Tuesday, August 19, 2008

And That Happened

Brewers 9, Astros 3: CC Sabathia pitched really well through seven, at which time he left the game having thrown 101 pitches and his team sporting a safe 7-2 lead. Ha ha! Just kidding. Ned Yost continues to abuse his rental, sending him back out there for two more innings and 29 more pitches on a night any common mopup man would have done the trick. In other news, Ryan Braun left the game after taking a funny swing to end the sixth and was replaced by Gabe Kapler immediately thereafter. They're reporting an injury, and you have to figure it's an aggravation of the rib cage thingy he just got over. Or didn't get over.

Giants 5, Braves 0
: Every time you think the Braves have reached their nadir, they dip a bit lower. No offense meant to Mr. Zito. I'm sure he's a fine young man who buys war bonds and everything, but there is no excuse for any team north of the Sally League to get shut out by him over the course of seven innings.

Pirates 5, Mets 2: I don't read a ton of Mets' blogs so I'm sure I'm really late on this one, but it tickles me to death that the commenters on Mets Geek refer to the Mets' bullpen as the "lolpen." "Halp! Theyz blowin' mine sayves!"

Rays 6, Angels 4: Tampa Bay has been doin' just fine with Longoria on the DL, running to 5-2 since he was shelved. Two-run bombs from Floyd and Hinske helped. Yet another base running flub by B.J. Upton -- this time jogging out of the box on what he thought was a homer, having it hit the wall, and somehow continuing to jog into second base, only to have Mark Teixeira tag him from behind after a weak, skittering throw into the infield. What else can Maddon do with this guy? I think the only thing that can fix him at this point is the Private Pyle, bars-of-soap-in-the-pillowcase treatment.

Red Sox 6, Orioles 3: Lester (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) and Bay (3-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI) go off. Even Jason Varitek got into the act, hitting just his second home run since the All-Star break.

A's 3, Twins 2: Justin Duchscherer had to leave the game in the third with some kind of hip pain. Kirk Saarloos saved his bacon, however, pitching 3.2 innings of scoreless relief and givng the A's a rare win. Oh, and Ziegler gave up another run, but I suppose we're not keeping track of that anymore.

White Sox 13, Mariners 5: With the Twins loss and the Sox' win, the tie is unbroken. Meanwhile, Jarrod Washburn (4.1 IP, 7 H, 8 ER) continues to make the GMs who didn't trade for him at the deadline quite happy.

Tigers 8, Rangers 7: Sheffield ties Gehrig and Fred McGriff on the home run list. The truth is somewhere in between, but probably far closer to McGriff. Curtis Granderson had two triples and four RBI. Granderson is slowly becoming my hero in that he's able to blog and maintain productivity at his day job (.302/.371/.504). I wish I could do that.

9 comments:

tHeMARksMiTh said...

I say send Upton down to the minors for three days to teach him a lesson.

Anonymous said...

He has to go for at least 10 days (unless there is an injury).

But that might even be better.

Anonymous said...

What the current odds that Sabbathia wear pinstripes next summer? 2-1? 1-5? Has he already signed? With the way that Hothead Hank is talking, they're ready to pay anything to get that guy.

My prediction:
8 years, $200M

Unknown said...

re: CC-

I'm reminded of the Jackass video where they get a rental car, pay for the "worry-free insurance", and proceed to take it over jumps, hit orange barrels, smash into guard rails, and finally set it on fire.

bigcatasroma said...

Sever

bigcatasroma said...

Several things . . .

1. I can't WAIT to see what team will overspend for CC and his dead arm; this will be circa 2006 and SF going after Zito. I mean, CC is a MUCH better pitcher, but is the same age, and his largess coupled with over-pitching these last few years (remember the playoff commentary last year?) will make him a very expensive 15-start, 90 inning starter in 2009 . . .

2. Craig, I think you could aim for Curt Schilling - you have the hall-of-fame day job, and your blogs are sometimes filled with legal and political commentary. But your're probably closest to Paul Shirley - your day job pays your bills, but your blog job is what garnishes you quasi-mini-regional celebrity . . .

Craig Calcaterra said...

I actually think that if anyone can handle that kind of load, CC can, and it's not a forgone conclusion that his current workload will hurt him. But why risk it? It's one thing if he's throwing 130 pitches in a tight game with playoff implications, but with a big lead against the Astros in August? What gives?

Thanks bigcatasroma: If only more of us would try to be like Curt Schilling, the world would be a much, um, well, maybe I'll shoot for Shirley after all.

tHeMARksMiTh said...

Sorry Ron, I was making a Francoeur joke for when they sent him down but brought him up three days later because the Braves put three more people on the DL.

Anonymous said...

APBA Guy-

The hip thing for the Duke is worrisome because last year he was out after surgery on that hip.

Keep in mind Duke is second in the AL in ERA, at 2.54, behind Cliff Lee at 2.43. He's 30 IP behind 140 to 170, which is a big deal, made even bigger if this injury is severe.

The AAA's don't need any more bad news at 6-25 since the ASG.