@Giants 7, Padres 1: Four in the 1st matched San Francisco’s season high, and Buster Posey broke it open with a 3-run shot towards the RF line. With a packed house, the Giants improved to 30-16 at home and maintained their game-and-a-half lead on the stabilized Dodgers.
June 1st this season was a milestone date for the New York Mets. The Mets hosted the Cardinals that day and achieved something never previously accomplished in the team’s first 50 seasons of play. That was the day, of course, of Johan Santana‘s no-hitter, the first ever by a Met.
After the break, I’ll take a look at this and other similar games.
Belated additions above the line:
@Diamondbacks 8, Astros 2: Houston took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 6th, but momentum may have swung on this failed squeeze — was Justin Maxwell‘s heart really in it? — and a 7-run retort gave Arizona the 3-game sweep by a combined 33-13 margin.
My apologies for botching this quiz. I somehow left two names off the list below, which I’ve added now. The answer is that these are the only players since 1918 with careers including 50 or more games for each of the following:
– 3 or more walks
– 3 or more strikeouts
– 3 or more hits
Thanks for playing, and sorry again for messing this up.
Since 1918, these are the only players to appear on certain statistical lists at least 50 times. What are these these statistical lists?
| Player |
|---|
| Mickey Mantle |
| Harmon Killebrew |
| Jim Thome |
| Mark McGwire |
| Jeff Bagwell |
| Jack Clark |
| Eddie Mathews |
| Adam Dunn |
Hint: the third time is the charm
@Cardinals 12, Cubs 0: We’ve seen a 12-run inning before (right?) — but in the home 7th of a scoreless game? It began with an infield single, a pitching change and a failed sac attempt. Then: double, single, triple, walk, double, walk, popout, pitching change, double, double, double, walk, pitching change, double, double, and SO/reached on WP, before the carousel finally coasted to a halt.
“How could you do this to me…AGAIN!!!” / US PRESSWIRE
Here’s a very quick look at some statistical explanations for why Jon Lester‘s 2012 season isn’t going so well. Continue reading
Braves 11, @Nats 10 (11): As soon as Paul Janish came up in the 11th with the go-ahead run on 3rd, you just knew he would make a monkey out of your humble narrator, who had wondered aloud about this very situation two days ago: “How did it happen that Fredi Gonzalez let such a weak stick as Janish bat with the winning run on 3rd?” (OK, but look at this hit. If the infield wasn’t in, the SS coulda caught it in his hat.)
@Red Sox 3, White Sox 1: “Distinction’s nice, but next time just gimme the W.” When Cody Ross clubbed an inside fastball from Addison Reed for the most dramatic of his two-day, 3-run HR binge, it snatched a well-earned win away from ChiSox rookie Jose Quintana, who tossed 8 scoreless frames. But it did give him a unique(?) distinction:
The former star in Cuban baseball Yoenes Cespedes has 12 homers so far in his debut season in Major League Baseball. Among those playing in their first season in MLB in 2012, the 26-year-old Cespedes has the most homers right now, but Will Middlebrooks is right behind him with 11 for the Red Sox. Other recent debut season home run leaders:
2011 Eric Hosmer, 19 homers
2010 Mike (now Giancarlo) Stanton, 22
2009 Colby Rasmus, 19
2008 Evan Longoria, 27
2007 Dan Uggla, 27
More in the same vein after the jump Continue reading
Here are a few photos all credited to US PRESSWIRE.
First, here are the Red Sox about to go berserk after Cody Ross (7) hit a walk-off homer. Sure, they look happy now, but how do you think Carl Crawford felt 3 second later when he was drenched with Gatorade? But seriously, this could be a turning point for the Red Sox. They already got rid of one problematic guy in Kevin Youkilis. If they can manage to jettison Josh Beckett by the end of the month, they still have a shot at a wild card slot.
Here we see the Orioles’ outfielders (Endy Chavez, Adam Jones, and Nick Markakis) having a bit of a rump bump….or a rear smear…or entwined behind…
Kind of a weird shot here, as Ubaldo Jimenez tags Desmond Jennings out at home on what turned out to be a failed attempt at a squeeze play. It’s weird to see the catcher blocking home without the ball–in fact isn’t that obstruction? Jimenez also looks like he could do with a few more cheeseburgers.