Baseball Update, Week 11
It’s been 6 weeks without a baseball update. Lots has happened. Remember when the Royals and the Marlins were on a roll? Last time I was ready to concede defeat for the Yankees on the season and consider the possibility that maybe my team will be long gone come October.
Finding creative ways to lose: June 13: After David Wright hit a go-ahead double off Mariano Rivera, the Yankees were trailing the Mets 8-7 with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning and Alex Rodriguez slammed his bat after hitting a game-ending pop-up to second base. But wait, 3-time Gold Glove winner Luis Castillo missed the ball, bouncing it off his glove in Bill Buckner fashion, allowing two runs to score. Instead of winning by a run, the Mets lost by a run. This was not the Mets’ first experience like this. They lost to Florida on April 12 when left fielder Daniel Murphy dropped Cody Ross’ fly ball. And on May 18 they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers after Ryan Church missed third base en route to not scoring the go-ahead run in the 11th inning.
More from: Usually you would relax a little knowing your ace Johan Santana is on the mound. Two days later the Yankees knocked around the great pitcher for 9 runs in 3 innings, on their way to a 15-0 drubbing of the cross-city rivals. This came five days after Santana gave up 4 home runs in a game against the division rival Phillies (which the Mets were fortunate enough to win).
Top of the Standings: The top winning percentages currently belong to the Manny-less Dodgers, Red Sox, Cardinals, Yankees and Tigers.
Remembering the name on the front of the jersey: After starting 18-11, the Royals have gone 11-28 since May 8.
Lopsided rivalry: Red Sox are 7-0 against the Yankees this season.
Time for streaking: The Padres won 10 in a row in May to become 24-22. Oh, how long ago that was. 6-18 since. Meanwhile, the Rockies are on fire right now, winning 15 of their last 16 games after starting 20-32.
Still king of the hill: Reigning MVP Albert Pujols leads the major leagues in home runs, runs batted in, runs scored, on-base-percentage, and slugging percentage. He almost has as many home runs (26) as strikeouts (27). Contrast that with Chris Davis (13 HR-101 SO) or BJ Upton (5-79).
Mr. Consistent: Ichiro has 96 hits in 61 games, which is on pace for 254 hits over a 162 game season, his second most (he has missed 8 of the Mariner’s games, so his actual pace is a little lower, 240).
Mr. Dependable: Dan Haren has 13 quality starts in 14 total starts.
What injury?: Joe Mauer went 0-4 on Sunday to lower his batting average all the way down to .407. He has 14 homers since his first game on May 1, already a career high (set in just 45 games played).
