Diamondbacks 10, Rockies 0: Once the Ideal
Solution, Jeremy Guthrie Has Become the Problem

There is a standard law of sports fandom: all good outcomes of games are because your team is awesome, while all bad outcomes of games are because your team sucks. The opposing team is conspicuously absent in the equation either way. It makes little sense, but then again, "fan" is short for "fanatic," which means "a person motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm."

In graphic form:

Offensively, the Rockies looked pathetic, and while it would be tempting to blame that lineup, that would be misplaced. After all, they scored 4 runs on the road yesterday after scoring roughly 9000 on the homestand. Ian Kennedy deserves some credit too. The right-hander displayed exceptional movement in striking out a career high over six innings. He walked just one - 8-hole hitter DJ LeMahieu intentionally, before striking out two with the bases loaded.

Sometimes, you run into a good pitcher having a great night. That red bar should be quite a bit taller in the credit side for Arizona's pitching.

The fanatics would not be wrong about the Rockies' pitching tonight though. Jeremy Guthrie continues to plunge to new horrifying depths. After tonight, his ERA is 6.35, and his FIP isn't any better at 6.41. He's striking out far fewer batters and walking more batters than he ever has in his career. While Indians fans may feel hookwinked with Ubaldo Jimenez' deterioration, at least he had shown signs of falling apart prior to that trade. Guthrie's implosion is just impossible to explain.

Dan O'Dowd must feel like he bought a signed Tom Seaver card on eBay, only to open the box to find a mouse eating a Mac Suzuki card.

On this night, Guthrie got pounded for 11 hits while recording just 10 outs. That's a high BABIP, but Guthrie earned every bit of it. Of the 11 hits, only two came in a pitcher's count. One hit came on a 2-2 count, one came on the first pitch, and the rest were hitter's counts. Four came on three-ball counts, including a 2-run home run by Jason Kubel on a 3-0 pitch. Jeremy Guthrie very much has been hurting himself. He has no out pitch, cannot find the strike zone and has lost command within the strike zone.

At this point, he has tarnished his trade value to nil, and he is owed more than $5million. He has allowed 13 runs (9 earned) in his last two road starts, so it is no longer just a Coors affliction. Barring an injury coming to light, Dan O'Dowd may have a difficult decision coming.

Source: FanGraphs

WPA Heroes

Marco Scutaro (+.096): 2-for-3, 2B, K.
Wilin Rosario (+.073): 1-for-4, 2B, K.
Matt Reynolds (+.006): 0.2 IP.

WPA Zeroes

Jeremy Guthrie (-.295): 3.1 IP, 7 ER, 11 H, 4 K, 2 BB, 2 HR. (-.077): 0-for-1, K with bases loaded, one out.
Dexter Fowler (-.103): 0-for-4, 3 K.
Carlos Gonzalez (-.078): 0-for-3, 2 K.

Row Call

TuloRocks, Roxman4ever, SDcat09, RockyMountainWay91, The Toddfather's Goatee, CentralCaliRox, Nephelimdream, prettyinpurple, Andrew T. Fisher, wolf213, kikeft85, WanderingRoxFan, steakman, EmersonCR, Paleface Destro, butterfly, ES46NE10, papality, Greg Stanwood, holly96, Thnikkaman, Junction Rox, Shoemaker, Sjamb, Funabashi, The Lodo Magic Man, idj2, Skullduggerman, black_knight101, JWhite, Andrew Martin, WalkInRight, bishoPurple, kbrick, free7694, xml.jim, Mr. Rockie, Northsider1964, The Fanimal, rockiesfan3317, Rox the Casbah, Rosenort, fatheadX, coffeeis4closersonly, blake street beer, arpagamos, RhodeIslandRoxfan, DumbAndNerdy, nodakroxfan, WhiskeyDrinkingMan, JaySantos, Yokel
Total Users: 52
Total Posts: 1555
Total Threads: 2

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Pena Out Calls Butera for 1-0 Royals Win

In a game where the 2 starters had a combined ERA of over 11, the pair of catchers were the game's MVPs. Bruce Chen entered the game with a 4.86 ERA. Francisco Liriano entered the game with an 7.20 ERA. Any other other night, the two teams facing these starting pitchers would be licking their chops to score quite a few runs.

For the game, there was only a 2 walks. Combined for both teams. 12 total hits between the two teams. 1 run scored. Who else should get credit for the game except the catchers.? They were able to corral the pitcher and distract the batters to limit the offenses. Pena was actually able to counter the influence of Butera to get the game's only RBI. Some days the catchers just shine.

Or both offense could just suck.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Game #55: Is there a doctor in the house

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Uggla, Simmons, Heyward, And Hudson Lead The Way;
Braves Harpoon The Marlins 11-0

Boy, that was fun to watch. After managing only 3 runs in two games against the Nationals over the weekend, the Braves busted out the bats in a big way against Marlins' starter Anibal Sanchez. Dan Uggla, Andrelton Simmons, and Jason Heyward all had monster nights at the plate, while Tim Hudson threw a complete game shutout and the Bravos annihilated the Miami Marlins 11-0.

After a quiet first, Dan Uggla opened up the second inning with a double into the big gap in left center field. A groundout by Freddie Freeman moved him to third base, and Jason Heyward brought him home with a groundout to deep short. That was all the scoring that would happen until the 4th inning.

In the fourth, the Braves got a little two-out magic going, started by none other than Dan Uggla again. After fouling off 4 straight pitches and running the count full, Uggla unloaded on an Anibal Sanchez pitch, depositing it into the left field stands for a 2-0 Atlanta lead. But the Braves weren't done yet. Freeman and Heyward followed with back to back singles, and Andrelton Simmons hit a sharp ground ball past Jose Reyes for his first big league RBI, making the score 3-0.

Sanchez settled in a bit after that, throwing a 1-2-3 inning in both the 5th and the 6th. In the 7th however, he got into trouble when he walked Jason Heyward to lead off the inning. Simmons stepped to the plate and calmly hammered a triple deep into centerfield, scoring Heyward for his 2nd RBI of the game. Tim Hudson even got in on the fun, plating Simmons with a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-0. After a Jose Constanza groundout, Sanchez gave up back to back 2 out singles to Micheal Bourn and Martin Prado, which ended his night. Reliever Dan Jennings then walked Brian McCann, and Dan Uggla came through again with a 2 RBI single to make the lead 7-0.

It would remain 7-0 til the 9th, when the Braves and Uggla officially made this one a laugher. With two outs and Martin Prado on first, Dan Uggla hit a MONSTER home run that caromed off the Marlins' home run sculpture in center field. The home run was measured at over 430 feet. The Bravos still weren't done however, as Freeman, Heyward, Simmons, and yes, even Hudson singled off Jennings, scoring two more runs and making the final score 11-0.

On the other side of the ball, Tim Hudson was every bit as intimidating as the Braves' offense way. Hudson threw a complete game shutout in only 108 pitches (65 strikes) and was masterful in his domination of the Fish. He allowed only 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out three and getting 13 groundball outs along the way. Only twice did a Marlin reach second base tonight, and only once did they reach third. (And that was with two outs in the ninth!) Huddy even had a two RBI day, something he's probably as happy about as his complete guy, knowing him.

The Braves go back to work against the Fish tomorrow at 7:10 pm EST. Randall Delgado will take on Josh Johnson.

Braves MVPs:

• Dan Uggla: 4-5, 3 R, 5 RBI, 2B, 2 HR
• Jason Heyward: 3-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB
• Andrelton Simmons: 3-5, R, 3 RBI, 3B, several gorgeous defensive plays
• Tim Hudson: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K. 1-4 batting, 2 RBI

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Astros Strike Early, Survive Late In 9-8 Win Over
Cardinals

The Cardinals got on the board first with a run in the first, but the Astros matched that, added three and piled on from there. The Astros were held scoreless in only the third, fifth and eighth innings and while the pitching staff pitched well overall Lucas Harrell and David Carepenter, at times, struggled to get batters out.

Pitching

Lucas Harrell started the game and didn't have his best effort, however, the offense showed up this evening to cover up some of his mistakes. In six innings Harrell allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits, zero walks and one strikeout. Wesley Wright and Wilton Lopez followed with perfect innings that included a strikeout. David Carpenter came on in the ninth, got one out and then allowed two runs to score. He would be replaced by Brett Myers who came on with a save opportunity.and a man on, gave up a two run shot.

Myers then got Carlos Beltran to pop-out, walked Matt Holliday, before getting Allen Craig to ground out to short for his 14th save of the season.

Defense

Jose Altuve made an error and no one really made a highlight real defensive play to speak of.

Hitting

For Pick 6 I typically flip-flop Jed Lowrie and Jose Altuve, only I seem to be doing it wrong. Tonight I picked Lowrie and Altuve decided to go off with four hits in five at bats, with three runs scored. Justin Maxwell, J.D. Martinez, Chris Johnson, Brett Wallace and Chris Snyder all had multiple hits.

Offensive highlights included Altuve's four hit night, a Justin Maxwell's bomb and a Brian Bogusevic's bomb (gifs provided after the jump).

WPA Player of the Game

Chris Snyder who was 2-4 with two runs batted in.

Wednesday

7:05 PM CT Bud Norris vs Adam Wainwright.

Justin Maxwell destroys a baseball:

While Brian Bogusevic sends everyone home with a free chicken sandwich:

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

2012 MLB Draft Houston Astros: Day 3 Open Thread

To infinite and beyond!

15 rounds down another 25 to go. There was a lot of excitement in both days of the draft can Bobby Heck and company provide some more?

Here are your first fifteen picks, the first 11 of which we've done profiles on. We won't be doing profiles for all 40 players drafted, however, if we see a name of interest we may do a profile on that player. I'm eying that 20th round selection because the Astros seem to always find an interesting prospect at that spot: Wade Miller, Tim Redding, J.R. Towles, J.D. Martinez and last years 20th round selection Matt Duffy. In the case of Duffy he's not a Top 30 prospect but he's having a good year for Lexington and there's still a chance he could move through the system.

1) Carlos Correa, SS, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy

1s) Lance McCullers, Jr., RHP, Jesuit HS (FL)

2) Nolan Fontana, SS, Universtiy of Florida

3) Brady Rodgers, RHP, Arizona State Universtiy

4) Rio Ruiz, 3B, Bishop Amat HS, CA

5) Andrew Aplin, CF, Arizona State

6) Brett Phillips, CF, Seminole HS (FL)

7) Preston Tucker, OF, Universtiy of Florida

8) Tyler Heineman, C, UCLA

9) Daniel Minor, RHP, Texas A&M

10) Joe Bircher, LHP, Bradley University

11) Hunter Virant, LHP, Adolfo Camarillo (HS)

12) Terrell Joyce, LF, Florida State College

13) Brian Holmes, LHP, Wake Forest

14) Joe Sclafani, SS, Dartmouth

15) Erick Gonzalez, RHP, Gateway CC

16) Dan Gublransen, LF, Jacksonville University

17) Aaron West, RHP, Washington

18) Ricky Gingras, C, Point Loma Nazarene University

19)

20)

21)

22)

23)

24)

25)

26)

27)

28)

29)

30)

31)

32)

33)

34)

35)

36)

37)

38)

39)

40)

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!