Interesting hi-jinx from the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. Last September 14, Arizona's Gerardo Parra was trying to bunt, Dodger P Hong-Chih Kuo throws one by his head. Parra then hits a HR and poses at the plate, staring down Kuo. As he comes home he has words with Dodger C AJ Ellis, also Clayton Kershaw in the dugout, the next night's starter, clearly seen saying "you'll find out tomorrow". Tomorrow comes and Kershaw plunks Parra in the 5th, gets kicked out of the game. Fast forward to last night, AZ back in town, Kershaw's first time up and Ian Kennedy goes inside, just misses him. Next pitch is two feet behind Kershaw. When Kennedy came up Kershaw brushed him off the plate, both benches were warned at that point. Kershaw went on to get the win, 7 scoreless innings, Kennedy got his first loss vs the NL West since 2010. Some good old-time stuff, carried over from last season. Not sure if this means it's over but interesting nonetheless.
Bizarre scene in Tampa tonight. Rays second baseman Will Rhymes took a pitch on the arm, went down to first base, and then suddenly collapsed. He apparently fainted because of the sudden rush of adrenaline. X-rays were negative. Apparently after he woke up the trainers asked him his name, and he replied "Batman". http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/e...es-hit-on-forearm-by-pitch-collapses-on-field
Samardzija just hit Konerko in the head, and Konerko has been replaced by Viciedo. This was after Samardzija went up and in to another White Sox hitter earlier (I believe it was Rios). No warnings issued.
Looked like it was. Anyway, Strasburg today has 8 Ks through five against Baltimore. He also singled, scored on a Harper triple, and then homered. 2 for 2.
Cards have the bases loaded with no out in the 2nd. Francona tells us the Dodgers would like a double play even if they have to allow a run. Wow, what great insight here.
Humber has been terrible since his perfect game. This has happened a lot to pitchers over the past few years, including Roy Halladay, Mark Buehrle, Dallas Braden, and Armando Galarraga (which, yes, Jim Joyce ruined).
I think you're probably reading more into it than is really the case. For Braden, Galarraga, and Humber, it was the perfect game that was the fluke - they weren't really worse after than they were before, because they weren't any good before. In Halladay's 2 starts after the perfect game he pitched 15 innings, giving up 3 earned runs (1.80 ERA), with 15 Ks and a WHIP of 1.2; even in the 7 starts after that (when he didn't pitch as well) he had an ERA of 3.23, so he was hardly terrible. I agree about Buehrle - he had an ERA of about 5 for the rest of the season after his perfect game.
I believe all performed at a lower level than they had been pitching before the perfect game. Humber certainly did. Galarraga and Braden weren't good pitchers, but they also performed below their previous level. Halladay was 7-3 with a 1.99 ERA. His next six starts were not very good by his standards. He went to 9-7 with a 2.42 ERA. He gave up double digit hits three times and allowed at least three earned runs three times.
Ryan Dempster is winless after 7 starts. He's gone at least 6 innings in every one and allowed two or fewer runs in five of the seven starts, including one where he pitched 8 innings of shutout ball, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk.
No doubt this had to happen this week where I am facing the haren owner in my fantasy league. Just one league for me this year so this sort of thing is extra annoying this particular season.
2nd game in a row Ozzie has pulled Bell in the 9th and have another pitcher close it... What a waste of $27 million bucks...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/base...es.halladay.ap/ NEW YORK (AP) -- Now all the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans can do is wait. For another day, at least. The Phillies say they will send Roy Halladay to see a doctor on Tuesday, two days after he came out of a start due to a sore right shoulder. On Monday, the team was still determining where and when, exactly, their star right-hander will be examined.
