Yu Darvish was almost perfect against the Astros. Down to the last out- 26 up, 26 down- and a hard hit grounder up the middle and through his legs to spoil the celebration. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski– who also called Phil Humber‘s perfect game in Chicago- seemed to take it harder- one writer saying that it looked that A.J. said something about regretting calling for the wrong pitch. Darvish was actually graceful in his disappointment- a big smile. He’s a cool dude.
There were a few funny tweets in the aftermath of the almost perfect game. Jeff Passan tweeted “Well, at least Rangers fans know what it feels like to be one out away. #duckingforcover”. That’s funny, probably not to Rangers fans- a reference to their twice being one out away from winning the 2011 World Series.
Another- and I can’t find the source: “Yu Can’t Always Get What Yu Want”.
Hell of a game– fourteen strikeouts. Schweddy Balls has got to be pretty happy.
Alas, the Astros reign in first place is over.
…
Whoever has Giants SP Madison Bumgarner can’t be doing too much complaining either. He was amazing tonight against the Dodgers. He was ahead in the count almost all night, retired 24 of the 26 batters he faced (giving up two doubles), before giving way to Romo– who also looked sharp- in the 9th. I hope Lincecum is in playoff mode tomorrow- it would be great to cool off the Dodgers fans out of the gate.
…
Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, making his first official start in the Majors, was okay– he gave up ten singles to the Giants, but only one earned run. He did, however, manage to get booed by Dodgers fans- and deservedly so- for not running out a grounder when at bat. If it was a comebacker to the pitcher or something similar, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but it was a particularly hard hit ball that Panda had a little trouble handling at third… Ryu runs, and he could have had a single. Hell, he barely got both feet off the ground. Not a good way to endear yourself. I suspect you’ll see him running during the next opportunity. [Update: He apologized after the game and was embarrassed by the boos.]
…
Michael Morse hit a couple of home runs, which made me happy. That he did it in Oakland is good news for Mariners fans, as at Safeco Field the walls have been moved in, and he should be hitting even hit more homers at home. The Mariners look to be pretty entertaining this year. Kendrys Morales was a draft steal, in my book. And Michael Saunders stole a couple of bases.
…
I’m happy to see no one in our league thought it smart to draft Heath Bell this year. He stunk it up in Miami last year- a huge fall from his elite closer days in San Diego, and based on his one-third of an inning tonight as a member of the Diamondbacks, the guy still stinks. He got one out, Matt Holiday looking, but gave up a walk, a single, a double, and two home runs. Ouch.
…
Michelle Obama hosted a private screening of the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 and many baseball players were invited today- and judging by their tweets, it is supposed to be very good. Have you heard Jackie Robinson speak before? He had sort of a nasally tone to him- which the filmmakers did not remain faithful to, which is just as well. Still, it is kind of weird to try and present an accurate depiction of Robinson, and then skip his distinctive voice.
…
Tomorrow MLB is back to a full schedule. Good luck all! (go Timmy!)
The Baseball Messiah League 