Full slate of baseball, as is the case pretty much every Tuesday night from April through September. In fact, I saw so much great pitching at home I refused to narrow the field down ...
Full Tuesday scoreboard with recaps and box scores for all 15 games
3 5 UP
Yeah, sue me. I refuse to lop off any of these five starting pitchers, who all dominated in front of their home crowds. And that's still not including guys like Tommy Hunter and Derek Lowe.
Yu Darvish, Rangers. Is his adjustment to America coming along or what? Darvish was masterful against the high-powered Yankees offense in Rangers Ballpark Tuesday night, spreading seven hits over 8 1/3 shutout innings. Oh, and he struck out 10 in the Rangers 2-0 win.
Mat Latos, Reds. He began his Reds career 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA through three starts. Tuesday night, he went out and took down a hot -- albeit tired -- Giants team. Latos fired seven shutout innings, allowing only four hits and two walks in a 9-2 Reds win. His margin for error wasn't as big as it sounds, either, as the Reds were only up 2-0 when Latos departed. This outing should help appease any previously restless Reds fans.
Tommy Milone, A's. Milone -- one of the pieces acquired in the Gio Gonzalez trade -- dazzled through eight shutout innings, allowing only three White Sox hits. He struck out five and didn't walk anyone in a 2-0 A's victory.
David Price, Rays. While Price wasn't in danger of being booed or anything, as I suspect Latos was, he did struggle a bit at times in his first three starts. But not Tuesday, when Price threw a five-hit shutout against the reeling Angels. Price allowed five hits and a walk while striking out six in a 5-0 win. It was his first complete game since July, 2, 2010.
Johan Santana, Mets. He didn't get through seven because of a huge pitch count, but he responded from the worst outing of his career with 6 2/3 innings, three hits, one earned run and 11 strikeouts. The Mets won 2-1.
3 DOWN
Royals. They've now lost 12 in a row. That's pretty hard to do after 17 games.
Josh Collmenter, Diamondbacks. He was roughed up by the Phillies for nine hits and six earned runs in six innings Tuesday night in an 8-5 loss. Now through four starts, Collmenter has a 9.82 ERA. Meanwhile phenom/future ace Trevor Bauer is 4-0 with a 0.40 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings in Double-A. He was the best player in college baseball last season, too, so it's not like he's some 18-year-old kid. At some point you worry more about winning now and less about when a player's service-time clock starts.
Ervin Santana, Angels. Before Tuesday, he had allowed two home runs in each of his previous starts. He doubled down against the Rays, coughing up four long balls en route to an 0-4 record and 7.23 ERA through four starts. And the Angels, at 6-11, are easily the most disappointing team in baseball so far.
Red Sox redemption? OK, it's way too early for that. Still, the Red Sox hit rock bottom -- by their own manager's admission -- last weekend in Boston. They responded with a clutch win Monday night in Minnesota and a blowout victory Tuesday. Wednesday, it's Clay Buchholz (1-1, 9.00) for the Red Sox facing off against Liam Hendriks (0-0, 3.86) of the Twins. A Boston win gives them their first sweep of the season and would run their record to 7-10. That's not bad at all considering the public turmoil they've already gone through. 8:10 p.m. ET/7:10 p.m. CT
Central spoiler. The Cubs obviously aren't going anywhere this season, but that doesn't mean they can't play spoiler against their "friends" from St. Louis. After back-to-back walk-off wins, the Cubs are in position to sweep the first-place Cardinals Wednesday. Lance Lynn (3-0, 1.42) will start for the Cardinals while Chris Volstad (0-2, 6.19) is the Cubs' starter. 2:20 p.m. ET/1:20 p.m. CT
King vs. Prince. Felix Hernandez (1-1, 2.76) will get the ball for the Mariners Wednesday in Detroit and face the Tigers' vaunted offense. The new face in Detroit is Prince Fielder, and he's never faced King Felix in regular-season action. Shouldn't the King always beat the Prince? We'll see. Adam Wilk (0-2, 4.40) starts for the Tigers. 7:05 p.m. ET/4:05 p.m. PT
Full schedule for Wednesday's games
• Happy Birthday to me. Chipper Jones celebrated his 40th birthday by hitting a home run Tuesday night. It was the fifth time he's homered on his birthday, which tied Alex Rodriguez and Todd Helton for most birthday homers among active players. (ESPN Stats and Info)
• Get a life, sir. I believe I have a pretty good perspective on parents/coaches/fans screaming at umpires/officials of youth sports events. I played baseball in college. I coached 14-year-old All-Star baseball teams two summers and I've also officiated every level of football from youth to varsity. So I've seen it from three pretty great angles. My son is only five, so I'll see the final angle quite soon. Anyway, no matter what, I cannot forgive coaches/parents who go overboard in berating the officials of the games. Here's another example of some loser taking things way too far: A Babe Ruth-level coach in Pennsylvania was arrested on charges of recklessly endangering another person and harassment (thetimes-tribune.com). Apparently he was so angry with an umpire that he got in an argument with a woman while storming off the baseball field. When a witness got between the coach and the woman, the coach allegedly punched, "nearly hit" him with his vehicle and pulled a gun on said witness. Yeah, I'm sure that was all worth it. This guy was angry about a call in a Babe Ruth game. Brilliant.
• Cook decision nears. The Red Sox need pitching help. We know that. Meanwhile, veteran right-hander Aaron Cook is 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in Triple-A Pawtucket. Further, Cook has an opt-out clause in his contract that is set for May 1. Cook told WEEI.com that he hasn't yet made a decision on whether or not he'll opt out.
• Should you give foul balls to kids? This is an interesting discussion. Scott Ostler of SFgate.com argues that adults catching foul balls should never give them to kids. He makes a strong argument about teaching the kids to earn things in life. My stance is to each his own, but I certainly don't like the expectation that adults have to give balls to kids. I wouldn't expect anyone -- other than myself, of course -- to give my son a ball he didn't catch. If someone offered it, I don't think I'd turn it away. Do what you want with it, but don't expect people to give your kid a ball for nothing. Too many people expect handouts these days.
• The Royals aren't this bad ... or are they? Dave Cameron of Fangraphs.com outlines why the Royals aren't nearly as bad as they've been playing. Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star, on the other hand, points out just how much the Royals lost on the field and off of it while going 0-10 at home in April.
• Write-ins. One of the many ways in which fan voting for the All-Star Game is flawed is how early the ballot is set in stone. MLB.com takes a look at the good starts by a trio of outfielders left off the ballot: Ryan Sweeney, Nate Schierholtz and Kirk Nieuwenhuis.
• Moneyball draft, revisited. ESPN.com's Keith Law re-drafts the draft upon which the book Moneyball spent a lot of time discussing. That would be the 2002 draft, which in hindsight appears to have had a somewhat weak first round, headed up by the Pirates taking Bryan Bullington No. 1 overall. In the redraft, however, the class looks much stronger. Curtis Granderson, Brian McCann, Cole Hamels, Matt Cain and Joey Votto were Law's first five, in order. Of note in terms of Moneyball: The A's pick in the first round that season was Nick Swisher, which turned out to be a good one.
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