Saturday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops
American League
Alex Rodriguez (right) homered twice, the second a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, to propel the NY Yankees to a 10-7 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Yankees Stadium. A-Rod's stat line for the game is the most impressive thus far this season. 4 at-bats, 3 hits, 4 runs, 6 RBI.
In the same game, O's third baseman
Melvin Mora put up some pretty good numbers of his own with a double and home run in 5 at-bats, 5 RBI and a run scored.
Curtis Granderson's 5th inning solo home run proved to be the game-winner as Detroit outlasted Kansas City, 6-5. Granderson went 2-3, drove in a pair of runs and scored twice for the Tigers, who earned their first road win.
Javier Vasquez threw 6 2/3 innings of 1-hit shutout ball, sending the visiting Twins to their first loss, 3-0. Vasquez struck out 5 (including the side, in order in the 5th inning) and walked 4.
Frank Thomas hit his first home run in a Toronto uniform, a 2nd inning grand slam off Tampa Bay's
Toma Okha, who gave up 6 hits, 3 walks and 5 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. The Blue Jays won the game 8-5 in Tampa.
Sammy Sosa hit his first homer of the season and first as a Texas Ranger as the Rangers beat the visiting Red Sox for the second straight day, 8-4. Sosa's 2-run blast came off Boston's
J.C. Romero, who had a rough outing, allowing 5 hits, 3 earned runs while not recording an out. Sosa was 2-5, with 2 RBI and scored twice.
John Lackey looked to be in midseason form, helping the LA Angels to their 5th win in six games with a 7 inning quality start and his second win of the season. Lackey outdueled
Danny Haren (0-2), allowing just 1 run on 7 hits, no walks and 6 Ks. Haren pitched well enough to win, but the A's literally threw the game away in the 6th inning, when shortstop Marco Scutaro threw wildly to first, allowing Garrett Anderson to score the winning run from 2nd base.
National League
Adam Dunn (right) had an interesting day helping the Reds take over sole possession of first place in the NL Central (4-1) with a 7-5 win over visiting Pittsburgh. Dunn belted his his third homer of the season in the first inning - a two run shot - and after that the Pirate pitchers walked him three times, so Dunn responded by stealing second twice and scoring a couple more times. Noted more for his power stroke than his speed, Dunn has now stolen 9 consecutive bases without being thrown out. He stole 7 in 7 tries in 2006.
After a rough outing in his first start,
Derek Lowe held the Giants to 1 run on 4 hits over 7 innings in the Dodgers' 4-1 win at San Francisco. Lowe walked 2 and struck out 1 - opposing pitcher Russ Ortiz - evening his record at 1-1.
Florida's
Josh Willingham nearly hit for the cycle in the Marlins 8-4 win over the visiting Phillies, but he couldn't get the easiest part - a single. Willingham homered in the 2nd, tripled in the 3rd and doubled in the 5th inning, drove in 4 runs and scored one. He struck out swinging in the 7th, his final at-bat.
Dontrelle Willis struck out 9 en route to his 2nd win.
Houston finally got their first win of 2007, thanks to the complete game thrown by ace
Roy Oswalt, who allowed just 1 earned run on 5 hits a walk and 4 Ks. The Astros beat St. Louis 5-1, dropping the visiting Cardinals into a tie for last place with themselves. Both the Astros and Cardinals are 1-4.
Jim Thome (right) crashed a solo homer in the 4th inning and drove in another run in the 8th with a single to right, providing all the offense starter Jose Contreras would need in the 4-1 White Sox win at Oakland. Thome added another single to go 3-4, while Contreras scattered 4 hits and 4 walks for 1 earned run over 6 innings, evening his record at 1-1.
The Cleveland Indians had their games against Seattle canceled for the 4th straight day Monday after freak, heavy snow has kept the Indians and Mariners inside since Cleveland's home opener was cut short Friday night. The Indians were leading 4-0 with 2 outs in the 5th inning, but the game was called and the players haven't seen the field since.
In an unprecedented move, MLB has ordered their series against the LA Angels, which was scheduled to start Tuesday in Cleveland, moved to Milwaukee's Miller Field which has a retractable roof and is in good playing shape. With the Brewers on the road until April 18, the Indians can call Milwaukee home, though officials feel that the team should be able to play their 3-game series with the White Sox - which is supposed to begin Friday - at Jacobs Field in Cleveland.
As of yesterday, there was still about a foot of snow on the ground in Cleveland and another storm threatening a rain/snow mix tonight. The four games with Seattle have not yet been rescheduled.
National League
San Diego's Chris Young outdueled San Francisco's Matt Cain for the 1-0 Padres' home win. Young allowed just 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. Cain gave up just 1 hit, but the Padres pushed across the only run of the game in the bottom of the 7th with pinch hitter Geoff Blum's sac fly plating shortstop Kahlil Greene.
Braden Looper, who began his major league career with the Cardinals in 1998, but spent the next 8 seasons working out of the bullpen, has become a key in St. Louis' rotation, hurling a dandy 2-hitter at the Pirates last night in chilly Pittsburgh. Looper was re-acquired by the Cards in 2006 and used exclusively in relief, but got his first win in just his second start in 2007, going 7 innings without allowing a run in the 3-0 St. Louis win.
The NY Mets welcomed the Phillies into Shea Stadium for a three-game set with an 11-5 thrashing, turning a 5-4 deficit around by scoring 7 runs in the 8th inning. Carlos Delgado (right) led the assault, going 3 for 3 with a pair of RBI while scoring twice. The 5-2 Mets have shown a propensity for scoring runs in bunches. Last night marked the third time they've put up 10 or more runs.
The Houston Astros are never going to be confused with a power ball club, but through 7 games they're averaging only 2.71 runs per game. One reason the Astros aren't scoring has to be the failure of first baseman and cleanup hitter Lance Berkman to produce. Berkman drove in just his 3rd run of the season in last night's 5-3 loss at Chicago. He's gone 4-24 (.167) with 8 Ks to start the season. Berkman is a career .303 hitter, so he's either going to get it going soon or the Astros are really going to struggle.
Florida's Miguel Cabrera may be the best 3rd baseman in the majors. Cabrera led the Marlins to a 5-3 home win over Milwaukee last night with a sac fly and a 2-run homer (his 3rd of the season) and kept his batting average at .500. If the season were to end today (actually, there's about 155 games left on most schedules), Cabrera would win the NL Triple Crown. His 11 RBI are second in the majors to A-Rod's 13.
The Arizona Diamondbacks improved to 6-2 and 1st place in the NL West with a 3-2 home win over Cincinnati. As has been the case in 4 of those wins, closer Jose Valverde finished up in the ninth, though this one wasn't pretty, giving up a walk and a hit in the one inning of work. Valverde has allowed just 1 earned run in 4.2 innings this season.
David Ortiz hit his first two homers of the season in the 1st and 3rd innings off Texas starter Vicente Padilla, and Boston's Curt Schilling made them hold up for a 3-2 Red Sox win. Ortiz crunched a solo shot in the first and followed that up with a 2-run dinger in the third. After a slow start, Ortiz raised his batting average to a still-unrespectable .217. Schilling leveled his record at 1-1 with a 4 hit, 1 walk, 6 K, 7-inning outing, yielding only 1 run, that, on Frank Catalanotto's solo homer in the bottom of the first.
Johan Santana shut out the White Sox on one hit over 7 innings, and Justin Morneau cracked a three-run shot in the 4th inning to provide all the offense the Twins needed for the 3-1 road win. Santana, who improved to 2-0, struck out 9 and walked 3 batters.
National League
Arizona's Livan Hernandez blanked the Nationals on 3 hits over 7 innings, getting his first win of the season, 3-1, at Washington, striking out 1 and walking 3.
Craig Counsel rapped 3 hits in 5 at-bats, including a bases-loaded triple in the 8th inning, pacing Milwaukee over the Chicago Cubs, 9-4. The Brewers managed to avoid being swept at home by the Cubs, who had taken the first two games of the series, 9-3 and 6-3.
The Cardinals' Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen, who bat 3-4 in the lineup, finally found their hitting strokes and helped deliver a 10-1 decision at Houston. Pujols hit his first homer of the season and drove in his first runs with a two-run shot in the third inning. He went 2-5, scored 3 times and raised his batting average to .136 (3-22). Rolen, who boosted his batting average to .182, had a single and base-loaded double in 5 at-bats, good for 4 RBI.
The LA Dodgers knew they needed some pop in the middle of their lineup, and that why they picked up Luis Gonzalez from Arizona in the off-season. Gonzalez belted a solo homer in the 2nd and a three run shot in the 7th, drove in 4 runs and scored 3 times in LA's 10-4 win over the Giants. The Dodgers completed the road sweep in San Francisco, having beaten the Giants, 2-1 and 4-1 on Friday and Saturday.
Giants' starter Barry Zito (0-2) was significantly roughed up by the Dodgers, who hammered him for 8 earned runs over 6 innings, with 9 hits and 3 walks. Zito's ERA ballooned to 8.18.
After trashing the world champion St. Louis Cardinals in a 3-game set, the NY Mets sauntered into Atlanta and gave the Braves a taste of what the NL East would be like this season. Leadoff man Jose Reyes (right) rapped out a pair of triples and a single in 6 at-bats, drove in 4 runs and scored twice in support of Oliver Perez's 5-hit, 6 K, 7-inning mound work. While Reyes and the other Mets' position players were shredding 4 Atlanta pitchers for 15 hits, Perez was making short work of the Braves at the plate, allowing just one earned run on Jeff Francoeur's first homer of the season. The Mets improved to 4-0, one game ahead of the Braves.
Arizona rookie Chris B. Young blasted a 3-run shot in the 6th and added another RBI on a sac fly in the 8th inning, boosting the Diamondbacks to a 7-1 decision over the Nationals at Washington. Young, starting in center field for Arizona, is batting only .176, but has produced 7 RBI on just 3 hits.
Opposing pitchers may not want to face Philly's Ryan Howard, but Pat Burrell, who bats behind the 2006 NL MVP will make them pay. Burrell blasted a 3-run homer off Florida reliever Ricky Nolasco in the top of the 7th inning last night to boost the Phillies to an 8-2 win over the Marlins. Nolasco walked Howard with first base open and Shane Victorino on 2nd to face Burrell and the veteran left fielder obligingly deposited the ball in the stands behind left field. Burrell earlier scored in the 2nd and singled in another run in the third. The homer gave him 4 RBI on the night.
Cubs' starter Rich Hill was perfect over 5 innings, then allowed a leadoff 6th inning solo homer to Corey Hart, but finished strong, setting down the next 6 batters in order, as Chicago won 9-3 at Milwaukee. Hill allowed only the one hit, no walks and struck out 6 as the Cubs evened their record at 2-2.
After dropping 3 straight to the Mets, the St. Louis Cardinals got their first win of the season as Chris Duncan went 3-4 on a pair of doubles, a two-run homer and 3 RBI. The Cardinals handed Houston their 4th straight home loss, 4-2.
Jeff Conine's 3-run blast in the 3rd broke a 1-1 tie and the Reds added single runs in the 7th and 8th innings to hand Pittsburgh their first loss of the season, by a 6-1 score. The win earned the Reds a tie with the Pirates for 1st place in the NL Central at 3-1.
Colorado's Matt Holliday hit his second home run in as many days helping the Rockies to a 4-3 win at San Diego. Holliday's 2-run shot drove in Todd Helton and gave the Rockies a 4-1 cushion. Khalil Greene's 2-run shot in the 9th nearly spoiled the night for reliever Brian Fuentes, who was awarded the save despite allowing a hit and two runs in the final frame.
Brad Penny allowed 10 hits but only 1 run to post a 2-1 win over host San Francisco.
American League
Vladimir Guerrero (right) cracked a 3-run homer off reliever Jay Witasick in the 7th inning to pace the LA Angels to a 5-3 win over AL West rival Oakland. The blast was Vlad's 3rd of the season (tying him with Cleveland's Gary Sizemore for the AL lead) and boosted his RBI total to a league-leading 9, one ahead of the A's' Mark Ellis.
Robinson Tejeda threw 2-hit ball over 7 innings as the Texas Rangers beat the visiting Boston Red Sox, 2-0. Tejeda walked 3 and struck out just one, but threw only 77 pitches for his first win of 2007.
The Yankees' Mike Mussina lasted only 4 innings in his 2007 debut, allowing the visiting Baltimore Orioles to ring up 6 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks. The Moose only struck out 4 batters in Baltimore's 6-4 win.