Take Me Back from the Ballgame May 27, 2010

Written by Joe Tetreault | 28 May 2010

Lilly's cheating feet will make Blake weep, and 14 other tales from the yard.

• 3 Houston Astros Recap

  W: John Axford L: Matt Lindstrom Sv: None Home Runs: None I can do little to top the comments from David Pinto on the game ending walkoff walk the Rickie Weeks drew off Lindstrom. "There’s no excuse for a walk off walk. I’d rather see a pitcher groove one down the middle of the plate and take my chances that the hitter will make a mistake." So would I. Trying to be too fine is an all too common problem. Astros injury note, Bud Norris will miss his next start.

  4 Milwaukee Brewers Recap

• 0 Los Angeles Dodgers Recap

  W: Sean Marshall L: John Ely Sv: Carlos Marmol Home Runs: None Another game where the story is less the action than the little things a pitcher didn't do that overshadowed the game. Both C.J. Nitkowski on twitter and Casey Blake in the game noticed that something wasn't quite right with where Ted Lilly was standing. Score one for Twitter, which was where Nitkowski first noTed Lilly's misdeeds.

  1 Chicago Cubs Recap

• 2 Arizona Diamondbacks Recap

  W: Jason Hammel L: Dan Haren Sv: None Home Runs: Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Spilborghs, Troy Tulowitzki, Seth Smith Haren allowed four home runs and was rocked in general. In fairness, the lack of walks (zero) and decent strikeout numbers (six) suggest at the very least he's not afraid to challenge hitters in the strike zone. The homeruns, more than just the anomaly of Coors' thin air, indicate that Haren is either not getting the right movement on his pitches or dealing with diminished velocity, possibly both.

  8 Colorado Rockies Recap

• 4 Washington Nationals Recap

  W: Santiago Casilla L: Sean Burnett Sv: Brian Wilson Home Runs: Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Aubrey Huff Craig Stammen handed a 4-2 lead to the Nats pen in the seventh, but what had been a strength during the first two months of the season quickly reverted into last season's explosive group. The Giants rallied for three runs, with Nate Schierholtz and Freddy Sanchez delivering singles to push home the runs. Both Stammen and Giants starter Barry Zito pitched well, but San Francisco's pen won the day.

  5 San Francisco Giants Recap

• 8 St. Louis Cardinals Recap

  W: P.J. Walters L: Wade LeBlanc Sv: None Home Runs: Albert Pujols, Brendan Ryan The headline in my RSS reader for the ESPN approved version of the AP recap read "Pujols shatters slump with homer, three RBIs" (Here's the screenshot) In Pujols' 11 games prior to yesterday, he hit .278/.447/.306, a very Nick Johnson like line that is still rather productive, if sapped of power. Adding in his five plate appearances from yesterday the line moves to .275/.423/.375. Two measures, batting average and OBP, dropped, thanks to a 1-4 with a sac fly line. The final, Slugging Pct., jumped significantly thanks to the home run. That hardly "shatters" a slump. Which I suspect is why the headline on the recap was changed. See?

  3 San Diego Padres Recap

• 7 Oakland Atletics Recap

  W: Michael Wuertz L: Mark Hendrickson Sv: Andrew Bailey Home Runs: Gabe Gross The Orioles used four pitchers to less an less effect in the eighth as a 5-2 lead quickly reversed. Singles by Adam Rosales and Mark Ellis chased starter Brad Bergesen. Jason Berken and Mark Hendrickson got back to back outs before Ryan Sweeney single drove in Rosales. Kurt Suzuki rapped a basehit off Hendrickson's leg and then Jake Fox singled on a grounder that gobbled up Cesar Izturis to score Ellis. Even so, there were two outs and Baltimore still led by a run. On comes Cla Meredith to face Kevin Kouzmanoff who cleared the bases with a three-run double.

  5 Baltimore Orioles Recap

• 4 Kansas City Royals Recap

  W: Brian Bannister L: Daisuke Matsuzaka Sv: Joakim Soria Home Runs: Bill Hall Wildness doomed Matsuzaka who couldn't follow up his no-hitter flirtation with anything useful. His eight walks in four and two-thirds innings were a classic reversion from dominant Dice-K to the bumbling base on balls issuing Dice-BB. Bannister in contrast threw strikes, hit his spots, gave up nine hits, but did not walk a batter. Kansas City's three run fifth was the result of five walks, one hit and a wild pitch.

  3 Boston Red Sox Recap

• 8 Atlanta Braves Recap

  W: Peter Moylan L: Ricky Nolasco Sv: None Home Runs: None The Braves came out hitting and easily topped the Mariners to claim second place in the NL East for themselves. A 77 minute rain delay chased starters Tim Hudson and Ricky Nolasco. Atlanta's bullpen held Florida's hitters in check with eight strikeouts over five innings.

  3 Florida Marlins Recap

• 1 Chicago White Sox Recap

  W: Jeff Niemann L: Gavin Floyd Sv: None Home Runs: Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Mark Teahen The Rays righted themselves taking the first of a four game set with the White Sox. Carl Crawford's fifth inning sacrifice fly drove in Sean Rodriguez with the eventual game winning run. Jeff Niemann pitched eight innings, allowing his only run on a solo shot by Mark Teahen.

  5 Tampa Bay Rays Recap

• 0 Philadelphia Phillies Recap

  W: Mike Pelfrey L: Cole Hamels Sv: Francisco Rodriguez Home Runs: None The Phillies were held scoreless again as the Mets made it 27 straight goose eggs over their divisional rivals, further tightening the NL East. Jose Reyes continued his solid play of late with three hits in four trips, two runs batted in and a run scored. Mike Pelfrey struggled with control, walking five, but the Mets turned three double plays to thin out the base paths.

  3 New York Mets Recap

• 2 Pittsbugh Pirates Recap

  W: Johnny Cueto L: Charlie Morton Sv: None Home Runs: Scott Rolen, Jay Bruce Another start, another disaster for Charlie Morton. As insane as his 9.35 ERA is in 43.1 innings, what's really remarkable is that his percentage of quality starts tracks fairly close to his career level. When he's been bad, he's been horrendous.

  8 Cincinnati Reds Recap

• 2 New York Yankees Recap

  W: Nick Blackburn L: Javier Vazquez Sv: None Home Runs: Jason Kubel 2 Jason Kubel destroys the Yankees again. Three hits, two home runs, five runs batted in, another three scored is a nice series or for some players weeks. Kubel did it in a day. Nick Blackburn played on the theme of the day, walks bad, hits are okay as long as you mix in some double plays.

  8 Minnesota Twins Recap

Standings