Kuzul

In poker, four aces is a winning hand. In baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies thought so, too. But this year it turned out than one ace tops four aces.

A Year of Baseball Drama

This has certainly been a year of drama for Major League Baseball.

• The two wild card teams were not decided until that very intense last night of the season.

• Three of the four first-round playoffs went to the fifth game

• All four of the final games were decided by one run

The Best of the Best

But the best of these dramas so far was saved for the fifth game between the Phillies and the Cardinals. By that time, eight of the top nine payroll teams were gone from sight, with only the Phillies $173 million payroll left standing. Roy Halladay, one of the Phillies’ four aces, and arguably the best pitcher in the game, was up against his friend Chris Carpenter. Halladay went 19-6 in the regular season, had 220 strike outs and a WHIP just over one. Carpenter finished the regular season at a modest 11-9, and had been knocked out of an earlier game in the series after just three ineffective innings.

But this night, it was a classical pitchers’ duel: ace against ace, with the Cardinals’ one run looming larger as the game progressed. 

• Would Carpenter be able to protect the one-run lead?

• Would the Cardinals have to use their spotty bullpen that had troubled them all year long, and almost cost them their shot at the playoffs by giving up six runs in the ninth inning in the brutal loss to the Mets on September 22?

• Would either team be able to scratch out another run?

• Would Carpenter run out of gas, since he had gone at least seven innings in each of his last five starts in the regular season?

And then it came down to the ninth inning, with the meat of the Phillies lineup due up, the same part of the lineup that had scored three runs in the first inning against Carpenter earlier in the series.  With Utley, Pence, Howard, Victorino and Ibanez, there were four out of five left-hand hitters.

• Utley had the Philly crowd screaming with the long fly ball to deep center,

• Pence grounded out to third,

• and, Howard couldn’t even make it to first base

So there you had it: one ace beat the four aces. 

All of the top nine payroll teams are gone. All of the East and West Coast big-city teams are gone. So middle America gets a chance to fight it out for the World Series crown, in a season to remember.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Umpire Lance Barrett worked his first MLB regular season game in 2010, joining the likes of fellow umps Vic Carapazza, Cory Blaser, John Tumpane, Alan Porter, Mark Ripperger, Manny Gonzalez and David Rackley as the so-called Class of 2010, now into their second season of big league games.

Like all AAA call-up umpires, Barrett is trying to set himself apart so he can get a full-time job at the MLB level.

Sometimes, proving yourself to the MLB brass involves making a big-time call in a potentially confusing situation. Last season, the Class of 2009’s Dan Bellino won over many Umpire Ejection Fantasy Leaguers as well as MLB Supervisors with an ejection following a confident and correct obstruction call in Washington. Bellino was hired by MLB prior to the 2011 season.

Barrett’s Bellino moment may have come in Pittsburgh tonight. In the top of the fifth inning of the Reds–Pirates game, with one out, runners on first and second, and the possibility of an infield fly fresh in all of our minds, Reds batter Drew Stubbs lined a Jeff Locke fastball to Pirates shortstop Ronny Cedeno.

While Cedeno fielded the ball on a short-hop, baserunner R2 (and pitcher by trade) Edinson Volquez, mistakingly believing the ball had been caught, stepped back onto second base as Cedeno threw to second baseman Neil Walker. Walker caught the ball and stepped on the second base bag, resulting in an out call from Barrett.

Walker subsequently tagged Volquez, who was standing on second base. This resulted in a safe call from Barrett.

Fairly straightforward: R1 Brandon Phillips was forced out on the tag of second base, which took the force off of R2 Volquez, who now legally and safely occupied second base. Batter Stubbs safely arrived at first base. One out, two on.

Not so fast… Phillips, as confused as anyone, and perhaps adding to the confusion himself, began running frantically between first and second base, drawing a throw from Walker. The bewildered Pirates infield quickly trapped the already-retired R1 Phillips in a rundown between first and second before unnecessarily tagging out Phillips for a second time.

Either way, Barrett once again gave the out call so there would be no confusion this time. Unfortunately, there was confusion – lots of it, for everyone except perhaps Barrett, crew chief Mike Winters, and umpires Mike Everitt and Chris Guccione… or maybe for them as well.

For you see, the umpires determined that Phillips was out, as expected. Batter Drew Stubbs would be placed on first base, also as expected. But Volquez, who had taken off for third base in the pandemonium which ensued while Phillips was in a rundown between first and second, was sent back to second base.

To understand why Barrett, Winters and the other umpires ruled the way they did requires an analysis of MLB Rules 7.09(e) and 9.01(c).

Rule 7.09(e) states, in part, it is interference when “any batter or runner who has just been put out, or any runner who has just scored, hinders or impedes any following play being made on a runner.” Rule 7.09(e) Comment additionally states, “If the batter or a runner continues to advance after he has been put out, he shall not by that act alone be considered as confusing, hindering or impeding the fielders.”

Rule 9.01(c), as all umpires know, is the so-called elastic clause, which gives an umpire the “authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules.”

Putting the two together allows for an explanation of why the umpires ruled the way they did. Phillips’ post-put out actions were not enough on their own to be considered interference. This is clearly specified in Rule 7.09(e) Comment. However, the Phillips rundown clearly did confuse the fielders and allow Volquez to advance toward third base.

In the end, Winters correctly invoked Rule 9.01(c) to deliver a fair and just judgment: Phillips was out, Stubbs was safe at first, and Volquez would also be ruled safe, but fairly returned to second base.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Before Thursday night’s game began, Angel ace Jered Weaver (16-7, 2.49 ERA) was an undefeated 3-0 against the Yankees at Angel Stadium. Weaver’s fastball coming off the curveball struck out Curtis Granderson, indicating that Weaver was back to top form after a few shaky outings. Game 1 of the Los Angeles Angels series with the New York Yankees, during the weekend of the 10th anniversary of September 11th, was underway.

Bartolo Colon (8-9, 3.72 ERA) won the 2005 American League Cy Young award with the Angels, and has had a mixed-bag season with the Yankees in 2011. Reggie Jackson complemented Weaver’s control during the telecast, while Weaver retired the Yankees’ second-inning hitters without incident.

Howie Kendrick drove in the first Angels run in the bottom of the fifth to score Peter Bourjos from third. This was the 52nd run-batted-in for Kendrick in his All-Star season. This tied the game from a Yankee lead courtesy of a solo home run by Jesus Montero, the third of his young career.

During the game, the Texas Rangers kept the pressure on for the American League pennant hopes of the Angels, by defeating the Oakland Athletics 14-3. This brought the deficit to three games back for the Halos, struggling once again to produce runs Friday night.

Jered Weaver was fully in command mixing speeds and locations. In the top of the sixth, Weaver struck out Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira back-to-back before inducing a ground ball from Alex Rodriguez to Alberto Callaspo. Weaver recorded eight punch outs in the first six innings of work.

A combination of intuitive pitching by Bartolo Colon and poor offense from the Angels left eight runners on base through six innings. Weaver looked confident striking out the leadoff batter, Robinson Cano. He finished the inning striking out Andruw Jones. Jered Weaver allowed only two hits and struck out 10 through seven innings with his pitch count at 101.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Mark Trumbo was called out looking on strike three on a ball inside out of the zone, thrown by reliever David Robinson (3-0 1.23 ERA). The Angels failed to get a runner on board.

In the ninth, Jordan Walden (4-3, 2.55 ERA) was brought into the game. In his previous game against the Yankees he earned a save. Mark Teixeira grounded out to start the inning. Walden walked Alex Rodriguez on a full count struggling to command his slider. Eduardo Nunez entered the game as a pinch runner who was thrown out stealing by Jeff Mathis. Cano struck out on the next pitch to end the inning, tied 1-1.

Alberto Callaspo, Vernon Wells and Peter Bourjos were due up in the bottom of the ninth inning for the Angels. The Yankees called Aaron Laffey (2-1, 4.05 ERA) in to pitch in his fourth game as a New York Yankee. Alberto Callaspo reached on a single and was subbed out for Jeremy Moore to run.

Laffey was removed from the game at that point. Luis Ayala (1-2, 1.85, 43 G) was called to the mound to face Vernon Wells. Wells drove a base hit on which Moore advanced to third with no one out for Peter Bourjos at the plate. Wells advanced to second after the first ball inside.

Ayala retaliated with a strike on the outside corner, a second strike, and then coming inside to brush Bourjos on his left elbow pad. Maicer Izturis pinch hit for Jeff Mathis.  A sacrifice fly to center brought a Halo victory Friday night, 2-1 to remain two-and-a-half games behind the Rangers in the American League West.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Tonight, the Giants made a statement in their 6-2 win over the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks: They’re not going away quietly.

I’m probably the biggest optimist around when it comes to my beloved boys in Orange and Black, but as you can tell by my recent articles, I had all but given up. Why? Because in the last month this team had shown virtually no signs of life. Not only weren’t they hitting, but they have been playing sloppy baseball.

That seems to have all changed on Wednesday. The day started out with the surprising announcement that Aaron Rowand and Miguel Tejada, two high-priced veterans, had been designated for assignment. The Giants not only were willing to let the underperforming Tejada go with a month left in the season, but in a mild surprise they sent Rowand packing with a year and $14 million left on his deal.

It seems that the team has responded very positively to the moves. Whether the rumors of Tejada and Rowand being clubhouse cancers were true or not, something seemed to click. The Giants came out Wednesday and took care of business against one of the weaker teams in the league, beating the Chicago Cubs 4-0. Madison Bumgarner spun one of his best starts of the year and the Giants offense came to life—actually scoring some runs. Imagine that!

Tonight, there was a playoff atmosphere at AT&T Park. It was a throwback to 2010, with the crowd engaged from the first pitch.

But when the Diamondbacks scored a run in the first and had the bases loaded, everyone, including myself couldn’t help but thing “here we go again.” Not only have the Giants been falling behind early with their feeble offense being out of games, the Diamondbacks have, conversely, been scoring early and shutting the opponents down with solid pitching.

Matt Cain managed to pitch out of it with a 29-pitch first inning and only allowed one more run in a masterful performance, going eight. Santiago Casilla, the new de facto closer, finished the job and the Giants had their second two-game winning streak in a week.

But it was the offense that really impressed. Carlos Beltran had a chance at the cycle by his fourth at-bat and singled for a 4-4 day—driving in three runs with a two-run homer and an RBI single. Cody Ross, who has had a terrible 2011 hit a two-run shot as well.

These two performances are significant. Beltran has been a disappointment since being acquired for the Giants’ top prospect Zack Wheeler prior to the trade deadline. But Beltran has a history of coming up big down the stretch and in the postseason. And of course Cody Ross’ performance in last year’s postseason is legendary. He looked like his old self, adding a double to the homer.

If these two guys can have a hot September, it could be enough for the Giants to go on the kind of tear they need to catch Arizona. And since hitting is contagious, it might wake some of the other Giants out of their doldrums.  

Jeff Keppinger has been the Giants’ only consistent offensive performer as of late (Keppinger doubled and missed a homer by a foot tonight). Even Pablo Sandoval, the lone bright light in the Giants’ terrible offensive season, has been slumping as of late. Tonight, Sandoval was swinging the bat much better from the right side.

Put it all together and there is hope on the shores of McCovey Cove. A sweep in this series and the Giants are right back in it; and the Diamondbacks reeling.  And since Arizona has been a very streaky team (good and bad), it could land them on the kind of losing streak the Giants need them to have.  

But none of this matters if the Giants don’t take care of their own business. With 24 games left, the Giants better plan to win 18 of them and not count on the Diamondbacks to fade. Tonight’s game proved that though it isn’t likely, it’s not impossible either.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I think people are starting to get the idea. If you don’t get the idea yet, then you are either an exceptionally optimistic fan, or delusional.

The San Francisco Giants are not a good baseball team.

Perhaps they were at one point in the season. Perhaps they were until the acquisition of Carlos Beltran. But they certainly aren’t now.

Granted, they have extraordinary pitching. Ryan Vogelsong threw seven innings of two earned-run ball, and remains second in the league in ERA.

The key word in the previous sentence is earned. Errors by Mark DeRosa and Nate Schierholtz enabled the Houston Astros to score three unearned runs off of Vogelsong. Guillermo Mota’s bogus home run to Bogusevic extended the lead to 6-0, which turned out to be the final score of the ballgame.

Realistically, though, it wouldn’t have mattered if Vogelsong had pitched a shutout—he still would have received a no decision at best.

The San Francisco Giants were completely baffled by left hander Wandy Rodriguez, who, like so many pitchers, had his finest outing of the season against the Giants’ hapless offense.

While the Giants are still only 2.5 games out of first place behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, the deficit seems nigh insurmountable.

In fact, a more realistic goal for the Giants this season than the playoffs is to finish the season above .500. At 67-59, the Giants would need to go 14-22 to finish the season at .500. Given the way this team has been playing recently, even that goal seems lofty.

The excellent Bleacher Report sportswriter Manny Randhawa will have to search deep into his bag of tricks to justify the Giants’ “excellence” in losing 6-0 to a team that was 44 games under .500 coming into the ballgame.

“It’s only just one game.” But is it? Is it really? Or is this game just an accurate representation of a disturbing trend?

One thing is certain: People should be fired after tonight’s travesty. Or at least demoted. Or, if Bruce Bochy prefers, they should come up with a mysterious foot strain. Mark DeRosa and Aaron Rowand are two examples of this type of person who does not belong on a Major League baseball field, contract or no. It’s already a “sunk cost.”

Am I overreacting? Is this a knee jerk reaction? I don’t think so. These are calculated statements backed up by on-field performances and statistics.

The Giants need to dramatically overhaul their lineup to put a competitive team on the field, or risk seeing their attendance and reputation plummet.

Not to mention, the Giants should be interested in keeping the sole bright spot on the team (pitching) intact. With free agency looming in the not too distant future for Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, do you think either starter would be willing to play for a team wherein they get no offensive support?

Regardless of the pitchers’ unflappable coolness in the clubhouse in the face of losing and shouldering of responsibility for each loss, you know that these pitchers want to win. Not only do they want to win, they want to win championships.

And no team ranked last in the league in offense has ever made the playoffs, let alone won a championship.

In conclusion, if the Giants come out and score seven runs tomorrow, please save your “I Told You So’s.” After scoring seven runs against the Braves in game three of their series, they have been shut out twice consecutively.

For those keeping track, that is an average of 2.33 runs per game.

Even the lowly Giants are capable of scoring seven runs once in a while. A playoff caliber professional baseball club, however, will perform on a regular basis and demonstrate at least a modicum of consistency.

Madison Bumgarner (7-11, 3.49ERA) pitches next against Jordan Lyles (1-7, 5.31ERA). The ingredients are in place for a 5-3 Giants victory, if each pitcher pitches to their potential. Something tells me, however, that Bumgarner will lower his ERA once again, and loss number twelve will materialize as he is out-dueled by Roger Clemens…er…Jordan Lyles. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Sam Fuld lost his tooth in the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 win against the Seattle Mariners Friday night.  Although the win helps in their battle for the playoffs with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, all the buzz is about the little outfielder that looks more like he plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning than the Rays.

Fuld entered the game in the eighth inning to pinch hit for Sean Rodriguez with the Rays trailing by a run. He hit a single through the hole at shortstop.

That’s when the mystery of the missing tooth began.

The television broadcast showed Fuld without his smile that fans have come to love. Social media was full of inquiries about the location of his missing tooth.

“I wish I had a good story like I was out skating this morning. It all comes back to May or whatever when I banged my head into J.J. Hardy. It chipped my crown, and I’m trying to get a permanent one going but it’s been a while. I’ve had this temporary thing in there and it keeps popping out.”

After a request from the media for him to say, “Super Sam Fuld,” the story got better.

“Today I decided to chew some gum—real bright idea—and the next thing I know it’s in my gum and the gum became really crunchy. The crown just broke into a bunch of pieces, and that was that. The problem is I got a hit tonight so I’m thinking of leaving it out.”

Even some of Fuld’s teammates weren’t fully aware of the fake tooth.

“I just found out that he had a fake tooth our last homestand, I had no idea,” said Evan Longoria. “This clubhouse has a bunch of characters, it’s really what keeps it light around here. For him to be walking around without a tooth and to think it’s the funniest thing is the world is awesome.”

After the saga of the missing tooth, Fuld would go on to score on an Evan Longoria single starting the Rays eighth inning rally.

Johnny Damon would score the game-winning run on a Ben Zobrist single to center field.

Jamal Wilburg is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes obtained first-hand.

You can follow him on Twitter @JWilburg



Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Yet again, the Philadelphia Phillies’ hitting does not show up, only this time, it resulted in a 12th inning 2-1 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Friday night.

Throwing eight innings, allowing only one run and one hit, Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels continued to show why he is a reliable starter for the team.

But although Hamels pitched a terrific game, he, along with other Phillies pitchers this season, didn’t receive the run support needed to capture the win.

Jimmy Rollins acquired two of the Phillies’ minuscule six hits, and he obtained the only Phillies run of the night.

The Phillies have averaged four runs per game so far this season, which seems pretty favorable when you consider that the Phillies have four aces in their starting pitching rotation who, when healthy, shouldn’t need more than four runs in support to win.

However, if the Phillies’ season up to this point is dissected, it is evident that if the Phillies could have compiled at least four RBI a game, they could have an additional 10 wins instead of losses.

The team has had unfortunate run-ins in the past with hitting slumps and cold streaks, so the team not generating run support isn’t anything new.

The Phillies have not scored more than two runs in three straight games, including this game.

If the Phillies’ hitters and pitchers don’t get on the same page and become a formidable cohesive unit, then the Phillies could see another team hoist the championship trophy for the second consecutive year.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I went to the Red Sox game against the visiting Athletics today, and it was one of the craziest games I have ever been to. It started with a bang when Adrian Gonzalez hit a home run over the Green Monster. Despite the fact it barely cleared the Monster, it was still a considerable feat considering he went opposite field.

After that, however, both offenses stalled over the next few innings. But the bats turned back on when J.D. Drew singled home Carl Crawford. This wouldn’t be the last time that would happen, however. The A’s quickly tied the game with two runs of their own in the sixth, but it didn’t stay like that for long.

The Red Sox answered with a 3-run sixth inning of their own to take the lead 5-2. The A’s narrowed the gap with a run, but again the Red Sox answered in big fashion, scoring two runs in the eighth inning to take a 7-3 lead heading into the ninth.

At the time, Jonathon Papelbon was warming up in the bullpen, and I wondered whether or not the Red Sox should bother putting him in with such a large lead. It turns out, they shouldn’t have.

The Sox indeed decide to pitch him, and he promptly came in to give up four runs, allowing the A’s to tie it up. And to make matter worse, amidst all of Papelbon’s frustration over calls of strikes and balls, he yelled at the ump and charged him. Needless to say, he was ejected. And soon after, Jason Veritek followed Papelbon’s poor example also arguing to no avail, getting the same result—an ejection.

Even without Tek and Papelbon, the game went on to extra innings. Things seemed bleak, though, when the Red Sox’ bats turned off for the next few inning, and the A’s were able to score a run in the 11th.

But with two outs in the bottom half of the 11th, however, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a double to send Jarrod Saltalamacchia home the game-tying run, sending the Fenway crowd into a frenzy.

But both offenses would stall for another three more innings before an outcome would finally be reached. This came in the 14th inning when Nancy—I mean J.D.—Drew stepped to the plate and, far exceeding the low expectations,delivered a walk-off single, sending Crawford home again.

In summary, after spending nearly six hours at Fenway today, I got to see 15 runs, a blown save by Papelbon, two ejections, five extra innings, and a walk-off hit by Drew. Certainly not your average day at the ballpark.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Jeff Karstens is the Pittsburgh Pirates‘ fifth starter. Who would have believed that he could have held his own against the Phillies’ Cole Hamels in a pitching duel? But he did.

Both men gave up only one run while they were on the mound. Karstens managed to pitch for seven innings, a season high for him. Hamel lasted eight.

Jimmy Rollins scored the Phillies’ only run in the top of the sixth when he doubled, stole second and a single sent him home (two other batters on either side of him were caught in a double play). A replay showed that he might well have been out at second.

The Pirates retaliated in the bottom of the inning, when Ronny Cedeno walked, was sacrificed to second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and was sacrificed home by Jose Tabata.

Then relievers Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan and Dan McCutchen closed the door on further Phillies scoring. Rookie Danny Moskos got the save. That’s because following his outing, Xavier Paul singled, stole second and came on a single by Tabata, who got both of his team’s RBI.

The Pirates don’t score enough. This extra inning game was an example of this fact. But unlike the past, the team’s pitching is sometimes good enough to compensate for this fact. In fact, as fellow writer Paul Ledewski pointed out, the team had shown by far the greatest improvement in starters’ ERA in the National League from last season (as of June 2), 1.75 runs compared to 0.65 for the second-ranking Atlanta Braves.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It’s unfortunate to lose a game 9-8, as the Pirates did to the Mets the other night. It’s terrible to lose such a game after being ahead 7-0.

The game started off well enough for the visitors. They sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the first inning, all but Maholm. The result: a 3-0 lead. They added another three runs, mostly on a homer by Neil walker, then topped it off by an extra run in the top of the third, 7-0. The historical record says that the visiting team wins 97 percent of the time starting from this point.

Then the dam broke, as it had to at some time. Maholm gave up three runs in the bottom of the third,with two singles and a homer. Even from here, the Pirates had a 90 percent chance of winning, as the Mets had used up one-seventh of their remaining opportunities to score those three runs.

Things were fine, with a blank score, for two more innings. But then Maholm fell apart again in the bottom of the sixth. He has a “last inning” problem, which means that he will crater unless he is “pulled” before reaches his limit. That limit was reached earlier than usual in Citifield, at 5.2 innings. Worse Chris Resop had a blown save, as the Mets tied it 7-7 on a passed ball and an inherited runner scored.

The next Pirate reliever, Jose Veras, took the loss in the bottom of the eighth. It started off with Ronny Paulino, of all people, the former Pirate ne’er do well who’s now a Met, having gotten to New York City via Philadelphia and Florida. He singled to center, and was lifted for a pinch runner, Harris.

A balk and wild pitch sent him to third. Then FOUR walks loaded the bases and sent home a runner, with Harris having scored in the meantime. Now it was 9-7 Mets.

The Pirates scored a run in the top of the ninth, not enough to close the gap.

It was an epic victory for the Mets, who had not come from so far behind in two decades.

Meaning that it was an epic loss for the Bucs.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com