Kuzul

Alan Johnson won’t soon forget his Major League debut. However, it probably wasn’t what he originally dreamed of as a kid. The righty rookie only lasted four innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits. He walked three and struck out three. He threw 93 pitches in the process.

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I suppose just four words come to mind: Welcome back, Grady Sizemore.

Injured for the better part of the last two seasons, Sizemore went two-for-four at the plate, including a solo home run in only his second at-bat and a double in his third, in a better-than-expected debut for the stalwart center fielder.

The Indians rode solo home runs by Sizemore, Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner, as well as another quality start from Fausto Carmona to beat the Orioles 4-2.

The game clinched the sweep of the Orioles and allowed the Indians to maintain sole possession of first place in the American League Central after 15 games with a record of 11-4.

Last season, the Indians posted a 7-8 record after 15 contests. In 2009, they were only 5-10.

But Sizemore is the real story here, making his first start in almost 11 months to the day, returned to much fanfare and standing ovations from the hometown crowd.

They had no doubt missed the player who enjoyed nothing short of brilliant years in Cleveland from 2005-2008. 

After Santana’s solo home run in the second inning, the three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner stepped up the plate in the third inning with an out. He grounded out to second base his first at-bat.

The response? A towering shot to right-center field that left the ball park and sent a message to the Cleveland Indians faithful; Grady Sizemore is indeed back.

His next at-bat in the bottom of the fifth, he laced a Brian Bergesen slider down the right field line for a stand-up double.

So the question is how good can this lineup be with a healthy and productive Grady Sizemore be?

In short, very good. With Sizemore reclaiming the center field spot, this will move Michael Brantley over to left field, making to Tribe outfield among the best in the league. Brantley is hitting at a solid .302 clip.

With the six walks he has drawn thus far, his OBP raises to .367. While Shin-Soo Choo has not caught his stride as of yet, he has notched 10 hits in the last nine ball games, and his batting average will continue to rise.

Designated Hitter Travis Hafner has looked like a vintage form of himself with yet another home run today. It was his fourth of the season.

Last season, it took him 36 games last season to belt No. 4. He is hitting the cover off the baseball, with a .354 average and nine RBI.

After the two disastrous opening games of the season, the starting rotation is boasting an ERA of 1.91.

The bullpen has been smothering for the most part; Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez and Chris Perez have yet to give up a run, with Chris Perez converting his first five save attempts and batters only hitting well under .100 off him.

Hang onto your hats, folks. The Indians will begin a three-game set with the Kansas City Royals starting Monday at 8:10.

The Royals have also started the season hot, and are currently one game behind the Indians in the AL Central standings, holding down second place.

Although it may seem a backwards beginning to the season, I cannot help but absolutely love it.

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The St. Louis Cardinals‘ impressive hot streak on offense came to an abrupt stop as the team entered a pitching battle today against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Chris Carpenter started the game for the Red Birds, facing off against the Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley. Carpenter gave up zero runs in his seven innings, and Billingsley responded with eight scoreless innings of his own.

The only person that hit well at all for the Cardinals today was outfielder Matt Holliday. Holliday got three of the team’s four hits against the Dodgers, including a 9th inning double against closer Jonathan Broxton. Third baseman David Freese got the team’s fourth hit following Holliday’s double. It was a blooper into shallow right field that scored Holliday, making the score 1-0.

Mitchell Boggs entered the game for Carpenter to handle the eighth inning. Boggs had a great appearance, as he faced three batters up and three down.

Most were probably hoping to see Boggs finish the game after the Cardinals took the lead in the 9th inning. However, manager Tony LaRussa sent in Trevor Miller to face Andre Ethier, who was the first batter of the 9th. Ethier answered back with a lead off double into right field.

LaRussa then brought in Ryan Franklin. It was a nail biting moment for fans, who were right to be nervous, as Matt Kemp ended the game with a two run walk-off home run.

It was a questionable move to begin with, as Franklin has appeared in only one inning in nine days. But what was even more concerning was that Franklin has blown three out of his four save opportunities before today.

Now, LaRussa is going to have to think long and hard about the facts at hand. In six appearances Franklin has blown four out of his five save opportunities, has given up three home runs, has an 0-2 record and is sitting with a 9.64 ERA.

At some point, the team has to realize that Franklin is not the closer he once was. Mitchell Boggs and Eduardo Sanchez are both very appealing options for the job. The team can not continue to lose close games due to blown saves. If the season comes down to a close division race, then these missed opportunities could mean everything.

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Justin Verlander Baffles Everyone in Fifth Inning Against A’s

To my knowledge, the Oxford English Dictionary does not have a definition for the term “brain fart.” I guess it’s just not on the same level as words like “LOL” or “OMG.”

Lucky for us, Urban Dictionary does have a definition for brain fart:

A spontaneous stupid (Stupid the noun, not stupid the adjective) usually accompanied by loss of train of thought and saying something fantastically stupid without realising it.

Perfect. Now that we have that out of the way, we can talk about Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander, who had one of the worst brain farts in baseball history last night against the Oakland Athletics.

With the Tigers trailing 3-1 in the fifth inning, David DeJesus stepped to the plate for the A’s with a runner on first. Four pitches into the at-bat, Verlander got the notion that he would throw over to first.

However, he appeared to get his feet tangled up, and he threw home instead. The ball nearly hit DeJesus, who appeared to be more than a little annoyed.

For a few brief moments, nobody seemed to have a clue what just happened. The umpires eventually ruled it a balk.

According to MLB.com, Verlander thinks the play may be a baseball first.

It might be the first time that has happened, in general. I thought nothing could happen at the plate. It was a weird circumstance. It was funny talking to the umpires. They gave me a hard time about it, too.

Verlander eventually escaped the fifth without allowing any runs, but he and the Tigers did go on to lose the game, 6-2, with the Tigers righty taking his second loss of the season.

That last part is a bummer, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this video clip. Count on it.

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If only the Seattle Mariners offense could actually show up before they found themselves hopelessly behind—such has been the underlying theme of the Mariners’ 2011 campaign. And Friday night was a microcosm of that very issue, too little too late.

Against the Kansas City Royals, the Mariners offense floundered for the first seven innings, registering just one lone hit. Three up, three down was the story for the offense through innings three through seven, as Royals starter Luke Hochevar dominated the hapless hitters.

After 100 pitches in seven innings, Hochevar was finally done for the night and the M’s immediately took advantage in the eighth inning. Off reliever Blake Wood, Ichiro singled in Luis Rodriguez to cut the lead to 6-2.

Then, in the ninth inning off closer Joakim Soria, the M’s were able to get four walks and a Michael Saunders RBI single to narrow the lead to 6-4. With the bases juiced with one out and Ichiro, the team’s strongest hitter at the plate, suddenly things were looking hopeful for the M’s.

But like they’ve done all season, the offense failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position. Ichiro did manage a weak ground-out to score another run, but Chone Figgins lined out hard to end the rally and the game.

Granted, Soria’s pitches were all over the place and offered the offense several opportunities they wouldn’t have normally gotten. But regardless, the game tonight reaffirmed a lot of things about this team for me.

Off to a slow start, things have been tough for the offense to get in a groove. The Mariners are mired in a slump, and it’s no new concept that good teams tend to get lucky. Look no further than Figgins’ stinging line drive with the game on the line in the ninth…straight to the third baseman.

Of course, the blame rests equally on the oft-injured shoulders of Erik Bedard. For the third straight outing, Bedard failed to pitch more than five innings. Falling to 0-3 with an 8.56 ERA on the season, it’s clear that Bedard has been the weak chain in the link that is the M’s starting rotation.

Bedard was able to get out of  a couple jams, but gave up too many runs to keep the M’s in the game. The team can’t afford to keep trotting Bedard out on the mound every fifth day expecting a taxing game for the bullpen and a probable loss (combining a poor offense and mediocre pitching and that’s what you get).

Falling to 4-10 two weeks into the season, the M’s face serious questions with almost every facet of their team.

To make sure this doesn’t just become a rant, and to give credit where credit is due, it’s important that we highlight the successes of first baseman Justin Smoak. Pinch hitting for Brendan Ryan in the ninth, Smoak worked a seven pitch walk to force in a run. Smoak has hit .273 on the season, good for second on the team, and has walked as many times as he has struck out (nine times).

King Felix will try to stop the bleeding Saturday afternoon (10:10 AM PT) against Sean Sullivan, who has an 11.25 ERA in two appearances this season. 

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The Colorado Rockies knew going into the season that their rotation was going to be better than the experts gave them credit for.

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View From the Rockpile: Musings From a Mile High Along the Journey to Rocktober

There’s no bigger stage for a middle-market club than the sparkling new sandlot just a skip, hop and a seven-train jump from Broadway.  Do it here, and media, critics and fans will take notice. 

America, meet the 2011 Colorado Rockies.

The Rockies entered this season demanding better from themselves away from the friendly confines of Coors Field.  Road warriors, they need not be; but 31-50 on the road (as they were in 2010), they cannot be, not if they aim to make their NL West championship dreams come true.

After taking three of four from the Pirates in PNC Park, the Rockies looked to continue to exorcise their road demons at Citi Field against a struggling New York Mets squad. 

Yet, having lost eight straight series in the Big Apple and 22 out of their last 27 in old New York, New York, the Rockies still had their work cut out for them.

Consider those dragons tamed, at least for the moment.  With the Herculean efforts of team leader Troy Tulowitzki, the Rockies fought their way through wind, rain, daily deficits and a doubleheader to an amazin’ four-game series sweep against the Mets.

Just how did the Rockies manage to turn the Mets into the Mess?  Take a look inside to find out…

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Another day, another one-run road win.

What was the Achilles’ heel of the Colorado Rockies in 2010 has turned into one of their biggest strengths thus far in 2011. 

The Rockies swept the New York Mets on Thursday, taking both games of the doubleheader 6-5 and 9-4. This marks the first time the Rockies have swept the Mets since 1994, and just their third series win ever against the Mets in New York.

The big story coming out of Queens is Troy Tulowitzki. 

Who else?

Watching Tulowitzki so far this April has been like watching a video game. Over the four-game series, he went a combined 10-16 with 9 RBI. Oh yeah, he also hit home runs in each of the four games. 

The Mets as a team have five home runs at Citi Field this season.

He also became the first player in Major League history to hit home runs in each of a four-game series against the Mets.  

The MVP favorite has followed up his record-setting September 2010 with an April 2011 that has potential to set records. Going back the last six weeks of regular season play, Tulowitzki has 22 home runs and 54 RBI. 

It doesn’t matter who you root for, that’s unreal. 

Tulowitzki needs four more home runs to tie Larry Walker’s record of 11 in the first month of the season. 

The Rockies return home to Coors Field at 10-2 record, the best record in Major League Baseball. They lead the NL West by four games over the Dodgers and the Giants.

If the other teams in the NL West aren’t careful, the Rockies could be 25-5 before you know it.

The Rockies are a major league best 7-1 on the road, and 4-2 in one-run games—also good enough for best in the big leagues.

The starting pitchers are also 9-0 so far this season. Best pitching staff in baseball? Decide for yourself, but the Rockies make a convincing case.  

This weekend, the Rockies return home to face the 6-6 Chicago Cubs for three and the 6-6 San Francisco Giants for three. If they keep this level of play up, they could be 16-2 next time they hit the road. With the way they’ve been playing, teams welcoming in the Rockies need to be very careful.

With trips to Miami to face the Marlins, to Wrigley to face the Cubs and a three-game set with the Pirates in Denver, the Rockies could nearly eclipse the 25-win mark before the calendar hits May.

Not something to put money on, but if you’ve followed this team for any amount of time, you know it’s possible. 

Watch out for this team. Being the first team to 10 wins is only the beginning for the 2011 Rockies. 

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Last night was my first night at the yard in 2011. I failed at going to the park in 2010, only attending five Giants games in one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory, three of which were in Washington, D.C. against the Nationals.

But last night I was at the yard, and I saw something (two things, actually) that reminded me of something that the Giants didn’t have until last year: power. 

Let’s look at the last few years: (NL rank) [MLB rank]

2007: 131 HRs (14) [25]. The last year with Barry Bonds.

2008: 94 HRs (16) [30]. The only team with under 100 homers.

2009: 122 HRs (15) [29]. The number one team had twice as many (New York Yankees, 244).

2010: 162 HRs (6) [11] The same amount as Texas, who was “the best offensive team” in 2010.

You lose Barry Bonds, you lose a lot of power. But even before then, Giants fans were always clamoring for someone else to hit home runs around Barry Bonds. There was no more Moises Alou or Jeff Kent to back him up. And then he left. 

The Giants sure fell in love with the long ball last year though, and they really stressed that they couldn’t rely on it this year to win games. The first few wins of this homestand didn’t need the home runs, but instead were all about “keeping the line moving” and getting runs home. None of them were walk-off home runs, but walk-off hits. 

Last night the Giants fans were treated to two home runs that got them back in the game, and then ahead. I’ll admit, I was already taking a lot of flak from all the Dodger fans that I was with when Barajas hit his homer, and was not expecting back-to-back jacks from Pablo Sandoval and Mike Fontenot in the slightest. 

But then the Panda hit one high and deep to left-center and (from our seats, at least) it barely cleared the wall, giving an Ian Kinsler-esque bounce that went the right way. And then Mike Fontenot, who hit one home run in 2010, stepped up to the plate. He looked like a bat boy when getting his high-fives, AFTER he took Ted Lilly way over the Willie Mays Wall in right.

That was not a cheapie. And it put the Giants ahead. Late in the game, that back end looked very strong, once again. Ramon Ramirez, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson. Game over. 

Homers get it done. If the Giants can sprinkle in a few game-winning hits to go with their bevy of homers like last year, they’ll win more games. I don’t think they’ll live and die by the home run as much, which also leads to less pressing to hit home runs, and a higher overall average and OBP. 

I love when the Giants win, especially when they beat the Bums. Homers by unexpected people just make it more fun.

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The A’s need to learn that a baseball game is traditionally nine innings, not ten.

That didn’t seem to matter to the green and gold on the South Side, as the A’s managed to steal two out of three games, that all needed extras to be resolved.

Game one featured dominating pitching performances by Dallas Braden and Mark Buehrle. It appeared the A’s would go down 1-0 without a fight, but an Andy LaRoche double and Juan Pierre error pushed across a ninth inning run and gave the A’s a chance in the tenth.

Kurt Suzuki then launched his first home run of the year and the Fuentes closed out the White Sox in the bottom of the tenth for the save.

Game two featured shakier pitching from Trevor Cahill. The newly minted long-term Athletic wobbled through the first two innings, yielding four runs. The A’s rallied and with a Kevin Kouzmanoff two-run homer the A’s nursed themselves to a 5-4 lead, which was promptly surrendered by the bullpen. Both teams matched zeroes until the bottom of the tenth, where Alexei Ramirez launched his second home run of the game to give the Sox a 6-5 walk-off victory.

Game three seemed to be a sure loss for the A’s, who’s offensive deficiencies put them in a 4-1 hole heading to the top of the ninth. Their only run was courtesy of a Hideki Matsui home run, who appears to be warming up to the season.

The A’s mounted a furious comeback, capped by a two out bases loaded single by Cliff Pennington to knot the game at four apiece. The A’s mustered three more runs off of Matt Thornton in the tenth and Fuentes easily shut down the White Sox for his fifth save in five chances, a 7-4 win and a road series victory.

Offense

The offense seems finally to be coming round after scoring a respectable fourteen runs in the three games. Matsui batted 5-13 with a home run and three RBI’s in the series. Daric Barton was 5-9 and had a career high four hits in Tuesday’s loss.

David DeJesus is the one A’s player lagging behind the rest, as he batted 2-13 and seemed to find a way to quash every A’s rally he was in the middle of. Conor Jackson continued to be affective and should look to get more playing time along with Ryan Sweeney, if DeJesus continues to struggle.

Defense

The defense in games one and two was solid, but hit a bit of a rough patch in the Wednesday finale. Brett Anderson and Kouzmanoff committed errors that led to unearned runs.  Conor Jackson found himself at third base for the end of the game after Kouzmanoff had been substituted. Luckily Jackson managed to avoid the ball while in the field.

Starting Pitching

Solid, but not as spectacular. Dallas Braden was the best giving up only a solo home run in six innings. Trevor Cahill struggled and failed to finish five innings, while Brett Anderson pitched through a gritty 5.2 innings, yielding three runs, two earned.

Relief Pitching

Definitely their best series of the year. Four shutout innings on Monday, two runs in 5.1 innings on Tuesday, and a single unearned run through 3.1 Wednesday. Fuentes pitched two innings and got a pair of saves. Tyson Ross pitched a dominating three shutout innings on Monday and received the win for his troubles. Grant Balfour pitched bottom of the ninth in the finale and was rewarded with his first win as an Oakland A.

Managing

No apparent blunders for Bob Geren and company. Compared to Ozzie Guillen’s use of the White Sox’ “bullpen,” Geren looks like a manager savant, but maybe its a bit too early to declare him manager of the year.

The A’s played well in crunch time and managed to snatch two victories from the jaws of defeat. After a successful 5-4 road trip, the A’s return home to the generous confines of Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to take on the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox.

Let’s hope their luck continues. 

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