It was a Good Friday for Miguel Cabrera, who paced the Tigers in their 15-2 drubbing of the Rangers, driving in six.
Miguel Cabrera 3 for 5, 6 RBIs, 1 2B, 1 HR (GS)
Category: Linescores of the Day
4/9/09: Linescore of the Day
HE’S BAAAAA’AAACK!!! Chris Carpenter TOTALLY shutdown the Buccos allowing one hit over seven innings, beating Pittsburgh & Ohlendorf, 2-1.
Chris Carpenter (1-0) 7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
4/8/09: Linescore of the Day
Yovani Gallardo hit a three run homer off The Big Unit and as a result, outpitched him, allowing only two runs over six innings to pickup the victory. It was the first home run Randy Johnson has ever given up to the opposing pitcher in 506 at bats. Johnson tried to get Gallardo fishing on a two strike, two out, high heater, but he didn’t get it high enough, and this big fish was biting. Yovani got all of it & tattooed it out of the park. Gallardo was injured much of last year, but looks good to go!
Yovani Gallardo 1 for 2, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 1 run scored, 1 SO
Yovani Gallardo (1-0) 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
4/7/09: Linescore of the Day
It was worth the wait, the White Sox home opener was postponed Monday because of snow. Then on Tuesday Gil Meche outpitched Mark Buehrle and KC was leading Chicago 2-1 going into the bottom of the 8th inning. But there was hope as Kyle Farnsworth, ex-Cub, was brought in the game replacing Meche to face the Good Guys in Black. Josh Fields got it going with a bunt single, he went to 3rd on Chris Getz’s hit & run single, things looked bleak when Carlos Quentin went fishing, striking out for the 2nd out of the inning, this was after Dewayne Wise failed to bunt Fields up, earlier in the inning. Designated hitter Jim Thome stepped in and took a 2-0 heater right down the pipe for strike one, Farnsworth must’ve thought Thome was overmatched as he tried to double up on Jim, not a good idea. Trying to get a fastball past Thome is kind of like trying to sneak the Sun past a rooster, it just ain’t gonna happen. Thome launched it up & out over the leftcenterfield fence for a three run bomb, Bobby Jenks retired the Royals in the top of the 9th, and just like that, we have a White Sox winner, the White Sox are in first place, and there are alot of happy humans on the Southside of Chicago.
Jim Thome, 3 for 4, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored
4/6/09: Linescores of the Day
Emilio Bonifacio 4 for 5, 4 runs, 2 RBIs, 3 SBs, 1 HR, 1 E
Adam Lind 4 for 5, 6 RBIs, 2runs, 1 HR, 1 DP
Emilio’s home run was an inside the park homer, first in over forty years on Opening Day, Carl Yastrzemski last hit an Opening Day inside the parker in 1968.
4/5/09 Linescore of the Day: Opening Day
Derek Lowe 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (Win)
There was only one game on the docket (not including the Dodgers and Giants who were still finishing up their Cactus League action) but Atlanta Brave starter Derek Lowe made the LSOTD pretty easy to select.
Lowe shut out the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies for eight innings allowing only 2 hits and NO walks. He struck out four batters.
In three previous Opening Day starts, he was 0-3 with a 8.44 ERA so I guess he was due.
Outman does his job
Man, for a pitcher, I just love this guy’s name.
Josh Outman pitched his first start today for Oakland (he had appeared in two games earlier). And at least for today, his name fit. In his first career start (against the Rangers) he allowed only one run, four hits, struck out three and walked two.
Oh, and he recorded 15 outs, man
Pitchers (past and present) whose names did NOT inspire confidence:
Bob Walk
Homer Bailey
Grant Balfour
Bruce Hitt
and I know it’s part of his nickname but I can’t ignore
Hugh "Losing Pitcher" Mulcahy
…any others?
Pujols 8 for 8 in 100 rbi seasons… but the Cards still fall to Cubs
Albert Pujols: 1 for 5, 2B, run, rbi
Eight 100 rbi seasons to begin his career
Albert had what should had been a memorable game. I guess it was but not for the reasons it he’d like it to be.
In the sixth inning against the Cubs, Albert Pujols hit an rbi double. That rbi put him precisely at 100 for the season and he’s now had eight consecutive seasons where he’s reached that mark since he’s come to the bigs.
Unfortunately, the press won’t be talking about that so much. Pujols made a costly error which turned a potential DP into a 2-0 Cubs lead.
In addition, Pujols popped up to end the game against the Cubs, who eventually won the game 3-2. That reminds of a kid cartoon I saw was a child. I think it was a "Tiger" comic. The kids were playing a baseball game and the first kid is up and swings, "Steeerike Three! Yeeer Out!" The second kid is up. "Steeerike Three! Yeeer Out!". Then Tiger is up. "Steeerike Three! Yeeer Out! Game Over!" In the final frame of the cartoon, the first two kids look at Tiger and say in unison, "It’s your fault we lost!".
Ok, not so funny but it makes a point. Winning is a team effort and though the Cardinals as a team only scored two runs, Pujols (literally) makes headlines for making the last out.
By the way, Albert’s in pretty good company with his eight season record. Only Al Simmons and Ted Williams have accomplished that. Simmons streak extended to eleven years.
Sheffield’s milestone homer done in style
Gary Sheffield: 2 for 5, 2 HR, 2 runs, 5 rbis
Gary Sheffield’s two homer, five rbi performance against the A’s had special meaning on Monday. If it is to believed, it was the 250,000 homerun in major league history.
Baseball Reference has the complete list of milestone homers complete with Sheffield’s round-tripper.
As if one milestone isn’t enough, Sheff is now four homers away from the coveted 500 mark.
Sheffield efforts on Monday contributed to Detroit’s 14-8 win over the A’s.
Sandoval: 4 rbis in one inning the hard way
Pablo Sandoval: 2 for 3. 2B, run, 5 rbis
The Giants went double digits in one inning for the first time in five years against the hapless Bucs yesterday and hey, they even won.
22-year old, rook backstop Pablo Sandoval played a big part of that fourth inning. He drove in four of those runs. Three of them came off a line drive double then later in the inning, a sac fly. In all, Sandoval had five ribbes for the game.
The Giants seemed to be going with the youth movement. Including Sandoval, six rookies comprised the Giants’ lineup.
Eight of those runs came against Pirate starter Jeff Karstens who came into the fourth with a 5-0 lead. Karstens made an impression his first two starts in the NL including a near perfect first game. Perhaps now, the NL is figuring him out.
As for Sandoval, his 2 for 3 performance brings him to .364. As a rookie, he’d be someone who I’d be looking at for next year’s rookie draft, but I think I know who I’m picking for catcher already.