Goldschmidt Saves Arizona Again

Here’s what’s happening in baseball:

Yesterday May 8^th games:

Arizona 3  Los Angeles Dodgers 2

Paul Goldschmidt hit two more home runs, including the go-ahead shot in the eighth, and the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers in Los Angeles.  Goldschmidt now has four homers in his last three games, three of those either tied the game or gave Arizona the lead.

Chicago White Sox 6  New York Mets 3

Jake Peavy allowed just one run into the seventh and Alejandro De Aza had three hits, including a leadoff home run, as the White Sox roughed up Jeremy Hefner and the Mets in Flushing, NY.

 

Minnesota 15  Boston 5

The Twins hammered the Red Sox for 11 runs in the first two innings as Justin Morneau, Trevor Plouffe and Pedro Florimon each knocked in three runs in the rout.  Boston starter Allen Webster surrendered eight of the runs while only getting five outs.

Cleveland 4  Oakland 3

Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana homered for the Indians who escaped with a win despite an apparent blown call home run call in the top of the ninth that would’ve given Oakland the lead.  Adam Rosales was awarded a double rather than a home run even though replay shows the ball cleared the outfield wall.  I thought replay was conclusive?  Not in this case.

Tampa Bay 10  Toronto 4

Matt Moore improved to 6-0 for the Rays as he received plenty of run support thanks to Evan Longoria who went 3-5 with a homer and three RBI, and the Tampa chased Toronto starter Ricky Romero after just one out in the first.

 New York Yankees 3  Colorado 2 (10 innings)

Vernon Wells hit a first inning two-run home run and Brennan Boesch legged out an infield single in the tenth to score the winning run as the Yankees edged Colorado in Denver.

Atlanta 7 Cincinnati 2

Dan Uggla belted a pair of home runs off Mike Leake and Juan Francisco hit a grand slam in the ninth as the Braves put the game out of reach and win the series.   Kris Medlen pitched seven strong innings, striking out seven for his fourth win.

Texas 4  Milwaukee 1

Ian Kinsler went 3-5 with a homer and three RBI and Derek Holland surrendered just one run in seven innings as the Rangers beat Kyle Lohse in Milwaukee.

San Diego 1 Miami 0

Jason Marquis tossed eight shutout innings to outpitch Ricky Nolasco who struck out nine, and the Padres completed the sweep of Miami while allowing just one run in the series.

San Francisco 4  Philadelphia 3

Andres Torres singled in Buster Posey in the bottom of the tenth and the Giants avoided the sweep, one inning after the bullpen allowed two tying runs to score.

Baltimore 5   Kansas City 3

J.J. Hardy homered and the Orioles capitalized on three Kansas City errors to help Chris Tillman win his third game of the year.

Washington 3  Detroit 1

Jordan Zimmerman struck out seven in seven innings for his sixth win, and Bryce Harper blasted his tenth home run and drove in two runs as the Nationals beat Anibal Sanchez and the Tigers in a very soggy game.

St. Louis 5  Chicago Cubs 4

Carlos Beltran went 3-5 with two RBI including driving in the tying run in the seventh and the Cardinals finished their road trip 5-1 winning two of three in Chicago.

Seattle 2  Pittsburgh 1

Felix Hernandez and the Mariners pulled out a narrow win over A.J. Burnett and the Pirates thanks to Jesus Montero’s sixth inning home run in a game neither pitcher deserved to lose.  Hernandez allowed just the one in eight innings for his fifth win while Burnett gave up just two hits in seven, striking out nine.

Houston 3  Los Angeles Angels 1

Bud Norris struck out nine Angels in eight innings and Chris Carter homered for the second straight day as the Astros won again.

A.L. MVP Watch:  Evan Longoria, 3B, Tampa Bay (2^nd mention).  Evan went 3-4 with a homer (his 8^th) and three RBI on Wednesday and is on pace for 39 HRs and 108 RBI.

N.L. MVP Watch:  Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Arizona (2^nd mention).  Paul went 2-4 with two home runs (no. 8 & 9) and three RBI on Wednesday and is on pace to hit .319 with 42 HRs and 142 RBI.  He now leads the N.L. with 30 RBI.

History – Boston Red Sox Team History

          The Red Sox are one of the eight founding members of the American League that formed in 1901 and were originally known as the Boston Americans, and the Red Stockings, before settling on Red Sox around 1908.  They’ve played in 11 World Series, winning seven, and have played their home games at Fenway Park since 1912.  They won the very first World Series in 1903 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and won again in Fenway Park’s inaugural 1912 season over the New York Giants.  Their World Series winning streak continued as they won back-to-back titles in 1915 & 1916, and then again in 1918, before ownership sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919.  The curse of the Bambino was born and the Red Sox wouldn’t win another World Series for 84 years.  They lost in 1946, 1967, 1975 & 1986 and it wasn’t until 2004 did they finally win their sixth World Series.  They would follow with their seventh in 2007.

         

News & Notes:  Phillies ace Roy Halladay will have shoulder surgery to clean up his pitching arm and has not ruled out pitching again this season.

Trivia – Today’s Question –  What two Red Sox pitchers are tied with the franchise record for most wins in a Boston uniform?

Yesterday’s Question – What player holds the Baltimore franchise record for most home runs in a season?

Answer – Brady Anderson, 50 HRs in 1996

Vegas Bet:  Lastly, here’s an actual bet you can make in Las Vegas casinos: 

Yesterday’s Bet: Over/Under 1.5 RBI today by Miguel Cabrera.

Result: Under.  Cabrera had 1 RBI on Wednesday.

Standings

American League
American League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Baltimore	21	13	-	W 4
Boston	21	13	-	L 2
N.Y. Yankees	19	13	1	W 1
Tampa Bay	15	18	5½	W 1
Toronto	13	22	8½	L 1
American League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Detroit	19	12	-	L 1
Kansas City	17	13	1½	L 3
Cleveland	17	14	2	W 3
Minnesota	15	15	3½	W 2
Chi. White Sox	14	18	5½	W 1
American League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Texas	21	13	-	W 1
Oakland	18	17	3½	L 3
Seattle	16	19	5½	W 1
L.A. Angels	11	22	9½	L 4
Houston	10	24	11	W 2
National League
National League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Atlanta	20	13	-	W 1
Washington	18	15	2	W 3
Philadelphia	16	19	5	L 1
N.Y. Mets	13	17	5½	L 1
Miami	10	25	11	L 3
National League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
St. Louis	21	12	-	W 1
Pittsburgh	18	15	3	L 1
Cincinnati	19	16	3	L 1
Milwaukee	15	17	5½	L 1
Chi. Cubs	13	21	8½	L 1
National League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
San Francisco	20	14	-	W 1
Colorado	19	14	½	L 1
Arizona	19	15	1	W 3
San Diego	16	18	4	W 4
L.A. Dodgers	13	20	6½	L 7

Thursday 5/9 Schedule with probable pitchers in parentheses. 
My picks to win are highlighted. Yesterday’s Picks: 11-4  Overall: 192-160
Times EST

 

12:05 PM	Oakland	Colon (3-1)	@	Cleveland	Kazmir (1-1)
3:10 PM	N.Y. Yankees	Sabathia (4-3)	@	Colorado	Francis (1-2)
4:05 PM	Detroit	Fister (4-0)	@	Washington	Haren (3-3)
7:05 PM	Kansas City	Guthrie (4-0)	@	Baltimore	Gonzalez (2-2)
7:10 PM	Pittsburgh	Locke (3-1)	@	N.Y. Mets	Gee (2-4)
7:10 PM	Minnesota	Correia (3-2)	@	Boston	Lackey (1-2)
7:10 PM	Toronto	Dickey (2-5)	@	Tampa Bay	Price (1-3)
8:10 PM	L.A. Angels	Vargas (1-3)	@	Houston	Harrell (3-3)
9:40 PM	Philadelphia	Hamels (1-4)	@	Arizona	Corbin (4-0)
10:15 PM	Atlanta	Teheran (1-0)	@	San Francisco	Vogelsong (1-2)