Sunday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops
American League
On Sunday, the Detroit Tigers did what most teams have been doing to Kansas City pitchers, abusing them. The Tigers roughed up starter Zack Greinke and three relievers for 16 hits and 13 runs in a 13-4 rout in KC. Much of the damage was done by left fielder
Craig Monroe, who cranked out a 2-run home run and delivered RBIs with a single and double in 5 at-bats. In addition to the 4 ribbies, Monroe also scored 3 times.
The NY Yankees employed five pitchers in a 5-0 win over visiting Seattle.
Darrell Rasner evened his record at 1-1 with 5 2/3 innings of 3-hit work. With pitching at a premium for the Bombers, the front office announced on Sunday - via a giant scoreboard video - that
Roger Clemens would return to the team in three to four weeks. The Rocket agreed to a $28 million, one-year contract, just enough to lure any 45-year old, future hall of famer out of retirement ...again.
Trot Nixon went 5-5, drove in 4 runs and scored twice in Cleveland's 9-6 win at Baltimore. The Orioles'
Ramon Hernandez tried to keep pace, going 4-5 with 4 RBI and a stolen base, but like the O's, fell just short.
The Texas Rangers completed a 3-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 3-2 win sending the visitors away losers of 6 straight.
Custom caps for your high school or college Baseball Team - Prolinecap.com. The Rangers runs all came via the long ball as
Kenny Lofton,
Mark Teixiera and
Michael Young each sent balls into the stands, with Young's 8th inning dinger being the game winner.
Other AL Scores
Oakland 5 Tampa Bay 3
Chicago White Sox 4 LA Angels 3, 10 innings
Boston 4 Minnesota 3 - C. Schilling (W, 4-1), T. Hunter, 21-gm. hit streak
National League
Prince Fielder knocked a solo homer in the 2nd inning, a 2-run shot in the 4th, and singled and scored the go-ahead run in Milwaukee's 6-4 win over Pittsburgh, taking 3 of 4 from the Pirates in Milwaukee. The homers were Fielder's 8th and 9th of the season and the 3 RBI gave him 26, close to the NL leaders. The win kept Milwaukee 5 games ahead of the charging Cubs, who have won 5 straight. Francisco Cordero pitched a hitless 9th inning, tying Detroit's Todd Jones for the most saves in the majors, with 12.
Jake Peavy (right) was on the road and on top of his game, shutting down the Florida Marlins on 1 hit though 7 innings while striking out 10 in a 2-1 San Diego victory. Florida's lone run of the game came in the 6th inning when Hector Ramirez reached on third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff's throwing error and scored on Dan Uggla's triple, ending both Peavy's shutout and no-hit bid. Otherwise, it was Jake's world and everyone else was just along for the ride as the Padres' hurler improved to 4-1 and increased his major league-leading strikeout total to 56. Peavy's been brilliant in his last three outings, striking out 10, 16 and 10 again, each a 7 inning performance. Over the last 21 innings, Peavy has allowed just 9 hits and 3 earned runs.
Carlos Lee went 1 for 3 to extend his hitting streak to 14 games and Alfonso Soriano got a single in 5 at-bats to boost his hitting streak to 15 as the Cubs won their 5th straight, with a 4-3, 10-inning win over the visiting Washington Nationals.
Lee's batting average dropped a couple of digits, from .416 to .414.
Other NL Scores
Atlanta 6 LA Dodgers 4 - Braves take 2 of 3 in LA
Arizona 3 NY Mets 1 - L. Hernandez (W, 3-1)
Cincinnati 9 Colorado 3
St. Louis 3 Houston 1 - B. Looper (W, 4-2)
Philadelphia 8, San Francisco 5 - C. Hamels (W, 4-1), R. Howard, HR (5)
The Cleveland Indians have made a farce of the Yankees' celebration of the opening of their new stadium, winning two out of three games by wide margins. On Saturday, the indians put up 14 runs in the second inning, en route to a 22-4 thrashing. Key among the offensive assault was Mark DeRosa, who contributed with two singles, a double and a three run homer in 7 at-bats, driving in six runs and scoring twice. Six different players homered for the Indians, as they cranked out 26 hits.
National League
Craig Monroe hasn't had much playing time over the past few seasons. In fact, after being traded from Detroit to the Cubs in 2007, and then to Minnesota in 2008, he's only seen action in a total of 87 games. On Saturday, he got the start for the Pirates in right field and the hard-hitting veteran smacked a pair of three-run homers, driving in six runs in support of Ian Snell's seven shutout innings as the Pirates cruised past Atlanta, 10-0. When playing regularly, Monroe can mash. From 2003-2006, when platooning and playing nearly full time, he averaged 22 homers and 81 RBI. If he continues to produce at the plate, he could fit in nicely for Pittsburgh.
NOTES: Maybe we'll be calling them the Amazin' Marlins before long. The Florida Marlins continue their hot start to the 2009 season with a 10-1 record - the best in baseball - and a 4-game lead over the Mets in the inept NL East. The Marlins are on a 6-game winning streak and all ten wins thus far have come against division foes.
While the standings in the NL East are a surprise, the AL is simply shocking with Toronto, Kansas City and Seattle leading the divisional races. Those three teams compiled a combined record of 222-262. Only the Blue Jays had a winning record (86-76).
Scott Thorman (right) socked a pair of home runs - a 3-run shot in the 2nd and a 2-run blast in the 9th - to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 9-2 win at Pittsburgh. Thorman, who's been getting regular playing time at 1st base, has decent power numbers, with 5 home runs and 19 RBI in just 82 at-bats. At 6'3", 235, he has the profile of a serious power hitter.
Bradon Looper stifled the Padres on 3 hits and a walk over 7 innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 win at San Diego. Looper, a converted reliever, struck out 7 and lowered his ERA to 2.29. At 5-2 he's one of the few bright spots for the Cards, who are mired in the middle of the NL Central at 15-19, 9 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers.
J. J. Hardy had just one hit in 4 at-bats, but it was a big one - an 8th inning grand slam to lead the Brewers to a 12-3 win at New York. Hardy's homer was his 11th of the season, tying him with Barry Bonds, Adam Dunn and teammate Prince Fielder. Hardy also drove in another run with a sac fly in the 9th. The Brewers are now 8 games ahead of Houston and Chicago in the NL Central. The Mets trail Atlanta by 1 1/2 in the East.
Mike Lamb got the Astros on their way to a 10-4 home win over Arizona with a first-inning solo homer, later singled in another run and ended the day 3-5 with 3 runs scored. Lamb's effort helped starter Roy Oswalt improve to 6-2.
Matt Holliday whacked a 3-run homer in the 1st inning and a solo shot in the 5th, both off starter Barry Zito and the Rockies cruised to a 6-2 win over visiting San Francisco. Holliday's 4 RBI tied him for 3rd in the NL.
The Phillies placed 1st baseman Ryan Howard on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday, but his replacement, Greg Dobbs filled in just fine as the Phillies rallied to an 11-7 home win over Chicago. Dobbs rapped out 3 singles and a triple, went 4-4, scored 2 and drove in a pair. Catcher Carlos Ruiz went 3-3 with a 2-run homer, a double and a single, drove in 3, scored 2 and also put out 2 base runners at the plate on throws from right fielder Shane Victorino.
Other NL Scores
LA Dodgers 7 Cincinnati 3 - B. Penny (W, 5-0), 6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1.39 ERA leads NL
Washington 7 Florida 3 - R. Zimmerman, walk-off Grand Slam home run (2)
Andruw Jones (right) blasted a 3-run homer in the 7th to help send the Washington Nationals to their 8th loss in 9 games, all at home. The Braves, meanwhile, improved to 7-1 with the 8-3 win and remain alone atop the NL East. It was Jones' 2nd home run of the season; he's batting just .167 thus far.
San Diego's Greg Maddux was all 6's on Wednesday night as he evened his record at 1-1. He pitched 6 innings, gave up 6 hits and struck out 6 San Francisco Giants. One column which was not a 6, but a 0, was earned runs. Three Padre relievers came on to finish what Maddux started as the Padres won, 4-0.
LA's Brad Penny improved his record to 2-0, as he shut down the visiting Colorado Rockies on 2 hits over 6 1/3 innings. Penny walked 4, struck out 3 and didn't allow a run. Takashi Saito worked the ninth inning for his 5th save in the 3-0 win.