Freddie Freeman, Brian McCann Lead Braves To 10-7
Win

And just like that, the Braves recovered from their eight-game losing streak by winning two in a row and taking the series from the St. Louis Cardinals with a 10-7 win. Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann combined for two home runs, five hits, and seven runs batted in to back the Braves.
Atlanta got things going in the first inning thanks to the long ball. Martin Prado singled with one out, and scored as Brian McCann homered to right field to make it 2-0. McCann looked like he didn't think he got all of the ball, but it carried just over the right field fence. Two batters later, the be-spectacled Freddie Freeman made his return known with a home run to center. Safe to say, those new glasses are working.
Already up 3-0, the Braves added two more in the third. Dan Uggla singled with one out, and came all the way around to score on a pop up from Freeman that dropped in for a double. With the score now 4-0, Jason Heyward walked to put runners on first and second for Jose Constanza. Constanza hit a liner past the second baseman, bringing in Freeman to make it a 5-0 game.
Tim Hudson allowed his first hit and his first run of the game in the fourth inning. Rafael Furcal singled, advanced to second on a grounder, and scored thanks to a Matt Holliday rbi single.
Things fell apart for Hudson in the sixth, as the Cardinals scored three runs off of him thanks to four singles and a walk. Jonny Venters replaced him, and allowed a single up the middle to score the fourth run of the inning, tying the game at five.
The Braves responded in the bottom of the inning, starting with Jose Constanza's infield single. He advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored on a double from Jack Wilson after a fantastic eight-pitch at bat against Marc Rzepcynzki. With a runner on second and two outs, the Cardinals intentionally walked Martin Prado to get to McCann, who singled to left, scoring Bourn and Prado to make it 8-5.
The Cardinals added two in the eighth off of Eric O' Flaherty, but he struck out Furcal with two outs and runners on first and second to escape the inning with the lead.
Cardinals closer Jason Motte walked the bases loaded in the eighth, and Atlanta plated two runs on an Uggla sacrifice fly and single from Freeman to right field.
Craig Kimbrel entered in the ninth, and recorded two strikeouts en route to his 15th save of the year.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.talkingchop.com/2012/5/30/3053584/freddie-freeman-brian-mccann-lead-br
aves-to-10-7-win

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Northern Exposed: The Orioles Lose Again in
Toronto, Swept by the Jays...

Folks, are we worried about the Baltimore Orioles now? Tonight, they lost their fifth game in a row, as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated them, 4-1.

Once again, the Orioles lose a series, and this time they were swept. The Jays treated the Orioles like a mule, and they once again brought the pain, as they scored all their runs off solo homers. Jason Hammel became the latest Baltimore pitcher to be victimized, and I was at a complete loss as to what I watched on MASN tonight.

Hammel served up longball after longball, and the Oriole offense once again made Jays pitcher look exceptionally good ? this time around, Brandon Morrow.

Morrow only gave up a run in 6 1/3 innings and only left the game after he was struck by a Wilson Betemit line-drive up the middle. It sounds like Morrow will be fine in terms of his injury; however, Baltimore could not attack the Toronto bullpen, and once again were stymied by their arms.

The Orioles struggled offensively again, striking out ten times and only mustering four hits. To make matters worse, Adam Jones got drilled by a Morrow pitch but stayed in the game. Sadly, his consecutive hit streak ended at twenty games.

Nick Markakis ailing with a injured wrist and did not look right standing along the dugout railing; Mat Wieters is still scuffling and much of the lineup is not doing anything.

Ryan Flaherty plated in a run in the second inning with an opposite field RBI-single.

At this point, are the Orioles collapsing, or is this just a extraordinarily lousy stretch? They are still in first place in the American League East with a 29-22 record and tied with the Tampa Bay Rays; however, only by virtue of the Rays being swept by the surging Chicago White Sox.

They have gone 2-7 in the last nine games.

>>> Read More

Read The Full Article:
http://oriolepost.blogspot.com/2012/05/northern-exposed-orioles-lose-again-in.htm
l

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Highest K/9

K/9 (2000-present)
2012: Tigers (8.60)
2011: Braves (8.10)
2010: Giants (8.20)
2009: Giants (8.10)
2008: Cubs (7.84)
2007: Cubs (7.82)
2006: Cubs (7.85)
2005: Cubs (8.27)
2004: Cubs (8.27)
2003: Cubs (8.68)
2002: Cubs (8.32)
2001: Cubs (8.42)
2000: D-Backs (7.61)

It is going to be very difficult for the Tigers to continue this pace, because Max Scherzer probably won't continue to strike out 12 hitters per 9 innings (staying above 10 will be a challenge).  They still have a great shot at leading the league in strikeouts if Scherzer and Verlander stay healthy, although that won't mean very much if they continue to play like they've been playing.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.baseballindepth.com/2012/05/highest-k9.html

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BBDP May 30th: Stone Cold Tyler Austin goes 5/5,
Matt Tracy with another strong outing

Read The Full Article:
http://bronxbaseballdaily.com/2012/05/bbdp-may-30th-stone-cold-tyler-austin-goes-
55-matt-tracy-with-another-strong-outing/

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ZiPS Rest of Season Projections for Royals
Hitters

The ZiPS projection system uses current and previous season stats to project how previous players with similar stats have historically performed. Here are the current projections for the ROS (rest of season) for the Royals hitters:

NameHHRRRBIAVGOBPSLGOPSwOBAFldWARMike Moustakas1161451570.2740.3200.4410.7610.3293.83.0Alex Gordon1071360500.2700.3510.4430.7940.3463.42.9Billy Butler1231652620.2940.3610.4760.8370.358-2.62.2Alcides Escobar110351320.2760.3140.3710.6850.3032.12.1Eric Hosmer1261456570.2880.3400.4520.7920.344-3.71.9Jeff Francoeur1141250500.2750.3210.4390.7590.325-0.71.6Lorenzo Cain79438270.2560.3130.3600.6730.2990.61.0Chris Getz67132210.2680.3220.3360.6580.2991.50.9Brayan Pena43313180.2650.3020.3830.6850.2961.90.9Johnny Giavotella102551390.2680.3180.3780.6960.305-0.60.8Mitch Maier43323160.2380.3150.3590.6740.2990.00.6Jarrod Dyson65139180.2420.2980.3050.6030.2820.60.4Humberto Quintero45217200.2380.2680.3390.6060.2630.80.4Jason Bourgeois63229170.2730.3100.3510.6610.297-1.70.3Irving Falu75135220.2570.2980.3180.6170.2721.10.3Yuniesky Betancourt88733380.2630.2890.3910.6800.292-5.50.2

Notes:

• Several people have stated elsewhere on this website that if Escobar continues to produce at this level and we get nothing from Cain and Odorizzi, we will "win" the Greinke trade.
• Frenchy looks to have a decent season ahead of him. I don't see it.
• ZiPs hates Yuni worse than we do.
• The Moose is loose.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.royalsreview.com/2012/5/30/3053637/zips-projections-for-rest-of-season
-for-royals-hitters

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Houston Astros at Colorado Rockies, May 30, 2012
7:40 PM CDT

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Current Series

4 game series vs Rockies @ Coors Field

Houston Astros The Crawfish Boxes
@ Colorado Rockies Purple Row

Monday, May 28, 2012, 2:10 PM CDT
Coors Field

Wandy Rodriguez vs Juan Nicasio

Sunny. Winds blowing in from center field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 70.

Complete Coverage >

Mon 05/28 7:10 PM CDTWed 05/30 7:40 PM CDTThu 05/31 7:40 PM CDT

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Lucas Harrell

#64 / Pitcher / Houston Astros

Height: 6-2

Weight: 210

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Jun 03, 1985

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Christian Friedrich

#53 / Pitcher / Colorado Rockies

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Jul 08, 1987

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2012/5/30/3047731/houston-astros-at-colorado-rockies
-may-30-2012-7-40-pm-cdt

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Our Options at Third Base

The eight-game skid made the Braves plummet down the NL East standings, and, even worse, it revealed some pretty big holes in our lineup and rotation. Hinske, for example, is a guy I love to have on the team. He…[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.atlantabaseballtalk.com/our-options-at-third-base/

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AJ Ellis Has Evolved

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ladodgertalk.com/2012/05/aj-ellis-has-evolved/

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Rockies 2012 Game #49: Lucas Harrell vs.
Christian Friedrich

The Rockies look to win 3 games in a row for the first time since April 17th, 18th and 20th.

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Lucas Harrell

#64 / Pitcher / Houston Astros

Height: 6-2

Weight: 210

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Jun 03, 1985

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W-L ERA WHIP K BB2012 - Lucas Harrell4-33.721.382824

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Christian Friedrich

#53 / Pitcher / Colorado Rockies

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Jul 08, 1987

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W-L ERA WHIP K BB2012 - Christian Friedrich2-15.091.48267

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.purplerow.com/2012/5/30/3052945/rockies-2012-game-49-lucas-harrell-vs-
christian-friedrich

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Andre Dawson 1988 Fleer Glossy

Andre Dawson 1988 Fleer Glossy I am getting very, very close to 1,000 unique Andre Dawson baseball cards. This one comes courtesy of Fleer and it was issued in 1988.  The card is from the ‘Glossy’ factory set that was … Continue reading →

Read The Full Article:
http://bapple2286.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/andre-dawson-1988-fleer-glossy/

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