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• Phillies 8, Dodgers 5 More »
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• Mets 2, Marlins 0 More »
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• Tigers 6, Rays 4 More »
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• For the first time in franchise history, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are Playoff-bound. Back in Spring Training, everyone laughed when starter Scott Kazmir said his Rays were going to the dance. After all, the team had finished in last place the previous season. Well, who's laughing now? More »
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• Carlos's previous outing ended in spectacular glory; this one not so much. Zambrano, having flown back from Venezuela after the passing of his grandmother earlier in the week, was shellacked by the Cards to the tune of eight runs and six hits. He didn't make it past the second inning, and the Cubs went down 12-6. The Wrigley faithful will have to wait a wee bit longer to celebrate their team's division title. More »
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The NFL isn’t the only league effected by that bastard Ike as the Astros and Major League Baseball have agreed to move two of Houston’s canceled home games that were scheduled against the Cubs this weekend to a “neutral” site in Milwaukee. Eddie Wade’s Astros have been on fire over the past three weeks but this turn of events may finally cool them off. Not only does Houston have to deal with a major catastrophe but to pile it on a bit more they have to play as the “home” team less than a 90 minute drive from Chicago. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5049567&view=rss&microfeed=true Six games didn't get off the ground without the assistance of rising tides today, thanks to enough moisture across these United States to make you think Tammy Faye Bakker herself had been disinterred by her own post-mortem weeping. Division races from the AL Central to the NL Central (oh, and the NL East, too) shut down for a forced sabbatical. Hopes stay strong that Friday's tilts can be squeegeed off in time for use Saturday or Sunday, but we may be looking at a lot of 160- and 161-game seasons when all has been totaled. More »
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Toronto catcher Gregg Zaun hit a game winning Grand Slam in extra innings to shut down Tampa and cut the Rays' lead in the division to two games. The Blue Jays' Lyle Overbay had a pair of solo home-runs during regular play, but the Rays tied the game up in the ninth with a three-run inning. Zaun's game winner came after an exhausting round of extra innings, bringing the game to a close in the 13th. More »
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Before last night's match-up between the Mets and the Phllies, Mike Schmidt had some words for his former team. More »
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•Back Away From the Ledge, Mets Fans: In all fairness, you can't expect a major league bullpen to hold a one-run lead for almost three whole innings. The Mets relievers wasted another strong performance by starter Mike Pelfrey, as Aaron Heilman walked in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth to hand the two-time World Series Champion Marlins a 4-3 victory. In other walkoff walk news, the Nats beat the Braves in the tenth in the same anticlimactic fashion. Boy, treadmill shrimp earned his plankton last night. More »
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Forgive New York fans for celebrating just a bit harder than usual last night. After all, they are coming off a big win on the last Friday before the month-that-shall-not-be-named. Carlos Beltran's dramatic grand slam put his team up by three on the Marlins heading into the bottom of the ninth. The Mets bullpen then shut the door in characteristic fashion...which is to say they allowed four hits and two runs before stranding the winning run at second. The W increased New York's lead in the NL East to two, because... More »
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Zach Miner of Los Tigres Detroit committed regicide on the monarchs from Missouri, allowing only three singles in seven innings on the way to a 4-0 victory in Kansas City last night. How could he get away with such domination on a major league franchise while only striking out three? How could he know he would get away with allowing so much bat-on-ball violence without much damage? Let's look at the Royals lineup... Mike Aviles is the best hitter in the lineup? By, like, a lot? Sweet baby Rany. Let's move on. More »
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Tom Glavine is out for the season. Dude tore up some ligaments in his elbow and says he won't come back if he has to get that ligament completely replaced. The 42-year-old went back to the Braves, turning down more money from the Mets to play where he had kept his offseason home. But he hasn't played well this year; he's 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 13 games, and it might be time for that tryout with the Thrashers that he's always wanted. More »
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The Chicago Cubs have just won their ninth straight game. In related news, Hell has frozen over, pigs are flying, gas is now 75 cents a gallon, and Andy Dick just had sex with a girl. This wild chain reaction began when Ward, in the midst of an 0-for-13 slump, hit a three-run homer in the ninth to power the visiting Cubs past the Marlins, 6-5. Too bad nobody was there to see it. More »
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It was the Sox Bowl Part II as the Red ones took on the White ones. And you know what happens when you put Red Sox in the mix with White Sox (besides all your shit turning pink). You get some pretty good baseball. Big Papi busted his slump with a three-rub double off the wall in Boston's 6-2 win over Chicago and helped topple the White Sox from first place in AL Central division. The unintentional comedy came when Ortiz thought his shot went yard: More »
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Cubs outfielder Jim Edmonds has gotten past the drama of being traded from the Cardinals in the offseason. Or maybe not. After refusing to discuss his former manager, Tony La Russa, with the media, Edmonds proceeded to go two for four, both hits going yard in a 3-2 win over his ex-team. The game stretched to a tedious eleven innings with Cubs reliever Bob Howry getting the win. The loss was handed to the Cardinals Ryan Franklin with a bases loaded single by Henry Blanco to bring in the winning run. More »
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• C.C. is perfect: So far, in a Milwaukee Brewers uni, Sabathia is 5-0. Last night, he rumbled into Turner Field and emerged with a 4-2 victory over the Braves. In case you couldn't sift through the blubber above, that's Prince Fielder and C.C. Sabathia sharing a joyous moment following their win over Atlanta. More »
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Manny Ramirez unveiled his "Manny-ness" (he wore the number 99) to his new fans in Los Angeles last night, but things didn't exactly go according to plan. More »
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Ryan Braun did most of the heavy lifting, but once again it was Bill Hall providing the winning hit. Hall's RBI single in the eight inning put the Brewers out in front of the Astros who ultimately fell 6-4. Eric Gagne picked up the win in relief before Salomon Torres closed the door in the ninth for the save. The Cubs and Brewers now sit tied atop the Central standings with the two set to meet for a crucial four game series in Milwaukee starting tomorrow. More »
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The Yankees came into Boston on a six-game winning streak and in the end Mariano Rivera kept it alive. Joba Chamberlain dominated the Red Sox lineup for seven shutout innings, striking out nine while allowing just three hits. Kyle Farnsworth did his best to fuck things up in the eighth when he gave up a pair of quick hits before being pulled in favor of Rivera. The closer came on for the five-out save, inducing a pop-up from David Ortiz and striking out three batters, including the game's final two. Jason Giambi's infield single produced the game's only run, scoring Bobby Abreu from third base in the third inning off of Josh Beckett. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5029439&view=rss&microfeed=true Uno, who I believe was named for the card game I never bothered to learn, continues to blaze trails for doggykind. Back in February, he became the first beagle ever to win the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (though Snoopy remains the first to be a World War I flying ace). Yesterday, he "threw" out the first pitch at the Brewers-Reds game yesterday. Nice mouthball, pooch. Sidney Ponson's gotta try that one. It was "believed to be the inaugural first pitch by a dog in Brewers history." You mean people aren't tracking these things? Shake a leg, Elias Sports Bureau! More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5024649&view=rss&microfeed=true The curtailing of the About Last Night... feature eliminates some of my opportunity for monkeyshines (that is, gratuitous monkey references shoehorned into otherwise putatively sports-related posts). But this Sauron-esque picture from last night's Marlins-Dodgers games caught my, uh, notice. Best use of the video outfield wall in a photo since this one. Anyhowler, on with the recappings. More »
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Thank God for the Yankees that their next series with Boston is in New York. With a separation from wife Cynthia and rumors of canoodling with Madonna thicker than Newman's Own Thousand Island dressing, Alex Rodriguez must have more on his mind than Jonathan Papelbon. But how will his own fans greet him? Will there be any cone bras in the crowd? Sean Penn masks? The theme from Evita being sung by a heavenly choir of visiting Red Sox fans? Nope, probably not. After the Yankees' bats woke up in an 18-7 win over the Rangers on Wednesday, Hank Steinbrenner is not in the mood to tolerate distractions. Please be upbeat and courteous tonight, Yankees fans, or prepare to be waterboarded in the security office. Just like any Yankee game, come to think of it. More »
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OK, first of all, Cowbell Kid may seem pretty impressive when he's among his own in Tropicana Field, but I'd like to see him tearing down banners and clanging his bell at Fenway ... or Yankee Stadium, for that matter. Can Cowbell Kid win on the road? That's the question. As for the Rays, they've answered most of theirs. Tampa solved the mystery that is Tim Wakefield with a 3-1 win on Tuesday, moving their division lead over the Sox to a season-best 2 1/2 games. Orange juice for everyone! More »
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So what happened to Jonathan Papelbon's prediction of fisticuffs and other mayhem when the Red Sox returned to Tropicana Field? No brushbacks or punches or obscene gestures ... all we got was some lame identity theft. Rays manager Joe Maddon spent much of Monday trying to cancel his debiit card, which was being used by someone to buy gas in New York. I did not pay extra to Comcast for white collar crime! Damn it. So The Rays prevailed 5-4, moving 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Boston in the East, and claiming the best record in baseball at 50-32. More »
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The Cubs really don't have a reasonable explanation as to why they suck so relatively badly on the road. The White Sox beat the Cubs 5-1 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep, the North side's eighth loss in the past 12 games. And here we see Mr. Kerry Wood trying to explain it, as you probably saw in Sunday's Closer. If it were up to me, I'd run this photo every day until the end of baseball season, I just love it so. Also the video, which we show you again following the jump. More »
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Despite getting the catchy nickname of "One of the most consistent hitters in the game" by teammate Matt Murton, Aramis Ramirez failed to take advantage of a lead-off double in the 9th by Derrek Lee. With one out and Lee on third, Bobby Jenks forced the Cubbie into grounding out weakly to short when a sac fly would've sent the game to extra frames. Carlos Quentin took Carlos Marmol deep in the 7th to put the Pale Hose up 6-5 for good. Today the White Sox try to avenge the sweep at Wrigley earlier this month. Call it a hunch, but the camera may not be checking in with Kerry Wood today. More »
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Sidney Ponson made his unceremonious (only to Ponson, as ceremonious occasions usually have bacon gravy) return to the Yankees in the second half of a two-ballpark doubleheader yesterday with the cross-Gotham Mets. And he laid into them like they were an Aruban judge, tossing six shutout innings in the Yankees' 9-0 in Shea and improved to 5-1 on the year. Carlos Delgado was a force in the day game in the Bronx, homering twice and driving in a team-record nine runs in a 15-6 clubbing of the Yankees. More »
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Time is running out to claim Shawn Chacon on waivers! Act now, and you will receive one slightly used Major League pitcher, ERA just above 5.00, with a tendency to throttle when perturbed. Buy it now price: $2 million. Chacon was put on waivers Thursday by the Houston Astros, one day after and unfortunate incident in which he accidentally choked general manager Ed Wade and threw him to the ground in front of dozens of witnesses. Allegedly. Yankees? Your move. More »
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• Battered Fish. A 10-run inning? Wha? The Battle of Florida is not going well for the Marlins, as Tampa Bay enjoyed a 10-run, 14-batter, 32-minute fifth inning on its way to a 15-3 win. Carl Crawford had two homers and five RBI. Believe it or not, it wasn't a franchise record for the Rays, who once had 11 runs in an inning. More »
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Wouldn't it be ironic — in a fun, cosmic sort of way — if the turning point for the Pittsburgh Pirates' franchise came on Tuesday night? It was the first time since 1960 that the New York Yankees had played in Pittsburgh, when, as you surely recall, Bill Mazeroski won Game 7 of the World Series with one of the most dramatic walkoff homers in baseball history. The Pirates celebrated that day 48 years ago with another win on Tuesday; 12-5, featuring 19 hits and homers by Jose Bautista and Ryan Doumit. More »
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Ha! Take that Hank Steinbrenner, you big dolt. Pitchers shouldn't hit? Felix Hernandez hit the first grand slam by an American League pitcher in 37 years, leading the Mariners over the Mets 5-2 on Monday night. Hernandez did get hurt; but not running the bases, as Steinbrenner imagines in his sweaty night terrors. He was hurt covering the plate in the fifth, and was removed before he could earn a decision. Oh Mets, what will you think of next? More »
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Now that's what I'm talking about. This is how you do a rivalry, people. North Side vs. South Side, Ozzie vs. Lou. Plenty of trash talk. Copious amounts of Ryan Dempster. Let's get it on! When Round 1 was over on Sunday the Cubs had done it; swept the White Sox in the Friendly Confines. Round 2 coming up this weekend at U.S. Cellular, where the fans I'm sure will have something creative in store. Rarely is baseball this much fun. More »
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After a rough start to the season Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia has found his groove on the mound, and now at the plate as well. The rotund power pitcher didn't like his teammates calling him a singles hitter after last year's round of interleague play, so he stepped into the box in his first at bat of the season and crushed Chan Ho Park's offering some 440 feet. Sabathia matched that power on the mound, striking out 10 Dodgers in seven innings while yielding just one run on a Matt Kemp homer. The score remained locked at one until Cleveland exploded for six runs in the 11th inning. More »
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The Rangers (née Senators) and the Nationals (like the Senators minus Frank Howard) took 14 innings to decide things before Elijah Dukes delivered with his second walk-off hit of the month. Back on June 5th Dukes finally crossed the Mendoza line with four hits, including a 10th inning game-winning homer, and last night was just as good. The oft troubled outfielder finished the night 5-6 from the plate, raising his average to a season high .270, a 67 point rise in just 14 games. The Nats trailed 3-2 in the eighth inning when Dukes tied things up with his second home run of the season, and the bullpen took over from there, with Joel Hanrahan picking up his third win. More »
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Joba Chamberlain pitched well, but didn't get the decision. Alex Rodriguez singled in the go-ahead run. Derek Jeter, his pillow wet from tears, was 2-for-3 with a run scored. The Yankees beat the Padres 2-1 on Thursday for their seventh straight win — New York's longest winning streak of the season — to move within five games of first-place Boston in the East, and remain 3 1/2 behind Tampa Bay in the wild-card race. Lil' Hank Steinbrenner is overjoyed. And we ask, what the hell is going on here? Are the Yankees really back in this thing? More »
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It was in the Simpsons episode Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play that Homer, disgusted at a player during an Isotopes game, hurls various batteries onto the field, following it up by throwing an electric drill. J.D. Drew knows the feeling. Each time he plays in Philadelphia, the calm, measured Citizens Bank Park crowd has something new in store for him. On Wednesday they tried to boo him back to the Stone Age, as usual, but it didn't throw him off. More »
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So why did the firing of Willie Randolph occur so late on Monday night (Tuesday morning, actually)? Turns out that Mets general manager Omar Minaya actually flew to Anaheim, checked in to the team hotel and waited to deliver the news to Randolph person. More »
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Baseball's biggest upset so far this season? How Mariners manager John McLaren outlasted Mets manager Willie Randolph. Of course the Mariners did fire general manager Bill Bavasi on Monday, replacing him with associate GM Lee Pelekoudas, who will serve on an interim basis. Meanwhile, Seattle is 22 games under .500 — the worst record in baseball — after Monday's 6-1 loss to the Marlins. And they have to fend off their own fans to make plays in the outfield, which is sad. More »
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In George Carlin's noted examination of the differences between baseball and football, he describes baseball as "A 19th century pastoral game. Baseball begins in the spring; the season of new life. The idea is to go home. I just want to go home." True, for the most part; save for the occasional hard slide at second base. And then there is the play that doesn't seem like it should be involved in this game at all: The collision at the plate. It's the one play in baseball where all bets are off; where you can throw yourself at the catcher with the most malicious intent possible, and there isn't a court in the world that would convict you for it. Just ask the Cardinals' Yadier Molina about that. More »
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