Here’s
what’s happening in baseball:
Yesterday
4/22 Games
Boston
9 Oakland 6
Mike Napoli, fresh off his A.L. Player of the Week honors,
might win it again the way his week started.
He went 2-5 with grand slam and 5 RBI, and Will Middlebrooks hit a 3-run
HR, as the Red Sox trounced A’s starter A.J. Griffin for seven runs in four
innings.
Tampa
Bay 5 New York Yankees 1
Matt Moore struck out nine in eight innings, holding
the Yankees to just two hits, and Ryan Roberts hit a pair of solo HRs as the
Rays roughed up C.C. Sabathia for five runs.
Baltimore
2 Toronto 1
Nick Markakis singled in the winning run with the
bases loaded and two outs in the ninth as the Orioles won at home.
St.
Louis 3 Washington 2
Cardinal’s rookie Shelby Miller struck out 8 and
notched his 3rd win of the season, and Allen Craig doubled home two
runs as St. Louis won in Washington D.C..
Philadelphia
3 Pittsburgh 2
Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each had two hits as
the Phillies won a close one against A.J. Burnett and the Pirates.
Cincinnati
5 Chicago Cubs 4 (13 innings)
The 13th inning saw more runs scored than
the previous 12, as the Cubs scored two in the top half, only to see the Reds
score three in the bottom half on Cesar
Izturis’ two-out single for the improbable walk-off win.
Cleveland
3 Chicago White Sox 2
A day after falling on the dugout stairs and
bruising his left wrist, Asdrubal Cabrera singled in the winning runs in the
eighth for the Indians, giving Justin Masterson, who pitched seven innings, his
4th win.
Seattle
7 Houston 1
Kyle Seager, Jesus Montero & Kendrys Morales
each homered as the Mariners jumped all over the Astros early, and Felix
Hernandez struck out nine as he coasted through six scoreless innings for his
100th career win.
Atlanta
vs. Colorado - Postponed due to snow. Doubleheader scheduled for today.
Texas
7 vs. Los Angeles Angels 6
A.J. Pierzynski hit a solo HR with two outs in the
top of the ninth to lift the Rangers past the Angels in Anaheim.
Milwaukee
7 San Diego 1
The Brewers jumped all over the Padres in the top of
the first when Ryan Braun hit a 2-run HR and Yuniesky Betancourt a 3-run shot as
they coasted to victory.
San
Francisco 5 Arizona 4
Buster Posey tied the game with a two-run HR in the
eighth, and Brandon Belt singled home the winning run in the bottom of the
ninth to give the Giants the walk-off win.
Miami
vs. Minnesota – Postponed due to rain & snow. Doubleheader scheduled for today.
Record
Watch: Mike
Napoli has 25 RBI this month and is on pace for 30, which would fall just short
of the April record of 32 set by Juan Gonzalez in 1998.
A.L.
MVP Watch: Mike
Napoli, Boston Red Sox. Hit a grand slam
on Monday and had five more RBI, and he now leads all of baseball with 25 RBI.
N.L.
MVP Watch: Ryan
Braun, OF, Milwaukee Brewers. Went 2-4
on Monday with his sixth HR and 3 RBI.
He’s on pace for 54 HRs and 170 RBI.
Fantasy
Spin – Mike Napoli C, 1B Boston Red Sox
After signing a big free agent contract with Boston
in the winter, only to have it rescinded when his physical showed concerns with
a sore hip, they resigned him to a lesser deal in which Napoli has to prove he
can stay healthy. He’s played all 16
games this year at 1B, and now leads all of baseball with 25 RBI after his
grand slam and 5 RBI effort on Monday. He
still retains catcher eligibility in most leagues due to his 72 games caught
last year for Texas, and most believed his best days were behind him. With Boston’s injury to David Ortiz, Napoli
fit right into the cleanup spot and is tearing it up lately. He’s now hitting 5th with the
return of Ortiz, but his production should continue as long as he’s
healthy. While he’s never had more than
118 hits in a season or driven in more than 75 runs, he’s currently on pace for
190 hits and 190 RBI, making him a draft day steal if this continues. Great news for his owners, Boston has no
plans to have him catch this year.
News
& Notes – The spokesperson for Yankees second
baseman Robinson Cano’s Foundation is on the list of clients who frequented the
Biogenesis Clinic in Miami, Florida which is currently under investigation by
Major League Baseball.
Atlanta Braves outfielder Jason Heyward underwent an
emergency appendectomy Monday night and is recovering. He’s batting just .121 this season, and
perhaps now we know why.
History
– Cincinnati Reds Team History
The Reds formed
in 1881 as an independent club, joined the American Association in 1882, and
became a charter member of the National League in 1890. They won 5 World Series, with their first
coming in 1919 over the heavily favored Chicago White Sox, later to be dubbed
the Black Sox Scandal, as several White Sox players threw the series for money
because their owner was allegedly very cheap.
They reached the World Series again in 1961, only to fall to the mighty
Yankees in 5 games. The 1970s were by
far their most dominating decade, and they finished with a losing record just
once. The 1970 World Series was supposed
to bring glory back to Cincinnati, but they lost in 5 games to the Baltimore
Orioles. They faced the Oakland
Athletics in the 1972 World Series, but eventually lost in seven games. They finally won it all again in 1975 over
the Boston Red Sox in seven games, and again in 1976 as they swept the Yankees
in four games. Their last World Series
appearance was in 1990, led by All-Star outfielder Eric Davis (whom I met last
year when he was helping the current Reds in Spring Training), when they swept
the Oakland A’s in four games to get revenge for their 1972 loss.
This year it’s the right side of the infield that
powers their offense, with 1B Joey Votto and 2B Brandon Phillips batting 3rd
& 4th respectively. I
took this picture as they were warming up in a Spring Training practice getting
ready for the season.
Trivia
– Today’s
Question – What Reds pitcher is the only player in Major League history to
throw no-hitters in back-to-back starts?
Yesterday’s
Question – What pitcher holds the Twins record for
most career wins?
Answer
– Walter
Johnson, 417 wins, second all-time behind Cy Young’s 511. Kind of a trick question as Johnson never
played for the Twins, he played for the Washington Senators from 1907 – 1927,
and if you follow the franchise genealogy, the Senators moved to Minnesota in
1961.
Vegas Bet:
Lastly, here’s an actual bet you can make in Las Vegas casinos:
Over/Under 27 runs scored today by the
Diamondbacks & Rockies in their doubleheader today in Denver.
Yesterday’s Bet: Over/Under
13 strikeouts by Houston batters
tonight vs. Seattle.
Result: Under. Houston batters struck out 12 times.
Result: Under. Houston batters struck out 12 times.
Standings
| American League East | ||||
| Team | W | L | GB | Strk |
| Boston | 13 | 6 | - | W 1 |
| Baltimore | 11 | 8 | 2 | W 1 |
| N.Y. Yankees | 10 | 8 | 2½ | L 2 |
| Tampa Bay | 9 | 10 | 4 | W 4 |
| Toronto | 8 | 12 | 5½ | L 1 |
| American League Central | ||||
| Team | W | L | GB | Strk |
| Kansas City | 10 | 7 | - | W 2 |
| Minnesota | 8 | 7 | 1 | W 4 |
| Detroit | 9 | 9 | 1½ | L 4 |
| Cleveland | 8 | 10 | 2½ | W 3 |
| Chi. White Sox | 7 | 12 | 4 | L 4 |
| American League West | ||||
| Team | W | L | GB | Strk |
| Texas | 13 | 6 | - | W 4 |
| Oakland | 12 | 8 | 1½ | L 4 |
| L.A. Angels | 7 | 11 | 5½ | L 1 |
| Seattle | 8 | 13 | 6 | W 1 |
| Houston | 5 | 14 | 8 | L 3 |
| National League | ||||
| National League East | ||||
| Team | W | L | GB | Strk |
| Atlanta | 13 | 5 | - | L 3 |
| N.Y. Mets | 9 | 8 | 3½ | W 1 |
| Washington | 10 | 9 | 3½ | L 2 |
| Philadelphia | 9 | 11 | 5 | W 2 |
| Miami | 4 | 15 | 9½ | L 2 |
| National League Central | ||||
| Team | W | L | GB | Strk |
| Cincinnati | 12 | 8 | - | W 3 |
| St. Louis | 11 | 8 | ½ | W 1 |
| Milwaukee | 10 | 8 | 1 | W 8 |
| Pittsburgh | 10 | 9 | 1½ | L 1 |
| Chi. Cubs | 5 | 13 | 6 | L 4 |
| National League West | ||||
| Team | W | L | GB | Strk |
| Colorado | 13 | 5 | - | L 1 |
| San Francisco | 13 | 7 | 1 | W 4 |
| Arizona | 10 | 9 | 3½ | L 1 |
| L.A. Dodgers | 8 | 10 | 5 | W 1 |
| San Diego | 5 | 14 | 8½ | L 4 |
Tuesday 4/23 Schedule
with probable pitchers in parentheses.
My picks to win are highlighted. Weekend Picks: 8-3 Overall: 152-126
Times EST
My picks to win are highlighted. Weekend Picks: 8-3 Overall: 152-126
Times EST
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| TBD | @ | TBD | |||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ | |||||
| @ |
No comments:
Post a Comment