Mets Finally Close Out the Ninth Inning

Here’s what’s happening in baseball:

Yesterday 5/1 Games

New York Mets 7  Miami 6

The Mets held a ninth inning lead this time and avoided a sweep in Miami as Jordany Valdespin hit a pinch-hit 3-run homer, David Wright had three hits including a home run, and ML RBI leader John Buck (29) knocked in two more runs on three hits.

New York Yankees 5 Houston 4

Robinson Cano and Ben Francisco homered as the Yankees bailed out starter David Phelps who was staked to an early 4-0 lead, and the Bronx Bombers won the series 2-1 as Mariano Rivera saved his A.L. leading eleventh game.

Minnesota 6  Detroit 2

Scott Diamond pitched six strong innings and Chris Parmelee drove in two runs as the Twins eluded a sweep in Detroit.

Washington 2 Atlanta 0

Jordan Zimmerman had another impressive start as he blanked the Braves over eight innings while striking out eight, and Ian Desmond hit a two-run home run for the Nationals as they finally won a game in the series.

Chicago Cubs 6  San Diego 2

Scott Feldman pitched a complete game three-hitter with 12 strikeouts as the Cubs beat the Padres in game three of four game series that concludes tomorrow.

Cleveland 6  Philadelphia 0

Ryan Raburn didn’t hit two home runs, or even one, but he did have four hits and two RBI to help the Indians beat Cliff Lee and sweep the two game series from the Phillies. 

Pittsburgh 6  Milwaukee 4

The Pirates salvaged the final game of the series with the Brewers by scoring four times in the eighth inning, highlighted by a two-run home run from rookie Starling Marte, and closer Jason Grilli saved his ML-leading 11^th game.

St. Louis 4  Cincinnati 2

Lance Lynn allowed one run in seven innings for his fifth win, and tenth straight decision, Matt Carpenter had three hits, and Carlos Beltran homered  as the Cardinals took the rubber match with the Reds.

San Francisco 9 Arizona 6

The Giants rallied behind Brandon Belt’s 3-run home run in the eighth and finished a second consecutive road series sweep, this time in Arizona.  Angel Pagan led the game off with a home run, and Hunter Pence hit a solo blast as the Giants bailed out starter Tim Lincecum who allowed five runs in five innings, striking out six.

Los Angeles Angels 5  Oakland 4

Mark Trumbo homered for the third consecutive game, and teammates Mike Trout & Howie Kendrick followed suit with one of their own as the Angels avoided the sweep on Oakland.

Colorado 7  Los Angeles Dodgers 3

The Rockies dropped Josh Beckett to 0-4 as Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez each hit two-run doubles to break open the game and win the series for Colorado in Los Angeles.

Seattle 8  Baltimore 3

Michael Morse hit his third home run in four games, and Kendrys Morales and Michael Sunders each had three hits as the Mariners won the three game series 2-1.

Boston 10 Toronto 1

Clay Buchholz became the first pitcher to win six games as he displayed electric stuff in Toronto, striking out eight and giving up just two hits in seven scoreless innings.  Offensively the Red Sox hit five home runs, two by Mike Napoli.

Chicago White Sox 5  Texas 2

Conor Gallaspie homered in the seventh for the White Sox to break a 2-2 tie, and Alejandro De Aza added a two-run shot later in the inning to put the game out of reach as Chris Sale picked up his third win with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

Kansas City 9  Tampa Bay 8

The Royals won a wild one as they found themselves in an early five-run hole, only to score five runs themselves in the bottom of the sixth capped by run scoring hits from Lorenzo Cain and Jeff Francouer as they beat the Rays at home for the second day in a row.

Record Watch: The Detroit Tigers set a major league record by striking out 10 or more batters in six consecutive games. 

A.L. MVP Watch:  Mike Napoli, 1B, Boston. 3-4 on Wednesday with two HRs and four RBI.  His 31 RBI lead the major leagues.

N.L. MVP Watch:  John Buck, C, New York Mets.  3-4 on Wednesday with two more RBI.  His 29 RBI leads the National League.

Fantasy Spin: Ryan Raburn is getting serious consideration in many leagues and why not?  He’s on a tear lately and daily leagues could catch lightning in a bottle if this continues.  But will it last?  Most likely not.  Raburn spent the last eight seasons with Detroit as a utility player and never amassed more than 121 games played in any season, or 16 HRs, and he’s a career .252 hitter.  But he’s just filling in for an injured Nick Swisher who should return Friday, unless manager Terry Francona decides to try and catch lightning in a bottle too by playing him more.  Stay tuned. 

History – Los Angeles Dodgers Team History

          The Dodgers have a long, winning history, originating in Brooklyn in 1883 as a National League franchise, and had many names including the Robins, before they officially settled on the Dodgers in 1932.  In Brooklyn they would reach eight World Series, and the last six they would face the New York Yankees.  They lost in 1916 & 1920 as the Robins, and to the Yankees in 1941, 1947 (the year Jackie Robinson debuted), 1949, 1952 &  1953 as the Dodgers.  By now they were known as D’em Bums because they could never win the World Series.  And then the unthinkable happened in 1955.  They met the Yankees, again, and this time they won in seven games to send Brooklyn into frenzy.  The two teams unbelievably would meet again in the 1956 World Series, this time the Yankees would get their revenge by winning in seven games naturally.  Game 5 was an all-time low for the Dodgers as Yankee pitcher Don Larsen threw the only World Series perfect game.

In 1958 Dodger owners broke their fans’ hearts when they moved all the way to Los Angeles (along with the NY Giants), leaving New York suddenly without a National League team for the first time ever.

Left-handed pitcher and Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax kept the Dodgers winning tradition alive in Los Angeles, throwing four no-hitters (one a perfect game) and leading them to three World Series titles, in 1959 over the Chicago White Sox, in 1963 in a sweep of those New York Yankees, and in 1965 over the Minnesota Twins.  Suddenly they had more success in just a few years in Los Angeles than they had in over 50 years in Brooklyn.

The 1970s saw another winning decade, but fell short on expectations, as they lost three World Series, in 1974 to the Oakland A’s, and in 1977 & ’78 against those New York Yankees again.

Mimicking the ‘50s, they would get their revenge on the Yankees in the 1981 World Series, winning in six games.  Finally, their last World Series appearance was in 1988 when the beat the heavily favored Oakland A’s in five games behind series MVP Orel Hershiser, for the franchise’s sixth championship.  They play their home games in East Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium, a.k.a. Chavez Ravine, seen below from a game I attended recently.

Trivia – Today’s Question – Who is the Dodgers all-time home run leader?

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

Answer – San Diego Padres

Vegas Bet:  Lastly, here’s an actual bet you can make in Las Vegas casinos:
Lastly, here’s an actual bet you can make in Las Vegas casinos:  Over/Under 4 runs allowed by Washington pitcher Dan Haren today vs. Atlanta.  

Yesterday’s Bet:  Over/Under 8 strikeouts tonight by San Francisco starter and 2-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

Result: Under.  Lincecum struck out 6.

Standings

American League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Boston	19	8	-	W 1
N.Y. Yankees	17	10	2	W 2
Baltimore	16	12	3½	L 1
Tampa Bay	12	15	7	L 2
Toronto	10	18	9½	L 1
American League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Kansas City	15	10	-	W 2
Detroit	15	11	½	L 1
Minnesota	12	12	2½	W 1
Cleveland	12	13	3	W 4
Chi. White Sox	11	15	4½	W 1
American League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Texas	17	10	-	L 1
Oakland	16	13	2	L 1
Seattle	13	17	5½	W 1
L.A. Angels	10	17	7	W 1
Houston	8	20	9½	L 2
National League
National League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Atlanta	17	10	-	L 1
Washington	14	14	3½	W 1
Philadelphia	12	16	5½	L 2
N.Y. Mets	11	15	5½	W 1
Miami	8	20	9½	L 1
National League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
St. Louis	16	11	-	W 2
Pittsburgh	16	12	½	W 1
Milwaukee	14	12	1½	L 1
Cincinnati	15	14	2	L 2
Chi. Cubs	11	16	5	W 1
National League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Colorado	17	11	-	W 1
San Francisco	16	12	1	W 3
Arizona	15	13	2	L 3
L.A. Dodgers	13	14	3½	L 1
San Diego	10	17	6½	L 1

Thursday 5/2 Schedule with probable pitchers in parentheses. 
My picks to win are highlighted.  Weekend Picks:  5-10  Overall: 170-151
Times EST

2:10 PM	Tampa Bay	Hernandez (1-4)	@	Kansas City	Santana (3-1)
2:20 PM	San Diego	Stults (2-2)	@	Chi. Cubs	Wood (2-1)
7:05 PM	Miami	Sanabia (2-3)	@	Philadelphia	Kendrick (2-1)
7:07 PM	Boston	Dempster (1-2)	@	Toronto	Johnson (0-1)
7:10 PM	Washington	Haren (2-3)	@	Atlanta	Medlen (1-3)
8:05 PM	Chi. White Sox	Peavy (3-1)	@	Texas	Grimm (2-0)
8:10 PM	Detroit	Porcello (1-2)	@	Houston	Peacock (1-3)
8:10 PM	St. Louis	Westbrook (1-1)	@	Milwaukee	Peralta (2-1)
10:05 PM	Baltimore	Tillman (1-1)	@	L.A. Angels	Blanton (0-4)