caulfield12

It seems like we've led almost every inning (except for 7-8-9 in Game 2) in this series...pretty close to dominance. And the Yankees (hard to cheer for them) have taken the lead over the sorry Indians' bullpen 4-3. But good start by Pavano. Of course, when we face the Angels...it will be against their Top 4 healthy starters. Sucks that Minnesota always seems to get the breaks with scheduling somehow. Perkins with a 1.57 ERA so far on the season.

Prediction...Anderson HR here. Or not. It would have been a homer at the "Little K" in Kansas City, though.

I think it was just that freezing cold weather that messed with Floyd's game Monday. Otherwise, he has fairly decent control, although he did come unhinged a couple of times last year (especially in the 2nd half) where he would just completely lose his touch for the curve. CB Bucknor looks a little bit like Obama.

This game gets scary if they bring in Carrasco or MacDougal at any point today. C'mon Gavin. I'd almost rather he gave up a 3 run homer and got out of the inning than seeing MacDougal anywhere near the game. Longoria has caught Alisayitis.

Lillibridge is a hitting machine. Break up the 1929 Yankees...er Sox Sunday line-up. At least Brent is getting on-base and keeping the ball lower instead of popping up into the outfield. They're our version of the Piranhas. Albaladejo gets out of bases loaded, one out situation for Yankees...still 3-1 Indians leading. Try saying that name fast three times. Cubano is celebrating Michel Hernandez shank into RF, since Alexei has been put on the pine for today.

That was definitely a FO at 2nd and maybe even a double play...BA fortunate that Garza misplayed it and then compounded it with the wild throw. Still, we'll take it. And with Anderson running, it helped cause the wild throw. Attaboy Chris Getz.

Looks like we're going to be catching the Orioles as they're really cooling off. We have Guthrie, but two other starters we should be able to beat for sure. Yep, Gavin's 85 MPH change-up is starting to become a really devastating part of his arsenal, as he has better control of it than the curveball.

He's mixing in more curveballs, but he's primarily going with the two seam sinking fastball at 90-91 MPH. He doesn't really seem like he's dominating, but he's certainly pitching effectively against Pena, who is the one batter you don't want to beat you in their line-up...and it would have been nice had Matt Thornton had the time to study the way they're attacking Zobrist, but he's not as dangerous as a LH hitter. Swisher K's (hat trick) with the bases loaded against Pavano in the bottom of the 6th.

Nick Swisher falling back to earth...hitting .325 and 2 k's today against Carl Pavano, but Yankees threatening.

Lillibridge with Pods 2005 leads...nice to see us disrupting the opposing pitchers a little bit for a change. Brent, you've gotta go there, they have a once a week back-up catcher, have to stay out of DP at all costs.

I guess we have to acknowledge CLE isn't dead after all if they sweep the Yankees in the Stadium. Who'd a thunk Ryan Garko would be a slugging RF? I still don't think Cleveland's middle relief can hold...or the back of their rotation. Lillibridge with the BA/Little League approach of waiting to get walked. That's probably his best idea for his size.

Well...if you're going to get on Betemit, you have to get on Brian Anderson for never picking up a runner from scoring position. But it would have been nice to add a run or two. You don't expect Floyd to pitch a shutout in the Dome.

Harrelson is convinced he (Garza) has diversified his arsenal from just FB and curve to add a decent change-up and slider...leading to newfound success again LH batters. Okay, prematurely jinxing Pavano no-hitter (through 3 innings)...I can't believe he can even get up and down that line-up with no hits, no BB's and 2 K's.

Almost think we'd be better off with Clayton Richard starting and holding back Floyd for the Orioles. That .375 BA of LH batters against Floyd doesn't bode well. Barons game wiped out...probably many in Southern, Carolina and SAL today eviscerated. By the way, it would be very ironic if Carl Pavano beat the Yankees.

chat today? or everyone expects Garza to mow us down and not watching, lol? C'mon Anderson! Wise would have had it, diving all-out and separating his other shoulder.

I guess Mark DeRosa's about the closest thing you can find to Tony Phillips (minus the speed)...or Chone Figgins. When you think about it, he (Phillips) was kind of a hybrid of the two. I was thinking about Billy Hall too, but I'm not sure how his skills would translate to the AL. Wonder if Lillibridge will ever hit a home run...he's the closest we have, though....or Hitless Alexei. That name thing jinxed him.

All those guys end up getting higher ratings because they're run on so much that they have a ton of assists just by the sheer volume of throws they make. However, with Soriano, you would think they might learn, because while he gets bad reads/jumps, he's always been able to throw the ball pretty accurately and without bringing down rain. By the way, has anyone ever contributed more to a team with JUST one hit than Lillibridge has this season?

Carrasco has decent or average stuff for a reliever...91-93 MPH, nothing special, but MacDougal's lost about 5 MPH off his fastball (like Colon) and that slider isn't consistent enough to work backwards from. At least Carrasco knows how to pitch out of trouble...sometimes a lot better than our Big 4 relievers.

Young doesn't fit because he's a "me-first" player. He's a very bad baserunner, a little bit out of shape...and his fundamentals are non-existent. Young was always the best player on the diamond, so he never had to learn how to do anything but hit, and now it's coming back to bite him. When you're not hitting for 20-30 HR power and you're a drag on the team defensively, then you need to do other things to help your team win...Young just has no idea where the strike zone is sometimes (typical for young/er players who are promoted so quickly and don't spend much time in AA/AAA) and he's very susceptible to breaking balls outside of the zone. It's amazing though, all the talent in that system at one point...D. Young, Josh Hamilton, Jonny Gomes, Baldelli, Dukes, I think Toe Nash was even in the Rays' system. Maybe that's wrong.

I think we're all giving up way too quickly on Fields. His swing has just gotten a little too big, but, by and large, he's been an effective player for us so far this season. I am much more concerned about Thome and Ramirez at this point. Figgins? I could see a one or two year contract, but committing long-term to a player who should be at the point in his career where his speed is declining and he's more injury prone than before is dubious when we have Shelby and Jordan Danks in the pipeline as well. I really see our bigger concern going forward as filling out the rotation after Contreras and Colon are gone. Out of the group of Broadway, Egbert, Marquez, Richard and Poreda, we MIGHT get one so-so/serviceable starter. Poreda just doesn't have the look and feel of a top of the rotation starter, maybe he'll magically discover his secondary arsenal but we can't be counting on it. We have some better arms in A ball, but they're at least 1 1/2 - 2 years away from Chicago...we have that huge gap in pitching talent (only a few with upsides as relievers mostly) at the upper levels. The Angels are in a division where they almost have to wait and see before they go about trading any of their core players...the M's will be improved, but projecting them to win 90+ games at this point is a little foolhardy.

SEVIERVILLE - Boston pitcher Jonathan Papelbon is a right-hander while Tennessee Smokies reliever Jeremy Papelbon is a lefty. But the biggest difference between the Red Sox reliever and his younger brother is the velocity of their fastball. The all-star closer's high-90s heater is overpowering while the minor leaguer's No. 1 tops out at 86 mph. Both can be effective but the younger Papelbon has little room for error as evidence by Saturday's night's appearance. Birmingham's Stefan Gartrell cranked a two-run home run off Papelbon and Gordon Beckham a disputed solo shot as the Barons muscled their way to an 8-3 Southern League win over Tennessee at Smokies Park. "Tonight wasn't his night but he'll be back out there," Tennessee manager Ryne Sandberg said of Papelbon. "He's a little trickster out there at times and he can be effective." The Chicago Cubs' 19th round draft pick in 2006 must rely on finesse instead of power. "Up to this point, he has had some good outings for us and in the past," Sandberg said. Papelbon yielded only one run in four appearances spanning 5 1/3 innings this season before serving up Gartrell's third homer. "A mistake, a hanging slider," Papelbon said. "All my stuff was kind of flat and up in the zone. When that happens they are going to hit it pretty far." Papelbon's line (1 1/3 innings, five hits, five runs, a walk and two strikeouts) reflected that. "I have to work both sides of the plate and mainly stay low in the zone," he said. The 25-year-old from Jacksonville, Fla., had a streak of 35 scoreless innings for Class A Daytona last year. He virtually did not allow a run the second half. "I had a lot of good defense behind me but I located the ball really well and was throwing some good sinkers," Papelbon said. "It was a good pitch for me and every time I went out I had some of my best stuff." Beckham's second homer of the season landed on the berm near the left field foul pole. "A flat slider that hung over the plate," he said. "I thought it was foul but you've got to go with what's called in the field." The Barons (6-3) broke through in the third inning after two were out against starter Jay Jackson (0-2) on a run-scoring double by Tyler Flowers and Brandon Allen's triple. Jackson yielded two runs on four hits over five innings. "He threw better and that was good to see," Sandberg said. "He made some improvement but we didn't do much offensively while he was out there." Tennessee nicked Birmingham's Lucas Harrell (1-0) for a run in the third on consecutive doubles by Brandon Guyer and Darwin Barney but that was all the support for Jackson.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 18, 2009 -> 09:38 PM) For shame that no one had this up yet! Great game for the boys. Double digit walks, not to mention eight runs. Two out of three in Tampa so far, and we have put an ass whippin on their two bet pitchers Kazmir, Shields and Garza are all kind of like co #1's. Sonnanstine is #4 and Niemann is definitely their fifth, the pitcher we beat Thursday. Niemann is probably better suited as a reliever...he throws the ball hard, but doesn't have enough of an assortment of offspeed stuff. David Price will eventually replace him in the rotation.

The Central will be a dogfight. Edwin Jackson is really pitching well for the Tigers. He shut out the M's (in SEA) for 7+ innings and then Seay and Rodney finished it. If they can get Bonderman back and/or Porcello pitches like Verlander in his rookie season, look out. They still don't really have a fifth starter (Robertson/Miner), but I think DET could end up being the best team in the division if Perry and Zumaya can team together with Lyon and Rodney to be a shutdown bullpen. That's assuming that their older guys like Ordonez, Guillen, Everett and Polanco can stay healthy. Minnesota will always be dangerous at home, but without 2006 Liriano and Mauer, they are a 85-87 win team, at best. Their bullpen still has gaping holes, and they will continue to flounder on the road, just as they're almost impossible to beat at home.

Zach Greinke downs the Rangers 2-0 with his first career shutout/CG. 34 consecutive scoreless innings stretching over 2 seasons (19 IP this year)...Harrelson's "man love" is right on this one. Royals now 7-4 and have beaten Rangers two in a row, tough to do in Arlington. Josh Hamilton is almost as lost as Alexei Ramirez. Also, the M's have really turned things around, kudos to Jack Z. and the gang, they lead AL in ERA under Rick Adair. Beat the Tiggers.

Ben Broussard was parked behind Betemit and Josh Kroeger on the depth chart. For all we know, he probably asked to be given the opportunity to find an organization that was a better fit.