Red Sox fall to 0-5, Indians win again (AP)

They don’t have Boston’s bankroll, lineup or lofty expectations. The Cleveland Indians, though, have something the Red Sox don’t — wins. Asdrubal Cabrera had four RBIs, Shin-Soo Choo hit a two-run homer, Matt LaPorta added a solo shot and the Indians kept the built-to-win Red Sox winless on Wednesday night with their third straight victory, [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/04/07/red-sox-fall-to-0-5-indians-win-again-ap/

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Braves 4, Brewers 5

By the time I turned on the game Mike Minor had walked the first three batters and surrendered a 2-run single to Prince Fielder. He settled down thereafter and his stuff/command looked pretty good for the next few innings, but like I said I didn’t see the first four batters reach base. The Brewers got [...]

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Orioles unbeaten run ends as Tigers win (AP)

The Baltimore Orioles weren’t going to go unbeaten this season anyway, so after their first loss they turned their sights toward more realistic goals. Derrek Lee hit his first homer with Baltimore and Vladimir Guerrero got his initial RBI, but the Orioles couldn’t muster any more offense against Justin Verlander and fell to the Detroit [...]

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Wow, Its an Astros Jungle out there.

Okay, I admit first that Houston is playing hideous “monkey escapes the zoo” baseball. That is the form of baseball in which, much like a chimp breaking out of its cage, a team beginning the season doesn’t run free or gain any ground but instead freaks out, looks ridiculous, is completely wild, and swings at [...]

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Know Your Foe #3: Hurdle, Pirates Welcome Rockies
in Home Opener

Pittsburgh Pirates (4-2, 2nd in the NL Central)

2010 Record vs. Colorado: 4-3

Last Series vs. Rockies: August 5-8, 2010 (2-2 series split at PNC Park)

After taking a series from the struggling Rockies in Denver, the Pirates salvaged a split in Pittsburgh, with the game of the series coming on Saturday the 7th, in which the Bucs won on a walk-off homer by Pedro Alvarez. The Pirates were perplexed for five innings by Jorge De La Rosa before breaking through in a huge way in the sixth inning, scoring three times and eventually grabbing a 5-2 lead heading into the ninth inning. However, Joel Hanrahan allowed a game-tying three-run homer to Ian Stewart before he could even record a single out in the top half of the inning. Then in the tenth, Todd Helton somewhat miraculously smacked a two-run homer off of Sean Gallagher to give the Rockies the lead. However, Huston Street's propensity for allowing traffic caught up with him with two outs in the bottom of the tenth, as Alvarez connected on an 0-1 offering and put it in the right field seats (or possibly, into the river) to give the Pirates the victory.

Pitching-wise, the Pirates were paced by James McDonald, who won the opening game of the series by hurling six innings of scoreless, four-hit ball while striking out eight and walking just one. Meanwhile, the offense was lead by Alvarez (who went 6-for-17 with two three-run homers) and Jose Tabata (who was 7-for-17 with a couple of doubles).

Last Series Results: W 2-1 at Chicago (NL), W 2-1 at St. Louis

Clint Hurdle's Pirates have outscored their opponents 23-19 so far in 2011, and have been led on the mound by former Giant and Padre Kevin Correia, who is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts. Their starters have been anywhere from solid (Correia and Paul Maholm) to unspectacular (everybody else), but they've managed to keep it together pretty well through two series. Offensively, the Bucs are off to a very nice start, with all-star centerfielder Andrew McCutchen leading the way (.389/.500/.833), with Neil Walker (.346/.370/.692) not far behind. Of course, these are subject to SSS (though McCutchen is a legitimate major league star). Meanwhile, Jose Tabata has continued where he left off last year and just may turn into the above-average big leaguer that everyone expected him to be while in the Yankees organization.

Thursday through Sunday: 4-game series at PNC Park

Expected Pitching Matchups

Thursday, April 7, 2011 @ 11:35 AM MT

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W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Esmil Rogers0-000000000000000.000.00

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W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Paul Maholm0-01100006.25000230.001.05

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Friday, April 8, 2011 @ 5:05 PM MT

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W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Jorge De La Rosa1-01100005.13000150.00.75

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W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Ross Ohlendorf0-01100006.08441436.002.00

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Saturday, April 9, 2011 @ 5:05 PM MT

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W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Greg Reynolds0-000000000000000.000.00

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W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Charlie Morton1-01100006.03110521.501.33

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Sunday, April 10, 2011 @ 11:35 AM MT

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W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Jhoulys Chacin1-01100007.05000240.001.00

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W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - James McDonald0-01100004.24220443.861.71

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Expected Lineup

PlayerPosAVGOBPSLGwOBAwRC+
HRRBIJose Tabata
LF.364.462.409.39916000Neil Walker2B.346.370.692.41617228A. McCutchen
CF.389.500.833.51123924Lyle Overbay
1B.304.385.522.38214814Pedro Alvarez
3B.231.231.269.180504Ryan Doumit
C.267.313.333.2576001Garrett JonesRF.263.333.421.33811711Ronny CedenoSS.250.333.250.2737101

 

Bench

PlayerPosAVGOBPSLGwOBAwRC+
HRRBIJason JaramilloC.286.375.286.33811700Steve PearceUtil.000.000.000.000-10000Josh RodriguezIF.000.000.000.000000John BowkerOF.000.250.000.000-10000Matt DiazOF.100.100.100.098-5200

Closer

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W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Joel Hanrahan0-04000404.14110152.081.15

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Injuries

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Pittsburgh Pirates Injuries

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date Scott Olsenshoulder03/22/2011Chris Snyderlower-back03/22/2011Jose Ascanioelbow03/22/2011Brad Lincolnforearm03/22/2011

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player Injury Type Injury Date Kevin Hartshoulder03/18/2011

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http://www.purplerow.com/2011/4/6/2095375/know-your-foe-3-hurdle-pirates-welcome-
rockies-in-home-opener

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Sigh...Astros Blown Out 12-4

Sigh

It seemed so promising.

Sigh

Four runs in the first! Walks! It was a new day!

Sigh

Not many teams can win games with five errors. The Astros can live with Chris Johnson at third if he's hitting. But, pairing him, Bill Hall and Angel Sanchez on the same infield is a recipe for disaster. 

Sigh

I could write a more hopeful recap, asking for patience and saying this season is still very young. I've been saying that enough to be a broken record this week. You don't need to hear it again. Plus, I'm running out of ways to defend this team.

Sigh

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http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2011/4/6/2095800/sigh-astros-blown-out-12-4

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Thoughts on the Home Opener...

If the baseball gods want to bless the city of Baltimore and their fans, they sure did.

Over the years, I?ve been going to Opening Day for years at Camden Yards and could never remember one in recent memory as nice as this.

It was summer in April.

As James noted yesterday ? and you all know ? the Orioles defeated the Detroit Tigers, 4-1.

Getting in and especially out of Downtown Baltimore, plus finding traffic was a pain yesterday; however, all things considered with the weather, plus a overwhelming crowd in orange and black ? and not in Red Sox and Yankee gear ? was a great thing to see.

The fact the Orioles also swept the Rays this weekend and the vibe of good feelings in the air brought a sold-out crowd en masse to Camden Yards.

Listening to the radio while drive into Baltimore from I-95, I heard a ton of clichés, hyperbole, metaphors and other stuff about the Orioles, plus Buck Showalter ? especially after a three-game win streak with only 159 games to go, but I too was a happy man. I was honestly just glad to see baseball again live in and person.

For many of us, Opening Day is like a holiday or an important annual celebration, similar to an anniversary. Opening Day doesn?t quite have the same feel as the Super Bowl, or the NBA Finals, but it?s not an ordinary game in a long season.

It?s a day where hope is renewed and fans wish that their team starts off the season on a winning note.

That happened for the Orioles.

>>> Read More

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http://oriolepost.blogspot.com/2011/04/thoughts-on-home-opener.html

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Four Game Win Streak to Start Season Comes to an
End; Meanwhile, Red Sox Nation is

All good things sometimes must come to an end.

The Orioles, who started off the season 4-0 heading into tonight, lost to the Detroit Tigers, 7-3.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards was not packed to the gills ? in comparison to Monday ? based on what I saw on MASN. It was a nice night out and kind of surprising not to see a larger crowd, especially after all the positivity of this week.

The crisp play that was part of the recipe for the Orioles in their first four games was not there on Wednesday.

Baltimore had to contend with Justin Verlander, who is one of the best in the business on the mound. They were able to score three times off of him, thanks to a 2-run homer by Derrek Lee in the fourth inning and an RBI single by Vladmir Guerrero in the sixth.

However, the Orioles were hoping for a decent start by Brad Bergesen.

According to the Baltimore Sun?s Jeff Zrebiec, he?s not thrown in a game since March 25th.

It showed.

Really, he?s only starting because Jeremy Guthrie amazingly fell ill and was hospitalized.

This was Bergy?s chance to take the ball and deliver. The results didn?t go too well.

Bergesen went 3 2/3 innings and threw over 80 pitches in that time frame. He was charged four runs ? two earned ? on four hits; however, he was not helped by his defense. The bullpen was not much better either, honestly as they gave up three runs after Bergesen left the game.

>>> Read More

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http://oriolepost.blogspot.com/2011/04/logo-home-archives-oriole-post.html

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Phils waste 7-run lead, beat Mets 10-7 (AP)

The forgotten man had a forgettable season debut. Lucky for Joe Blanton, the offense bailed him out. Ryan Howard tied a career high with four hits and fell a triple short of the cycle, Ben Francisco also homered and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 10-7 Wednesday night after wasting a 7-0 lead.

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/04/07/phils-waste-7-run-lead-beat-mets-10-7-ap/

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Lincecum Ks 13 as Giants defeat Padres (AP)

All the San Francisco Giants really needed was a big dose of The Freak. Tim Lincecum struck out 13 and held the San Diego Padres to one run and three hits in seven innings to lead the defending World Series champions to just their second win in six games, 8-4 on Wednesday night. “Everybody kind [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/04/07/lincecum-ks-13-as-giants-defeat-padres-ap/

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