Big day at Fenway as the Red Sox resumed play following the events in Boston the past few days. During pre-game ceremonies- broadcast live by the MLB Network– David “Big Papi” Ortiz (his first game of the season) made a speech that was both popular, and well, he dropped an F-bomb on live television: “This jersey that we wear today, it doesn’t say Red Sox. It says Boston. We want to thank you, Mayor Menino, Governor Patrick, the whole police department, for the great job that they did this past week. This is our fucking city! And nobody’s going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.”… And yes, there are already t-shirts available… What was really surprising was a tweet from the FCC that came out shortly after: “David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today’s Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston – Julius“. That’s right, Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC supported it and let it slide. It isn’t often that you think of the FCC as cool. That is really cool… On top of that, Neil Diamond himself showed up to perform his “Sweet Caroline”. The thing that makes that so cool, is that the Red Sox didn’t arrange it. Neil booked a flight himself, caught a 4AM flight that he paid for, and then offered to perform. Classy… And then, down 4-2 in the bottom of the 8th, the Red Sox managed to take the lead on the strength of a three-run HR from Daniel Nava, a player who had almost retired twice… They held on after the Royals Lorenzo Cain hit a HR in the 9th (he went 4-4), and the storybook ending was complete… A slight non-baseball add-on. Boston.com compiled a list of twitter responses to Arkansas state senator Nate Bell‘s tasteless tweet from Thursday/Friday night when the manhunt was on, the one that went: “I wonder how many Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a hi-capacity magazine?” The replies are worth reading.
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The Tigers Rick Porcello had a crappy day. He pitched only 2/3’s of an inning vs. the Angels before getting the hook. In that time he had given up 9 hits, a walk, 9 ER, and a grand slam to Mike Trout. The performance rose his ERA to 11.08 on the season. On top of that, the Tigers were shutout, losing 10-0.
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The opposing pitcher, Angels Garrett Richards went 7 innings, giving up only two hits and no runs. It was the first time this year that an Angels starting pitcher had pitched into the 7th inning.
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Porcello had some company in the crappy day department. Astros (oh, poor Astros) SP Philip Humber made it through only 1/3 of an inning against the Indians. He gave up 8 hits, a walk, a HR to Mark Reynolds, and 8 ER. The Indians beat them 19-6. Oofta.
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Nationals Gio Gonzalez had another bad start, giving 5 ER on 5 hits and four walks in just four innings. Walks have always been a problem for him, but the Mets had no problem with him. The Nationals did win the game though, 7-6, with some power. Bryce Harper, Adam Laroche and Ian Desmond all hit homers—- Harper hit two of them.
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The Nationals picked up a game on the Braves, who finally lost a game in which they weren’t shutout. The Pirates beat them 3-1. Paul Maholm was handed the loss, and he saw his scoreless streak to start the season end at 25 1/3 innings. A good run.
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White Sox SP Jake Peavy had a good day, striking out 9, giving up one run on six hits and four walks in seven innings. The Twins SP Vance Worley had an even better day though, given how lousy he has been in his previous starts. He also went 7, giving up one run on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. The Twins continue to show that they aren’t as bad as everyone thought they would be. Joe Mauer kept up his great hitting, going 2 for 3 with a couple of walks. The Twins won in 10 innings, 2-1.
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Tim Lincecum had his best start of the season. He pitched 6 2/3, striking out 8 and walking two, while giving up no runs. It lowered his ERA to a respectable 3.97. The Giants beat the Padres 2-0, the scoring courtesy of a Pablo Sandoval 2-run HR. The Giants were outhit 5-3. That’s Giants baseball right there.
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The Dodgers got beat by the Orioles…. twice!
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The Baseball Messiah League 