning game could be. We also saw how dangerous it can be for the players involved given that five players left that game with injuries with three of them ending up on the disabled list. It creates quite the moral dilemma. How can baseball balance the protection of the players while also keeping alive the tradition of the marathon game that fans every ilk can rally around?

With a few rule changes MLB might be able to have their cake and eat it too:

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The Angels bullpen is a disaster

Written by Garrett Wilson on .

There is a lot wrong with the LA Angels. Instead of being the World Series contender many thought they would be, the Halos have struggled to a 10-17 record and are already on the verge of having to declare 2013 a lost season. The problem that gets the most attention is Josh Hamilton. While he is having a miserable season, he attracts the attention simply based on brand name recognition. The much bigger issue that hasn't received the attention it deserves is the Angel bullpen which has been an outright disaster.

In the first several years of the Mike Scioscia era, the Halo bullpen was a thing to be feared. In recent years, it is still a thing to be feared but this time the fear is being experienced by the team's supporters. Recognizing this, GM Jerry Dipoto worked diligently to address the problems in the off-season by signing Ryan Madson and Sean Burnett. To put it mildly, things haven't exactly gone according to plan.

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Mike Napoli hit 900+ feet of homers on Wednesday

Written by Joe Lucia on .

Mike Napoli loves himself some Rogers Centre. Four of Napoli's six homer runs this season have come in the home of the Blue Jays, and three of those four homers have cleared 460 feet.

In Wednesday's Red Sox-Blue Jays game in Toronto, Napoli put on an unreal performance of pure strength. In the fourth inning, Napoli hit his first home run of the evening to dead center field. The ball actually traveled above the camera angle, but ended up hitting off of the third deck in center field, traveling 472 feet.

In the seventh, Napoli smashed his second homer of the game. The three-run blast went into the fourth deck in left center field, and was measured at 467 feet.

Napoli has now hit three of the nine longest home runs in baseball this season. Five of the ten longest homers in the league this year have come at Rogers Centre, including Napoli's three smashes. He's averaging 430 feet per homer this year.

Imagine if the Blue Jays never traded him to the Rangers when he was acquired from the Angels for Vernon Wells. He might have destroyed the time space continuum.

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Mets manager Terry Collins should not be on the hot seat

Written by Ian Casselberry on .

Howard Smith-USA TODAY SportsGoing into the 2013 MLB season, the general consensus was that Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly had the most pressure on him this season. Los Angeles Angels skipper Mike Scioscia probably ranked a close second.

If neither of those teams made the playoffs — or played below expectations during the regular season — after their respective ownerships shelled out big money for top talent, it's not difficult to imagine Mattingly or Scioscia being held responsible for that failure.

But could New York Mets manager Terry Collins actually be in the most immediate danger of being fired? Is he the one riding the proverbial hot seat as the schedule moves into the second month of the season? 

That seems to be the scuttlebutt surrounding the Mets in light of a six-game losing streak, depending on which writers and analysts you choose to follow.

Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record points out that Collins hasn't received much confidence from ownership and the front office, going into this season on the last year of his contract. If he truly had support, wouldn't he at least have been offered a one-year extension to avoid so-called "lame duck" status? 

 

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Dugout Digest - a tight battle

Written by Joe Lucia on .

We've touched on how surprising the NL Central race has been this season, but I think Wednesday's games really put the division in a nutshell. The first place Cardinals now have just a two game lead on the fourth place Reds, with the Pirates and Brewers sandwiched between them. The games on Wednesday saw the Pirates storm back from a 4-2 deficit in the eighth inning to beat Milwaukee 6-4, and the Cardinals edged the Reds 4-2. If only it weren't for the Cubs...

PIC OF THE DAY

Indians catcher Carlos Santana slides in safely underneath Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. (Eric P. Mull-USA TODAY Sports)

Game of the Night: Pirates 6, Brewers 4. I touched on this in the open, but this game deserves a full writeup. Milwaukee took a 3-1 lead in the fourth after homers by Ryan Braun and Yuniesky Betancourt, but Pittsburgh cut the lead to a run after Michael McKenry hit a solo homer in the seventh. Jean Segura singled in Khris Davis in the bottom of the inning to stretch the lead to two once again. In the eighth, John Axford struck yet again for Milwaukee, allowing a two-run homer to Starling Marte to tie the game at four. Brandon Inge and Pedro Alvarez added RBI singles in the eighth to give the Pirates their first lead of the game, and Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli shut the door in the last two innings to hold the win for Pittsburgh.

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The best and worst MLB players of April

Written by Joe Lucia on .

The first month of the 2013 MLB season is in the books, and this will serve as your de facto recap of which players starred, and which players faltered this April.

AL Hitter of the Month
Chris Davis, Orioles.
Davis raked to start the season off, bashing nine homers in his first 27 games (second in the majors, first in the AL) and driving in 28 runs (tied for the AL lead). Throw in a .348/.442/.728 line and walk and strikeout rates that are vast improvement on his career norms, and you've got the makings of a true superstar season from Davis at age 27 after he broke out with the Orioles last year.

Honorable mentions: Carlos Santana, Indians; Miguel Cabrera, Tigers; Mark Reynolds, Indians; Prince Fielder, Tigers

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