Tony Cingrani took down the Nationals, striking out 11 batters in six innings with just one walk to earn a short shutout. The Reds went on to a 5-2 victory to avoid the four-game sweep. Cingrani’s 11 K included a four strikeout inning, and he has accumulated 28 K in just 18 innings, walking four. So far, so good for the Reds’s youngster.
Jeremy Guthrie and Luke Hochevar combine for ten strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings with just three walks as the Royals shutout the Indians 9-0. That gives Kansas City five wins in their last six games as they continue to set atop the AL Central. The move to the bullpen benefited Hochevar so far as he has struck out 10 and walked three in 7 1/3 innings, good for a 1.23 ERA and a .200 BA allowed. Royals starters are doing a great job finding the strike zone this season with just 2.5 walks allowed per nine innings.
The teams play a second game later Sunday evening.
John Lackey seemed recovered from his injuries Sunday afternoon as he pitched six strong innings against the Houston Astros. Lackey threw 81 pitches as he works on his stamina, 56 of them going for strikes, better than 67%. He allowed just one run as the Red Sox sweep Houston with a 6-1 win, Boston scoring at least six runs in all four games.
Giancarlo Stanton hit his first home run of the season on Saturday, and kept his power going with two more on Sunday afternoon as the Marlins beat the Cubs 6-4. Stanton’s perfect day, three for four with a walk brought his slash line up to .243/.361/.414. The .361 is great; he just needs to get the other two averages up. With 12 walks in 19 games, it seems opponents are pitching to Stanton carefully.
Tony Cingrani helped put himself in a jam and get out of it with strikeouts. After retiring the first nine National, Denard Span reached by striking out on a wild pitch. A double gave the Nationals a threat, Tony struck out Bryce Harper on three pitches, walked Jayson Werth, then struck out Ian Desmond and Adam LaRoche. It was an impressive performance in a situation that might have wilted many rookies. The Reds lead the Nationals 4-0 in the top of the fifth.
Just as a side note, David Price and Doug Fister both pitch today. This means we have a chance of getting the most commercial pitching match-up since Shane Reynolds faced Pat Rapp.
R.A. Dickey returns to New York as the Blue Jays visit the Yankees to take on Phil Hughes. Dickey does not have the command of the knuckle ball he showed last season. He’s walked about 1/3 of his 2012 total in about 1/10 of the innings. Hughes put together two good starts in a row, striking out 12 and walking two in his last 14 innings.
John Lackey returns to the mound for the Red Sox as they host Houston and Bud Norris. A win by Norris today would give him half the Astros victories for the season. The Astros scored 24 runs in his five starts, but are averaging about 4 per game for other starters. Boston hasn’t missed Lackey, as the starting staff owns a 14-4 record and a 3.14 ERA.
The Nationals go for a four-game sweep of the Reds as rookie Tony Cingrani takes on early season ace Ross Detwiler. Cingrani is off to a great start in 2013 with 17 K and just three walks in 12 innings pitched. Eleven of those Ks have come in 20 AB with men on base. Detwiler has kept the ball in the park this season, allowing one home run so far, a solo shot.
The Pirates and Cardinals play the rubber game of their series with Jeff Locke battling Shelby Miller. Locke’s ERA is much better than his stat line, as he allowed four home runs and 11 walks in 21 2/3 innings, good for an FIP of 6.09 and an xFIP of 5.02. Miller, in his short major league career, has struck out 42 and allowed just one home run in 38 2/3 innings, good for a 1.40 ERA.
Kyle Lohse and the Brewers take on the one pitcher left in the Dodgers rotation, Clayton Kershaw. Lohse has been worth the draft pick so far, as he walked just two in 25 innings to help himself to a 2.52 ERA. It took Kershaw less than five full seasons to reach 1000 strikeouts. He’s only 25 years old.
Finally, ESPN offers a great interleague contest as Mike Minor and the Braves face Doug Fister and the Tigers. Both showed great control this season, both allowed just one home run, and both come into the game with three wins.
Enjoy!
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Kyle Seager singled in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, and game around to score the winning run two singles later as the Mariners beat the Angels 3-2. Seager plays 2013 as a 25-year-old, the usual start of the peak of a player’s career. With a bit over a year of major league experience under his belt, Seager is on a tear, with 23 hits and seven walks during the 16 games of hotness. He’s posting a .390/.455/.661 slash line during the streak. He’s only scored 9 runs and driven in 11, however, mostly due to the poor play of the rest of the team. Jesus Montero is starting to hit better as well. If Montero and Seager can hit their strides at the same time, the Mariners offense should get a nice boost, at least enough to get Felix Hernandez a winning record.
Bryce Harper homered in the fourth inning against Cincinnati, his 9th of the season and 31st of his career. That ties him with Ted Williams for ninth on the list for most home runs through seasonal age 20. Harper is having a Williams like season, currently batting .373/447/.783. At age 20, Williams hit .327/.436/.609.
Mel Ott holds the record for home runs through age 20 with 61. Ott hit one home run at age 18, 18 HR at age 19, and 42 at age 20. That 42 is also the record at seasonal age 20. At the moment, Harper looks like he has a shot at both those records. He only needs 10 more to tie Alex Rodriguez for third on the list through age 20. Along the way he would pass Al Kaline, Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout, Frank Robinson, and Ken Griffey, Jr. In fact, among players in the top ten eligible for the Hall of Fame, only Tony Conigliaro did not make it. Great play at a young age is an excellent indicator of a potential Hall of Fame career. Washington leads Cincinnati 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth.
The Pirates trail the Cardinals by 1 1/2 games in the NL Central as A.J. Burnett faces Jake Westbrook in St. Louis. Burnett turned out to be a great addition to the Pirates, going 17-12 since he joined them with a 3.42 ERA. He brought his home runs under control, allowing 0.78 per nine innings with Pittsburgh. Westbrook is pulling off an amazing feat, posting a 1.25 ERA despite walking 14 batters and striking out just eight.
Enjoy!
The Nationals are 2-0 since the new sideline reporter joined the broadcast. Unfortunately for her, she received two gatorade showers. She’s going to need to start wearing waterproof shoes. 🙂
Anibal Sanchez struck out 17 Braves through eight innings, allowing just five hits and one walk as Detroit leads 10-0. He won’t get a chance to tie the record of 20 K in a nine-inning game, as with 121 pitches thrown in a blowout, Bruce Rondon comes on to mop up for the Tigers. Sanchez now owns 41 K in 33 2/3 innings this season.
Francisco Cervelli left the Yankees game against the Blue Jays with a broken hand:
Cervelli was removed after taking a foul tip from Toronto’s Rajai Davis, the game’s leadoff hitter, off his hand to begin the top of the first. The Yankees later disclosed the fracture, which the team stated will require surgery.
Cervelli was off to a great start, but there’s no reason to belief his hot hitting would continue. This may give Austin Romine a chance to stick in the major.
Ivan Nova also left the game early with an elbow problem.
The Yankees lead the Blue Jays 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth.
For the second night in a row, the Nationals pitch a one-hitter against the Reds. Jordan Zimmermann channeled his inning Greg Maddux, throwing just 91 pitches for the shutout, walking one and striking out four. The game just took a few minutes over two hours.
This is the firs time the Reds were held to one hit in consecutive games since July 5-6 1900, according to the Reds broadcast. They did not work counts tonight, putting no pressure on Zimmermann. If Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Votto don’t hit, there’s not much else in the lineup to generate runs.
Anthony Rizzo hit two-run home runs in his first two at bats Friday night against the Marlins. That gives the Cubs a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Rizzo now has 16 hits on the season, eight of them home runs.
The National League leads interleague play 13-10 this season as Atlanta prepares to visit Detroit. Paul Maholm faces Anibal Sanchez, both sporting ERAs under 2.00. Southpaw Maholm is lights out against left-handed batters this season, but is also holding RHP to a .200/.294/.300 slash line. The two have combined to allow just one home run in 52 innings, each walking eight.
Defending division champions continue their series as the Reds send Homer Bailey against the Nationals and Jordan Zimmermann. All three of Homer’s homers have come on the road this season, despite just pitching five innings away from Cincinnati. Zimmermann has been equally good at preventing left and right handed batters from reaching base, holding lefties to a .275 OBP, righties .281.
Enjoy!
Nick Tepesch pitched a fine game against the Twins Thursday night, allowing one run in 6 2/3 innings on a Josh Willingham home run. He and the bullpen needed to pitch that well as the Rangers take the game 2-1. Coming into the game, Nick had struck out 13 batters in 14 2/3 innings, but allowed 15 hits. Usually a high K rate leads to few hits allowed. Thursday night, the rookie only K’d one batter, but it took the Twins until the fifth inning to get their first hit, and Tepesch allowed just five in his outing. With no walks, pitching to contact worked for the young man, who had great movement on his pitches. Nick lowered his ERA to .253, and is holding opponents to a .279 OBP.
David Ortiz went three for four with a home run as the Red Sox pounded the Astros 7-2. Ortiz is trying to make up for lost time with a .550/.571/.850 slash line thanks to 11 hits in five games.
If David Ortiz isn’t careful, he may inspire a following of teammates to regard spring training as nothing more than a two-month waste of their time.
Some of us have suspected that for a long time.
Davey Johnson tweaked his lineup Thursday night and the Nationals scored six runs. Don’t know how much the lineup mattered compared to the team being due, but Washington put 14 batters on base with five extra base hits. Bryce Harper and Ian Desmond each homered and doubled, while Denard Span collected three hits, including a triple.
Johnson inserted Steve Lombardozzi into the #2 slot and moved Jayson Werth to fourth, pushing other hitters lower in the lineup. I was hoping Davey might go even more radical and move Werth back to leadoff and bat Span ninth. Except for Lombardozzi going 0 for 5, this move worked fine. The Nationals beat the Reds 6-1.
James Shields and Justin Verlander provide a great start to the baseball day as the Royals and Tigers battle this afternoon in Detroit. Shields is showing the same great control he did with the Rays, but added an improvement in his home run rate Royals. Verlander cut down on his home runs allowed as well (as if he needed improvement) and is holding batters to a .150 BA with runners in scoring position.
Jeremy Hellickson and Chris Sale have both pitched well except for home runs allowed. Both gave up four so far in a little over 25 innings. Sale’s high K rate has not translated into a very low BA allowed, as opponents are hitting .245 against him. That makes the White Sox defense look suspect. The Rays look good on defense again, as with a lower K rate, Hellickson holds opponents to a .211 BA.
Finally, the Rockies and Diamondbacks continue their race for the NL West title with Jorge de la Rosa visiting Trevor Cahill. Jorge made most of his starts on the road this season, holding opponents to a .224/.297/.379 slash line. Cahill worked as much at home, with opponents posting a .234/.306/.359 line against the righty in Phoenix.
Enjoy!
The Toronto Blue Jays greeted Josh Stinson in his Orioles debut by having four of their five hits against him go for home runs. Despite the power barrage, Toronto needed ll innings to beat Baltimore 6-5. J.P. Arencibia had a rare three-hit game, but of course two of those went for extra bases. He now has 205 career hits, 98 of them for extra bases.
Devon Young sends this research on cold games:
Ok, so the temp at the Braves-Rockies game 1st game yesterday was 28°F degrees. Apparently that’s the lowest on record for a game (since 1991 when MLB began keeping records – nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51638353/ns/sports-baseball)
But, I remember reading about some even colder games. So I did a little newspaper search & found one comparable & one colder…
May 5, 1967 Herald-Journal page mentions the temperature during the May 2nd contest between the Yanks & Twins was 32°F at gametime, and dipped to 29°F by the end of it. The Bombers player rep, wasn’t happy with the game being played in that chill & wants to have games postponed if it’s too cold. The Twins owner was irritated by that view & said “you can’t set a temperature limit”… of course, those views probably had a lot to do with the 13-4 beating that Minnesota gave the Yankees LOL
Oct 11, 1906 Montreal Gazette tells us the temperature of the 2nd game of the 1906 World Series takes the cake tho… 6° below freezing. The article’s from Chicago, so I think that’s F, not C. Either way, that’d be 26°F or 21.2°F (equal to -6°C), which are both colder than the Braves-Rockies game. Snow fell during the game. Being it was in Chicago… I can only guess what the wind chill might’ve been. Yikes!
Thanks, Devon!
Justin Upton goes deep for the second time on Tuesday, hitting a solo shot in the night-cap of the double header. That gives him 11 on the season, and he needs three more in the last week of April to tie the record for the month. Atlanta leads Colorado 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth.
There are a high number of tight games this Tuesday night. At 9:15 EDT, only the 13-0 lead the Athletics hold over the Red Sox and the 4-0 Marlins lead over the Twins in game two of their double header are the only games separated by more than two runs. The two early games finished with 4-3 scores, so we’ll how many of the fifteen played end up close.
Alfredo Aceves let himself down in the top of the third inning as the Boston starter pitched against Oakland. He committed an error and balked twice as the Athletics scored six times in the inning. They lead the Red Sox 6-0.
Oswaldo Arcia, who turns 22 in a couple of weeks, hits his first major league home run Wednesday afternoon. The three-run shot gives the Twins a 4-2 lead over the Marlins. He hit 56 homers in 384 minor league games, slugging .539.
Meanwhile, Justin Upton smacked his tenth home run of the season to put the Braves up 1-0 over the Rockies in the first inning. Justin has a chance to beat the record of 14 home runs in April held by Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez.
Adam Wainwright is showing Cliff Lee like control this season. Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Royals and Tigers battle in a tight AL Central as Wade Davis takes on Max Scherzer. Davis is giving up a high number of hits for someone with 15 K in 16 innings, but most of the damage against him comes with the bases empty. Scherzer leads the AL with an impressive 14.2 K per 9, holding opponents to a .229 BA.
Ross Detwiler tries to keep his status as a fifth-starter ace as the Nationals host Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals. Adam has yet to walk a batter in 29 innings pitched this season. Ross holds opponents to a .118 BA with runners in scoring position.
The NL Central offers the another intriguing matchup as Carlos Villanueva of the Cubs faces rookie Tony Cingrani of the Reds. Villanueva allowed three runs this season, all on solo homers, good for a 1.29 ERA. Cingrani brought the heat in his first start, setting down eight batters on strikes in just five innings. In his brief MLB career he struck out 17 in 10 innings.
Enjoy!
Two teams off to good starts this season meet in Boston as the Oakland Athletics send A.J. Griffin against Felix Doubront. Griffin is following up his fine rookie season by trading a higher walk rate for a much lower home run rate so far. Doubront is blowing away batters with 13 K in 10 innings, but batters are hammering the pitches they do hit, hitting over .300 and slugging .500 against the Boston starter.
The Pirates and A.J. Burnett face the Phillies, who bring up Jonathan Pettibone for his major league debut. Burnett is posting incredible strikeout numbers early in the season, with 35 K so far. That’s more than twice the number of hits allowed in his 24 innings. Pettibone, seasonal age 22, has shown great control in the minors, except at AAA. The Pirates aren’t great at drawing walks, so we’ll see how the young right-hander holds up.
Finally, I love a battle of left-handers and CC Sabathia versus Matt Moore provides a good one. Although Sabathia’s velocity is down this season, he still shows great control and is holding the opposition to a .296 OBP and a .321 slugging percentage. Moore pitches to non-contact with 20 K and 11 BB in 18 innings so far. This seems to work, as batters managed just eight hits off him.
Enjoy!
The Royals sweep a double header from the Red Sox in two close games, winning the afternoon contest 4-2 and the night-cap 5-4 in ten innings. The Royals trailed early in both games but fought back for the wins. The two wins puts them on top of the AL Central by one game over the Twins.
Both the AL East and Central remain close top to bottom. Four and a half games separate top to bottom in the east, and three and a half games separate the first and last place teams in the central. Three weeks in, for these ten teams, it’s anyone’s division.
The Tigers and Angels go to the tenth inning tied at three. Al Alburquerque pitched the last two innings for the Tigers, totally dominating the Angels. He struck out five of the six batters he faced, throwing just 20 pitches. He has now struck out 16 batters in nine innings pitched this season.
Barry Zito pitched seven shutout innings against the Padres in San Francisco, allowing one walk while striking out four. He threw 102 pitches, 71 for strikes as he leaves with a 5-0 lead.
In three starts at home covering 21 innings, Zito has yet to allow a run this season. Maybe the Giants should just pitch him in San Francisco, as his only road start resulted in nine runs allowed in in 2 2/3 innings. While left-right platoons have been used for a very long time, you don’t see home/road platoons. For a while, I thought they may be useful in extreme parks, like Coors. Maybe one like that would work for Zito.