Baseball sucks.
Reds have the best staff ERA in all of baseball at (I think) 3.61
GO REDS!
They better hope it stays that way, because they also have the third-worst run production in all of baseball, at 3.92 runs per game.
On the plus side for Cincinatti, Brandon Phillips seems to have his swing and his power back after an awful start to the season. I don’t follow the Reds at all, but Phillips in on my fantasy team, and he’s just started to pick up some steam.
Yeah, that’s why they are 14-12 instead of having single-digit losses.
And Phillips is the man…6 RBI’s last night…sweet.
I can’t believe two things:
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That the Jays are still in first, and
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The story at the top of the MLB list of “Headlines” is “Sliding not a problem for rehabbing A-Rod.” I realize Mr. Loompa is a superstar, but is it actually news that Rodriguez passed a little test in the process of coming back from an injury?
Oh, cut him some slack. How often does he make headlines for passing a test of any kind?
Interesting game between the Marlins and Braves. 5-3 Braves in the bottom of the second. Marlins rallying back. Probably end up as one of those 13-11 games with 10 pitchers used. Lowe is stinking it up out there with 3 hits, 3 runs, all earned, 2 walks, one strikeout, and one home run.
With the Phillies doing well, even without pitching, the Braves aren’t going to be able to do much playing like this. 4 losses in a row going into this game. I’m keeping an eye on the Phils tonight as Park should be dropped from the rotation if he blows it tonight. Mets have Santana so this is their chance tonight.
Probably not after tonight. 9-0 after two innings?
Decent game between the Phillies and the Mets tonight. Both Park and Santana are pitching one hitters so far. Santana with 9 strikeouts so far. I’m watching the Phillies broadcast on mlb.com so I can avoid ESPN spending the whole night talking about Brett Favre! 
Yeeeeea, Arroyo got smoked and chased early. That guy is either on or terrible. He doesn’t have good stuff in terms of velocity, he’s entirely a location pitcher, and when his location is bad…he’s bad.
Goddammit. The Reds are terrible at home and awesome on the road. We’ve got two more against the Brewcrew and a long series against the Cards. We need to make up some ground!
Goddammit.
I’m still waiting for the Blue Jay coach to turn back into a pumpkin, but maybe they can stay hot enough long to coast to a wild card.
I’ve always been of the opinion that most criticism or praise of managers is baloney - most managers use exactly the same strategy and what goes on behind the scenes is not really known to outsiders. But it’s impossible to ignore the fact that Toronto has played vastly better ever since Cito Gaston took the team over. Not just this year; last year they were playing .473 ball under John Gibbons and then played .580 under Gaston. It’s equally impossible to ignore that this is precisely what happened the FIRST time he replaced a Blue Jay manager, and further impossible to ignore that on both occasions the team was a collection of underachieving veterans being previously managed by an extremely intense, confrontational hothead.
So this may just be coincidence or flukey, but I’ll take it. 20-10, second best start in the history of the franchise.
Royals not only leading the Central, but have taken 3 of 4 from the East-leading Blue Jays, and their worst pitcher has just dumped Seattle from first place in the West.
I don’t know if they’ll keep it up all season, but I’m lovin’ it for now!! Go Royals!
Tough blow for LA. Manny Ramirez suspended 50 games for drugs
Thread about it here.
D-backs fire manager Melvin. Hmm, wish I wouldn’t have caught this as I was going to watch the replay of the day game today. I really don’t think the D-backs poor performance can be blamed on Melvin. This is a young team and with Webb out, they haven’t had things go their way. Still, just as they were on top of baseball this time last year, things can change in a long season.
I went to the Padres-Diamondbacks game at Petco today. It was a beautiful day for baseball; 74 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. The high sun caused some havoc on high pop-ups, though. Arizona 1B Whitesell lost one in the air, and just managed to grab it as it came down, and on a towering pop between 2B and SS, both Burke and Gonzalez of the Padres lost it completely, and it dropped harmlessly right between them.
I thought the Padres were in trouble when they gave up two runs to Arizona (including an RBI and a run to Haren), because when Dan Haren gets a lead, he’s hard to beat. But they managed to come back, and Haren never really looked completely on top of his game. Eckstein managed to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
It’s amazing how easily games swing, and what little things it takes to change the course of a game. In the bottom of the fifth, the Padres had two out with the pitcher coming to the plate. He showed more discipline at the plate than the batters that went before him, and managed to draw a walk. That was followed by three straight singles, and what should have been a quick 1-2-3 inning for Haren turned into a two-run game-tying inning for San Diego.
We had a small group of D-backs fans sitting near us. They had flown out from Phoenix for the day to drink beer and watch baseball, and were flying back in the evening. One of them opined, on more than one occasion, that Melvin “shouldn’t be managing a 7-11, let alone a baseball team.” Looks like he got his wish. He was actually a pretty funny guy; when Padres pitcher Chris Young struck out swinging in the third, he yelled out, “Don’t worry, our Chris Young can’t hit either!” That got a few laughs.
GO REDS GO! 5-0 over the Ratbirds in the 4th, Johnny Cueto pitching lights out, the Reds generating runs with their two biggest run producers out with the flu (Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips).
Hi Bayard!
And you living in Cincinnati a Cardinals fan…FOR SHAME!
Oh…phoooey!
Not looking good. 6-1 in the 8th.
The Mariners are imploding. This is the team I was expecting before the season began. Their starting pitching, minus Silva, has and is still okay, but their offense, which hasn’t been good all season, is now brutal. With tonight’s shellacking by the Twins, they will be on a five game losing streak and back to .500.
I see nothing wrong with the Diamondbacks firing BoMel. I didn’t like with the M’s either. I don’t think he’s that great a major league manager. I hope they kept the pitching coach because I did like him in Seattle.
OK, FoisGrasIsEvil, I commend the Communists for that win. They even kept Pujols off base, which is no mean feat. Somthing tells me that’s not going to happen two nights in a row.
Unfortunately, I’m supposed to go see Star Trek tonight, so I won’t be able to see the game. But I’m looking forward to plunking myself down on a barstool tomorrow and watching the finale.
That second at bat Pujols had yesterday he was muy confused by Cueto’s stuff. I loved how Cueto had him chasing garbage after taking a first pitch fastball right down the pipe.
It’s an interesting pitching matchup tonight, with hard-luck Harang (who never gets run support) going against former Reds pitcher Losche. Brandon Phillips is back in the lineup, but Votto is not.
The Reds need to start establishing themselves as a team that can win at home. Sweeping the Cardinals will go a long way towards that goal, as well as putting us only a half game behind the Cards for first place.
GO REDS!
I want to see that look on Larussa’s (I am The God Of Baseball) face. You know the one…that pinched, screwed up face he makes when things aren’t going his way…I suspect that if the Reds beat the Redbirds again, that he may be found asleep at the wheel at a downtown intersection near his hotel…