Homer Bailey Throws Second Career No-Hitter

Here’s your morning baseball briefing:

Game of the Day for Tuesday July 2, 2013

Cincinnati Reds 3, San Francisco Giants 0

          Cincinnati pitcher Homer Bailey (5-6) threw his second career no-hitter in the last ten months as he blanked the Giants at home while striking out nine.  It was the 16th no-hitter in Reds history, and he was the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter in 2012 and now the first in 2013.  As the game progressed it was obvious he was overpowering the Giants as there weren’t many hard hit balls all night.  Bailey is now just five no-hitters shy of the all-time record held by Nolan Ryan.  The loss dropped the defending champion Giants to last place in the N.L. West as they continue to struggle to score runs. 

Rest of the Day’s Scores:

RESULT	WIN	LOSS	SAVE
Milwaukee 4, at Washington 0	Henderson (3-2)	Storen (2-2)
Philadelphia 3, at Pittsburgh 1	Pettibone (4-3)	Cumpton (0-1)	Papelbon (16)
Detroit 7, at Toronto 6	Alburquerque (1-1)	Wagner (1-3)	Benoit (6)
at Boston 4, San Diego 1	Lackey (6-5)	Erlin (1-1)	Uehara (5)
at Atlanta 11, Miami 3	Medlen (6-7)	Jennings (0-1)
at NY Mets 9, Arizona 1	Hefner (3-6)	Corbin (9-1)
Seattle 9, at Texas 2	Saunders (6-8)	Grimm (7-6)
at Chicago White Sox 5, Baltimore 2	Danks (2-5)	Hammel (7-5)	Reed (22)
Cleveland 6, at Kansas City 5	Allen (3-0)	Collins (2-3)	Perez (8)
NY Yankees 7, at Minnesota 3	Hughes (4-7)	Deduno (4-3)	Rivera (27)
Tampa Bay 8, at Houston 0	Price (2-4)	Bedard (3-4)
LA Dodgers 8, at Colorado 0	Kershaw (7-5)	Oswalt (0-3)
at LA Angels 5, St. Louis 1	Weaver (2-4)	Lynn (10-3)
at Oakland 8, Chicago Cubs 7	Otero (1-0)	Russell (1-2)	Balfour (20)

Joe DiMaggio Watch (56-game hitting streak):  Michael Cuddyer, OF/1B for the Colorado Rockies, went 0-4 last night to end his 27 game hitting streak.  Leonys Martin of the Texas Rangers currently holds the longest hitting streak at 15 games.  The watch will start once a player reaches 20.

Consecutive days with a walk-off win (where the home team scores the winning run in the ninth inning or later that immediately ends the game):  0  There were no walk-off wins on Tuesday. 

Record Watch:  Manny Machado did not hit a double on Tuesday, but has 38 doubles this season and is on pace to hit 74, which would break the all-time record of 67 set by Earl Webb in 1930.

A.L. MVP Watch:  Miguel Cabrera, 3B, Detroit Tigers.  Cabrera went 1-3 on Tuesday with a three-run home run, his 26th of the season, and is on pace to hit .368 with 51 HRs and 167 RBI.

N.L. MVP Watch:  Yasiel Puig, OF, Los angeles Dodgers.  Puig went 3-4 on Tuesday with his 8th home run in his first 27 games, and is on pace to hit .444 in this his rookie season.

A.L. Cy Young Watch:  David Price, Tampa Bay Rays.  Price (2-4), last year’s A.L. Cy Young winner, returned from the DL after missing seven weeks with a strained triceps muscle, pitched a gem at Houston as he threw seven shutout innings while striking out 10.  He was pulled after just 70 pitches to be cautious, but he seemed to be his dominant self.  It was only his second win of the season, but more starts like this could get him back in Cy Young contention.

N.L. Cy Young Watch:  Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers.  Kershaw (7-5) threw a complete game shutout at Colorado on Tuesday while allowing just four hits and striking out 10.  He’s on pace to go 14-10 with 255 strikeouts and a 1.91 ERA.

News & Notes:  Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez began his rehab assignment in Charleston, SC on Tuesday and went 0-2 his only two at-bats.  He hasn’t played all season as he recovers from off-season hip surgery.

History – 1940 World Series

          Winner: The Cincinnati Reds 4 beat the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3.

The Reds returned to the World Series after getting swept by the Yankees in 1939, and won their second title and first since the 1919 World Series scandal involving members of the Chicago White Sox.  Their game two win was the first World Series win by a National League team in the last ten games, going back to game six of the 1937 series.  This series was very closely contested, but ultimately it was Cincinnati’s pitching that prevailed.  Starters Paul Derringer and Bucky Walters each won two games.  With the Reds trailing in the series 3-2 as it headed back to Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Walters shutout the Tigers 4-0 and hit a home run to force game seven which Derringer won 2-1.  Cincinnati’s hitting hero was 40-year old coach/catcher Jimmie Wilson, who was activated to play in August after backup catcher Willard Hershberger committed suicide a day after his defensive lapse cost the Reds a victory.  Wilson filled in for injured starting catcher Ernie Lombardi who missed most of the series and hit .353 while recording the team’s only stolen base.  Cincinnati manager Bill McKechnie became the first manager to win a World Series title with two teams, as he guided the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates to their second title.  For the series the Tigers outscored the Reds 28-22, but the Reds outhit the Tigers 58-56.  Hall-of famers in the series included for the Reds: manager Bill McKechnie and catcher Ernie Lombardi; and for the Tigers first baseman Hank Greenberg, second baseman Charlie Gehringer, and outfielder Earl Averill.

Tomorrow: 1941 World Series

Trivia - Today’s Question:  Who are the three other current pitchers have thrown multiple no-hitters?

Yesterday’s Question: Who holds the National League record for most consecutive games played?

Answer:  Steve Garvey, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers played in 1,207 consecutive games from 1975-1983.

Vegas Bet:  Lastly, here’s an actual bet you can make at a Las Vegas Sports Book:  Over/Under 9 strikeouts tonight by Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey.

Yesterday’s Bet:  Over/Under 2 earned runs allowed by Clayton Kershaw at Colorado.

Result:  Under.  Kershaw allowed 0 runs in a complete game shutout.

Standings

American League East						National League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk		Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Boston	51	34	-	W 2		Atlanta	49	34	-	W 4
Baltimore	47	37	3½	L 1		Washington	42	41	7	L 1
Tampa Bay	45	39	5½	W 4		Philadelphia	40	44	9½	W 1
N.Y. Yankees	44	39	6	W 2		N.Y. Mets	35	45	12½	W 2
Toronto	41	42	9	L 1		Miami	30	52	18½	L 1
American League Central						National League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk		Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Cleveland	45	38	-	W 5		Pittsburgh	51	31	-	L 1
Detroit	44	38	½	W 1		St. Louis	49	33	2	L 2
Kansas City	38	42	5½	L 1		Cincinnati	48	36	4	W 2
Minnesota	36	44	7½	L 3		Chi. Cubs	35	46	15½	L 1
Chi. White Sox	33	47	10½	W 1		Milwaukee	33	49	18	W 1
American League West						National League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk		Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Oakland	49	35	-	W 2		Arizona	42	41	-	L 5
Texas	48	35	½	L 1		Colorado	41	43	1½	L 2
L.A. Angels	40	43	8½	W 7		San Diego	40	44	2½	L 4
Seattle	36	47	12½	W 1		L.A. Dodgers	39	43	2½	W 3
Houston	30	54	19	L 5		San Francisco	39	44	3	L 2

Wednesday 7/3 Schedule with probable pitchers in parentheses.  My picks to win are highlighted.  Weekend Picks: 6-9  Overall:  454-340

Times EST

6:05 PM	Milwaukee	Hellweg (0-1)	@	Washington	Detwiler (2-6)
7:05 PM	Philadelphia	Lannan (1-2)	@	Pittsburgh	Gomez (2-0)
7:07 PM	Detroit	Scherzer (12-0)	@	Toronto	Johnson (1-2)
7:10 PM	Baltimore	Gonzalez (6-3)	@	Chi. White Sox	Santiago (3-5)
7:10 PM	San Francisco	Zito (4-6)	@	Cincinnati	Cingrani (3-0)
7:10 PM	Arizona	Delgado (0-2)	@	N.Y. Mets	Harvey (7-1)
7:10 PM	San Diego	Volquez (6-6)	@	Boston	Lester (8-4)
7:10 PM	Miami	Nolasco (4-8)	@	Atlanta	Minor (8-3)
8:05 PM	Seattle	Hernandez (8-4)	@	Texas	Holland (6-4)
8:10 PM	N.Y. Yankees	Sabathia (8-6)	@	Minnesota	Walters (2-4)
8:10 PM	Cleveland	Kazmir (4-4)	@	Kansas City	Guthrie (7-6)
8:10 PM	L.A. Dodgers	Greinke (5-2)	@	Colorado	Chatwood (4-1)
8:10 PM	Tampa Bay	Hernandez (4-9)	@	Houston	Norris (5-7)
10:05 PM	St. Louis	Miller (8-6)	@	L.A. Angels	Williams (5-3)
10:05 PM	Chi. Cubs	Garza (3-1)	@	Oakland	Colon (11-2)

Mets Comback Three Times to Beat Arizona in 13

Here’s your morning baseball briefing:

Game of the Day for Monday July 1, 2013:

New York Mets 5, Arizona Diamondbacks 4 (13 innings)

The Mets were down 3-0 early and 3-2 in the ninth when Josh Satin singled home Marlon Byrd with the tying run.  Byrd appeared to be dead meat at the plate as the throw from left field clearly beat him, but Arizona catcher Miguel Montero couldn’t hold onto the ball as Byrd slid safely into home plate.  The game remained tied 3-3 heading into the top of the 13th when Cody Ross homered to give Arizona the 4-3 lead, but the Mets rallied in the bottom half of the inning as Satin doubled to lead it off.  John Buck was then intentionally walked, and pitcher Matt Harvey was called upon to pinch hit and sacrifice the runners to second and third.  He executed his bunt perfectly, and Arizona was forced to intentionally walk Omar Quintanilla to load the bases with two outs and give them a force out at any base.  It was now up to outfielder Andrew Brown who entered the game in the tenth inning as a pinch hitter.  Brown promptly singled home both the tying and winning runs as the Mets completed a dramatic comeback at home as they walked-off winners in front of their home crowd.

Rest of the Day’s Scores:

RESULT	WIN	LOSS	SAVE
at Toronto 8, Detroit 3	Dickey (8-8)	Alvarez (1-2)
at Cincinnati 8, San Francisco 1	Arroyo (7-6)	Kickham (0-3)
at Washington 10, Milwaukee 5	Zimmermann (12-3)	Gallardo (6-8)
at Miami 4, San Diego 0	Fernandez (5-4)	Marquis (9-4)	Cishek (15)
NY Yankees 10, at Minnesota 4	Chamberlain (1-0)	Burton (1-6)
Tampa Bay 12, at Houston 0	Moore (11-3)	Keuchel (4-5)

Joe DiMaggio Watch (56-game hitting streak):  Michael Cuddyer, OF/1B for the Colorado Rockies, did not play on Monday, but has hit safely on 27 straight games, 29 short of Joe D’s major league record.

Consecutive days with a walk-off win (where the home team scores the winning run in the ninth inning or later that immediately ends the game): 4  The Mets were the only team to walk off winners on Monday as they beat Arizona 5-4 in the 13th inning.

Record Watch:  Manny Machado has hit 38 doubles this season and is on pace to hit 75, which would break the all-time record of 67 set by Earl Webb in 1930.

A.L. MVP Watch:  Robinson Cano, 2B, New York Yankees.  Cano went 3-4 on Monday in Minnesota with two home runs (19), three RBI and four runs scored, and is on pace to .293 with 38 HRs, 103 RBI and 97 runs scored.

N.L. MVP Watch:  Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks.  Goldschmidt had just one hit on Monday but it was his 20th home run, and is on pace to hit .303 with 40 HRs and 138 RBI.

A.L. Cy Young Watch:  Matt Moore, Tampa Bay Rays.  Moore improved to with seven shutout innings in Houston as he allowed just two hits while striking out 9.  He’s on pace to go 21-5 with 181 strikeouts.

N.L. Cy Young Watch:  Jordan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals.  Zimmerman (12-3) became the National League’s first 12-game winner on Monday by beating the Brewers at home despite giving up four runs.  He’s on pace to go 24-6 with 170 strikeouts with a 2.46 ERA.

News & Notes:  Andy Pettitte broke the all-time Yankee strikeout record last night and his 1,958 K’s are two more than Yankee legend Whitey Ford.

Bryce Harper came off the DL on Monday after missing 31 games with left knee bursitis, and promptly homered in his first at-bat to electrify the crowd.

History – 1939 World Series

          Winner: The New York Yankees swept the Cincinnati Reds 4 games to 0.

The Yankees continued their dominance against the National League as they swept their second consecutive series and won their fourth straight World Series title, setting a new major league record in the process and giving manager Joe McCarthy his fifth title, one more than Philadelphia A’s manager Connie Mack for most all-time.  Earlier in the year Yankee hall of famer Lou Gehrig had been diagnosed with a degenerative bone & muscle disease (later named after him) and retired after starting a record 2,130 consecutive games at first base.  He was honored with a special day at the Stadium on July 4th where he famously made his retirement speech.  Babe Ruth was on the field supporting Lou as were members of past World Series teams.  Gehrig passed away in 1941, but the Yankees this series for him.   They won game one 2-1 as they scored once in the bottom of the ninth on Bill Dickey’s RBI single, making a winner out of Hall of Famer Red Ruffing who pitched a complete game.  They shutout the Reds 4-0 in Game 2, won 7-3 on Game 3, and 7-4 in Game 4 to complete the sweep.  Rookie outfielder Charlie Keller led the Yankees with seven hits, three home runs (two in Game 3) and eight RBI as they outscored the Reds 22-8 overall.  Hall of famers in the series included for the Yankees: manager Joe McCarthy, outfielder Joe DiMaggio, first baseman Lou Gehrig, catcher Bill Dickey, second baseman Joe Gordon, and pitchers Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing; and for the Reds: manager Bill McKechnie, catcher Ernie Lombardi and outfielder Al Simmons.

Trivia - Today’s Question:  Who holds the National League record for most consecutive games played?

Yesterday’s Question: Joe DiMaggio holds the major league record with his 56-game hitting streak in 1941, but who holds the second longest hitting streak in MLB history?

Answer:  Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds who hit safely in 44 straight games in 1978.

Vegas Bet:  Lastly, here’s an actual bet you can make at a Las Vegas Sports Book:  Over/Under 2 earned runs allowed by Clayton Kershaw tonight at Colorado.

Yesterday’s Bet:  Over/Under 7 runs scored by Arizona and the New York Mets today.

Result:  Under.  They combined for 9 runs as the Mets won 5-4 in 13 innings.

Standings

American League East						National League East
Team	W	L	GB	Strk		Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Boston	50	34	-	W 1		Atlanta	48	34	-	W 3
Baltimore	47	36	2½	W 4		Washington	42	40	6	W 2
Tampa Bay	44	39	5½	W 3		Philadelphia	39	44	9½	L 2
N.Y. Yankees	43	39	6	W 1		N.Y. Mets	34	45	12½	W 1
Toronto	41	41	8	W 1		Miami	30	51	17½	W 3
American League Central						National League Central
Team	W	L	GB	Strk		Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Cleveland	44	38	-	W 4		Pittsburgh	51	30	-	W 9
Detroit	43	38	½	L 3		St. Louis	49	32	2	L 1
Kansas City	38	41	4½	W 1		Cincinnati	47	36	5	W 1
Minnesota	36	43	6½	L 2		Chi. Cubs	35	45	15½	W 2
Chi. White Sox	32	47	10½	L 5		Milwaukee	32	49	19	L 6
American League West						National League West
Team	W	L	GB	Strk		Team	W	L	GB	Strk
Texas	48	34	-	W 1		Arizona	42	40	-	L 4
Oakland	48	35	½	W 1		Colorado	41	42	1½	L 1
L.A. Angels	39	43	9	W 6		San Diego	40	43	2½	L 3
Seattle	35	47	13	L 2		San Francisco	39	43	3	L 1
Houston	30	53	18½	L 4		L.A. Dodgers	38	43	3½	W 2

Tuesday 7/2 Schedule with probable pitchers in parentheses.  My picks to win are highlighted.  Yesterday's Picks: 6-1  Overall:  448-331

Times EST

7:05 PM	Milwaukee	Peralta (5-9)	@	Washington	Strasburg (4-6)
7:05 PM	Philadelphia	Pettibone (3-3)	@	Pittsburgh	Locke (7-1)
7:07 PM	Detroit	Fister (6-5)	@	Toronto	Wang (1-1)
7:10 PM	San Francisco	Lincecum (4-8)	@	Cincinnati	Bailey (4-6)
7:10 PM	San Diego	Erlin (1-0)	@	Boston	Lackey (5-5)
7:10 PM	Arizona	Corbin (9-0)	@	N.Y. Mets	Hefner (2-6)
7:10 PM	Miami	Koehler (1-5)	@	Atlanta	Medlen (5-7)
8:05 PM	Seattle	Saunders (5-8)	@	Texas	Grimm (7-5)
8:10 PM	Tampa Bay	Price (1-4)	@	Houston	Bedard (3-3)
8:10 PM	Baltimore	Hammel (7-4)	@	Chi. White Sox	Danks (1-5)
8:10 PM	Cleveland	Kluber (6-5)	@	Kansas City	Mendoza (2-4)
8:10 PM	N.Y. Yankees	Hughes (3-7)	@	Minnesota	Deduno (4-2)
8:40 PM	L.A. Dodgers	Kershaw (6-5)	@	Colorado	Oswalt (0-2)
10:05 PM	Chi. Cubs	Feldman (7-6)	@	Oakland	Griffin (6-6)
10:05 PM	St. Louis	Lynn (10-2)	@	L.A. Angels	Weaver (1-4)