Royals Can't Convert Twin Pop-Ups And A Million
Hits Into A Win

post from Royals Review on 24 April 2010 11:34:00 PM. © Royals Review

Just your everyday bizarre Royals loss. I think my favorite moment was Trey Hillman using Brayan Pena to run for Jose Guillen in the 11th. Always enjoyable to get a nice moment of Treyball curiosity right after a rare bit of comeback ecstasy. Is Pena even faster? If you must run for Guillen, is your last bench player and emergency catcher the best option?

(I will say this, the patented using Bloomquist as a pinch runner worked perfectly.)

And oh, the Royals were somehow rallying again in the 12th, with the garbage pail lineup putting together one of the limpest threats imaginable together, thanks to a Pods infield single and then a Bloomquist reach on error/fielder's choice... except the umpire botched the call, ending the game.

Bad pitching, bad defense, not enough offense. It's frustrating watching the Royals strand runners, but that's partly endemic to having a long sequence, singles-based offense.

Do you wanna talk about the details or the big picture? Four years into the Moore regime, and they're still the bumbling Royals.

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Gordons time on big-league roster appears in
jeopardy

post from Royals Review on 24 April 2010 11:20:00 PM. © Royals Review

Gordon?s time on big-league roster appears in jeopardy

At what point is it fair to completely wash my hands of this team (as long as Dayton Moore is running it) and take up a real hobby?

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Bad Back Will Sideline Johnson Until Tuesday

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 24 April 2010 11:04:36 PM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

Expect Nick Johnson to get another day off tomorrow, because according to Joe Girardi, Johnson's back is a little more stiff than expected. Here's more from Chad Jennings:

Girardi indicated that Johnson thought it would loosen after some time in the whirlpool but that didn?t happen.
...

?I expect him back on Tuesday,? Girardi said.

With the way he's been swinging the bat maybe a few days off will be a good thing.

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ine-johnson-until.html

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Game 17 Overflow Thread

post from Royals Review on 24 April 2010 11:04:30 PM. © Royals Review

Game 17 Overflow Thread

Does anyone else feel weirdly comfortable with Bruce Chen on the mound?

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Wandy Rodriguez' arm + Pedro Feliz' power =
Astros win #7

post from The Crawfish Boxes on 24 April 2010 11:04:28 PM. © The Crawfish Boxes

More photos » Bob Levey - Getty Images

Woooo Wandy!

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What a truly odd, odd game.

Things started off with Pirate starting pitcher Chris Jakubauskas taking a Lance Berkman line drive off the back of his head. It was one of those stop and stare moments where you couldn't believe what had just transpired. Last report has Jakubauskas at Methodist Hospital receiving treatment. Hopefully he is doing as well as could be expected at this point. If we didn't already know that baseball is a cruel game, we certainly found that out tonight, as Chris took the loss in this game- the ultimate example of adding insult to injury.

Well wishes for Mr. Jakubauskas aside, there was a baseball game to be played, and the Astros played it in fairly dominant fashion. The batter following Lance Berkman in the first inning, Hunter Pence, laced a double down the left field line to score Berkman and Michael Bourn. If you hadn't guessed, Bourn led the game off with a walk. It's ironic in a way how one of the game's quickest players walks more than any other Astro...or not. Among those hits was Pedro Feliz' first home run as an Astro- a towering shot to left center that banged off the facade above the visiting bullpen. I guess the three hole suits him quite well.

Anyway, every Astro starter collected a hit, even Wandy Rodriguez. The Wand man went 7.1 innings, walked just one batter while striking out seven. His first win of the season came in his first start where the Astros actually scored runs while he was in the game. So, unless I'm missing something here, the Astros cannot lose if they score runs for Wandy. If there's any sort of fallacy to that logic I'm not seeing it. Brad Mills is certainly getting his 15 million dollar's worth out of Brandon Lyon- he pitched again tonight and struck out both batters he faced. That's when the game got interesting...

Matt Lindstrom was looking like his usual filthy self to start out the ninth innnig. He struck out Garrett Jones and induced a Lastings Milledge grounder to first and all seemed right with the world. Adam LaRoche, Ryan Doumit and Delwyn Young weren't all that impressed though, as each proceeded to get on base after those first two outs. Luckily, Lance Berkman is a pitcher-whisperer and he said the right things to calm down Laser Lindstrom because Ronny Cedeno flew out to Hunter Pence to end the game.

7-10. Another series sweep opportunity tomorrow. Inching closer to respectability. Bright sunshine and Brett Myers seems like a good combination for a Sunday afternoon.

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Braves Minor League Recap: 4/24

post from Talking Chop on 24 April 2010 10:48:00 PM. © Talking Chop

Brandon Hicks hit his first home run of the season as part of a 3 hit, 3 RBI night.

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Gwinnett 8, Durham 7

G. Blanco 3-5, HR (1), 2 RBI, .250

F. Freeman 2-4, 3B, RBI, BB, .269

B. Hicks 3-4, 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI, .190

C. Resop 5 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 5 K, 1.37

Gregor Blanco stays hot; he's 6 for his last 12 with two 3 hit games surrounding an 0-fer. Freddie Freeman continues to prove the doubters wrong, collecting 2 hits to make him 9 for his last 16. Brandon Hicks continues to turn things around as well, collecting 3 hits, including a 2 run homer, his first of the year. He's 5 for his last 8, but, unfortunately, his average remains below the Mendoza line. Chris Resop puts up another solid performance as a starter; the Braves may just be on to something with this one. Jeff Lyman had a rough night, walking the only three batters he faced. Unfortunately Cory Gearrin, who relieved Lyman, allowed all three of them to score, though he didn't give up any of his own runs in 2 innings. Craig Kimbrel finally allowed a runner to cross the plate on him, as he gave up 2 runs in 1 inning of work.

Mississippi vs. Montgomery, postponed, rain

Myrtle Beach 4, Kinston 7

G. Rodriguez 1-4, 2B, RBI, .305

M. Kennelly, 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI, BB, .242

R. Delgado 6 IP, 7 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 6 K, 3.57

Gerry Rodriguez has been one of the most consistent hitters in the system; it seems like every night he's having an impact on the game. Matt Kennelly does some damage with a 2 run triple. A triple is the most exciting play in baseball and it's even more exciting when a catcher hits one. Adam Milligan continues to struggle, he's just 2 for his last 20, both singles, and has struck out 9 times over that span, walking just once. Randall Delgado has a rough start, his first poor one of the season. He didn't walk anyone, but he victimized himself by giving up a pair of homers and making a couple of errors.

Rome 3, Charleston 4, 12 innings

M. Jones 1-5, 2 RBI, SB (2), .129

M. Weaver 2-5, .283

L.V. Ware 1-3, SB (9), .250

J. Teheran 4.2 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 7 K, 0.92

P. Clemens 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 1.46

The R-Braves must be the most generous team in the organization because they've played a bunch of free baseball this week. Myke Jones drives in a pair of runs with a single, but it's just his second hit in his last 27 at bats. But Matt Weaver is going strong, with 3 straight 2 hit games, making him 6 for his last 13. 4 walks in 4.1 innings is too many, but Julio Teheran's torrid start to the season continues as he strikes out 7, giving him 22 in 19.2 innings this season. Paul Clemens continues his great start as well, giving up just 1 run in 4.1 innings. After a somewhat middling year with Rome last year he defninitely needed to repeat the level, and he's showing the progress he needed to, allowing just 2 earned runs in 12.1 innings so far while striking out 11.

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http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/4/24/1442678/braves-minor-league-recap-4-24

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Who Takes Padilla’s Place

post from LADodgerTalk.com - Get Your Daily Dodger Juice, Dodger News and Dodger Rumors on 24 April 2010 10:31:00 PM. © LADodgerTalk.com - Get Your Daily Dodger Juice, Dodger News and Dodger Rumors

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MLB.TV Review (PS3)

post from The Chuck Knoblog on 24 April 2010 10:10:00 PM. © The Chuck Knoblog

This is an unbiased review. I am not being paid to review this product and the reviews is based on my personal opinion.

I am not only a Yankee fan but a fan of baseball. Nothing brings me more joy than sitting back and watching a baseball game. Unfortunately the Yankees are not on all day so I was really considering subscribing to my cable companies baseball package "MLB extra innings".

Earlier this week the MLB and PS3 teamed up to bring MLB.TV streaming capabilities onto the PS3. When I saw this I became very excited due to the fact MLB.TV undercut what I was going to pay my cable company by 60 dollars (it would have been 80 but I got the premium package). I jumped on ordering up MLB.TV and linking it to my PS3.

The PS3 app is very smooth. The dashboard (pictured below) provides a live scoreboard and even while you are watching a game you can click O and go back to the dashboard. All games are streamed in HD depending on your internet connection and the picture looks great. I have had a few slight pauses but I think that is just the broadcast not the service. There is one small gripe that I do have, the screen is not completely filled up. There are two small bars on either side and even thinner bars at the bottom and top. They don't really detract from the viewing experience but when it comes to HD anything I become very picky.

If you are a fan baseball in general this is for you 100%. Great picture quality, fast loading times (for me), awesome interface. If you live out of your favorite teams area this would also be a great service to pick up.

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ml

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Another Look At Tex Crushing Wilson

Here's a clip of the play:

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Earlier today I posted this quote from Torii Hunter:

?He gave him the plate. You can either slide there or take him out,? Hunter said. ?I thought it was a little too early in the game to take him out. If he slides, he?s safe regardless. I guess he was on a mission.?

Ervin Santana also wasn't too pleased:

?It was (upsetting). He can score easily. I don?t know,? Ervin Santana said. ?Maybe he?s trying to hit us because I just hit him. The count was 1-1. I don?t mean to hit him.?

While some Angels were clearly pissed, both managers, and both former catchers, didn't see anything wrong with the play.

?Your job as a catcher is to block the plate and try to keep the run from scoring,? Joe Girardi said. ?Sometimes you get run over. I?ve had my nose broke, I?ve had my shoulder separated; it?s all part of the game as a catcher.?

?No doubt about it, Mark?s just trying to score,? Mike Scioscia said. ?Clean play.?

We saw this from Tex first hand when he leveled Jorge Posada in a game in the Bronx back in 2006, so this should be expected. As far as hurting Wilson, Tex showed remorse after the game:

?Bobby is a great kid,? Teixeira said. ?Before the game, I told him, ?Best of luck this year.? I feel terrible that he got hurt, but it?s not about trying to hurt him; it?s about trying to knock the ball loose.?

I don't like the fact that Wilson got hurt, but I like the fire we saw from Tex. It's good to see guys playing the game as hard as they can, even if there is a little anger involved. But what about you, what did you think of the play?

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-crushing-wilson.html

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