Harvey Nearly Perfect

Here’s what’s happening in baseball:

Yesterday May 7^th games:

New York Mets 1  Chicago White Sox 0 (10 innings)

Matt Harvey was nearly perfect through nine innings, allowing just one hit, an infield single that Alex Rios beat out by a foot, and striking out 12, and the Mets finally scored a run in the bottom of the tenth when pinch hitter Mike Baxter singled home the winning run.

 

Minnesota 6  Boston 1

Scott Diamond held the Red Sox to three hits in seven innings and Ryan Doumit hit his first home run of the year as the Twins won in Boston.

Cleveland 1  Oakland 0

Zack McAllister combined with three relievers to shutout the highest scoring team in baseball and the Indians have now won 8 of their last 9 games.

Toronto 6  Tampa Bay 4

Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ was hit in the head by a line drive in the first inning in what was a frightening scene in Tamp Bay.  In the game the Blue Jays pushed across two runs in the top of the ninth for the afterthought win.

Arizona 5  Los Angeles Dodgers 3

Paul Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to break the 3-3 tie and propel the Diamondbacks to their second consecutive win over the Dodgers  in Los Angeles.

Colorado 2  New York Yankees 0

Jorge DeLaRosa and four Colorado relievers limited the Yankees to just four hits, and Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the sixth as the Rockies won in Denver.

Cincinnati 5  Atlanta 4

The Reds shocked the Braves by hitting back-to-back homers of Craig Kimbrel in the bottom of the ninth inning, the first by Devon Mesoraco and then followed by Shin Soo Choo to win in dramatic walk-off fashion.

Milwaukee 6  Texas 3

The Brewers scored five runs in the first inning capped by a Yuniesky Betancourt two-run home run, and Aramis Ramirez added a solo shot in the seventh to fend off the Rangers.

San Diego 5 Miami 1

Eric Stults pitched one-run ball into the seventh inning and Will Venable smacked a two-run homer as the Padres won 5-1 a day after beating Miami 5-0.

Philadelphia 6  San Francisco 2

Kyle Kendrick limited the Giants to two runs in seven innings while Chase Utley and Ryan Howard homered as the Phillies topped Tim Lincecum in San Francisco.

Baltimore 4   Kansas City 3

Matt Wieters went 2-4 with three RBI including the game-winner in the eighth as the Orioles won in Kansas City.

Detroit Washington – Postponed by rain

Chicago Cubs 2  St. Louis 1

Travis Wood outdueled Lance Lynn through nearly seven innings and Nate Schierholtz hit a two-run homer as the Cubs won at home.

Pittsburgh 4  Seattle 1

Garrett Jones homered and Andrew McCutchen went 4-4 as the Pirates won at home.

Houston 7  Los Angeles Angels 6

Chris Carter and Jose Altuve homered for the Astros as they came back from an early three run first inning deficit to beat the Angels at home.

Fantasy Spin:  Travis Wood, SP, Chicago Cubs.  Wood made his seventh straight quality start Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals at home, throwing nearly seven innings while striking out eight for his second win.  He’s allowed three or fewer runs on those seven starts and boasts a season ERA of 2.31.  He’s definitely worth starting in all leagues now, but be warned, just like his teammate Jeff Samardzija, Wood’s wins will be limited by a weak Cub’s bullpen and by an offense that ranks 23^rd in runs scored.  Also presenting a little doubt is the fact that in his 26 starts last season Wood went 6-13 with a 4.27 ERA, making this season seem like an aberration.  He certainly has the makeup of a no. 2 or 3 pitcher, and fantasy owners should continue to monitor his progress, but for now I’d be starting Travis in all formats until he shows otherwise.

A.L. MVP Watch:  Mark Trumbo, OF, Los Angeles Angels.  Mark went 1-4 on Tuesday with a tree-run home run in the first innings, and has homered in five of his last seven games, putting him on pace to hit 45 HRs and drive in 116 runs.

N.L. MVP Watch:  Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks.  Paul was 1-4 on Tuesday with a home run and three RBI for the second straight day, and is on pace to hit .313. with 34 HRs and 132 RBI.

Record Watch: The Astros as a team struck out 13 more times on Tuesday and collectively have whiffed 336 time in 33 games, or 10.18 times per game, pacing them to strike out 1649 times, which would break the record of 1387.

History – Baltimore Orioles Team History

          The Orioles are one of the eight charter members of the American League that formed back in 1901, and they played their first official season in Milwaukee as the Brewers.  They would spend the next 52 seasons playing as the St. Louis Browns, until they finally moved to Baltimore in 1954 where they remain today.  They were always second fiddle in St. Louis to the mighty Cardinals of the National League, and coincidentally they faced each other in the 1944 World Series, won by the Cardinals in six games.  Once in Baltimore, success would finally surface.  They won their first World Series in 1966 by sweeping the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers, led by Triple Crown Winner Frank Robinson, and they reached the 1969 World Series but were shocked by the Miracle Mets as they lost in five games.  They were World Champions for a second time in 1970 when the defeated the Cincinnati Reds in five games, but would lose another heartbreaking World Series in 1971 in seven games to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and ironically another stunning World Series loss to the same Pirates in 1979.  Their last World Series appearance was in 1983 when they beat the Philadelphia Phillies in five games for their third title in franchise history.

News & Notes: Junichi Tazawa has been tabbed as the Boston Red Sox closer for now as both Joel Hanrahan and Andrew bailey recover from injuries.

More closer news, the Cardinals has announced that Jason Motte will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season, and Edward Mujica now assumes the closer role.

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

Yesterday’s Question – Who holds the Blue Jays career record for most hits?

Answer – Tony Fernandez with 1583 hits

Vegas Bet:  Lastly, here’s an actual bet you can make in Las Vegas casinos:
Over/Under 4 runs allowed by Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels.

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

Result: Wash.  The Tigers game was postponed by rain.

Standings

American League
American League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Boston	21	12	-	L 1
Baltimore	20	13	1	W 3
N.Y. Yankees	18	13	2	L 2
Tampa Bay	14	18	6½	L 2
Toronto	13	21	8½	W 3
American League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Detroit	19	11	-	W 4
Kansas City	17	12	1½	L 2
Cleveland	16	14	3	W 2
Minnesota	14	15	4½	W 1
Chi. White Sox	13	18	6½	L 1
American League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Texas	20	13	-	L 2
Oakland	18	16	2½	L 2
Seattle	15	19	5½	L 2
L.A. Angels	11	21	8½	L 3
Houston	9	24	11	W 1
National League
National League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Atlanta	19	13	-	L 1
Washington	17	15	2	W 2
Philadelphia	16	18	4	W 2
N.Y. Mets	13	16	4½	W 1
Miami	10	24	10	L 2
National League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
St. Louis	20	12	-	L 1
Pittsburgh	18	14	2	W 1
Cincinnati	19	15	2	W 1
Milwaukee	15	16	4½	W 1
Chi. Cubs	13	20	7½	W 2
National League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Colorado	19	13	-	W 1
San Francisco	19	14	½	L 2
Arizona	18	15	1½	W 2
San Diego	15	18	4½	W 3
L.A. Dodgers	13	19	6	L 6

Wednesday 5/7 Schedule with probable pitchers in parentheses. 
My picks to win are highlighted.  Yesterday’s Picks:  7-7  Overall: 181-156
Times EST

12:35 PM	Seattle	Hernandez (4-2)	@	Pittsburgh	Burnett (3-2)
12:35 PM	Atlanta	Minor (3-2)	@	Cincinnati	Leake (2-1)
2:20 PM	St. Louis	Westbrook (2-1)	@	Chi. Cubs	Villanueva (1-2)
3:40 PM	Miami	Nolasco (2-3)	@	San Diego	Marquis (3-2)
3:45 PM	Philadelphia	Pettibone (2-0)	@	San Francisco	Zito (3-1)
7:05 PM	Oakland	Griffin (3-2)	@	Cleveland	Masterson (4-2)
7:05 PM	Kansas City	Mendoza (0-1)	@	Baltimore	Tillman (2-1)
7:05 PM	Detroit	Sanchez (3-2)	@	Washington	Zimmermann (5-1)
7:10 PM	Toronto	Romero (0-1)	@	Tampa Bay	Moore (5-0)
7:10 PM	Minnesota	Hernandez (1-0)	@	Boston	Webster (0-0)
7:10 PM	Chi. White Sox	Peavy (3-1)	@	N.Y. Mets	Hefner (0-3)
8:10 PM	Texas	Holland (2-2)	@	Milwaukee	Lohse (1-3)
8:10 PM	L.A. Angels	Blanton (0-5)	@	Houston	Norris (3-3)
8:40 PM	N.Y. Yankees	Phelps (1-1)	@	Colorado	Nicasio (3-0)
10:10 PM	Arizona	Miley (2-1)	@	L.A. Dodgers	Kershaw (3-2)