May 29 at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville, KY
ESPNU
Michigan won 10-5 and will play host Louisville Saturday in a winner's bracket game, but that's not why we're here today.
We're here because the Wolverines were trailing 1-0 and had 2nd/3rd with one out in the top of the second inning and color commentator Wes Clements had this to say:
"Now Michigan with a chance to tie the game and/or take the lead."
No, Wes.
Michigan isn't taking the lead unless they tie it first.
* Bottom of the Michigan order was excellent as No. 9 hitter Kendall Patrick homered twice and drove in five runs, while No. 8 hitter Johnny Slater went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Game 134 - Indiana vs. Radford
May 29 at Hawkins Field in Nashville, TN
espn3.com
Radford came into its first-ever NCAA Regional on a 15-game winning streak, but Indiana starter Kyle Hart turned out to be main story. The southpaw, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, tossed seven innings of no-earned run ball and struck out six in the Hoosiers' 7-1 win.
Tommy John Surgery? Is the word 'surgery' capitalized?
Also, 'surgery' is an interesting-looking word when you stare at it for a while. It looks like a misspelling of the word 'sugary', or, perhaps 'sugary' is a misspelling of the word 'surgery'.
* Couple oddities early on. Indiana got out of the bottom of the first with what I'm assuming is an extremely-rare, 2-6-2 double play with catcher Brad Hartong diving to tag out Shane Johnsonbaugh attempting to get back to third.
In the third, Casey Rodrique hit a ball that was basically a pop up behind second. It might've been a bit wind-blown, but no infielder could get to it before right fielder Brad Keen dropped the ball and Rodrique raced to third. Official scorer: TRIPLE.
Rodrique later scored on Hartong's single to give the No. 3 seed Hoosiers the lead for the rest of the day.
* Great day for Dave Neal and Chris Burke in the booth:
"Cat and mouse game"
"180 in momentum"
"24-7"
"The pendulum starts to swing a little bit"
"Spit on the 1-2 change up"
"The rigors of a minor league season"
"His arsenal"
"Not afraid to body a ball up"
"Gift-wrapped triple"
"Flashing some of that leather"
And one final note from Burke, who in the fifth inning said: "that's just a good baseball play."
Yeah it is.
espn3.com
Radford came into its first-ever NCAA Regional on a 15-game winning streak, but Indiana starter Kyle Hart turned out to be main story. The southpaw, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, tossed seven innings of no-earned run ball and struck out six in the Hoosiers' 7-1 win.
Tommy John Surgery? Is the word 'surgery' capitalized?
Also, 'surgery' is an interesting-looking word when you stare at it for a while. It looks like a misspelling of the word 'sugary', or, perhaps 'sugary' is a misspelling of the word 'surgery'.
* Couple oddities early on. Indiana got out of the bottom of the first with what I'm assuming is an extremely-rare, 2-6-2 double play with catcher Brad Hartong diving to tag out Shane Johnsonbaugh attempting to get back to third.
In the third, Casey Rodrique hit a ball that was basically a pop up behind second. It might've been a bit wind-blown, but no infielder could get to it before right fielder Brad Keen dropped the ball and Rodrique raced to third. Official scorer: TRIPLE.
Rodrique later scored on Hartong's single to give the No. 3 seed Hoosiers the lead for the rest of the day.
* Great day for Dave Neal and Chris Burke in the booth:
"Cat and mouse game"
"180 in momentum"
"24-7"
"The pendulum starts to swing a little bit"
"Spit on the 1-2 change up"
"The rigors of a minor league season"
"His arsenal"
"Not afraid to body a ball up"
"Gift-wrapped triple"
"Flashing some of that leather"
And one final note from Burke, who in the fifth inning said: "that's just a good baseball play."
Yeah it is.
Game 133 - Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels
May 28 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA
Fox Sports West
I've covered Buck Farmer at both the high school and college level and this was the Conyers, Georgia native's third career major league start.
It didn't go well.
Farmer, who was called up from Triple-A Toledo to take the rotation spot of Kyle Lobstein (shoulder), allowed seven earned runs in five innings as Anaheim won 12-2. Farmer retired eight straight batters at one point, but he coughed up home runs to Albert Pujols (two-run shot in the first) and Matt Joyce, who took Farmer's first pitch of the second and hit a no-doubt blast to right field.
The right-hander and 2013 fifth-round draft selection out of Georgia Tech, is 0-2 with an 11.93 ERA in five career major league appearances.
Just so he didn't feel left out, Tom Gorzelanny gave up a grand slam to Chris Iannetta in the seventh to cap the scoring for the Angels.
* Nice start for C.J. Wilson, who walked five but struck out seven and allowed just two hits and a run on a bases loaded hit batsman in the third.
* Also a nice start and finish of Baseball Phrases for play-by-play man Victor Rojas.
His top 5:
5. "Free agent-to-be"
4. "Second time tonight he's had a missile hit his way"
3. "Grand salami time"
2. "A guy they call cash considerations"
1. "Cabrera just falls out of bed hitting rockets"
Fox Sports West
I've covered Buck Farmer at both the high school and college level and this was the Conyers, Georgia native's third career major league start.
It didn't go well.
Farmer, who was called up from Triple-A Toledo to take the rotation spot of Kyle Lobstein (shoulder), allowed seven earned runs in five innings as Anaheim won 12-2. Farmer retired eight straight batters at one point, but he coughed up home runs to Albert Pujols (two-run shot in the first) and Matt Joyce, who took Farmer's first pitch of the second and hit a no-doubt blast to right field.
The right-hander and 2013 fifth-round draft selection out of Georgia Tech, is 0-2 with an 11.93 ERA in five career major league appearances.
Just so he didn't feel left out, Tom Gorzelanny gave up a grand slam to Chris Iannetta in the seventh to cap the scoring for the Angels.
* Nice start for C.J. Wilson, who walked five but struck out seven and allowed just two hits and a run on a bases loaded hit batsman in the third.
* Also a nice start and finish of Baseball Phrases for play-by-play man Victor Rojas.
His top 5:
5. "Free agent-to-be"
4. "Second time tonight he's had a missile hit his way"
3. "Grand salami time"
2. "A guy they call cash considerations"
1. "Cabrera just falls out of bed hitting rockets"
Game 132 - Kansas City Royals at New York Yankees
May 27 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
YES Network
So, the Yankees allowed 30 runs and got swept by the Texas Rangers at home, then turned around and scored 23 runs to sweep the best team in the American League, including Wednesday afternoon's 4-2 victory.
Baseball makes a ton of sense.
New York also held a really good KC offense to four runs in the three-game set, which was capped by Michael Pineda's 6 2/3-inning, one-run performance. The Royals went up 1-0 on Mike Moustakas' no-doubt, solo home run in the top of the first, but the Yankees got home runs from Brian McCann (solo into the second deck in the second inning) and Alex Rodriguez (3-run shot in the third).
KC has lost four straight for the first time since last August.
"Michael Kay got a DH day"
Usually when I watch the Yankees on YES, it's Michael Kay who ends up speaking the majority of the nonsense. Not on Wednesday.
Paul O'Neill:
(On broken bats) "Tell you what, when they die heroes there's nothing wrong with that"
and David Cone:
"That slider just kind of takes a seat, pulls up a chair"
"Chris Young, pitching like he's forever young this year"
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
Cone - "Coney"
O'Neill - "Pauly"
Rodriguez - "A-Rod"
YES Network
So, the Yankees allowed 30 runs and got swept by the Texas Rangers at home, then turned around and scored 23 runs to sweep the best team in the American League, including Wednesday afternoon's 4-2 victory.
Baseball makes a ton of sense.
New York also held a really good KC offense to four runs in the three-game set, which was capped by Michael Pineda's 6 2/3-inning, one-run performance. The Royals went up 1-0 on Mike Moustakas' no-doubt, solo home run in the top of the first, but the Yankees got home runs from Brian McCann (solo into the second deck in the second inning) and Alex Rodriguez (3-run shot in the third).
KC has lost four straight for the first time since last August.
"Michael Kay got a DH day"
Usually when I watch the Yankees on YES, it's Michael Kay who ends up speaking the majority of the nonsense. Not on Wednesday.
Paul O'Neill:
(On broken bats) "Tell you what, when they die heroes there's nothing wrong with that"
and David Cone:
"That slider just kind of takes a seat, pulls up a chair"
"Chris Young, pitching like he's forever young this year"
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
Cone - "Coney"
O'Neill - "Pauly"
Rodriguez - "A-Rod"
Game 131 - Detroit Tigers at Oakland A's
May 25 at O.Co Coliseum in Oakland, CA
Fox Sports Detroit
Second-year starter Jesse Hahn put together the finest start of his young career, tossing a complete game, four-hit shut out as the A's won 4-0.
Oakland scored all of its runs in the bottom of the sixth with the big hits coming from Max Muncy and Sam Fuld, who each drove in a run with a double.
* Fox Sports play-by-play man Mario Impemba's got some Important Statistical Information on Oakland lead off hitter Billy Burns:
"Billy Burns, 31 hits in Spring Training, most in the Major Leagues."
Mario!
* Also a fine night of Baseball Phrases for color commentator Rod Allen:
"Heydey"
"His aptitude is very, very high"
"He looks the part...he's what they look like" (What he's saying is, THEY look the part)
"Good glove man"
"His ankle was a little bit cranky"
CRANKY ANKLES!
"Gopher balls"
"Right into the teeth of the defense" (Is the defense in the teeth of the wind?)
"Twin killing"
Fox Sports Detroit
Second-year starter Jesse Hahn put together the finest start of his young career, tossing a complete game, four-hit shut out as the A's won 4-0.
Oakland scored all of its runs in the bottom of the sixth with the big hits coming from Max Muncy and Sam Fuld, who each drove in a run with a double.
* Fox Sports play-by-play man Mario Impemba's got some Important Statistical Information on Oakland lead off hitter Billy Burns:
"Billy Burns, 31 hits in Spring Training, most in the Major Leagues."
Mario!
* Also a fine night of Baseball Phrases for color commentator Rod Allen:
"Heydey"
"His aptitude is very, very high"
"He looks the part...he's what they look like" (What he's saying is, THEY look the part)
"Good glove man"
"His ankle was a little bit cranky"
CRANKY ANKLES!
"Gopher balls"
"Right into the teeth of the defense" (Is the defense in the teeth of the wind?)
"Twin killing"
Games 129-130 - Night & Day
May 24-25 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
ESPN
What a difference a few hours makes.
The Yankees followed a 5-2 loss to Texas on Sunday, a third straight defeat to Texas in which the visitors scored 30 runs, with a 14-1 drubbing of Kansas City Monday afternoon.
In the finale of the Texas series, New York scored twice in the first and then were held scoreless over the final eight innings. Monday, the hosts sent 13 batters to the plate in the first and hit three home runs (Chase Headley, Brett Gardner & Brian McCann) and hit five home runs in the game (Stephen Drew & Slade Heathcott's first major league HR in the seventh) to snap a six-game losing streak that seemed like it began in early-May, 1977.
* Nice start for Nathan Eovaldi, who allowed one run in seven innings. Not a nice start for Jeremy Guthrie, who allowed 11 earned runs in just one inning of work.
I'm sorry, what was that?
Curt Schilling's got something to say about Bob Welch:
"Tell you what kind of guy he is: go to his house, propping up the garage door? His Cy Young award."
ESPN
What a difference a few hours makes.
The Yankees followed a 5-2 loss to Texas on Sunday, a third straight defeat to Texas in which the visitors scored 30 runs, with a 14-1 drubbing of Kansas City Monday afternoon.
In the finale of the Texas series, New York scored twice in the first and then were held scoreless over the final eight innings. Monday, the hosts sent 13 batters to the plate in the first and hit three home runs (Chase Headley, Brett Gardner & Brian McCann) and hit five home runs in the game (Stephen Drew & Slade Heathcott's first major league HR in the seventh) to snap a six-game losing streak that seemed like it began in early-May, 1977.
* Nice start for Nathan Eovaldi, who allowed one run in seven innings. Not a nice start for Jeremy Guthrie, who allowed 11 earned runs in just one inning of work.
I'm sorry, what was that?
Curt Schilling's got something to say about Bob Welch:
"Tell you what kind of guy he is: go to his house, propping up the garage door? His Cy Young award."
I have no idea what kind of guy this is.
* Why does the garage door need propping up?
* There's nothing else Bob Welch could've used in this situation?
* I don't like the word 'propping'
Game 128 - Lipscomb vs. North Florida
May 23 at Swanson Stadium in Fort Myers, FL
espn3.com
Not only did Lipscomb coach Smoke Laval become the first member of the Webb Bobo All Star coaching staff, but his decision in the top of the fourth turned out to be tournament-changing. With two on and one out and top seed North Florida clinging to a 3-2 lead, Laval decided to pinch hit for his catcher, which doesn't happen often in the fourth inning. So all redshirt-freshman Allan Hooker did was rope a three-run home run to right-center field and the Bisons took the lead for good in an 8-7 victory.
It's the school's second Atlantic Sun title.
The Ospreys made it interesting late, getting to within 6-5 with an unearned run in the eighth and scoring two more unearned runs in the ninth to make it 8-7. North Florida had the tying run at first with one out, but pinch-runner Bubba Olivera (another new Webb Bobo All Star) was caught stealing by Chucky Vazquez. That's the same Vazquez that took Hooker's spot in the lineup after the top of the fourth. Not a bad night for Laval and the A-Sun champion Bisons.
* Also not a bad night of Baseball Phrases for color commentator Ryan Rouse. I'd say it was an Atlantic Sun-title-winning performance:
"Small ball"
"Power in spades"
"The calling card of these two teams"
"Wheelhouse"
"Glove it and pocket it"
"5-hole"
"Johnny whole staff-type game"
"One of those at 'em balls"
"Leader going to the clubhouse"
espn3.com
Not only did Lipscomb coach Smoke Laval become the first member of the Webb Bobo All Star coaching staff, but his decision in the top of the fourth turned out to be tournament-changing. With two on and one out and top seed North Florida clinging to a 3-2 lead, Laval decided to pinch hit for his catcher, which doesn't happen often in the fourth inning. So all redshirt-freshman Allan Hooker did was rope a three-run home run to right-center field and the Bisons took the lead for good in an 8-7 victory.
It's the school's second Atlantic Sun title.
The Ospreys made it interesting late, getting to within 6-5 with an unearned run in the eighth and scoring two more unearned runs in the ninth to make it 8-7. North Florida had the tying run at first with one out, but pinch-runner Bubba Olivera (another new Webb Bobo All Star) was caught stealing by Chucky Vazquez. That's the same Vazquez that took Hooker's spot in the lineup after the top of the fourth. Not a bad night for Laval and the A-Sun champion Bisons.
* Also not a bad night of Baseball Phrases for color commentator Ryan Rouse. I'd say it was an Atlantic Sun-title-winning performance:
"Small ball"
"Power in spades"
"The calling card of these two teams"
"Wheelhouse"
"Glove it and pocket it"
"5-hole"
"Johnny whole staff-type game"
"One of those at 'em balls"
"Leader going to the clubhouse"
Game 127 - Texas Rangers at New York Yankees
May 22 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
YES Network
The Yankees pitching staff allowed 10 runs on Friday in a 10-9 loss (and I watched a few innings of Saturday's game before being unable to continue due to severe Yankee Stomachache (Y.S.) & Texas won that one by a score of 15-4). It's been a dreadful stretch for New York (lost nine of 10), so instead of talking any more about it, I'm going to give you the starting lineups for the semi-pro game between the fictional Derwood Dragons and Cronin Valley Zephyrs:
Derwood
1. Reggie Noodles CF
2. Kloy Childs 2B
3. Stenson Sturgis LF
4. Pablo Ehlo 3B
5. Mookie Beefman DH
6. Dwayne Kurwin 1B
7. Peekus Bagwell C
8. Morris Chollywhiskers SS
9. Seth Selch RF
P - Corbin Kittles
Cronin Valley
1. Veshon Ojay SS
2. Macaroni Martin 2B
3. McQweese Lood C
4. Yool Plonk 1B
5. Monty Otto CF
6. Dunston-Eddie Kirbo DH
7. Stedric Yackson RF
8. Murray Otto LF
9. Nat Bingo 3B
P - Isaac Vanninsuera
YES Network
The Yankees pitching staff allowed 10 runs on Friday in a 10-9 loss (and I watched a few innings of Saturday's game before being unable to continue due to severe Yankee Stomachache (Y.S.) & Texas won that one by a score of 15-4). It's been a dreadful stretch for New York (lost nine of 10), so instead of talking any more about it, I'm going to give you the starting lineups for the semi-pro game between the fictional Derwood Dragons and Cronin Valley Zephyrs:
Derwood
1. Reggie Noodles CF
2. Kloy Childs 2B
3. Stenson Sturgis LF
4. Pablo Ehlo 3B
5. Mookie Beefman DH
6. Dwayne Kurwin 1B
7. Peekus Bagwell C
8. Morris Chollywhiskers SS
9. Seth Selch RF
P - Corbin Kittles
Cronin Valley
1. Veshon Ojay SS
2. Macaroni Martin 2B
3. McQweese Lood C
4. Yool Plonk 1B
5. Monty Otto CF
6. Dunston-Eddie Kirbo DH
7. Stedric Yackson RF
8. Murray Otto LF
9. Nat Bingo 3B
P - Isaac Vanninsuera
Game 126 - Notre Dame vs. N.C. State
May 21 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, NC
Fox Sports Detroit
Quite a start to the ACC Tournament for Brian Brown. The N.C. State left-hander struck out a career-high 10 in six dominant innings and Curt Britt followed with three innings of one-hit relief, striking out four more, as the Wolfpack won 3-0.
N.C. State got all its runs with two outs - Joe Dunand and Ryne Willard singled in runs in the first and Andrew Knizner delivered the third run with a single in the second. After Dunand's single put the Wolfpack up 1-0, color commentator Dan Bonner said: "that's a big run for N.C. State."
Thanks, Dan!
The teams combined for 26 strike outs in a game that had a 2 1/2-hour rain delay at the start.
Other than uncovering the hidden truths of baseball (runs = good), Bonner had a strong Baseball Phrase start. He struggled a bit in the middle and late innings, but here's his top six from the first few frames:
6. "You put it in your back pocket"
5. "Sawed him off inside"
4. "Crooked numbers"
3. "Pitch to contact"
2. "He's really in a pickle now"
1. "The N.C. State faithful"
Fox Sports Detroit
Quite a start to the ACC Tournament for Brian Brown. The N.C. State left-hander struck out a career-high 10 in six dominant innings and Curt Britt followed with three innings of one-hit relief, striking out four more, as the Wolfpack won 3-0.
N.C. State got all its runs with two outs - Joe Dunand and Ryne Willard singled in runs in the first and Andrew Knizner delivered the third run with a single in the second. After Dunand's single put the Wolfpack up 1-0, color commentator Dan Bonner said: "that's a big run for N.C. State."
Thanks, Dan!
The teams combined for 26 strike outs in a game that had a 2 1/2-hour rain delay at the start.
Other than uncovering the hidden truths of baseball (runs = good), Bonner had a strong Baseball Phrase start. He struggled a bit in the middle and late innings, but here's his top six from the first few frames:
6. "You put it in your back pocket"
5. "Sawed him off inside"
4. "Crooked numbers"
3. "Pitch to contact"
2. "He's really in a pickle now"
1. "The N.C. State faithful"
Game 125 - Evansville vs. Bradley
May 20 at Eck Stadium in Wichita, KS
espn3.com
In the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament opener, Bradley right-hander Elliot Ashbeck tossed eight innings of two-run ball and struck out six in the third-seeded Braves' 9-2 victory.
ESPN announcers on Ashbeck: "they refer to him as a bulldog".
How many pitchers have been referred to as/currently are referred to as "bulldog" or "having a bulldog mentality"? Nearly 200 years of baseball in this country, there must be roughly 700,000,000 bulldogs.
I guess the most famous bulldog in baseball history is Orel Hershiser, but here are some other bulls and dogs, according to baseballreference.com.
* Bill Dietrich - "Bullfrog"
* Leon Durham - "Bull"
* Greg Maddux & Bill Madlock - "Mad Dog"
* Fred McGriff - "Crime Dog". I didn't know why he was called this until I discovered that Chris Berman had given him the name, which explains everything. Chris Berman seems like the kind of person who would address someone by the nickname he had given them: "How are you today, Crime Dog?"
* Tony Perez - "Big Dog"
* Joe Poetz - "Bull Montana". Perhaps named after the Italian wrestler Bull Montana? Or, perhaps at some point in his life Poetz lived in Montana with a bull?
* Lew Ritter - "Old Dog". There's a decent chance Ritter wasn't fond of this nickname.
* Mike Redmond - "Red Dog". Not known at this time if there was ever an "Old Red Dog", but I'd like to nominate Mark McGwire's grandpa.
* Bill Hopper - "Bird Dog". I'd prefer "Old Bird Dog Bill Hopper".
* Mo Vaughn - "Hit Dog". I'm sure Boston fans have other names for him.
More Like Brodie Harmless
Brodie Harkness, Evansville's freshman starter, did not have a pleasant day. The southpaw hit Chris Godinez with his first pitch and things didn't get much better after that. He allowed 15 of the 21 batters he faced to reach base, surrendering all nine Bradley runs in just 3 1/3 innings of work for the No. 6 seed.
Webb Bobo All Stars
The Bobos hadn't had a new member in a few weeks. Thank goodness Evansville second baseman Shain Showers walked into our lives.
espn3.com
In the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament opener, Bradley right-hander Elliot Ashbeck tossed eight innings of two-run ball and struck out six in the third-seeded Braves' 9-2 victory.
ESPN announcers on Ashbeck: "they refer to him as a bulldog".
How many pitchers have been referred to as/currently are referred to as "bulldog" or "having a bulldog mentality"? Nearly 200 years of baseball in this country, there must be roughly 700,000,000 bulldogs.
I guess the most famous bulldog in baseball history is Orel Hershiser, but here are some other bulls and dogs, according to baseballreference.com.
* Bill Dietrich - "Bullfrog"
* Leon Durham - "Bull"
* Greg Maddux & Bill Madlock - "Mad Dog"
* Fred McGriff - "Crime Dog". I didn't know why he was called this until I discovered that Chris Berman had given him the name, which explains everything. Chris Berman seems like the kind of person who would address someone by the nickname he had given them: "How are you today, Crime Dog?"
* Tony Perez - "Big Dog"
* Joe Poetz - "Bull Montana". Perhaps named after the Italian wrestler Bull Montana? Or, perhaps at some point in his life Poetz lived in Montana with a bull?
* Lew Ritter - "Old Dog". There's a decent chance Ritter wasn't fond of this nickname.
* Mike Redmond - "Red Dog". Not known at this time if there was ever an "Old Red Dog", but I'd like to nominate Mark McGwire's grandpa.
* Bill Hopper - "Bird Dog". I'd prefer "Old Bird Dog Bill Hopper".
* Mo Vaughn - "Hit Dog". I'm sure Boston fans have other names for him.
More Like Brodie Harmless
Brodie Harkness, Evansville's freshman starter, did not have a pleasant day. The southpaw hit Chris Godinez with his first pitch and things didn't get much better after that. He allowed 15 of the 21 batters he faced to reach base, surrendering all nine Bradley runs in just 3 1/3 innings of work for the No. 6 seed.
Webb Bobo All Stars
The Bobos hadn't had a new member in a few weeks. Thank goodness Evansville second baseman Shain Showers walked into our lives.
Games 122-124: SEC Tournament
May 19 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Birmingham, AL
Game 124 - 8 Kentucky vs. 9 Auburn
I'm glad this was my final game of the day because I've got a few fresh thoughts in regards to the all-SEC teams.
1. Who were the voters?
2. Of those voters, did any actually watch Ka'ai Tom play or look at his statistics?
The answer to question No. 2 is: no, because Tom was inexplicably left off the first, second and I'm assuming if it had existed the 37th team.
Here is Tom's slash line coming into Tuesday's game: .368/.438/.505.
In comparison, here are the statistics for two of Tom's teammates, JaVon Shelby & Kyle Barrett. Shelby was a first-team honoree, Barrett a second-team selection:
Shelby: .318/.449/.535
Barrett: .352/392/442
Notice much of anything that's different between the numbers of these three players? No. No you don't.
So, it was really nice to see Tom, a junior outfielder, break up Cole Lipscomb's shut out with a no-doubt home run to right-center field in the seventh and add an RBI-single in the eighth of Kentucky's 6-3 loss.
Lipscomb was excellent, tossing 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball and striking out nine as the Tigers move on to face top-seed LSU on Wednesday.
* Before the bottom of the sixth, the PA announcer said it was time for the "Umpire Appreciation Cooldown", which was followed by people bringing water to the umpires.
This doesn't need to have a name. It was just: somebody bring the umpires some water, it's 90 degrees outside.
Let's at least shorten it to UAC. "Fans, it's time for a UAC!"
An umpire, mid-UAC
Game 123 - 7 Missouri vs. 10 South Carolina
Great day for the bottom of the Missouri order, a big reason why the Tigers advanced with a 5-1 win.
No. 7 hitter Trey Harris delivered the first run of the game with an RBI-single in the second and two batters later No. 9 hitter Jake Ivory made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly. Harris added a double and a single, Ivory a double, and No. 8 hitter Zach Lavy drove in runs with a single (4th) and sacrifice fly (8th).
It was Missouri's first-ever win in SEC Tournament play since joining the conference in 2013.
Game 122 - 6 Mississippi vs. 11 Alabama
Geoffrey Bramblett allowed nine hits, but just one run in Alabama's 6-1 victory in the first game of the tournament. Bramblett was pitching a mile and a half away from where he spent his prep school days at Hoover High School and struck out a career-high 10 batters, including clean up hitter and 16-home run man Sikes Orvis four times.
"I thought Geoffrey did a tremendous job. He was efficient with his pitches as well, just a great start on the mound," said Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard.
The Tide pulled the upset thanks to a four-run seventh that opened things up. Mikey White, JC Wilhite and Cody Henry had run-scoring singles and Casey Hughston added an RBI-double during that 10-batter frame that turned a 2-1 lead into that final margin.
(Come Up With Something Else To Say About The) Tide!
Fairly disappointing "Roll Tide" count:
Total times heard: 8
On radio driving over to stadium (1)
In stadium (7)
Seen on fans' clothing: 3
Regular t-shirt (2)
Tank top (1)
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
Alabama
Bramblett - "Bram"
Riley Colburn - "Riles", "Colb"
Chandler Avant - "Chan"
Kyle Overstreet - "Oves"
Mississippi
Colby Bortles - "Borty"
Game 124 - 8 Kentucky vs. 9 Auburn
I'm glad this was my final game of the day because I've got a few fresh thoughts in regards to the all-SEC teams.
1. Who were the voters?
2. Of those voters, did any actually watch Ka'ai Tom play or look at his statistics?
The answer to question No. 2 is: no, because Tom was inexplicably left off the first, second and I'm assuming if it had existed the 37th team.
Here is Tom's slash line coming into Tuesday's game: .368/.438/.505.
In comparison, here are the statistics for two of Tom's teammates, JaVon Shelby & Kyle Barrett. Shelby was a first-team honoree, Barrett a second-team selection:
Shelby: .318/.449/.535
Barrett: .352/392/442
Notice much of anything that's different between the numbers of these three players? No. No you don't.
So, it was really nice to see Tom, a junior outfielder, break up Cole Lipscomb's shut out with a no-doubt home run to right-center field in the seventh and add an RBI-single in the eighth of Kentucky's 6-3 loss.
Lipscomb was excellent, tossing 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball and striking out nine as the Tigers move on to face top-seed LSU on Wednesday.
* Before the bottom of the sixth, the PA announcer said it was time for the "Umpire Appreciation Cooldown", which was followed by people bringing water to the umpires.
This doesn't need to have a name. It was just: somebody bring the umpires some water, it's 90 degrees outside.
Let's at least shorten it to UAC. "Fans, it's time for a UAC!"
An umpire, mid-UAC
Game 123 - 7 Missouri vs. 10 South Carolina
Great day for the bottom of the Missouri order, a big reason why the Tigers advanced with a 5-1 win.
No. 7 hitter Trey Harris delivered the first run of the game with an RBI-single in the second and two batters later No. 9 hitter Jake Ivory made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly. Harris added a double and a single, Ivory a double, and No. 8 hitter Zach Lavy drove in runs with a single (4th) and sacrifice fly (8th).
It was Missouri's first-ever win in SEC Tournament play since joining the conference in 2013.
Game 122 - 6 Mississippi vs. 11 Alabama
Geoffrey Bramblett allowed nine hits, but just one run in Alabama's 6-1 victory in the first game of the tournament. Bramblett was pitching a mile and a half away from where he spent his prep school days at Hoover High School and struck out a career-high 10 batters, including clean up hitter and 16-home run man Sikes Orvis four times.
"I thought Geoffrey did a tremendous job. He was efficient with his pitches as well, just a great start on the mound," said Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard.
The Tide pulled the upset thanks to a four-run seventh that opened things up. Mikey White, JC Wilhite and Cody Henry had run-scoring singles and Casey Hughston added an RBI-double during that 10-batter frame that turned a 2-1 lead into that final margin.
(Come Up With Something Else To Say About The) Tide!
Fairly disappointing "Roll Tide" count:
Total times heard: 8
On radio driving over to stadium (1)
In stadium (7)
Seen on fans' clothing: 3
Regular t-shirt (2)
Tank top (1)
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
Alabama
Bramblett - "Bram"
Riley Colburn - "Riles", "Colb"
Chandler Avant - "Chan"
Kyle Overstreet - "Oves"
Mississippi
Colby Bortles - "Borty"
Game 121 - New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals
May 15 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO
Fox Sports Kansas City
When you settle in to watch your favorite team play a baseball game and in that baseball game they proceed to turn a 2-1, sixth-inning deficit into a 12-1 loss, you try to look for any sort of positive thing. Fortunately, I got a chance to listen to Rex Hudler.
The backbone of this site is absurd broadcasting, and Rex Hudler may be the captain of the Absurd Broadcasting Bearcats semi-pro team. I had listened to him several times in the past when he was with the Angels and all Rexford did was pack his bag of nonsense & take it with him to Kansas City.
Let's spend some time with Mr. Hudler, shall we?
* He's a huge fan of using the word "cheese" to describe certain pitches and how a pitcher is trying to sneak that cheese by a hitter. Cheese, hunger & denying food to hungry hitters are all big themes with Rex Hudler. The man is obsessed with food and who is hungry and the possibility that a pitcher would not allow a hungry hitter the ability to eat.
During a Michael Pineda vs. Alex Gordon at bat: "Let's see if he tries to sneak some cheese by Alex."
After the at bat ended (Gordon doubled): "Pineda tried to sneak a piece of cheese by a hungry rat."
Later in the inning: "The Royals hitters are hungry!"
Same inning: "Infante with a triple with a big steak attached. A juicy one, a rib eye."
* No mention of food here, but this is something Rex Hudler said about the Yankees offense:
"They've been hitting some home runs, especially Ellsbury and A-Rod."
Alex Rodriguez has nine home runs, so well done, Rex. He's been hitting some home runs.
Ellsbury? He has one home run and he hit it on April 24.
Somebody get Rex Hudler a cheese sandwich, he doesn't know what he's saying!
* Some Random Rex:
"The Moose, he's loose tonight"
"Frenzy hitting"
"They're all dangerous hitters, and they all have a license to drive"
"Two-out lightning"
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
"The K" is not a nickname for Kauffman Stadium. You merely put a 'the' in front of the first letter of the stadium's name.
Fox Sports Kansas City
When you settle in to watch your favorite team play a baseball game and in that baseball game they proceed to turn a 2-1, sixth-inning deficit into a 12-1 loss, you try to look for any sort of positive thing. Fortunately, I got a chance to listen to Rex Hudler.
The backbone of this site is absurd broadcasting, and Rex Hudler may be the captain of the Absurd Broadcasting Bearcats semi-pro team. I had listened to him several times in the past when he was with the Angels and all Rexford did was pack his bag of nonsense & take it with him to Kansas City.
Let's spend some time with Mr. Hudler, shall we?
* He's a huge fan of using the word "cheese" to describe certain pitches and how a pitcher is trying to sneak that cheese by a hitter. Cheese, hunger & denying food to hungry hitters are all big themes with Rex Hudler. The man is obsessed with food and who is hungry and the possibility that a pitcher would not allow a hungry hitter the ability to eat.
During a Michael Pineda vs. Alex Gordon at bat: "Let's see if he tries to sneak some cheese by Alex."
After the at bat ended (Gordon doubled): "Pineda tried to sneak a piece of cheese by a hungry rat."
Later in the inning: "The Royals hitters are hungry!"
Same inning: "Infante with a triple with a big steak attached. A juicy one, a rib eye."
* No mention of food here, but this is something Rex Hudler said about the Yankees offense:
"They've been hitting some home runs, especially Ellsbury and A-Rod."
Alex Rodriguez has nine home runs, so well done, Rex. He's been hitting some home runs.
Ellsbury? He has one home run and he hit it on April 24.
Somebody get Rex Hudler a cheese sandwich, he doesn't know what he's saying!
* Some Random Rex:
"The Moose, he's loose tonight"
"Frenzy hitting"
"They're all dangerous hitters, and they all have a license to drive"
"Two-out lightning"
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
"The K" is not a nickname for Kauffman Stadium. You merely put a 'the' in front of the first letter of the stadium's name.
Game 120 - Georgia Southern at Georgia State
May 14 at GSU Baseball Complex in Decatur, GA
In the three months this site has been in existence we've seen a number of No. 9 hitters come through with big hits. David Levy is the latest.
Georgia State's No. 9 hitter delivered an opposite field, three-run triple in the sixth inning that turned a slim, 3-2 GSU cushion into a 6-2 lead. The Panthers, thanks to excellent pitching from starter Nathan Bates (6 IP, 2 ER, 6 K) and three innings of scoreless relief, won by that 6-2 score.
Back to Levy, who according to SID Allison George was playing right field for the first time and ended his first inning in right by doubling off Dalton Busby at first on a line out. The senior worked reliever Jason Richman into a 2-1 count and poked a ball just inside the first base bag and down into the right field corner. It was the biggest hit of the night for a fifth-place Panthers team that's hoping to use this weekend series against third-place Southern to improve its seeding going into next week's Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
* Let's not forget Joey Roach, the Panthers' No. 5 hitter. The junior catcher knocked in the first two runs of the game with a first-inning double, then doubled again ahead of Levy's hit.
Nice night as well for Southern's designated hitter, Hunter Thomas. The junior drove in both of the Eagles' runs with singles in the fourth and sixth innings, and also added a second-inning double.
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
Quite a night for the Georgia Southern fans. Let's take a look:
Ryan Cleveland - "Cleve", "Ryno"
Evan Challenger - "Chally"
Kent Rollins - "K-Ro"
Thomas - "Hunt"
Busby - "Buzz", "Buzzy B"
Richman - "Rich", "Richie"
Chase Griffin - "Griff"
In the three months this site has been in existence we've seen a number of No. 9 hitters come through with big hits. David Levy is the latest.
Georgia State's No. 9 hitter delivered an opposite field, three-run triple in the sixth inning that turned a slim, 3-2 GSU cushion into a 6-2 lead. The Panthers, thanks to excellent pitching from starter Nathan Bates (6 IP, 2 ER, 6 K) and three innings of scoreless relief, won by that 6-2 score.
Back to Levy, who according to SID Allison George was playing right field for the first time and ended his first inning in right by doubling off Dalton Busby at first on a line out. The senior worked reliever Jason Richman into a 2-1 count and poked a ball just inside the first base bag and down into the right field corner. It was the biggest hit of the night for a fifth-place Panthers team that's hoping to use this weekend series against third-place Southern to improve its seeding going into next week's Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
* Let's not forget Joey Roach, the Panthers' No. 5 hitter. The junior catcher knocked in the first two runs of the game with a first-inning double, then doubled again ahead of Levy's hit.
Nice night as well for Southern's designated hitter, Hunter Thomas. The junior drove in both of the Eagles' runs with singles in the fourth and sixth innings, and also added a second-inning double.
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
Quite a night for the Georgia Southern fans. Let's take a look:
Ryan Cleveland - "Cleve", "Ryno"
Evan Challenger - "Chally"
Kent Rollins - "K-Ro"
Thomas - "Hunt"
Busby - "Buzz", "Buzzy B"
Richman - "Rich", "Richie"
Chase Griffin - "Griff"
Game 119 - St. Louis Cardinals at Cleveland Indians
May 13 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH
Fox Sports Ohio
Reigning AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber came into the night 0-5 with a 5.04 ERA, but was nearly unhittable in Cleveland's 2-0 win.
Kluber was, in fact, unhittable until Jhonny Peralta broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out single in the seventh. Kluber struck out the side in that inning, as well as two other frames on his way to eight innings of one-hit ball and a franchise record-tying 18 strike outs. He was fantastic.
* Good broadcast for Baseball Phrases from Fox Sports' Matt Underwood & Rick Manning. Here's their top 6:
6. "He's Cleveland tough"
5. "He could hit one out of the Grand Canyon"
4. "First time through, five punchies"
3. "He got him to go fish"
2. "The Klu-bot machine rolls on"
1. "Sweet 16 for Corey Kluber!"
and the rest of a solid night of nonsense:
"Unable to answer the bell"
"Cream of the crop"
"Flex their muscles"
"Their M-O"
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
"Model of efficiency"
"Old reliable"
"Firing pellets"
Fox Sports Ohio
Reigning AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber came into the night 0-5 with a 5.04 ERA, but was nearly unhittable in Cleveland's 2-0 win.
Kluber was, in fact, unhittable until Jhonny Peralta broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out single in the seventh. Kluber struck out the side in that inning, as well as two other frames on his way to eight innings of one-hit ball and a franchise record-tying 18 strike outs. He was fantastic.
* Good broadcast for Baseball Phrases from Fox Sports' Matt Underwood & Rick Manning. Here's their top 6:
6. "He's Cleveland tough"
5. "He could hit one out of the Grand Canyon"
4. "First time through, five punchies"
3. "He got him to go fish"
2. "The Klu-bot machine rolls on"
1. "Sweet 16 for Corey Kluber!"
and the rest of a solid night of nonsense:
"Unable to answer the bell"
"Cream of the crop"
"Flex their muscles"
"Their M-O"
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
"Model of efficiency"
"Old reliable"
"Firing pellets"
Game 118 - Miami Marlins at Los Angeles Dodgers
May 11 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA
SportsNet
What a night for Scott Van Slyke.
The Dodgers' left fielder did the following things on Monday:
1. Led off the fifth with a double.
2. In a 1-1 game in the seventh, caught a line drive and threw the potential go-ahead run out at the plate - Christian Yelich - to end the inning.
3. Singled on the ninth pitch of his seventh inning at bat and came around to score and put LA up 2-1.
4. After Yelich had given the Marlins a 3-2 lead with a dramatic, two-run home run in the top of the ninth, Van Slyke delivered an even more dramatic, walk-off, three-run blast in the bottom half. Dodgers win 5-3.
* In eight of Steve Cishek's 13 appearances out of the Miami bullpen, the side-armer hasn't allowed a run. The issue Miami has is with the other five appearances. After allowing Van Slyke's walk-off, Cishek now has four outings where he's allowed at least two runs and his ERA rose to 10.32 after this one. The good news: May 12 Steve Cishek is a lot better than April 8 Steve Cishek (108.00 ERA after allowing four runs in his first 1/3 of an inning).
SportsNet
What a night for Scott Van Slyke.
The Dodgers' left fielder did the following things on Monday:
1. Led off the fifth with a double.
2. In a 1-1 game in the seventh, caught a line drive and threw the potential go-ahead run out at the plate - Christian Yelich - to end the inning.
3. Singled on the ninth pitch of his seventh inning at bat and came around to score and put LA up 2-1.
4. After Yelich had given the Marlins a 3-2 lead with a dramatic, two-run home run in the top of the ninth, Van Slyke delivered an even more dramatic, walk-off, three-run blast in the bottom half. Dodgers win 5-3.
* In eight of Steve Cishek's 13 appearances out of the Miami bullpen, the side-armer hasn't allowed a run. The issue Miami has is with the other five appearances. After allowing Van Slyke's walk-off, Cishek now has four outings where he's allowed at least two runs and his ERA rose to 10.32 after this one. The good news: May 12 Steve Cishek is a lot better than April 8 Steve Cishek (108.00 ERA after allowing four runs in his first 1/3 of an inning).
Game 117 - New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays
May 11 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL
Sun Sports
I didn't think the Yankees were aware they could:
A. Build a huge lead in the middle innings
B. Win a game without using either of their top two relievers
Those things don't happen often, but New York hit five home runs and gave Dellin Betances & Andrew Miller a rare night off, winning 11-5 Monday in the opener of a four-game series. Four of the long balls came with two outs, including three-run shots by Chase Headley in the fourth and Brett Gardner, who crushed his to dead center field to make it 8-1 in the sixth. Alex Colome did all he could on the mound, but darn it, eight earned runs and four HR in six innings just wasn't enough.
CC Sabathia's line doesn't look spectacular - 7 IP 4 ER - but the big lefty struck out nine and was in control from innings two-through-sixth. He gave up a couple solo home runs in the seventh, one of which was hit by Joey Butler.
That's an act of Joey Butler; nothing you can do about that.
Give the man a stolen base!
Alex Rodriguez stole a base standing up without a throw in the ninth inning, which is a ridiculous set of words to write one after another. The official scorer eventually changed the steal to "catcher's indifference", and I would just like to ask: what in the name of Macky Sasser is catcher's indifference?
I ran to second base, you didn't care to try and get me out and I was safe = stolen base.
(I also just had a quick daydream about a catcher's indifference call on a steal of home and how hilarious that would be. Sort of like a much shorter version of Turner's kid in Bad News Bears holding the ball while Engelberg ran around the bases).
Sun Sports
I didn't think the Yankees were aware they could:
A. Build a huge lead in the middle innings
B. Win a game without using either of their top two relievers
Those things don't happen often, but New York hit five home runs and gave Dellin Betances & Andrew Miller a rare night off, winning 11-5 Monday in the opener of a four-game series. Four of the long balls came with two outs, including three-run shots by Chase Headley in the fourth and Brett Gardner, who crushed his to dead center field to make it 8-1 in the sixth. Alex Colome did all he could on the mound, but darn it, eight earned runs and four HR in six innings just wasn't enough.
CC Sabathia's line doesn't look spectacular - 7 IP 4 ER - but the big lefty struck out nine and was in control from innings two-through-sixth. He gave up a couple solo home runs in the seventh, one of which was hit by Joey Butler.
That's an act of Joey Butler; nothing you can do about that.
Give the man a stolen base!
Alex Rodriguez stole a base standing up without a throw in the ninth inning, which is a ridiculous set of words to write one after another. The official scorer eventually changed the steal to "catcher's indifference", and I would just like to ask: what in the name of Macky Sasser is catcher's indifference?
I ran to second base, you didn't care to try and get me out and I was safe = stolen base.
(I also just had a quick daydream about a catcher's indifference call on a steal of home and how hilarious that would be. Sort of like a much shorter version of Turner's kid in Bad News Bears holding the ball while Engelberg ran around the bases).
Game 116 - Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers
May 10 at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI
ESPN
After a one hour, 43-minute rain delay in the bottom of the ninth, an eventful 10th inning ensued. In the top half, the Royals took a 2-1 lead on a hit by pitch of Alex Gordon, a wild pitch and Omar Infante's sacrifice fly.
Detroit loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half (single, walk, walk) against Greg Holland. The Royals' closer then got Hernan Perez to bounce into a 5-2-3 double play, but re-loaded the bases when he walked Victor Martinez. Sticky situation, or "stickuation" (just coined it, probably won't use it again) for KC, but Holland fanned Yoenis Cespedes to end the game and the Royals won by that 2-1 score.
The Tigers also loaded the bases in the ninth against Jason Frasor before James McCann flied out to send the game to extra innings.
* Before the delay and the 10th, there was a fantastic pitcher's duel between the starters. Detroit's Shane Greene tossed eight innings of one-run ball and KC right-hander Chris Young scattered three hits and didn't allow an earned run in six innings.
* John Kruk's nickname is "Krukie" and I know this for sure because he was called it 13 times by play-by-play man Dan Shulman and Unnecessary #2 Commentator (UC2) Curt Schilling. Who knows how many times he was called it during the long rain delay, or any other time the trio is not on the air.
My guesses:
Rain delay: nine times. Example: "Think this rain will let up, Krukie?"
Off-air: an average of 5.3 times/half hour. Example: "Morning, Krukie"
ESPN
After a one hour, 43-minute rain delay in the bottom of the ninth, an eventful 10th inning ensued. In the top half, the Royals took a 2-1 lead on a hit by pitch of Alex Gordon, a wild pitch and Omar Infante's sacrifice fly.
Detroit loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half (single, walk, walk) against Greg Holland. The Royals' closer then got Hernan Perez to bounce into a 5-2-3 double play, but re-loaded the bases when he walked Victor Martinez. Sticky situation, or "stickuation" (just coined it, probably won't use it again) for KC, but Holland fanned Yoenis Cespedes to end the game and the Royals won by that 2-1 score.
The Tigers also loaded the bases in the ninth against Jason Frasor before James McCann flied out to send the game to extra innings.
* Before the delay and the 10th, there was a fantastic pitcher's duel between the starters. Detroit's Shane Greene tossed eight innings of one-run ball and KC right-hander Chris Young scattered three hits and didn't allow an earned run in six innings.
* John Kruk's nickname is "Krukie" and I know this for sure because he was called it 13 times by play-by-play man Dan Shulman and Unnecessary #2 Commentator (UC2) Curt Schilling. Who knows how many times he was called it during the long rain delay, or any other time the trio is not on the air.
My guesses:
Rain delay: nine times. Example: "Think this rain will let up, Krukie?"
Off-air: an average of 5.3 times/half hour. Example: "Morning, Krukie"
Game 115 - Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees
May 10 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
YES Network
I've heard a number of people ask the question "do the Yankees have an ace? And if so, who is it?" Reporters even ask manager Joe Girardi, "Joe, who is the ace of the rotation?"
Let me take this one, Joe:
1. Who cares?
2. It's Michael Pineda.
And when Pineda has his great slider going, outings like Sunday are possible. The big righty struck out a career-high 16 batters in a fantastic seven innings as New York won the game 6-2 and three of four in the series.
Pineda didn't walk anyone, becoming the first pitcher to strike out 16 batters and not walk anyone since Johan Santana in 2007. His ERA dropped to 2.72 and he's walked four batters in seven starts (46 1/3 IP). Other than a J.J. Hardy solo home run in the second, Pineda was phenomenal.
Bottom of the New York order: currently alive
I was going to say the Yankees have so far gotten Mike Gallego and Andy Stankiewicz-level offensive production from their middle infield until I realized that was being really unkind to Mike Gallego and Andy Stankiewicz.
Stephen Drew and Didi Gregorius came into the day hitting a combined .195 (34-for-174), but Gregorius delivered a pair of run-scoring hits out of the No. 9 spot and No. 8 hitter Drew had a hit and walked twice. Solo home runs from Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann also helped back Pineda.
Baseball Phrases
Michael Kay never/always disappoints
"The pitch count monster"
"Exit stage right"
"That was right down Beltran Boulevard"
"Exit velo"
Also, "pink bat" was said eight times by Kay, Paul O'Neill & Ken Singleton.
YES Network
I've heard a number of people ask the question "do the Yankees have an ace? And if so, who is it?" Reporters even ask manager Joe Girardi, "Joe, who is the ace of the rotation?"
Let me take this one, Joe:
1. Who cares?
2. It's Michael Pineda.
And when Pineda has his great slider going, outings like Sunday are possible. The big righty struck out a career-high 16 batters in a fantastic seven innings as New York won the game 6-2 and three of four in the series.
Pineda didn't walk anyone, becoming the first pitcher to strike out 16 batters and not walk anyone since Johan Santana in 2007. His ERA dropped to 2.72 and he's walked four batters in seven starts (46 1/3 IP). Other than a J.J. Hardy solo home run in the second, Pineda was phenomenal.
Bottom of the New York order: currently alive
I was going to say the Yankees have so far gotten Mike Gallego and Andy Stankiewicz-level offensive production from their middle infield until I realized that was being really unkind to Mike Gallego and Andy Stankiewicz.
Stephen Drew and Didi Gregorius came into the day hitting a combined .195 (34-for-174), but Gregorius delivered a pair of run-scoring hits out of the No. 9 spot and No. 8 hitter Drew had a hit and walked twice. Solo home runs from Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann also helped back Pineda.
Baseball Phrases
Michael Kay never/always disappoints
"The pitch count monster"
"Exit stage right"
"That was right down Beltran Boulevard"
"Exit velo"
Also, "pink bat" was said eight times by Kay, Paul O'Neill & Ken Singleton.
Game 114 - Jacksonville at Kennesaw State
May 9 at Stillwell Stadium in Kennesaw, GA
I spent a few innings next to the Jacksonville dugout, which means plenty of nicknames that aren't really nicknames. Let's take a look:
Drew Luther - "Luth"
Angelo Amendolare - "Gelo"
Connor Marabell - "Con"
Nathan Koslowski - "Kos"
Cameron Gibson - "Gibby", "Gib"
Kennesaw State clinched a spot in the Atlantic Sun Tournament with a 9-7 victory. Huge day for No. 9 hitter Jeremy Howell, who went 4-for-4, including a two-run double during a four-run sixth and an RBI-single in a three-run eighth.
I spent a few innings next to the Jacksonville dugout, which means plenty of nicknames that aren't really nicknames. Let's take a look:
Drew Luther - "Luth"
Angelo Amendolare - "Gelo"
Connor Marabell - "Con"
Nathan Koslowski - "Kos"
Cameron Gibson - "Gibby", "Gib"
Kennesaw State clinched a spot in the Atlantic Sun Tournament with a 9-7 victory. Huge day for No. 9 hitter Jeremy Howell, who went 4-for-4, including a two-run double during a four-run sixth and an RBI-single in a three-run eighth.
Game 113 - Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech
May 8 at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, GA
Georgia Tech is the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions and if the Yellow Jackets are going to go to Greensboro in a couple weeks and repeat, Jonathan King should have a lot to do about it.
King seems to be gearing up for that potential ACC run as the left-hander has been phenomenal over the last three weeks. That includes Friday's 9-1 Tech win in which King tossed seven innings of three-hit ball and struck out a career-high seven. The only run Pittsburgh scored was unearned as King improved to 2-1 with a 0.65 ERA in his last four starts.
Pittsburgh bright spot, are you there?
It's been a rough season for the visitors from Pennsylvania, who fell to 6-19 in the ACC in dropping their seventh consecutive league game.
So, I was trying to a find bright spot for Pitt this evening and I think it's this: starter T.J. Zeuch struck out four batters to move into sole possession of 10th place on the school's all-time single-season strike out list with 83. (No. 2 bright spot: Jacob Wright's hustle double to open the game?).
Now to the bad for Zeuch: the righty allowed nine runs (eight earned), including a two-home run to freshman Kel Johnson in the first inning that actually landed on the roof of the Carrillo Street Steam Plant on Pittsburgh's campus, and A.J. Murray's opposite field, two-run shot in the fourth that right fielder and Webb Bobo All Star Boo Vazquez seemed to have in his glove before it spilled over the wall.
Nicknames!
These aren't actually nicknames, just altered versions of the players' actual names and sound effects, but that's what we love here at 300 Game Season. What do you have for us, fans?
Pittsburgh
Vazquez - "Boo Boo"
Alex Kowalczyk - "Al"
Jordan Frabasilio - "Frab", "Jordy"
Jawan McAllister - "Wan"
Georgia Tech
King - "Kinger", "J-King"
Wade Bailey - "Wadeo"
Connor Justus - "Conno"
Georgia Tech is the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions and if the Yellow Jackets are going to go to Greensboro in a couple weeks and repeat, Jonathan King should have a lot to do about it.
King seems to be gearing up for that potential ACC run as the left-hander has been phenomenal over the last three weeks. That includes Friday's 9-1 Tech win in which King tossed seven innings of three-hit ball and struck out a career-high seven. The only run Pittsburgh scored was unearned as King improved to 2-1 with a 0.65 ERA in his last four starts.
Pittsburgh bright spot, are you there?
It's been a rough season for the visitors from Pennsylvania, who fell to 6-19 in the ACC in dropping their seventh consecutive league game.
So, I was trying to a find bright spot for Pitt this evening and I think it's this: starter T.J. Zeuch struck out four batters to move into sole possession of 10th place on the school's all-time single-season strike out list with 83. (No. 2 bright spot: Jacob Wright's hustle double to open the game?).
Now to the bad for Zeuch: the righty allowed nine runs (eight earned), including a two-home run to freshman Kel Johnson in the first inning that actually landed on the roof of the Carrillo Street Steam Plant on Pittsburgh's campus, and A.J. Murray's opposite field, two-run shot in the fourth that right fielder and Webb Bobo All Star Boo Vazquez seemed to have in his glove before it spilled over the wall.
Nicknames!
These aren't actually nicknames, just altered versions of the players' actual names and sound effects, but that's what we love here at 300 Game Season. What do you have for us, fans?
Pittsburgh
Vazquez - "Boo Boo"
Alex Kowalczyk - "Al"
Jordan Frabasilio - "Frab", "Jordy"
Jawan McAllister - "Wan"
Georgia Tech
King - "Kinger", "J-King"
Wade Bailey - "Wadeo"
Connor Justus - "Conno"
Game 112 - Miami Marlins at San Francisco Giants
May 7 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA
Fox Sports Florida
It was a battle of two veteran pitchers Thursday night and each had a memorable night for much different reasons.
Miami starter Dan Haren not only tossed seven innings of two-run ball, but went the other way with a two-out, two-run double in the second and added a single in the Marlins' 7-2 win. The visitors had no trouble with SF starter Tim Hudson as Haren was one of seven players to get at least two hits against the right-hander, who allowed a career-high 15 and six of the runs.
It was the most hits allowed by a Giants' starter since Gaylord Perry surrendered 16 in a complete game WIN in his final start of the 1968 season.
Tommy Hutton likes food
This is the first of hopefully many segments where we find out what kind of foods the Marlins color commentator likes to eat.
May 8: guacamole, cotton candy
Baseball Phrases
"City by the Bay"
"Land of the Giants"
"Late night with the Fish"
"He leads the free world in hits"
"Resuming baseball activities"
And finally, this man has entirely too much popcorn:
Fox Sports Florida
It was a battle of two veteran pitchers Thursday night and each had a memorable night for much different reasons.
Miami starter Dan Haren not only tossed seven innings of two-run ball, but went the other way with a two-out, two-run double in the second and added a single in the Marlins' 7-2 win. The visitors had no trouble with SF starter Tim Hudson as Haren was one of seven players to get at least two hits against the right-hander, who allowed a career-high 15 and six of the runs.
It was the most hits allowed by a Giants' starter since Gaylord Perry surrendered 16 in a complete game WIN in his final start of the 1968 season.
Tommy Hutton likes food
This is the first of hopefully many segments where we find out what kind of foods the Marlins color commentator likes to eat.
May 8: guacamole, cotton candy
Baseball Phrases
"City by the Bay"
"Land of the Giants"
"Late night with the Fish"
"He leads the free world in hits"
"Resuming baseball activities"
And finally, this man has entirely too much popcorn:
Game 111 - Belmont at Tennessee
May 6 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, TN
SEC Network
One of my main goals with this site is to show how ridiculous a lot of baseball announcers sound, and that a broadcaster can't just say whatever he/she feels like saying. Here are some examples from Wednesday's game between two in-state rivals, which Tennessee won 7-2:
1. Play-by-play man Bob Kesling on the St. Louis Cardinals: "They always seem to get that three-run home run when they need it."
* St. Louis Cardinals record through May 6: 20-7
* Total three-run HR hit in 2015: 2
So, the St. Louis Cardinals always seem to get almost anything other than a three-run home when they need (it).
2. Color commentator Charlie Puleo on Benito Santiago: "He was a tough out".
Let's start with the fact that Santiago was a career .263/.307/.415 hitter. He was by no means a tough out. In fact, I just looked up the definition of "opposite of tough out" and it's: pretty close to Benito Santiago.
And to say something like that, Puleo, a former pitcher, would've probably had some trouble against Santiago, yes?
I'm sorry, no.
In the four years both players were in the big leagues simultaneously (1986-1989) Santiago faced Puleo 14 times and got exactly one hit (a single). He did hit a sacrifice fly in his first-ever plate appearance against Puleo, so maybe he meant that OUT WAS TOUGH to get? Perhaps the center fielder had a long run to catch the fly ball?
3. Puleo on Bartolo Colon's fastball: "Now, he barely hits the low-80s".
You made that up, Charlie.
Leftovers
We're not done with Kesling, who provided a splendid list of Baseball Phrases.
"Johnny all staff" (said three times)
"There's the brain trust for Belmont"
"They want you to throw it through a wall"
"There's a whole laundry list" (2)
"Six-run home run"
What was that you said, Bob?
"When the opportunity comes, someone can walk through it"
SEC Network
One of my main goals with this site is to show how ridiculous a lot of baseball announcers sound, and that a broadcaster can't just say whatever he/she feels like saying. Here are some examples from Wednesday's game between two in-state rivals, which Tennessee won 7-2:
1. Play-by-play man Bob Kesling on the St. Louis Cardinals: "They always seem to get that three-run home run when they need it."
* St. Louis Cardinals record through May 6: 20-7
* Total three-run HR hit in 2015: 2
So, the St. Louis Cardinals always seem to get almost anything other than a three-run home when they need (it).
2. Color commentator Charlie Puleo on Benito Santiago: "He was a tough out".
Let's start with the fact that Santiago was a career .263/.307/.415 hitter. He was by no means a tough out. In fact, I just looked up the definition of "opposite of tough out" and it's: pretty close to Benito Santiago.
And to say something like that, Puleo, a former pitcher, would've probably had some trouble against Santiago, yes?
I'm sorry, no.
In the four years both players were in the big leagues simultaneously (1986-1989) Santiago faced Puleo 14 times and got exactly one hit (a single). He did hit a sacrifice fly in his first-ever plate appearance against Puleo, so maybe he meant that OUT WAS TOUGH to get? Perhaps the center fielder had a long run to catch the fly ball?
3. Puleo on Bartolo Colon's fastball: "Now, he barely hits the low-80s".
You made that up, Charlie.
Leftovers
We're not done with Kesling, who provided a splendid list of Baseball Phrases.
"Johnny all staff" (said three times)
"There's the brain trust for Belmont"
"They want you to throw it through a wall"
"There's a whole laundry list" (2)
"Six-run home run"
What was that you said, Bob?
"When the opportunity comes, someone can walk through it"
Game 110 - Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates
May 5 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA
Fox Sports Ohio
Fox Sports color commentator Chris Welsh rarely disappoints. He had quite a night of Baseball Phrases on Tuesday:
"Major butterflies"
"High ceiling"
"Your bound to miss some bats"
"Phantom strike"
"Grinding out at bats"
"He put a lickin' on it"
"Wear and tear"
"Stick it in your pocket"
"They're up there to wield that lumber"
"He kind of passed the eye ball test"
A pair of Welsh's phrases deserve their own section so we can discuss them individually.
1. "On the beam tonight"
Baseball People (BP) have a number of ways to describe the place where the pitcher stands. It's either a "mound" or a "rubber" or a "slab" or "the bump". But "beam" is a new one for me.
2. "When you go oppige here at PNC Park you've hit one"
OK, well things appear to be getting a little ridiculous. I've heard "go oppo" as a way to say "he hit that ball to the opposite field", and while silly, it's not nearly as silly as oppige. I'm not even sure that's how you spell it (opige? oppage?)
* Big night for Marlon Byrd, who hit a two-run home run and a two-run double in the Reds' 7-1 victory. In fact, each of the first five hitters in Cincinnati's lineup has two hits.
* Michael Lorenzen, the 38th overall pick of the 2013 draft, won his first major league game with six innings of one-run ball. It's a bit alarming that he's already allowed four home runs in two starts, but all were solo shots, which should please John Kruk. At least they weren't walks.
Fox Sports Ohio
Fox Sports color commentator Chris Welsh rarely disappoints. He had quite a night of Baseball Phrases on Tuesday:
"Major butterflies"
"High ceiling"
"Your bound to miss some bats"
"Phantom strike"
"Grinding out at bats"
"He put a lickin' on it"
"Wear and tear"
"Stick it in your pocket"
"They're up there to wield that lumber"
"He kind of passed the eye ball test"
A pair of Welsh's phrases deserve their own section so we can discuss them individually.
1. "On the beam tonight"
Baseball People (BP) have a number of ways to describe the place where the pitcher stands. It's either a "mound" or a "rubber" or a "slab" or "the bump". But "beam" is a new one for me.
2. "When you go oppige here at PNC Park you've hit one"
OK, well things appear to be getting a little ridiculous. I've heard "go oppo" as a way to say "he hit that ball to the opposite field", and while silly, it's not nearly as silly as oppige. I'm not even sure that's how you spell it (opige? oppage?)
* Big night for Marlon Byrd, who hit a two-run home run and a two-run double in the Reds' 7-1 victory. In fact, each of the first five hitters in Cincinnati's lineup has two hits.
* Michael Lorenzen, the 38th overall pick of the 2013 draft, won his first major league game with six innings of one-run ball. It's a bit alarming that he's already allowed four home runs in two starts, but all were solo shots, which should please John Kruk. At least they weren't walks.
Game 109 - New York Yankees at Toronto Bluejays
May 4 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario Canada
Sportsnet
I'm not sure Chase Whitley vs. R.A. Dickey was billed as a pitcher's duel coming into the night, but that's exactly what it turned out to be. Whitley, making just his second start for the injured Masahiro Tanaka, tossed seven scoreless innings. It was the second time in 14 career starts that Whitley had gone at least six innings and not allowed a run (six scoreless against the Rangers last July).
Excellent night for Whitley, who was really impressive in the third when he worked around his own one-out error to leave a runner at third and in the sixth when he had a 2nd and 3rd situation, but got Jose Bautista (ground out), Edwin Encarnacion (strike out) and Kevin Pillar (infield pop out) to end the threat.
Meanwhile, Dickey continued his mastery of New York at home (now 4-0 with an 0.32 ERA in four starts at Rogers Centre), pitching eight innings of one-run ball and picking up a 3-1 win.
Toronto took the lead with three in the eighth against a pair of relievers. Dellin Betances' first pitch out of the bullpen was blooped down the left field by Encarnacion for a tying double. After an infield pop out, pinch-hitter Russell Martin followed with a shot down to third that Chase Headley made a great play on, but it turned into a two-run, infield single/Garret Jones can't pick a one-bounce throw at first.
* You know what we haven't played in a while? Yankees Sarcasm! This edition is titled "Stephen Drew".
(Pre-game)
"Batting fifth, Stephen Drew? I like that idea a lot!"
(Top 9)
"Drew didn't get on base during his first three trips to the plate, but that's OK, things will go better for him tomorrow."
"They're going to hit for Drew and the pinch-hitter is Gregorio Petit? Let's see, down two runs with two outs in the ninth and Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira are on the bench, but they're going with Petit? Solid move!"
Sportsnet
I'm not sure Chase Whitley vs. R.A. Dickey was billed as a pitcher's duel coming into the night, but that's exactly what it turned out to be. Whitley, making just his second start for the injured Masahiro Tanaka, tossed seven scoreless innings. It was the second time in 14 career starts that Whitley had gone at least six innings and not allowed a run (six scoreless against the Rangers last July).
Excellent night for Whitley, who was really impressive in the third when he worked around his own one-out error to leave a runner at third and in the sixth when he had a 2nd and 3rd situation, but got Jose Bautista (ground out), Edwin Encarnacion (strike out) and Kevin Pillar (infield pop out) to end the threat.
Meanwhile, Dickey continued his mastery of New York at home (now 4-0 with an 0.32 ERA in four starts at Rogers Centre), pitching eight innings of one-run ball and picking up a 3-1 win.
Toronto took the lead with three in the eighth against a pair of relievers. Dellin Betances' first pitch out of the bullpen was blooped down the left field by Encarnacion for a tying double. After an infield pop out, pinch-hitter Russell Martin followed with a shot down to third that Chase Headley made a great play on, but it turned into a two-run, infield single/Garret Jones can't pick a one-bounce throw at first.
* You know what we haven't played in a while? Yankees Sarcasm! This edition is titled "Stephen Drew".
(Pre-game)
"Batting fifth, Stephen Drew? I like that idea a lot!"
(Top 9)
"Drew didn't get on base during his first three trips to the plate, but that's OK, things will go better for him tomorrow."
"They're going to hit for Drew and the pinch-hitter is Gregorio Petit? Let's see, down two runs with two outs in the ninth and Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira are on the bench, but they're going with Petit? Solid move!"
Game 108 - New York Yankees at Boston Redsox
May 2 at Fenway Park in Boston, MA
YES Network
Let's just get right to what's important....
Brett Gardner knocked in the first run of the game with a third-inning double, tried to stretch it to a triple and was thrown out at third. YES color commentator Ken Singleton immediately said that it was OK because there was one out.
In baseball, it's not OK if you make the first or the third out on the base paths, but the second out? GOOD GAMBLE/WORTH IT.
Why?
What makes the first and third outs so much more valuable than the second?
And why is it so terrible to make the first and third out at 3B? Tell you what, if I make the first or third out at first base or second base it's just as bad. If there was an 8th out and I made it at 11th base: equally bad.
Here's a handy, six-step guide to outs:
1. Make the first out: that's bad, you made the first out.
2. Make the second out: wish you hadn't done that, now we only have one out left.
3. Make the third out: the inning's over, it would've been better had we not made so many outs.
4. Get back to the base before you make an out!
5. Hurry up and get to the base before you make an out!
6. Don't make any more outs, it's bad
* Nathan Eovaldi has had his best two starts with the Yankees against two really good offenses in Detroit (7 IP, 1 ER) and Saturday against Boston (6 2/3 IP, 2 ER). Despite Chris Martin allowing an inherited runner to score once Eovaldi left in the seventh, the New York bullpen once again shut things down. Martin got out of the seventh by getting little shaver Dusty Pedroia to ground out, Justin Wilson picked up two outs and Dellin Betances was unkind to four hitters (4 K) as the Yankees won 4-2.
* Chris Young has been one of New York's best players so far in 2015 and he added an insurance run in the 9th with his sixth home run. He deserves as much playing time as possible right now (or at least the exact amount of playing time taken away from the archaeologist formerly known as Carlos Beltran), though some think the more time he gets on the field the more exposed he would be. I like to think of it another way: perhaps Young is one of those rare players who hits his prime after he turns 30.
Either way, here's Young's slash line: .317/.386/.698 and here's Beltran's: .181/.231/.292
One player is having a fine season, one is embarrassing himself.
Dear Yankees,
Please continue to play the guy who isn't embarrassing himself.
Sincerely,
Everybody
YES Network
Let's just get right to what's important....
Brett Gardner knocked in the first run of the game with a third-inning double, tried to stretch it to a triple and was thrown out at third. YES color commentator Ken Singleton immediately said that it was OK because there was one out.
In baseball, it's not OK if you make the first or the third out on the base paths, but the second out? GOOD GAMBLE/WORTH IT.
Why?
What makes the first and third outs so much more valuable than the second?
And why is it so terrible to make the first and third out at 3B? Tell you what, if I make the first or third out at first base or second base it's just as bad. If there was an 8th out and I made it at 11th base: equally bad.
Here's a handy, six-step guide to outs:
1. Make the first out: that's bad, you made the first out.
2. Make the second out: wish you hadn't done that, now we only have one out left.
3. Make the third out: the inning's over, it would've been better had we not made so many outs.
4. Get back to the base before you make an out!
5. Hurry up and get to the base before you make an out!
6. Don't make any more outs, it's bad
* Nathan Eovaldi has had his best two starts with the Yankees against two really good offenses in Detroit (7 IP, 1 ER) and Saturday against Boston (6 2/3 IP, 2 ER). Despite Chris Martin allowing an inherited runner to score once Eovaldi left in the seventh, the New York bullpen once again shut things down. Martin got out of the seventh by getting little shaver Dusty Pedroia to ground out, Justin Wilson picked up two outs and Dellin Betances was unkind to four hitters (4 K) as the Yankees won 4-2.
* Chris Young has been one of New York's best players so far in 2015 and he added an insurance run in the 9th with his sixth home run. He deserves as much playing time as possible right now (or at least the exact amount of playing time taken away from the archaeologist formerly known as Carlos Beltran), though some think the more time he gets on the field the more exposed he would be. I like to think of it another way: perhaps Young is one of those rare players who hits his prime after he turns 30.
Either way, here's Young's slash line: .317/.386/.698 and here's Beltran's: .181/.231/.292
One player is having a fine season, one is embarrassing himself.
Dear Yankees,
Please continue to play the guy who isn't embarrassing himself.
Sincerely,
Everybody
Game 107 - Salem HS at Forsyth Central HS
May 2 at Forsyth Central High School in Cumming, GA
It's not often you get a No. 4 seed upsetting a No. 1 seed in the fist round of the Georgia high school baseball playoffs. If it does happen, it's usually a champion from a weaker region that runs into a 4-seed from a strong region and there's your upset.
This series was a bit different because Salem came in as the No. 4 from a strong region that includes state powers Loganville and Gainesville. This team earned its way into the state playoffs with big wins all year, including one each over the other three tournament teams from the league (Winder was the other). And the Seminoles were due: the program was appearing in the state playoffs for the first time since 2010 and trying to win its first series since the 2008 team went to the final four.
After game one Friday it looked like it could be Salem's series. The Seminoles got a complete game, one-hit effort from lefty Kevin Barham and scored twice in the top of the eighth to win 3-1 and steal a 1-0 lead in the series. But that's just when Region 7 champ Forsyth Central woke up.
The Bulldogs had 12 hits and used a complete game, no-earned run effort from Luke Howard and evened the series with an 8-3 victory in game two.
Salem never recovered.
Led by Parker Morrison, Central cruised to a 10-0 win in six, run-rule-shortened innings in the rubber game and took the series 2-games-to-1. Morrison was fantastic, scattering three hits and striking out nine in a 92-pitch effort. Three complete games for the Bulldogs (Western Carolina signee Reed Clark went the distance in the game one loss), who allowed two earned runs in 21 innings (0.66 ERA) and move on to the Sweet 16.
Morrison
Advice!
High school baseball fans love to give advice and they love to give it over and over again, loudly, for the entire game. Saturday's rubber game was no different.
Take it away everyone in attendance possessing vocal chords:
"Let it travel" (said three times)
"One pitch at a time" (2)
"Just keep pitching"
"Gotta' stop the bleeding"
"See it, hit it" (2)
"Reset, reset!"
"Adjust to it" (4)
"Tough with two, tough with two" (2)
"Win every pitch" (2)
"Something hard up the middle"
"Go up there hackin'!"
"Let your defense work!" (2)
"Good take" (4)
"Base hit, ball four" (7)
"Driver's seat right here, kid"
"Hit it where it's pitched"
"Still a lot of baseball left" (5)
"Roll a pair" (11)
"Pick you out one"
"Way to be a wall" (3)
"Dig in and battle for me"
It's not often you get a No. 4 seed upsetting a No. 1 seed in the fist round of the Georgia high school baseball playoffs. If it does happen, it's usually a champion from a weaker region that runs into a 4-seed from a strong region and there's your upset.
This series was a bit different because Salem came in as the No. 4 from a strong region that includes state powers Loganville and Gainesville. This team earned its way into the state playoffs with big wins all year, including one each over the other three tournament teams from the league (Winder was the other). And the Seminoles were due: the program was appearing in the state playoffs for the first time since 2010 and trying to win its first series since the 2008 team went to the final four.
After game one Friday it looked like it could be Salem's series. The Seminoles got a complete game, one-hit effort from lefty Kevin Barham and scored twice in the top of the eighth to win 3-1 and steal a 1-0 lead in the series. But that's just when Region 7 champ Forsyth Central woke up.
The Bulldogs had 12 hits and used a complete game, no-earned run effort from Luke Howard and evened the series with an 8-3 victory in game two.
Salem never recovered.
Led by Parker Morrison, Central cruised to a 10-0 win in six, run-rule-shortened innings in the rubber game and took the series 2-games-to-1. Morrison was fantastic, scattering three hits and striking out nine in a 92-pitch effort. Three complete games for the Bulldogs (Western Carolina signee Reed Clark went the distance in the game one loss), who allowed two earned runs in 21 innings (0.66 ERA) and move on to the Sweet 16.
Morrison
Advice!
High school baseball fans love to give advice and they love to give it over and over again, loudly, for the entire game. Saturday's rubber game was no different.
Take it away everyone in attendance possessing vocal chords:
"Let it travel" (said three times)
"One pitch at a time" (2)
"Just keep pitching"
"Gotta' stop the bleeding"
"See it, hit it" (2)
"Reset, reset!"
"Adjust to it" (4)
"Tough with two, tough with two" (2)
"Win every pitch" (2)
"Something hard up the middle"
"Go up there hackin'!"
"Let your defense work!" (2)
"Good take" (4)
"Base hit, ball four" (7)
"Driver's seat right here, kid"
"Hit it where it's pitched"
"Still a lot of baseball left" (5)
"Roll a pair" (11)
"Pick you out one"
"Way to be a wall" (3)
"Dig in and battle for me"
Games 105 & 106 - Salem HS at Forsyth Central HS
May 1 at Forsyth Central High School baseball field in Cumming, GA
Our first postseason games at 300 Game Season and the Georgia schools split the doubleheader in the first round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs.
Kevin Barham: ace
As was the case on April 8, the Salem left-hander went up against a Division 1 signee on Friday and for the second time Barham picked up the victory. The Seminoles scored twice in the top of the eighth inning and the sophomore went the distance in a 3-1 victory. He walked six, but allowed just one hit - a sun-aided double by Taylor Bauman in the sixth - as the Seminoles defeated Western Carolina signee Reed Clark and won their first state playoff game since the 2008 team reached the final four.
Barham
Clark was also quite good - CG, 5 H, 2 ER - but the southpaw gave up a one-out double to Braxton Hogan and Cary Campbell's go-ahead single, then a sacrifice fly in the eighth for the difference.
All even
Forsyth Central won a difficult Region 7, so it was no surprise the Bulldogs were able to knock Jordan Johnson around (3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER) and win the nightcap 8-3. Six different players drove in runs and every starter reached base at least once for Central, which forced Saturday afternoon's rubber game.
Central made five errors, so none of the three runs allowed by Logan Howard were earned and the southpaw struck out nine in the complete game effort.
Silly ball
We've all heard the terms "small ball" and "smart ball" and "money ball" and "racquet ball", but Friday's doubleheader was about a new brand of ball: silly ball. Things got really silly:
* Five runners were picked off, though one runner - Yorel James - was caught off first, but made it to second when he was hit in the back by first baseman Wade Smith's throw.
* Eight wild pitches were thrown and the one passed ball allowed, by Central catcher Hunter Bauman, led to a run.
* Central finished the day with seven errors and only two of the six runs Salem scored in the two games were earned.
* The PA announcer was introducing the game one lineups and said: "Jordan Johnson doing the duties at shortstop." PA guy, don't say doing the duties.
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
Salem
Hogan - "Brax"
Johnson - "J.J."
Forsyth Central
Jacob Phillips - "Philly"
Howard - "Logey"
Pierce Nufer - "Nufe"
Smith - "Wader"
Parker Morrison - "Parkey"
Josh Meese - "Meeser"
Our first postseason games at 300 Game Season and the Georgia schools split the doubleheader in the first round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs.
Kevin Barham: ace
As was the case on April 8, the Salem left-hander went up against a Division 1 signee on Friday and for the second time Barham picked up the victory. The Seminoles scored twice in the top of the eighth inning and the sophomore went the distance in a 3-1 victory. He walked six, but allowed just one hit - a sun-aided double by Taylor Bauman in the sixth - as the Seminoles defeated Western Carolina signee Reed Clark and won their first state playoff game since the 2008 team reached the final four.
Barham
Clark was also quite good - CG, 5 H, 2 ER - but the southpaw gave up a one-out double to Braxton Hogan and Cary Campbell's go-ahead single, then a sacrifice fly in the eighth for the difference.
All even
Forsyth Central won a difficult Region 7, so it was no surprise the Bulldogs were able to knock Jordan Johnson around (3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER) and win the nightcap 8-3. Six different players drove in runs and every starter reached base at least once for Central, which forced Saturday afternoon's rubber game.
Central made five errors, so none of the three runs allowed by Logan Howard were earned and the southpaw struck out nine in the complete game effort.
Silly ball
We've all heard the terms "small ball" and "smart ball" and "money ball" and "racquet ball", but Friday's doubleheader was about a new brand of ball: silly ball. Things got really silly:
* Five runners were picked off, though one runner - Yorel James - was caught off first, but made it to second when he was hit in the back by first baseman Wade Smith's throw.
* Eight wild pitches were thrown and the one passed ball allowed, by Central catcher Hunter Bauman, led to a run.
* Central finished the day with seven errors and only two of the six runs Salem scored in the two games were earned.
* The PA announcer was introducing the game one lineups and said: "Jordan Johnson doing the duties at shortstop." PA guy, don't say doing the duties.
Nicknames that aren't really nicknames
Salem
Hogan - "Brax"
Johnson - "J.J."
Forsyth Central
Jacob Phillips - "Philly"
Howard - "Logey"
Pierce Nufer - "Nufe"
Smith - "Wader"
Parker Morrison - "Parkey"
Josh Meese - "Meeser"
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