May 2nd was easily the craziest day of the young season so far. Walkoffs. Drama. Jered Weaver pitching like Roy Halladay, Roy Halladay pitching like A.J. Burnett, and A.J. Burnett pitching like...well, A.J. Burnett. A quick rundown of the highlights:
Twins vs. Angels: How can you not start with Jered Weaver's no-hitter? It seemed like a foregone conclusion in the sixth inning; Weaver was that dominant against a completely punchless Twins lineup. No one was making any good contact. Only a walk and a dropped third strike kept him from throwing a perfect game. So the Angels actually managed an easy win, 9-0, and no, Albert Pujols did not hit his first home run, nor did he have an RBI.
Phillies vs. Braves. The game of the day, easily. The Phillies staked Roy Halladay to a hefty 6-0 lead, all but guaranteeing a win--yet improbably, Halladay then gave up eight runs of his own via a rare grand slam to Brian McCann in the fifth and a two-run single to Jason Heyward in the sixth. But the Phillies refused to die, retaking the lead 9-8 on a three-run home run by Carlos Ruiz in the seventh, then adding three more runs on a Ruiz double in the eighth (six RBIs in two innings for the catcher!). Yet the Braves responded again, putting up a five-spot in the bottom of the eighth to briefly retake the lead 13-12 before their closer, Craig Kimbrel, blew the save with two outs in the ninth on Shane Victorino's game-tying single. The game went to extra innings, but with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel dead-set against using closer Jonathan Papelbon in a tie game on the road, the writing was on the wall. Chipper Jones' 2-run homer in the bottom of the 11th finally won the game for the Braves...15-13. Wow.
Dodgers vs. Rockies. Jones wasn't even the only 40-year-old to hit a walkoff home run on Wednesday. In Colorado, the Rockies surrendered the lead in the top of the 8th, regained it against Clayton Kershaw in the bottom of the inning, but then allowed the Dodgers to tie the game with two outs in the ninth on Dee Gordon's two-run double. With the score knotted at 5-all, the Rockies put two men on base in the bottom of the ninth and sent Jason Giambi up to pinch-hit. And the old man smashed a walkoff home run to center field. Ballgame.
Diamondbacks vs. Nationals. The third walkoff home run of the day didn't belong to Bryce Harper, but he was right in the middle of it. With the Nats down a run in the ninth, Harper hit a leadoff double against J.J. Putz (his third hit of the day). And with two outs, Danny Espinosa cranked a two-out, two-run, walkoff home run to beat Arizona 5-4. Espinosa is not, however, 40 years old, thus making his home run, by default, only the third-most-interesting round-tripper of the day.
Pirates vs. Cardinals. After having thrown six pitches, his team was losing 4-0. Such is the life of Pirates right-hander A.J. Burnett, whose clobbering at the hands of the Cardinals was of historical proportions. Failing to finish the third inning while surrendering twelve runs is, in a sick way, somewhat impressive. What's even more impressive: by that third inning, Carlos Beltran had two home runs, three hits, and seven RBIs. That even tops Carlos Ruiz's outstanding performance.
Brewers vs. Padres. Jeff Suppan threw five shutout innings for the victorious Padres. Jeff Suppan. What??
Seattle vs. Tampa Bay. The slow-footed, big-bodied, velocity-challenged Jose Molina reached on an infield single. Obviously, the Rays went on to win the game. You can't waste that kind of effort from a Molina.
No comments:
Post a Comment