Tigers 7, White Sox 6:
A bullpen collapse in the ninth inning for the Tigers transformed a
relatively easy win into an extra innings salvage job, but Detroit will
take it. OK, maybe “easy” isn’t the right word, because this game
featured yet another lackluster Dontrelle Willis start. Disastrous? No,
but I don’t know that giving up three run on five hits with five walks
in five innings is good enough to keep giving Dontrelle Willis turns in
the rotation. The last few times out he did OK the first time through
the lineup, so maybe they should give him a go in the pen. I mean,
given what happened in this game, it’s not like anyone else out there
is so deserving of their job.
Marlins 4, Cardinals 3:
That’s five straight losses for St. Louis, which isn’t a common
occurrence. That they lost with Chris Carpenter on the hill is even
more uncommon. That Albert Pujols is 0 for his last 15 goes beyond
uncommon and into the realm of the eschatology.
Angels 4, Rays 3:
Another close loss for the Rays. They’re 29-31, yet they’ve outscored
their opponents 330-284, which should translate to a record roughly
five games better than they’ve got. Not that life is fair or anything.
I went bald at 25 and Leonardo DiCaprio has castoffs that look like this, so I’m not going to sit and cry for the Rays’ bad luck.
Orioles 3, Mariners 1:
Is it just me, or have these two teams been playing each other
constantly for, like, three weeks? Brad Bergesen certainly acted as if
he was sick of the Mariners, dispatching them with nary a run scoring
over eight innings. When the Orioles scored in the first, it was their
first lead in 35 innings.
Mets 6, Phillies 5:
That stupid New York bandbox allowed seven home runs. Man, they really
need to do something about — er, what’s that? This was in Citi Field?
I thought that was Yellowstone East? Well, then, it must have been some
meat pitcher hurling fat pitches — er, what’s that? Johan Santana was
on the mound for the Mets? When you combine this with the Pujols thing,
I’m pretty sure we experienced two of the seven signs last night.
Braves 4, Pirates 3:
Braves win, blah, blah, blah. The best news was that Jeff Francoeur was
benched, showing up only to play defense in the ninth. That’s the kind
of player deployment I can get behind.
Red Sox 7, Yankees 0:
Beckett allows nothin’ but a piddling infield hit and David Ortiz of
all people hit a shot over the centerfield wall. The Yankees are now
0-6 against Boston this season.
Indians 8, Royals 4: And with that, the Royals are back in last place. Maybe the tide is turning on that whole apocalypse thing.
Blue Jays 9, Rangers 0:
A two-hit shutout over seven innings for Brian Tallet shut the Rangers
down. Ian Kinsler (0-4) has seen his OPS drop over 100 points since the
middle of May.
Rockies 3, Brewers 2: The Rockies have won six in a row. Milwaukee had no baserunners after the fourth inning.
Cubs 7, Astros 1: A ninth inning Lance Berkman home run was all the Astros could muster. Maybe they were just tired. I mean, I assume that Drayton McClane doesn’t allow the players to bring in their own energy bars and Gatorade into the game, so it’s a given that they’re going to flag as the season wears on.
Reds 3, Nationals 2: Johnny Cueto (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) is putting together one hell of a season that no one is really talking about.
Dodgers 6, Padres 4:
Andre Either smacks two dingers, thus imperiling that whole “drive in a
zillion runs while only hitting a handful of homers” thing. Not that I
suppose he cares.
Giants 9, Diamondbacks 4:
Pablo Sandoval had four hits and drove in three runs and Matt Cain
sucked it up on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff working.
Twins 10, A’s 5:
A laugher until the ninth, when Gardenhire, letting Scott Baker try to
finish off a shutout, had to use three different bullpen arms to
staunch the bleeding. The heart of the A’s order — the third through
seventh batters — went 0-for-16 with seven strikeouts.
