SS Andrelton Simmons hits his first HR of the year
1. The Braves are on a roll. They won their 9th in a row, sweeping the Nationals, the team picked by many to go all the way this year- it is only mid-April, but the Braves made a statement. The Braves are now 11-1…. Paul Maholm is now 3-0 with an ERA of ZERO after pitching 20 1/3 innings…. Braves relievers have inherited 14 runners this young season, and ZERO of them have scored…. Justin Upton hit his NL-leading 7th HR and SS Andrelton Simmons connected for his first of the year, a 3 run shot… Bucketz Bomberz in our league picked the Braves to win the World Series. It doesn’t seem like all that odd of a pick… 150 games to go though, but they look dominant.
2. The Giants are sole owners of first place in the NL West with a record of 9-4, even though they haven’t been playing particularly World Series-caliber ball… Tim Lincecum, in the final year of his contract, is pitching poorly. His ERA is at 5.63 after three starts, and yet the Giants have won every game he’s started and Timmy has a 1-0 record. After giving up four in the first, he settled down and his fastball was effective… Cubs starter Edwin Jackson was in command through five, notching 9 Ks…. Cubs SS Starlin Castro is showing why he is so revered, hitting another HR and adding another three hits (.315 avg, .519 slugging, .833 OPS and a couple dingers)… In the sixth, things started to get weird. After a few lead changes, ten innings, a record-tying five wild pitches in one inning by the Cubs, a Hunter Pence HR, and a Cubs balk, the Giants won again… Sergio Romo gave up a hit in the 10th, but got his 7th save.
3. The Dodgers offense had a tough weekend, losing two of three from the Diamondbacks, and finding themselves in fourth place looking up at the D-Backs, Giants, and Rockies… On Friday, ace Clayton Kershaw pitched 7 1/3, giving up 3 ER- the Dodgers scored zero runs…. Today they were shutout again, this time behind a nearly complete game effort from Josh Beckett, who gave up the sole run of the game in the bottom of the 9th with one out… That wealth of starting pitching is good for them, but there is no way the Dodgers should be shut out twice by the Diamondbacks. Chris Capuano is replacing Greinke in the rotation, but now their once 7th starter Ted Lilly, who has thrown two rehab games in the minors, had declared himself healthy, which puts the Dodgers in a pickle. If they don’t add him to the roster, they can lose him.
4. A few struggling players seem to be getting back on track. The Angels took advantage (barely) of the Astros, winning the final two games, to get Trout and Hamilton seeming like their former selves… MikeTrout went 2 for 3 today with a walk, including a double and his first HR of the season, 3 runs scored, and an RBI. His average increased 50 points from his low on Friday night- he’s now batting .268… Josh Hamilton hit a HR for the second consecutive day, to go with a triple and a single on 3/4 hitting, a run scored, and 3 RBI. His average went up 50 points as well… Nobody had a better day though than the Phillies SP Roy Halladay who was looking-let’s face it-done prior to his performance against the Marlins today. He went 8 innings, giving up one run on five hits and one walk, along with a couple of Ks. It was his 200th career win. Yes, it was against the Marlins, but so be it. Good news was needed… Marco Scutaro of the Giants followed up a great Saturday (3 for 4 to raise his avg. 49 points) with a 1 for 6, but the one hit was a run-scoring double in the 10th. He’ll be alright.
5. The Brewers finally ended their scoreless streak at 32 innings today- they hadn’t scored since Tuesday- when, guess who, Ryan Braun (I hate even typing the guy’s name) hit a possibly steroid/HGH-aided HR. The Brewers won in extra innings when C Jonathan Lucroy hit a HR as well. When Braun hit his home run in the eighth, it broke the Cardinals pitching impressive run of 39 scoreless innings. I’m not sheepish- I hope MLB nails Braun. He’s bad for the game.
6. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal posted an interesting piece on the Quentin/Greinke injury-resulting brawl from a few days ago. Carlos Quentin, of course, said he was going to appeal his 8-game punishment, but played this weekend, and then accepted it today because tomorrow the Padres meet the Dodgers again.
7. The injuries keep piling up. The DL list is crowded with good players:
Jose Reyes (out til All-Star break),Yoenis Cespedes (15-day), Erick Aybar (15-day), Jered Weaver (mid-to-late May), Scott Sizemore (out for season), Freddie Freeman (late April), Aramis Ramirez (early May), Jason Motte (likely out for season+), Johan Santana (out for season, maybe career over), Steve Clevenger (60-day), Kyuji Fujikawa (15-day), Jason Kubel (15-day), Zack Greinke (mid-June), Hanley Ramirez (late May), Michael Saunders (15-day), Wilson Ramos (15-day), Brian Roberts (15-day), John Lackey (15-day), Ryan Ludwick (late July, maybe), Sean Marshall (15-day), Gordon Beckham (late May)… not to mention all the Yankees and about 100 others.
Today, Reds ace Johnny Cueto went down. He is going on the DL tomorrow, and early reports are maybe for a couple of months.
Then there are those that won’t do DL time- yet- but who have gotten hurt and won’t be playing for probably a week or so: Michael Bourne, Michael Morse, Coco Crisp, Franklin Gutierrez, Danny Espinosa (maybe a day or two).
8. I follow Twitter, as I’ve mentioned, during the games when I’m available to pay attention, following mostly baseball related people with about 75 others- mostly comedians or whatnot- and today following all of the day scheduled games and before the night game in New York, it seemed like Twitter was entirely dedicated to the Masters playoff at Augusta between Australian Adam Scott and 2009 winner Angel Cabrera of Argentina. It was pretty thrilling. Afterward, when Cabrera missed a putt by just a tiny bit and Scott – who isn’t known for his short game- sunk his to win it and was being awarded the coveted Green Jacket in the stuffy Jim Nance hosted clubhouse, comedian Neal Brennan tweeted: “The world’s dorkiest gang initiation is on CBS right now.”
9. So while there are 150 games to go, it is fun to take a look at what the playoff picture would be if the season ended today:
AL West: Oakland A’s
AL Central: Detroit Tigers/Kansas City Royals (tied)
AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Wild Card: Texas Rangers
AL Wild Card: Detroit Tigers/Kansas City Royals (tied)
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NL West: San Francisco Giants
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals
NL East: Atlanta Braves
Wild Card: Arizona Diamondbacks/Colorado Rockies (tied for both WC spots).
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The Baseball Messiah League 