Saturday:
@Mets 3, Cubs 1: Ike Davis had the big hit — a 2-out (of course), 2-run, 0-and-2 HR on a splitter that never forked — but I think Mets fans (who’ve seen so many bullpen blowups) all agree that this was the play of the game.
In any discussion of Hall of Famers or HOF candidates, you’ll usually hear the term “compiler,” a mild pejorative meaning a player who reaches career totals in counting stats like Hits, Runs or RBI, without having great individual seasons.
The term is often applied to two of my favorite players, who I think are among the most deserving HOF candidates not yet enshrined: Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell.
Orioles 4, @Mariners 2: In his season debut, Chris Tillman didn’t allow a man past 1st base until his last batter, with 1 out in the 9th.
Fireworks Night at the ol’ ballpark!
@Brewers 13, Marlins 12 (10): They had it all the way. After blowing a 9-2 lead, the Crew fell behind in the 10th on a Jose Reyes HR, Miami’s 5th of the game. But they came back and rang the Bell: After a leadoff 5-pitch walk to Carlos Gomez (how could you?), the struggling-again closer got the next 2 men before Aramis Ramirez mushroomed an 0-1 pitch way out to CF for his first game-ending hit as a Brewer.
Sunday afternoon, on the way home to NY from a family function in the Philly area, my grown nephew John and I stopped in Camden, NJ to see an Atlantic League game between the hometown RiverSharks and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.
Field level, behind the plate, day of game: $1,300 at Yankee Stadium; $13 at Campbell’s Stadium.
(And nice work with the cellphone camera, young John Autin!)
Monday in Oakland, Jarrod Parker hurled 6.2 innings of 1-run ball in beating the Red Sox for the 2nd time in as many tries.
It’s the 9th time out of 14 career games that he’s gone 6+ IP allowing 1 run or less. No other pitcher from 1918 to the present had as many starts of 6+ IP and 1 run or less through 14 career games.
Three pitchers had 8 such starts: Jered Weaver, Orlando Hernandez and Dwight Gooden.
No time for full game recaps. Here’s what I’ve got from players in action Friday:
Aaron Hill is the only player since at least 1918 to have 2 cycles with no other cycle(s) in between by anyone else.
Jim Johnson held on, and the Orioles are now 14-6 in one-run games, while the Tribe fell to 12-4. The run allowed by Johnson raised his ERA to 1.30, while Pedro Strop lowered his to 1.25. The only teammates with 60+ IP and ERAs of 1.35 or lower were Jack Pfiester and Carl Lundgren of the 1907 Cubs (team ERA 1.73).
This isn’t really a quiz, just a wry chuckle about the limitations of Win Probability Added (WPA) for measuring a player’s game impact.
In Thursday’s 5-2 win, Miguel Cabrera went 4 for 5 with a HR and a double. His only out was a line drive; he was never picked off or caught stealing; and he made no errors.
So what was his WPA?
Tigers 5, @Rays 2: Huzzah! For the AL strikeout leader finally got his ERA below 5! It’s been a slow, careful descent for Max Scherzer, who gave up 7 runs in 2.2 IP in his first start. Austin Jackson and Miguel Cabrera each rapped out 4 hits, and all 3 Detroit relievers pitched a scoreless inning, not an everyday event for the team ranked 11th in AL bullpen ERA. James Shields allowed 14 hits, tying a Tampa club record done thrice before (most lately by Edwin Jackson, who coincidentally got knocked around last night).