Stay For a Nightcap
- Tuesday seemed to be Young Ace Night at the ballpark, with superb outings from Ricky Romero, Brian Matuszand Brian Anderson, plus a gem from the not-so-acey Doug Fister.
Notables:
- The Royals' bullpen collapse erased a quality start from Brian Bannister(6.1 IP, 4H/2BB, 4K, 2ER) and big games from Scott Podsednik(6th SB of the year) and Jose Guillen(4th HR).
- The Yankees had plenty of standouts on Tuesday. We'll give some love to Nick Johnson, who got the scoring started with a solo homer in the first - he went 2-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored out of the two-hole. Note the three runs, all you "clog-the-bases" scolds.
- Andy Pettittequietly shut out the Angels over six innings, striking out six in the process.
Save Chances:
- Jose Valverde, converted, 1-2-3 inning.
- Jim Johnson, blown. This one really hurt, because it spoiled Brian Matusz's superb effort. It wasn't a traditional save effort, as the O's brought Johnson in (correctly) at the critical moment in the game, in the eighth inning, with the bases loaded and the O's protecting a 3-1 lead. They brought in their best available reliever in Johnson to face Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria. Johnson induced a pop-out against Zobrist, but Longoria's single tied the game.
- Mariano Rivera, converted. Rivera can thank David Robertson for turning a 7-1 ninth inning lead into a save situation for Rivera by coughing up a grand slam to Bobby Abreu. It's always the little things that win fantasy titles.
- Rafael Soriano, converted. It wasn't clean, however, as Soriano allowed a solo homer to Ty Wigginton, but had the buffer of working with a three-run lead. The problem here is that once again part of the Rays' set-up crew blew a lead before it got to Soriano, allowing two runs in the 8th. Randy Choate has been awful to begin the year, and on Tuesday he allowed a game-tying homer by a lefty, Luke Scott. Grant Balfour has pitched well enough, but the Rays' weakness so far clearly has been their bullpen.
- Kevin Gregg, converted. Another day, another save opportunity for the Jays. Gregg now has three saves and is a threat to get a lot more, especially with Frasor's struggles against the first batter he's faced (HT: Scott Pianowski).
- Francisco Cordero, converted. 1-2-3 inning, two strikeouts. Cordero has pitched three days in a row now.
- David Aardsma, converted, two strikeouts.
- Octavio Dotel, "converted," by virtue of having a three-run lead to begin with. He allowed a two-run homer to Eugenio Velez.
Other Closer Outings:
- Jonathan Broxton, pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two in a non-save situation.
- For the second day in a row, Leo Nunez pitched a scoreless ninth in a tie game.
Lineup-ology:
- Chris Coghlanwent 0-for-5 to drop to .132, and isn't starting on Wednesday.
- With Carlos Gonzalezout, Seth Smithhit in the leadoff spot and went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a home run.
Tough Days:
- Ervin Santanagave up 13 baserunners in his 5.2 innings of work, so he was lucky just to allow five runs in that stretch. One double play and his seven strikeouts saved a bad start from becoming a disaster.
- John Mainewasn't so lucky, as he went Jurrjens on the Rockies, giving up eight runs on seven hits and three walks over three innings.
Not Quite Elite:
- Clayton Kershawserved up five more walks, giving him 11 in 10 innings pitched so far. He needed 111 pitches to get through 5.1 innings on Tuesday. It's going to be hard for him to rack up the wins if he can't get deeper into games.
Managing By the Save Rule:
- Joakim Sorianever got into the game as the Royals blew a 5-0 lead in the seventh inning. Instead, Brian Bannister had to watch Ramon Colon, Dustin Hughes and Juan Cruz conspire to blow the lead after he left up 5-1 with one on and one out in the seventh. Bringing in Cruz might have been the cruelest blow - at that point in the inning the bases were loaded with two outs, and Miguel Cabrera was up. There was not going to be a more important spot in the game, save rule be damned. Instead of bringing in Soria and have the Royals' best reliever face the Tigers' best hitter, Trey Hillman went with some order of a lesser reliever in Cruz and he walked Cabrera, and then gave up Carlos Guillen's game-winning double. Soria hasn't pitched last Friday. This was the third time that the Royals had blown leads, against the Tigers no less, in the seventh or eighth innings, and the second time that Hillman left someone other that Soria face Cabrera in |STAR|the|STAR| critical moment of the game. Bravo.
On-Air Sidebet #1:
- Liss and I finally got an official sidebet completed on-air ... on Brandon Ingeof all players. He has Inge hitting higher than .255, I'm betting the don't. Inge is currently batting .344. Inge is finally healthy after undergoing offseason surgery and will avoid playing behind the plate, but I contend his low contact rate will make it exceedingly difficult to keep his batting average up.