lol, Lackey thrown out of his first game back two pitches in.

Look, I love the fire and passion Lackey, a traditional Texas fireballer type a la Nolan Ryan, brings to the game, and I know the Angels and Rangers don't like each other and that Padilla, who is just a vapid pile of poo and has been notorious for his Angel run ins, is going for the Rangers, but seriously? Come on, Big John, we need you to stay in the game.

I don't even recall any slights or anything from last night's game to lead to this (Lackey threw his first pitch behind Kinsler, and then pegged him in his side with the next one). I wasn't watching when the game started, either, so I don't know if Padilla did something in the top of the first to lead to it.

I'll lmao if Lackey pitches tomorrow (he very well could, I suspect).

He better pitch tomorrow. That is a crushing blow to my fantasy team ;)

Rick Porcello is now 4-3 with a 3.89 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. Not bad for a 20 year old with just a shade over 100 career pro innings thrown. He just knows how to pitch.

Due to an error in Joe Maddon's lineup, the Rays lost their DH today against the Tribe. P Andy Sonnanstine is batting 3rd in their lineup.

What the hell did he do?

LOL! I think he listed two 3rd basemen on his lineup card.

He listed both Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist at 3B. Zobrist came out and played 3rd in the top of the 1st so Longoria, who was supposed to be the DH, was unable to DH (although he can come in later) and the pitcher has to hit in the #3 spot in the lineup.

Something interesting brewing in LA.

Clayton Kershaw has a no hitter through 7.

I see Sonnanstine has an RBI double for the Rays today. Good for him.

And Johnny Damon hits another walk off HR for the Yankees over the Twins. This is now 3 games in a row the Yankees have beat the Twins on a walk off hit. 2 games have gone to extra innings. Slowey and Burnett were brilliant today, what a series.

And the Rangers sweep the Angels......lets see if they can finally get some national love now.

Funny bit from The Onion:

And Tampa still wins :lol:

The umpiring in that game was atrocious. How do four ML umpires miss Garko's double and call him out?

Come back when you beat our fully healthy team (j/k good series for Tex). :D

After last night's marathon game (18 innings), the one thing you hope for is a starting pitcher to go deep the next day and Peav came through in the best way possible - a complete game.

:wagfingers:

Well, we need to take care of things in Detroit now. If we can take 2 of 3 from the Tigers, I'll be happier. I was only wanting 2-3 from the Angels, but I'll take the sweep. :p

Royals weekend series attendance
Fri, May 15 38,353
Sat, May 16 26,720
Sun, May 17 22,791

Ownership might want to have a word with those announcers that scared everybody away from coming.

Not sure what in the hell is going on with Pelfrey, who's actually pitching a pretty good game, but 3 balks?? seriously?

You're an asshole. :)

STFU. That's all I got.

So Detroit swept Oakland, coming off a sweep at the hands of the Twins. Galaragga has no bite to any of his pitches, and Dontrelle Willis is our 5th starter, but, we're in first. Somehow anyway.

Bonderman is making a rehab start in Toledo this week, and then it could be only a matter of time until he replaces Armando or Dontrelle in our rotation. If we can get something out of him, then maybe I'll become a believer, but too many guys are outproducing their normal production.

Who knows though. Maybe this is the year Edwin Jackson puts together a full season and Brandon Inge becomes a real offensive weapon an entire season.

They had 24K for the Thursday game, which is a great weeknight number for KC as well as the sellout Friday. The Saturday and Sunday numbers are a bit disappointing, to say the least. I mean, it's not as if the Orioles are a huge draw in KC, but even with their poor play the Royals were in 1st coming into the weekend.

Three with the tribe coming up and Game 2 is the crucial one. Meche needs to show that he's healthy. He's looked hurt the last couple of starts and hasn't been nearly as effective.

SI

IT seemed like he was having some issues with the mound

Ouch with Delgado getting surgery :(

Rickie Weeks done for the year... FUCK

Yeah, surprised this isn't a bigger national story. That's a huge loss for them.

EDIT: When I say "national" story, I mean that it should be second or third on ESPN's headlines (or at least above "Martin, Cuban fued hits fever pitch")

Frustrating too, in that he did the same thing to his other wrist and that seemed to have been holding him back until this season.

There will be a dropoff in production obviously but the other options are serviceable at least. They won't be throwing Tony Pena Jr. out there at least.

Pfft... we need another article about A-Rod and Jeter up there! ;)

Oh, that's big. I mean, let's not overexaggerate, tho. It's a slow news day so it should be above Gruden going into MNF, TO's first practice, Favre's surgery, and Martin/Cuban. However, it's not Ryan Braun or even Prince Fielder. Sure, baseball fans know who he is but casual sports fans don't.

SI

I didn't watch the game, but Ross Detwiler comes up from AA for his (first? second?) MLB start and gets out with 5 IP, 6 SO, 0 BB, 2 ER

AL East leading Blue Jays win again.

Apparently it was barely a 3 run jack against him but it still counts. At least according to the radio guys he was laboring to those numbers. The pirates don't walk as a team so I really think its hard to read much into the start. Other than your pen sucks worse than ours. He could have won too.

Weds game with Maholm pitching might be worth going to if you can LS. He's generally very efficient. Probably a 2hour 30 min type game. I dunno if Morgan will be back this series but he's one of the pirates most exciting players to watch.

World Series Games to start 40 minutes early. Starting before 8 PM EST:

World Series games will start before 8 p.m. ET - ESPN

Also heard that Selig wanted one afternoon game, but couldn't get it through.

Very nice stuff!

This is a bit of BS, I'm sure if he'd take less money they'd be happy to move it to the afternoon.

Who's they? The owners and the networks are the ones that would stand to lose money from a day game.

Sorry...meant the networks. If Selig offered them a refund on their rights fees to make up for lost ad revenue, I'm sure the networks would put the games on in the afternoons.

Man, how many young pitchers do you guys have? They just keep going down and getting replaced

SI

Seriously doubt that.

And Selig can't offer anything by himself.

Speaking as his fantasy owner, I would like to reiterate those sentiments.

Ryan Church, I loathe you.

Oh boy. Sorry Mets fans.

I'd aim the loathing at Reed and Beltran/Pagan right now. :)

Creative way to lose a game....

I mean, that required a lot of effort.

I have no idea. I give all of the credit to Roy Halladay who I think makes them milk and cookies. And Cito Gaston, who waited way too long to prove that the guy can flat steady a ship. And yes, he gets the credit. We weren't doing this shit before.

As much shit as he gets, Selig should get credit for the WS game time changes, IMO. First time since 1971 that a WS game will start before 8pm. That's ridiculous. Only thing worse is basketball - I think I've seen some championship series games start at like 9:20 or so.

Some interesting attendance information in an article today. Baseball attendance is down 5% overall, but Royals attendance is up 15% thus far despite having lower season ticket sales than 2008. Sounds like the Royals might have timed their renovations well in regards to the economy. While teams like the Yankees and Mets built their stadiums with a large reliance on corporate dollars, the Royals moved towards a greater reliance on better value for the average fan. It's working out very well thus far.

Royals notes: Attendance is up at Kauffman - Kansas City Star

Brewers sweep the Cardinals, and more importantly, untuck their shirts after all three games in the Cardinals' home. Which is all the more sweet since the Cardinals have anointed themselves the keeper of all that is sacred in baseball and think the practice of untucking shirts on the field after that game is an insult to the game itself. (For those that don't know, Mike Cameron has always done this as a tribute to his father and the younger Brewers picked up on it last year).

Mat Gamel takes a lot of the sting out from the news of Rickie Weeks' season ending injury by hitting a crucial three-run home run in his first career start at third base. Also made a fine play defensively to go with a horrible throw later that cost the Crew a few runs.

Strange decision by Ryan Wagner to retire suddenly. As if the Nats bullpen (either current guys at the MLB level. or potential guys in the minors) needed any more bad news. I remember Wagner when he came up with the Reds, about a month after he was drafted. But he never was as good as he showed that first year, got hurt and missed all of last year, and was trying to come back this year when he apparently just decided to give up. Not something you see every day from a 26 year old former prospect in AAA who could have had a chance to shine with a bad team if he turned it around.

I believe our pen is 1-13 with 10+ blown saves. :)

He also had 3 errors behind him, so it's really hard to gauge.

Oh, and Manny likes to wear down the bullpen by pulling the pitchers early every single game.

Agreed- I was very happy to see that

SI

I completely understand why they want to start late, and maximize the number of national prime time hours (and not start the game before the end of the work day on the west coast), but I still don't understand why they can't start in the afternoon on the weekends. Even the Super Bowl is in the afternoon.

The Super Bowl is in the evening, and on a Sunday night. Starting at 6:30 on a Sunday night is the equivalent to starting at 8:30 on a week night.

Ya, it's been creeping later all the time I guess.....So I wonder why weekend World Series games can't start at 6:30 ET?

Dontrelle Willis struck out the side in the second inning. I repeat, Dontrelle Willis struck out the side in the second inning.

D-Train has now retired 16 in a row.

D-Train is looking good and he's got his swagger back.

I've never seen a pitcher go to his mouth after every pitch like he does.

Looks like he tweaked something in his left elbow/forearm area.

Good outing, 6 1/3 1 H 2 BB.

I was going to say that as well, but I've said too much good stuff about Selig on these boards (he's far better than people think), and I was wary at the response I was going to get as a result...

Psst. going to the mouth on every pitch, that ain't swagger.

That's either "fuckfuckfuckcold" or he's added a pitch that rhymes with "bit tall" to his arsenal. ;)

haha, I didn't mean that was his swagger. He just seems more confident with that crazy attitude he has.

The going to his mouth between pitches was more of an annoyance I've noticed while watching him pitch. Seems like something he's just started recently because sometimes he forgets to get off the mound while doing it.

Rays - A's game at 0-0 in the 10th.

dola

Make that the 11th.

Wow... talk about ya pitchers' duel!

C'mon, Matt Holliday. Get me an RBI!

And Murphy picks the Mets up right where they left off.

Nationals pen strikes again.

3 run homer? I'll TAKE it!

Both offensively and defensively, it would seem.

Seriously Murphy?

For real?

Nice job by Maine to settle down and only give 1 run up

Kerry Wood is getting killed. 2 homers and a triple.

The 75k people there to see the Royals just witnessed a walkoff win.

Poor Cliff Lee. He pitched a pretty good game.

Cliff Lee's had some rough luck this year

Ugh... well that'll (Kerry Wood's meltdown) fuck my fantasy squad.

Our bullpen is incredible this year. I've never seen a team with such a horrific bullpen and that's including all those years of Joe Blowsavski tossing batting practice to the opposition during "save situations."

John Maine baby!

This is the Phillies team I've been missing all year.

Solid start by Cole, nice job by the bullpen, and a home-run or two.

Still early, but that Ibanez signing is looking better and better.

I'll stand with you on Selig.

I'm jaded because he brought baseball back to Milwaukee, but I think he's been a fine commissioner.

Whether you agree with the means he went about it or not, many if not most major league clubs will have built new stadiums during his reign. Speaking strictly in baseball terms, that is a good thing.

Steroids will be looked at as a scandal but nothing that will have devastating long-term effects on the game economically.

I reckon we are about to enter another golden era of baseball here.

Cole and Myers are settling into about what you expect them to be after somewhat rocky starts. I think Happ for Park in the rotation should settle that a bit. He can't be any worse than what Chan Ho has been.

I have to do my public meaculpas on Ibanez here, I was very anti the signing but it's hard to argue with what he's done.

An interesting stat, the Phillies have made just 11 errors and allowed just 2 unearned runs this year. That's fairly incredible, big credit to Howard here who's vastly improved in the field this year....

If--and it's a big if, considering the way the Angels' pen has played this year--Fuentes can hold off Seattle in the ninth here, one of the best stories of the young baseball season gets even better, as journeyman Matt Palmer would then go to 5-0, with wins over the Yankees and Red Sox already on his resumé.

Go Fuentes!

I'm a few days late on this, but seriously...fuck Victor Martinez.

Here's what happened.

In the first game of the series, the Rays were DOWN 7-0. Upton got a lead-off walk. He stole 2nd, and then stole 3rd. On the steal of 3rd, Martinez didn't even get out of his crouch. He didn't even make a throw.

The Rays went on to score 6 runs that inning, but eventually lost 11-7 I believe.

So after the game, Martinez starts whining like a little fucking bitch, saying that Upton shouldn't have been running when the team was down 7-0.

Give me a break. I could at least understand him getting upset if the Rays were UP 7-0 and Upton was stealing bases (I definitely don't agree, but would at least understand him being upset).

So, Upton finds out about Martinez getting pissy and apologizes to him.

Three games later, Martinez has Kerry Wood throw at Upton twice. Benches cleared and everything.

But it just boggles my mind that this guy would get so upset about a team trying to win a game. And the thing is...speed is Upton's (and the Rays) game. They have stolen more bases than any other team. Last time I checked, they had 60-something and the next most was 40-something by the Angels.

Would Martinez ask A-Rod not to try and hit home runs?

The announcers made mention tonight that if they were going to throw at Upton, it should have been the next night. Not 3 days later.

I didn't realize they were down 7 runs, at that point he should be trying to get in scoring position.

Victor Martinez can mash but he's so horrible and the Indians are a horrible team. I am shocked to learn outside of Cliff Lee any of their pitchers could actually aim for a batter and nearly hit them on purpose.

It's hilarious that you say that, because Kerry Wood missed him twice. Then the fight broke out, so he didn't throw at him again and ended up walking him. It's a shame that a man was on second. Upton should have stole again.

If Kerry Wood wanted to hit Upton, he would have hit him. You don't steal two bases when you're losing 9-0. You don't do it.

:rolleyes:

If any of you have MLB audio, you should listen to the Royals radio team in the bottom of the 8th inning when they saw Kerry Wood get up. Also, when Wood entered the game, the radio guys said you could see the excited looks in the Royals dugout. He said they were all talking to each other and getting each other pumped up as they watched Wood warm up. That's never a good sign when your closer draws that kind of reaction from the other team, especially when the excited team is three runs down.

Great win for the Royals. Amazing to see homers on consecutive pitches. Crowd was going nuts.

Sold out crowd?

Bullshit.

Upton stole down 9-0 and directly led to the first run in a six run sixth inning that pulled Tampa to within three.

One night later Tampa is down 7-0 in the 4th and Upton steals third and again comes in to score their first run in a game where he hits a walk off homer in the 9th. And stole third for the third time in two days in the 7th inning to represent the potential tying run but was left stranded.

Martinez wasn't mad about baseball etiquette, he was mad because a guy hitting .181 made his sorry ass team look foolish as they blew a 7-0 lead and nearly blew a 9-0 lead. He may not be happy about playing for the second worst team in baseball but he ought to try taking that out the people responsible instead of somebody playing the game hard. And Kerry Wood ought to have better sense too.

Attendance: 25,024 (65.5% full)

No, but it was a very happy crowd. Need a win from Meche tonight. Thursday afternoon will obviously be the big seller this week. Greinke in an afternoon matinee. Hopefully Zack will be pitching to try to seal up a Cleveland sweep.


That's actually a very good attendance figure for a Tuesday night in May. In past years, the Royals would be lucky to see 13K paid on nights like that. It definitely shows how much fan interest can be drummed up when a Royals team actually can be in contention a couple of months into the season.

As of yesterday morning:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nat..._the.html#more

Wow.

You can debate whether it's wise to do it (you need to conserve outs more than you need that one run), but from an "etiquette" perspective, hell no.

Why not? I'm just trying to understand the other side of this. Is it that there's NO chance to win the game, so it's somehow insulting to try? Or is it that there's NO chance to win the game, so it's impolite to make the catcher exert some kind of effort/maybe look bad by making a throw?

Obviously, plenty of teams come back from 9-0. The game ain't over. Why must your comeback attempt be limited to specific strategies?

My understanding is that it's generally considered poor sportsmanship to steal consecutive bases on consecutive pitches when your team's down 9-0. In a closer game I would understand it but down 9-0 it just looks like Upton is trying to a) show up the pitcher and catcher and b) pad his own stats. If it's a close, competitive game, you do it.

Before anyone jumps on me for saying this, let me ask you: do you remember when Manny Ramirez (or any number of big sluggers) caught heat for throwing up his arms and admiring a long home run when the game was already decided by a large margin? In case you don't, the other team became angry with Manny because of what he did and when he did it. It sparked a small controversy similar to the Tampa/Cleveland one this weekend.

I ask you now: how is Manny's standing there and admiring a home run in a similar game any different from Upton's stealing bases on consecutive bases on Thursday? Baseball is competitive and I have no idea where you draw that line but doesn't anyone find what Upton did, at that point in the game, regardless of what came later, to be a little bit out of place?

Manny admiring a home run does nothing to put his team in a better position to win. The home run does put the team in better position but the admiration does not.

Upton stealing bases puts his team in a better position to win. And unless he was dancing and pointing at the catcher then he was doing what he is paid to do and that is to help his team win games.

If the team is up by a large margin, then there is a point where the foot comes off the accelerator a bit, but any manager that has his players ease up when his team is down should be fired.