Offense, thy name is Scott Hairston.
Final Score: Padres 4, Giants 3
WP: Bell (5-3, 2.49 ERA)
LP: Taschner (2-1, 5.91 ERA)
Maddux was quoted a few days ago as saying that pitching to Barry Bonds was easy. If he came up in a rough spot, pitch around him. But he didn't do that Friday night. Bonds wasn't walked once in four at-bats, three against Maddux and once against Padres reliever Kevin Cameron. He went 0-for-4 on the night with one strikeout.
This game began as a good pitching match-up. It was 1-0 San Francisco heading into the top of the 7th. Maddux pitched 6.1 innings and had allowed one run when he was pulled for Cla Meredith with two men on. Both of those would come around to score, giving Maddux three earned runs on the night and putting him in position for the loss. It would have been his first loss to the Giants since May 2003.
Matt Cain had a 5-hit, 11 K shutout heading into the 8th inning. After getting the first out, Cain was pulled for Chulk with two men on. Like the majority of Cain's season thus far, something went wrong that cost him a win. That something was Scott Hairston and a 3-run homerun. Chulk was credited with a blown save. Cain looked on with a shocked expression on his face.
The Padres threatened in the bottom of the 9th but couldn't capitalize, leading to extra innings where it was Hairston again, this time with the game winning homerun off Taschner. Bell picked up the win with an inning of hitless relief.
But the Padres weren't the only ones with some late heroics.
Check out the Grays uniforms worn in honor of the men who participated in the Negro Leagues back in the day! And that would be Ryan Zimmerman, taking a cut and hitting a game-winning single in the bottom of the 9th.
Final Score: Nationals 3, Cardinals 2
WP: Cordero (2-2, 2.55 ERA)
LP: Franklin (4-1, 1.45 ERA)
Well-pitched game for both teams. I'm to the point where I should apologie to Tim Redding for thinking calling him up would be a complete disaster with all the rotation injuries. But in my own defense, not only was he terrible in Spring Training but he wasn't looking too promising in the minor leagues either. That said, Redding has been nothing short of quality ever since joining the Nationals rotation. Even in games he hasn't won, he's given his team a chance to win. Definitely one of the biggest surprises of the season. In this outing, he went 6.1 innings and allowed just one earned run while striking out eight.
Kip Wells was also good or the Cardinals. He went six innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out four. However, he did walk five as opposed to Redding's two. (Wookiee) Jon Rauch was credited with the blown save after allowing one run on three hits in the 8th inning, knotting the score at 3-3. Chief pitched a scoreless ninth, with his obligatory hit and two strikeouts. Then, in the bottom of the 9th, Tony Batista led off with a single but was forced out on a Felipe Lopez shot to 2B Adam Kennedy. Ronnie Belliard followed with a line drive to RF that moved Lopez into scoring position at 2B. Then, the game clincher: Zimmerman singles to LF, allowing Lopez to score.
Here's something to blow your mind: at 49-60, the Nationals are just one win behind the Cardinals. They have more losses, but the Cardnals are only at 50-56. Who would have thought?
Other games of note:
Final Score: Yankees 7, Royals 1
WP: Wang (13-5, 3.49 ERA)
LP: Perez (6-10, 5.79 ERA)
Not that anyone will call winning 13 games "easy," but it's amazing how quickly Chien-Ming Wang has seemed to reach his very good ERA and record while other Yankee pitchers (see: Pettitte, Andrew Eugene) have battled all season just to get back to .500. He looked a lot more like the old Wanger in this game, with more success in keeping the ball down and a 2:1 ground ball to fly ball ratio. No homerun for A-Rod, but some nice defense as always behind Wang including a sparkler of a snag up the middle by Robinson Cano. Cano also had the only long ball of the game, with a solo shot in the 2nd inning. As the middle of the line-up has cooled (A-Rod did pick up an RBI), the rest of the order is heating up again. Multi-hit games for Damon, Cabrera, Duncan, Cano, and Phillips. Melky also had two RBI on a strange play where a ball hit up the middle bounced off the Royals pitcher's shoe and flew all the way into the stands for a ground rule double.
Final Score: Mets 6, Cubs 2
WP: Mota (1-0, 4.84 ERA)
LP: Dempster (2-4, 3.76 ERA)
The big news coming out of this one was Zambrano being pulled after the 5th inning. It's being reported that his issues were "only" dehydration and cramps, neither of which are pleasant. But they're still much better than the injury that was originally assumed. As the Cubs make a push to overtake the Brewers in the NL Central, they need Zambrano as the ace of that pitching staff.
Final Score: Orioles 3, Devil Rays 1
WP: Cabrera (8-11, 4.90 ERA)
LP: Shields (8-7, 4.45 ERA)
Good pitching match-up in Tampa Bay. I wonder if anyone showed up to watch it?
This is the reason why people will never give up on Daniel Cabrera. After a hard outing against the Yankees last weekend, he bounces back with seven innings of one-run ball, allowing only one walk and four hits. He wasn't as dominating as he can be, with only three strikeouts, but a positive sign for Daniel Cabrera who has had a rollercoaster season thus far. The only scoring for the Orioles came in the 4th inning on a 3-run homer from Aubrey Huff.
As for Saturday's action...
RHP Phil Hughes (1-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Davies (4-8, 5.76 ERA)
Some returns and rebirths in this game. Phil Hughes will be making his first start for the Yankees since having to abandon his no-hitter against the Rangers because of a hamstring injury.
Kyle Davies was just traded to the Royals from the Braves in exchange for closer Octavio Dotel. Davies' last start against the Reds was a dud. He couldn't get one out in the game before being pulled, after allowing two earned runs on two hits and three walks. Davies lost all three starts he made against the American League this season. To be fair, one of those was a hard luck loss against Detroit, where he went 6.1 innings and allowed just two earned runs. Then, there are others, like the five earned runs allowed in 3.2 innings against Minnesota. Should be interesting to see what Davies has in this start.
In other games:
RHP John Maine (12-5, 2.92 ERA) and the Mets will be on FOX this afternoon taking on Ted Lilly and the Cubs. Maine is coming off of a rain-shortened start against the Nationals on July 29th. He went five innings and took the win after giving up no runs and allowing just one hit. Maine's only start against the Cubs this year was a loss on May 15th, where he went five innings and allowed three earned runs.
RHP Joel Hanrahan (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will make the second start of his major league career as he takes on new Cardinals acquisition Joel Pineiro. You have a rookie going against a guy who wasn't very effective for the Boston Red Sox coming out of the 'pen. Should be an interesting one for sure.
LHP Brian Burres (5-4, 4.12 ERA) takes on Tampa Bay lefty Scott Kazmir at Tropicana Field Saturday night. Burres is coming off of a win against the Yankees on July 28th, where he pitched six innings and allowed only one earned run on four hits with seven strikeouts. Burres' only appearance against the Devil Rays this season was back in April, where he pitched 3.1 innings of 2-hit, scoreless relief. The O's lost that game thanks to a 3.2 inning, six-run clunker by Steve Trachsel.
And the biggie...
RHP Clay Hensley (1-3, 6.49 ERA) makes his return to the Padres starting rotation (not sure why Stauffer isn't making his scheduled start...) on Saturday night as he takes on Patrick Misch and the Giants. Bonds is still looking for homers 755 and 756. Hensley made two April starts against the Giants and was not good in either, lasting less than five innings each start. But, to be fair, Hensley was struggling with blister problems early in the season that contributed greatly to his lack of success. Hensley did not give up a homer in either of those games to any member of the Giants.
No comments:
Post a Comment