Brian Matusz Hurls Baltimore Back into Tie for First; R.A. Dickey Shuts Out Cardinals

Players of the Day for Saturday, June 2, 2012

American League

With all five teams over .500 and within three games of each other, no division in the AL is more competitive than the East, where Baltimore tied Tampa Bay for first place with a gutty, 2-1 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field in Tampa.

Baltimore starter Brian Matusz evened his record at 5-5, giving up just two hits over 7 1/3 innings, and got little help from Tampa Bay when the Orioles scored the eventual game winner on a wild throw by third baseman Drew Sutton that allowed Mark Reynolds to trot home from third.

Brian Matusz

Matusz, who walked three but struck out seven, worked a no-hitter through four, but allowed the Rays' only run of the game in the fifth, when Sean Rodriguez doubled to lead off the inning and scored two batters later when Sutton reached on a fielder's choice. Matusz fanned the next two batters to get out of the inning and was lifted in the eighth with two aboard on an error and a walk.

The Orioles' relief staff did its job, though. Pedro Strop advanced the runners on a wild pitch, but then got Ben Zobrist to ground into an inning-ending double play after walking B.J. Upton to load the bases.

Jim Johnson delivered a flawless ninth inning to earn his 17th save of the season, tying him with Tampa's Fernando Rodney and Cleveland's Chris Perez for the most in the American League.


National League

R.A. Dickey: 8-1

R.A. Dickey used his trademark knuckleball to baffle Cardinals' hitters in a complete game win as the Mets stopped St. Louis cold in a 9-0 win, a day after Johan Santana punched out the Cards with a no-hitter.

Dickey scattered seven hits over his nine innings, but didn't walk a single batter while whiffing nine. He also aided his own cause when he reached on a bases-loaded error in the bottom of the second. The Mets tallied three runs in the inning, more than enough for Dickey to earn his 8th win against one loss, tying him with Philly's Cole Hamels and the Cardinals' Lance Lynn for the most in the majors.

The victory - the second straight over the Cardinals in the first two games of their four-game series - left the Mets tied for second with Miami, one game behind Washington in the NL East, as the Marlins topped the Philles, 5-4, and the Nats took down Atlanta, 2-0. Stephen Strassberg shut out the Braves over seven innings, striking out nine, for his sixth win.

The win was Dickey's first complete game and first shutout of the season. He has five complete games on his career MLB record, with three shutouts.

Johan Santana Tosses First Mets' No-Hitter; Curtis Granderson's Slam Paces Yankees in Detroit

Players of the Day for Friday, June 1, 2012

American League

Opening a three game series in Detroit, the Yankees got a win in, taking the Tigers down, 9-4, on the strength of Curtis Granderson's second inning grand slam, that put New York ahead by a 5-1 score, a lead they would not relinquish.

Granderson: Slammin'

After the Tigers scored a single run in the bottom of the first off Yankee starter C.C. Sabathia, the Yankees took advantage of four consecutive walks served up by Tiger starter Casey Crosby, a rookie making his first major league start. Derek Jeter's bases-loaded base on balls pushed home the first run for the Pinstripes, after which Granderson launched his 17th homer of the season, deep into the right field stands.

Sabathia held the Tigers to three runs over seven innings, then a parade of five relievers finished up the final two innings. Alex Rodriguez provided insurance with a two-run blast in the ninth.

Granderson is tied for second in the home run department with Edgar Encarnacion and Adam Dunn. They all are chasing Texas' Josh Hamilton, who leads the majors with 21 bombs.

The win left the Yankees just 1 1/2 games behind the Rays in the AL East, Tampa Bay topped the Orioles, 5-0, to take sole command of first place in the division.


National League

Santana: Unhittable

It took the better part of 51 years, but Johan Santana finally threw a no-hitter for the NY Mets.

Santana, coming back off a year in which he didn't throw a single pitch in the majors and had major reconstructive surgery, threw 134 pitches, even though his pitch count was not supposed to exceed 110 to 115, but manager Terry Collins let his star continue as long as the no-hitter was intact.

Santana, doing what Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden, David Cone and a panoply of Mets pitchers could not, struck out eight and walked five for the historic no-no.

While his performance was not always pretty, and was aided by a blown call on a ball struck by Carlos Beltran that nipped the chalk on the third base line but was called foul, plus a seventh inning heroic catch by Mike Baxter on a Yadier Molina drive to the wall in left field. Baxter crashed into the wall and was forced to leave the game with an injured shoulder.

The Mets scored two runs in the fourth inning and three each in the sixth and seventh for the 8-0 victory.

Santana, who broke into the majors with Minnesota in 2000, threw his second straight shutout. He held the Padres to four hits and struck out seven on May 26.

The victory left the Mets tied with Miami in second place in the NL East, a game behind the Nationals, as the Marlins lost to the Phillies, 6-4, and the Nationals' meeting with Atlanta was postponed due to rain in the nation's capitol.

Toyota Unveils Scion FR-S in June

I haven't personally seen the new Scion FR-S from Toyota, but knowing the history of Toyota in racing and sports car history, this new entry looks like a fast little pony and I'll be checking the local dealers to see when they have any in stock.

A friend of mine is a sales rep at a Toyota dealership and he always lets me test drive any models I like, so I can't wait to get into the cockpit of this one.

One would think that this speedster, with 200 HP, could make the cover of one of the car magazines, and, if history is any guide, it should have a shot at sports car of the year.

No better way to get to the ball game - or anywhere else, for that matter - than in one of these. Check out the specs in the graphic below.


Brought to you by the all new Scion FR-S

Carlos Gonzalez Ties MLB Mark as Rockies Sweep Astros; Delmon Young Powers Tigers Past Red Sox

Players of the Day for Thursday, May 31, 2012

American League

Delmon Young

In the only Al game of the day, Detroit topped Boston, 7-3, avoiding being swept by the Red Sox in the concluded four-game series at Fenway Park.

Delmon Young, who joined the Tigers late last season after three-and-a-half years with the Twins and is off to a slow start, singled twice and hit an eighth-inning solo homer in five at-bats, powering Detroit with three RBI and a run scored.

Young is hitting just .256 with four homers and 19 RBI in 44 games this season.


National League

Gonzalez: 4 straight HRs

The Colorado Rockies completed their four game sweep of Houston with an 11-5 victory as Carlos Gonzalez tied a record held by 21 other major leaguers by hitting his fourth home run in as many plate appearances. 38 players have hit four home runs in four straight official at-bats.

Gonzalez connected in the first inning off Astro starter Bud Norris, blasting a three-run shot to left field as the Rockies scored five times in the opening frame and added four more in the second for a commanding lead.

Having hit three homers in his final three at-bats in Wednesday's 13-5 rout, Gonzalez was looking to set a new major league record for home runs in consecutive at-bats, but was intentionally walked, to the great displeasure of the Colorado fans.

He eventually scored in the inning and finished the game 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs.

NOTES: Some key weekend series begin Friday in both leagues, with the Orioles at Tampa Bay and the LA Angels hosting West division leader, Texas, in the AL, while the key action in the NL is focused on the tight East division. Philadelphia hosts Miami, and first place Washington travels to Atlanta. All five teams in the division are within three games of each other and all are above .500 on the season.