Mets Blow Ninth Inning Lead Again

Here’s what’s happening in baseball:

Yesterday 4/30 Games

Miami 2  New York Mets 1

One day after Met's closer Bobby Parnell blew a save and a win, Jeremy Hefner pitched tremendously, and took a three-hit shutout into the ninth inning, but couldn’t get an out and the Marlins squeezed across two runs for the comeback win, again.  Unbelievable. 

 

New York Yankees 7   Houston 4

Hiroki Kuroda won his fourth decision as he limited the Astros to four hits through seven innings while striking out eight,  and Travis Hafner went 3-4 with three RBI as the Yankees bounced back from yesterday’s drubbing.

Detroit 6  Minnesota 1

In vintage Tigers form, Justin Verlander dominated the Twins, striking out eight in seven innings, and Miguel Cabrera & Prince Fielder each hit two–run home runs for a second consecutive win over Minnesota.

Toronto 9  Boston 7

Edwin Encarnacion homered twice, his second in the seventh decided the game, and the Blue Jays pounded John Lester for five runs in six innings.  David Ortiz remained red-hot for the Red Sox going 2-5 with a home run and four RBI.

Atlanta 8  Washington 1

Tim Hudson was a one-man show as he allowed just one run in seven innings, and went 2-3 with a solo home run for good measure.  The Braves hammered Gio Gonzalez for five runs in four innings, but oddly he struck out nine. 

San Diego 13  Chicago Cubs 7

The Padres pounded Chicago starter Edwin Jackson for eight runs with homers by Nick Hundley, Yonder Alonso & Chase Headley and they took the second game slugfest with the Cubs.

Cleveland 14  Philadelphia 2

Ryan Raburn hit two home runs, for the second consecutive day, and the Indians smacked seven in all as they routed the Phillies and Roy Halladay, who was whacked for eight earned runs in less than four innings.

Milwaukee 12  Pittsburgh 8

The roof in Miller Park was open for the first game all year, and the near 80 temperature had the ball flying around the stadium as seven home runs were hit.  Rickie Weeks had the biggest game, a homer and five RBI for Milwaukee as they beat the Pirates for the second day in a row.

St. Louis 2  Cincinnati 1

A day after losing 2-1, the Cardinals reversed the score as Matt Holliday hit a two-run home run and Jaime Garcia allowed just one run in eight innings.

San Francisco 2 Arizona 1

Last year’s World Series hero Pablo Sandoval was at it again, this time hitting a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the ninth off Arizona closer J.J. Putz as the Giants stole one in Phoenix.

Oakland 10  Los Angeles Angels 6

Yoenis Cespedes went 2-4 with four RBI, and Seth Smith drove in three more with a bases clearing double as the A’s lit up Garrett Richards for seven runs in less than six innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers 6  Colorado 2

Hyun Jin Ryu struck out a career high 12 in six innings for Los Angeles and Hanley Ramirez hit a home run in his first appearance this year as the Dodgers won at home.

Baltimore 7  Seattle 2

Nate McClouth has been on fire lately for Baltimore, hitting .485 over his last 10 games, and he led off this game with a home run as the Orioles jumped to a four run lead after the first inning and never looked back.

Texas 6  Chicago White Sox 2

Yu Darvish won his fifth game by striking out nine in six innings as the Rangers offense bailed him out with six runs in the bottom of the sixth, topped by a two-run Adrian Beltre home run.

Kansas City 8  Tampa Bay 2

In his first game against his former team, James Shields dominated the Rays with seven strikeouts in seven innings, and 3B Mike Moustakas hit a two-run home run as the Royals won at home.

New & Notes: Washington National’s pitcher Stephen Strasburg had his right arm examined Monday and will not miss his next start on Saturday. 

Record Watch:  Houston 1B/OF Chris Carter struck out twice last night, and now has 43 whiffs in the month of April, a new major league record.  Congratulations Chris.  He also homered in the game.

A.L. MVP Watch: Edwin Encarnacion, 1B, Toronto.  Hit two more home runs Tuesday and has seven in his last seven games, not all in a row.  He currently has 9 HRs and is on pace for 54.

N.L. MVP Watch:  Carlos Gomez, OF, Milwaukee.  Went 2-3 last night with two stolen bases and is 13 for his last 24 and is on pace to hit .350 with 25 HRs and 25 stolen bases.

Fantasy Spin: Edwin Encarnacion is the hottest home run hitter in baseball right now, having gone deep seven times in his last seven games (not in a row) pushing his total to nine on the season.  Not a bad seven games.  Encarnacion hits behind one of the best home run hitters in the game today in Joey Bautista, and he slugged a career-high 42 last year.  No telling how many he can hit this year, but after a slow start, and with a healthy Bautista batting behind him now, his tear could continue all the way until September.

History – San Diego Padres Team History

          The Padres were a Pacific Coast League team that played in San Diego from 1936-1968, and they joined the MLB as a National League franchise in 1969 (keeping the Padres name) along with the Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals, and Seattle Pilots (who moved to Milwaukee to become the Brewers in 1970).  Overall they’ve fared much worse than the weather in San Diego, enduring 30 losing seasons in 43 years, winning the National League pennant just twice, and losing both World Series; in 1984 to the Detroit Tigers and in 1998 to the New York Yankees.

          On the bright side, they moved into an amazing new downtown ballpark in 2004 named Petco Park, and I was lucky enough to tour it by myself and attend a game later in the day.  Yup, just like in Arizona, nobody else signed up for the tour.  Perfect.  In New York the tours are packed.  A warehouse protruding left field and beach in right center field make the stadium both unique and inviting.

Trivia – Today’s Question – What is the only team in MLB to never record a no-hitter?

Yesterday’s Question – What is the official mascot of the Colorado Rockies?

Answer – Dinger, a purple anthropomorphized triceratops dinosaur.  Makes perfect sense with a name like Rockies.  Huh?

Vegas Bet:  Lastly, here’s an actual bet you can make in Las Vegas casinos:  Over/Under 8 strikeouts tonight by San Francisco starter and 2-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

Yesterday’s Bet: Over/Under 6 innings pitched by John Lester tonight at Toronto.

Result: Push.  Lester pitched exactly 6 innings.

Standings

American League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Boston	18	8	-	L 1
N.Y. Yankees	16	10	2	W 1
Baltimore	16	11	2½	W 1
Tampa Bay	12	14	6	L 1
Toronto	10	17	8½	W 1
American League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Detroit	15	10	-	W 5
Kansas City	14	10	½	W 1
Minnesota	11	12	3	L 2
Cleveland	11	13	3½	W 3
Chi. White Sox	10	15	5	L 3
American League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Texas	17	9	-	W 1
Oakland	16	12	2	W 3
Seattle	12	17	6½	L 1
L.A. Angels	9	17	8	L 4
Houston	8	19	9½	L 1
National League
National League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Atlanta	17	9	-	W 2
Washington	13	14	4½	L 3
Philadelphia	12	15	5½	L 1
N.Y. Mets	10	15	6½	L 6
Miami	8	19	9½	W 3
National League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
St. Louis	15	11	-	W 1
Milwaukee	14	11	½	W 2
Pittsburgh	15	12	½	L 2
Cincinnati	15	13	1	L 1
Chi. Cubs	10	16	5	L 1
National League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Colorado	16	11	-	L 1
Arizona	15	12	1	L 2
San Francisco	15	12	1	W 2
L.A. Dodgers	13	13	2½	W 1
San Diego	10	16	5½	W 1

Wednesday 5/1 Schedule with probable pitchers in parentheses. 
My picks to win are highlighted.  Weekend Picks:  9-6  Overall: 174-147
Times EST

12:40 PM	N.Y. Mets	Gee (1-4)	@	Miami	LeBlanc (0-4)
1:05 PM	Minnesota	Diamond (1-2)	@	Detroit	Sanchez (3-1)
1:10 PM	Pittsburgh	Gomez (1-0)	@	Milwaukee	Burgos (1-0)
1:45 PM	Cincinnati	Bailey (1-2)	@	St. Louis	Lynn (4-0)
3:35 PM	L.A. Angels	Wilson (2-0)	@	Oakland	Milone (3-2)
7:05 PM	Philadelphia	Lee (2-1)	@	Cleveland	TBD
7:05 PM	Houston	Bedard (0-2)	@	N.Y. Yankees	Phelps (1-1)
7:07 PM	Boston	Buchholz (5-0)	@	Toronto	Buehrle (1-1)
7:10 PM	Washington	Zimmermann (4-1)	@	Atlanta	Maholm (3-2)
8:05 PM	Chi. White Sox	Sale (2-2)	@	Texas	Tepesch (2-1)
8:05 PM	San Diego	Cashner (1-1)	@	Chi. Cubs	Feldman (1-3)
8:10 PM	Tampa Bay	Hellickson (1-2)	@	Kansas City	Mendoza (0-1)
9:40 PM	San Francisco	Lincecum (2-1)	@	Arizona	McCarthy (0-3)
10:10 PM	Colorado	Nicasio (3-0)	@	L.A. Dodgers	Beckett (0-3)
10:10 PM	Baltimore	Chen (2-2)	@	Seattle	Harang (0-3)