Kuzul

• Five Giants had multi-hit games on Thursday—Huff, Sanchez, Burrell, Uribe and Posey combined to go 12 for 18 with four home runs and seven RBIs. 
• Matt Cain has been a horse for the Giants—he’s gone at least six innings in 25 of his 29 starts. 
• Pablo Sandoval was 0 for 4 with two double plays and leads the National League with 26 GIDP (grounded into double plays) this season. I looked it up, and Sandoval could easily tie or set a record for most GIDP in a season by a switch hitter. It is currently held by Ted Simmons and Dave Philley, who each had 29. The record for most in a season by any hitter is 32, held by Miguel Tejada, who set it in 2008 with the Astros. 
• Watch out for the Rockies: they’re currently riding a seven-game winning streak and stand just 2.5 games behind the Giants. 
• The Giants continued their great pitching on Thursday—nine of their last 11 starts have been quality starts. And they’ve prospered behind their great pitching, going 7-2 in September thus far.
• The Giants have been scoring by virtue of the long ball on this road trip (even at Petco Park on Thursday). According to Comcast Sportsnet, they have scored 73.1% of their runs on this road trip (19 of 26) from home runs. 

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Chris Nelson has been known as the shortstop that the Rockies drafted the year before Troy Tulowitzki. He had been a career minor-leaguer, battling injuries most of the way through his journey.

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In many ways, watching yesterday’s game between the Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland Indians was akin to watching paint dry.

Jeff Mathis hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Torii Hunter and giving the Angels a 4-3 win over the Indians in 16 innings, averting a sweep against one of the worst teams in the American League.

In a game that lasted 4 hours and 57 minutes, the Angels managed only six hits against eight Indians pitchers, while the Tribe stranded 16 total baserunners.

As much as manager Mike Scioscia enjoyed the win, he lamented the inability of his team to capitalize earlier in the contest. 

“On the offensive side, again, it was like root canal,” said Scioscia. “We were grinding it out, and some things were a little painful.

“We had a lot of opportunities, and we couldn’t execute some little things that would have made it easier to win the game earlier.”

Angels starter Scott Kazmir was actually effective in this one, going six innings and giving up just two hits and one run while striking out six.

Mike Napoli and Peter Bourjos connected for home runs in back-to-back innings off Indians starter Josh Tomlin, with Bourjos’ round-tripper giving the Angels a 3-1 lead after six.

The Angels bullpen was unable to hold on though, as the Indians clawed back with single runs in the seventh and ninth to send this game to extra innings. Andy Marte homered off Jordan Walden in the seventh, and closer Fernando Rodney allowed three singles in the ninth, the final one driving home the tying run.

The Angels had a golden opportunity to win it in the bottom of the ninth. Alberto Callaspo singled, and Mike Napoli followed with a walk, putting runners at first and second with one out.

After an Erick Aybar groundout moved the runners ahead, Indians reliever Joe Smith threw a pitch that got by catcher Lou Marson. Callaspo broke for home and appeared to have Marson’s toss to Smith at the plate beaten. However, Callaspo attempted a hook slide and completely missed home plate and was tagged out on the play.

Had Callaspo slid straight to the plate, he would have been safe, giving the Angels a regulation victory.

The Angels had chances in the 10th and 11th innings as well, with Indians center fielder Michael Brantley robbing Torii Hunter of a homer with a leaping grab at the fence in the 10th and catcher Jeff Mathis botching a suicide squeeze attempt by popping up in the 11th.

Mathis redeemed himself with his sacrifice in the 16th. “The pitch was down and away, but it’s a pitch I’ve gotten down before, and one I should have gotten down tonight,” Mathis said. “I’m glad I got a second chance, for sure.”

You can follow Doug Mead on Twitter @desertdesperado.

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It’s a bird, it’s a plane—no, wait, it is a baseball flying over the visitor’s dugout in left field at Yankee Stadium.

Nick Swisher made sure the New York Yankees avoided getting swept by the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday afternoon in the Bronx, by hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth with one out.

Swisher’s teammates and fans alike were ecstatic for the most fun-loving player in pinstripes.

It is impossible not to love Swisher, as his vivacious attitude is infectious.

Swisher was a well-needed breath of fresh air in 2009; his personality soothed a traditionally overly-anal Yankees locker room.

Swisher quickly earned high regard and respect in New York because he works just as hard as he plays. He is the first to praise his teammates in any interview, always with a smile on his face (unless it’s right after a loss).

This season, Swisher has been consistent at the plate, hitting 25 home runs with 80 RBI, 31 doubles, and three triples. He has been the glue multiple times in 2010 when the Yankees were struggling.

Swisher’s clutch hit changed the somber mood in the Bronx for fans and the team, who were about to extend their losing streak to four. Instead, the Yankees finish this 10-game homestand 7-3.

What great timing for the Bombers, who head out for the longest stretch of road games on the season.

This nine-game spread is just the start of one of the toughest September schedules in MLB. It will test the Yankees who start in Texas against the Rangers, then head to Tampa to meet the mighty Rays, only to finish up at Camden Yards against the newly-talented Orioles.

Nick Swisher got the right mood going into it, that is for sure.

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One swing of the bat erased 52 nervous hours for the Yankees.

Nick Swisher‘s two-run, walk-off homer to beat the Orioles, 3-2, on Wednesday afternoon in the Bronx cleansed the palette after a frustrating day by Joe Girardi and the Bombers’ offense, and prevented New York from taking a four-game losing streak into an off-day before a tough three-game series in Texas.

A loss would’ve given Baltimore its first three-game sweep in New York since 1986, been the first time the Yanks were swept at the new stadium and handed the Bombers their first four-game skid of the season. As it stands now, they remain the only team in baseball this year not to lose four straight.

A loss would’ve also put the Yankees in a tie in the loss column with the Rays atop the American League East, but Swisher took care of all that with an opposite-field shot off Koji Uehara.

Let’s take a look at the grades from this game:

Joe Girardi, Manager: (D) Girardi has made a slew of bewildering decisions of late. In the second game of this series on Tuesday, he pinch-hit Alex Rodriguez in the seventh inning. After A-Rod reached on a fielder’s choice, Girardi left him in the game to run, but he didn’t allow him to play the field in the eighth; meaning if his spot in the order came up again in the ninth with the Yanks down by four, he would be unavailable to hit.

According to Michael Kay, Girardi didn’t pinch-run for Rodriguez, because he wanted him to be available to to hit again in case the Yankees batted around in the seventh. Since A-Rod would’ve been the 13th man to come to the plate in that situation, New York would’ve already scored eight runs in the inning and been ahead, 10-6. Apparently, that’s a more important situation for Rodriguez to hit in than with the game on the line in the ninth.

On Wednesday, the questionable calls again arose in the seventh. With one on and one out and the Bombers down, 2-1, Buck Showalter brought in lefty Mark Hendrickson to pitch to Lance Berkman. This seemed to be an obvious situation to pinch-hit Marcus Thames, who is a .327 hitter against southpaws this year, for Berkman, who hits lefties at a .184 clip. However, Girardi stuck with the former Astro, who struck out swinging.

Thankfully, the skipper did bring in Thames with Granderson’s spot due up next as he is just a .246 hitter versus lefties, and the pinch-hitter proceeded to smack a single to right, advancing Robinson Cano to third. Of course, there were now two outs instead of one, so the next batter would need a hit instead of a sac fly or a groundout to tie the game. Before that could happen, Girardi sent out a pinch-runner for Thames, only to call him back to the bench. Even Girardi doesn’t have any confidence in what Girardi is doing.

Due up next was Francisco Cervelli, who Girardi let bat instead of bringing in Jorge Posada. That move seemed very strange at the time, but it was later revealed that Posada was dealing with concussion-like symptoms after being struck in the head on a foul-tip on Tuesday. I guess the Yankees didn’t reveal that until after the game, because they didn’t want the O’s to know he wasn’t available?

Finally, in the ninth, Girardi did his patented pinch-run for A-Rod after he reached with a single. It’s a good thing he did, because I don’t know if Rodriguez would’ve been able to trot around the bases on Swisher’s homer as quickly as Eduardo Nunez did.

I don’t have any stats to back this up, but I’d be willing to bet my Carlos Zambrano bobblehead that A-Rod has been pinch-run for more times in the past two years than he was in his previous 14 seasons in the bigs combined. Nunez didn’t appear to be stealing once during the six pitches to Cano and Swisher.

Brett Gardner, LF-CF: (B+) Gardner had an RBI double in the third, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. I don’t have a problem with that because he made the second out, not the first or third. Gardner is batting .329 in the leadoff spot, as opposed to .241 in the nine-hole.

Derek Jeter, SS: (F) The captain’s nightmare season continued on Wednesday as he went 0-for-4 and committed his sixth error. He’s now hitting just .262, his lowest average since he was at .207 on April 13, 2009, which was just seven games into that year. I’d still rather have him up in a big spot in the playoffs than anyone else on the team.

Mark Teixeira, DH: (F) Teixeira also had a rough day, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He’s 5-for-34 (.147) as a DH in 2010. Let’s try and maybe keep him in the field.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (A) A-Rod got the ninth-inning rally going with his second single of the day. He’s played just one complete game since Aug. 15.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (C) Cano singled and struck out in four at-bats.

Nick Swisher, RF: (A+) I know I wasn’t the only one snickering when Kim Jones got some of Swisher’s pie in her eyes.

Lance Berkman, 1B: (C-) Berkman walked, but went 0-for-2 with a strikeout and couldn’t pick Jeter’s errant throw out of the dirt.

Curtis Granderson, CF: (B) Granderson walked, stole, and scored in the third. He’d have a lot more than 11 steals if his on-base percentage was higher than .318.

Francisco Cervelli, C: (C) Cervelli was 0-for-2, but he did his job by advancing Granderson to third with less than two outs using a grounder to the right side in the third.

Eduardo Nunez, PR: (INC) Pinch-trotter.

Marcus Thames, PH-LF: (B) .306/.379/.532. This guy needs to be in the lineup every day.

Ivan Nova, SP: (B+) Lost in Swisher’s walk-off was the rookie’s fourth straight solid outing. This may have been his best yet as he allowed just two runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts over six innings. His ERA is 2.92 and I’d rank him as the Yankees’ fifth-best starter, ahead of Javier Vazquez.

David Robertson, RP: (A) Robertson retired all four batters he faced.

Boone Logan, RP: (A)  The lefty struck out both batters he faced.

Joba Chamberlain, RP: (A)

Yankees Overall Grade: (B+) The Bombers have scored just 11 runs over their past four games, so they better pick things up if they want to outslug the Rangers this weekend. With Vazquez, A.J. Burnett and Dustin Moseley scheduled to start, chances are Texas will be putting up a lot of runs.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

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The Pittsburgh Pirates have been a cellar-dwelling team for as long as most fans remember. But often, in September, they have their moment of glory by taking three games from a division leading team in PNC Park.

This is what may be happening now, against the Atlanta Braves. A win tonight would result in a sweep. Even a loss would not change the fact that the Pirates have already clinched the three game series.

In 2006, the Pirates swept the New York Mets in three games at home, thereby delaying their clinching of the division. Two of the winners were lefties Paul Maholm and Zach Duke. In the third game, Tom Gorzelanny, also a southpaw, started, but was rescued by a “committee” of  relievers, with closer Matt Capps getting the win.

Last year, the Bucs took three out of four at home from the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. Paul Maholm, Dan McCutchen, and Zach Duke all pitched good games, but only Duke got a win; the other two were “no decisions” for the two starters and split 1-1.

The remaining game was pitched by a committee, with Jeff Karstens being lifted after three innings, Donnie Veal getting the win in a 3-1 game, and three more relievers protecting the lead.

On the other side was a reliever named James McDonald (traded by the Dodgers to the Pirates in July 2010 as partial consideration for reliever Octavio Dotel).

Monday night, Brian Burres put up one of his better starts against the Braves, giving up only one run in six innings (This is his third quality start, giving up a total of four runs in nineteen innings, all at home.). Even the Pirates were good enough to score three runs off Tommy Hanson, resulting in a win.

Last night, James McDonald pitched seven scoreless innings, including finding his way out of a couple of jams. Veteran Tim Hudson put up only six blank frames, and then came apart in the seventh, to the tune of five runs, leading to a 5-0 victory for the home team.

In his best three (home) games, against the Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, and Atlanta Braves, McDonald has given up one run in twenty innings. But his five inning, five-run start against the Mets, though technically in PNC Park, was of “away” game quality, and his four away games have been (mostly) this bad.

The last game of the current series features Zach Duke, the hero of the previous two series. Paul Maholm will open the next one.

In the two earlier years, the losses to the Pirates were just speed bumps on the way to the division leadership for the Mets and the Dodgers. This year, though, the impact on Atlanta may be more meaningful.

They’ve already lost their division lead as a result of the past two losses. Another loss tonight could push them down into a tie for the wild card if San Francisco wins.

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From the start of Tuesday’s game, the Giants’ bats were working. Andres Torres – who had been struggling – led off with a double, and two batters later, Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer. Buster Posey then doubled and scored off a Jose Guillen RBI single. With three runs of support, Tim Lincecum began dealing, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning. Through six innings, he had struck out nine; but in the seventh inning, it all collapsed for the Freak. Kelly Johnson led off with a triple, followed by a Chris Young home run. Two batters later, Miguel Montero singled, then scored on a Tony Abreu triple, which marked the end of Linecum’s night. Nevertheless, his line was respectable, especially after such an awful August: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 11 K. The high K rate, as well as the fact that he allowed just five hits through 6.2 IP are promising signs. The ball does have a tendency to fly in Arizona, after all.

The Giants offense put up six runs, which is more than enough. Huff, Sanchez, and Burrell each homered, and Posey, Torres, Renteria, and Guillen each doubled. Torres and Huff are starting to heat up – just in time for the big Padres series. Everything that can be taken from this game is positive. Even the relievers did an excellent job, surrendering just zero earned runs and just one hit through 2.1 innings pitched. The defense, as usual, wasn’t stellar, but it also wasn’t dreadful enough to the point where the Giants came close to losing the game…and in the end, that’s all that really matters.

Notes:

• The Giants are now 6-1 in September. For comparison’s sake, in July, when they went 20-8, they began with a 4-3 record. 
• The Dodgers’ record has now sunk below .500: they are 69-70. Unfortunately, it’s hard to be happy about their failures while they are playing the Padres. 
• Seven of the Giants’ last nine starts have now been quality starts. 
• Tim Lincecum seized the National League lead for strikeouts with his 11-K performance on Tuesday. He stands at #1 with 199 K. The next closest are Kershaw and Halladay who have 197 and 196 strikeouts respectively. Jonathan Sanchez is at #10 with 172 K, despite logging fewer innings than most of the others in the top 10. He has pitched 164.2 innings whereas Halladay, for example, has logged an incredible 221 innings already. 
• Seven of the Giants in the starting lineup had extra base hits – not something we see every day. 
• The Giants are now 61-10 when they score four or more runs. That is the target number: four. 
• Despite winning the last two games to end their 10 game losing streak, the Padres’ offense is still struggling. They’ve scored just six runs in those two wins. 
• With Torres’ leadoff double, he moved to 2nd in the majors in doubles. He’s tied with Evan Longoria with 43 doubles. Jayson Werth is 1st in the majors in doubles with 44. 

Tomorrow: Barry Zito will pitch against Daniel Hudson. The day we have come to dread is tomorrow: Zito’s start. And Daniel Hudson’s put up some impressive numbers this year, like his 3.03 ERA. Last time he faced the Giants, he went seven innings, allowing 2 ER, just four hits, and striking out six. At least Zito won’t pitch against the Padres; and the final game of that series is going to be a great matchup: Lincecum vs. Latos.

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From the start of Tuesday’s game, the Giants’ bats were working. Andres Torres – who had been struggling – led off with a double, and two batters later, Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer. Buster Posey then doubled and scored off a Jose Guillen RBI single. With three runs of support, Tim Lincecum began dealing, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning. Through six innings, he had struck out nine; but in the seventh inning, it all collapsed for the Freak. Kelly Johnson led off with a triple, followed by a Chris Young home run. Two batters later, Miguel Montero singled, then scored on a Tony Abreu triple, which marked the end of Linecum’s night. Nevertheless, his line was respectable, especially after such an awful August: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 11 K. The high K rate, as well as the fact that he allowed just five hits through 6.2 IP are promising signs. The ball does have a tendency to fly in Arizona, after all.

The Giants offense put up six runs, which is more than enough. Huff, Sanchez, and Burrell each homered, and Posey, Torres, Renteria, and Guillen each doubled. Torres and Huff are starting to heat up – just in time for the big Padres series. Everything that can be taken from this game is positive. Even the relievers did an excellent job, surrendering just zero earned runs and just one hit through 2.1 innings pitched. The defense, as usual, wasn’t stellar, but it also wasn’t dreadful enough to the point where the Giants came close to losing the game…and in the end, that’s all that really matters.

Notes:

• The Giants are now 6-1 in September. For comparison’s sake, in July, when they went 20-8, they began with a 4-3 record. 
• The Dodgers’ record has now sunk below .500: they are 69-70. Unfortunately, it’s hard to be happy about their failures while they are playing the Padres. 
• Seven of the Giants’ last nine starts have now been quality starts. 
• Tim Lincecum seized the National League lead for strikeouts with his 11-K performance on Tuesday. He stands at #1 with 199 K. The next closest are Kershaw and Halladay who have 197 and 196 strikeouts respectively. Jonathan Sanchez is at #10 with 172 K, despite logging fewer innings than most of the others in the top 10. He has pitched 164.2 innings whereas Halladay, for example, has logged an incredible 221 innings already. 
• Seven of the Giants in the starting lineup had extra base hits – not something we see every day. 
• The Giants are now 61-10 when they score four or more runs. That is the target number: four. 
• Despite winning the last two games to end their 10 game losing streak, the Padres’ offense is still struggling. They’ve scored just six runs in those two wins. 
• With Torres’ leadoff double, he moved to 2nd in the majors in doubles. He’s tied with Evan Longoria with 43 doubles. Jayson Werth is 1st in the majors in doubles with 44. 

Tomorrow: Barry Zito will pitch against Daniel Hudson. The day we have come to dread is tomorrow: Zito’s start. And Daniel Hudson’s put up some impressive numbers this year, like his 3.03 ERA. Last time he faced the Giants, he went seven innings, allowing 2 ER, just four hits, and striking out six. At least Zito won’t pitch against the Padres; and the final game of that series is going to be a great matchup: Lincecum vs. Latos.

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Another former Brooklyn Cyclone, Dillon Gee, made his Major League debut for the Mets tonight against the Washington Nationals. He was opposed by Cuban defector Yunesky Maya, who also made his Major League debut.

Before he even threw his first pitch in the big leagues, Gee was staked to an early 3-0 lead on a three-run first inning homer by Ike Davis. Davis crushed Maya’s offering deep into the center field bleachers for his 18th home run of the year.

Unlike the other Mets’ starters, Gee benefited from actually pitching with the lead. I wonder how Johan Santana feels that the Mets rarely score for him and meanwhile they are plating three runs early for some rookie making his debut.

That being said, Gee looked fantastic tonight, not allowing a hit through the first five innings. Imagine: the Mets haven’t had a pitcher throw a no-hitter in their 48 year history, but could Gee, making his major league debut, be the first?

Naturally, Mets’ fans will have to wait at least one more day, as Met-killer Willie Harris led off the sixth inning with a home run. The homer was the only run allowed by Gee, who finished with seven innings pitched, two hits, one run, three walks, and four strikeouts. He looked very impressive tonight and hopefully can string together a few quality starts as the season winds down.

Gee bares some similarity, in my mind at least, to former Mets’ starter Rick Reed, who pitched for the team in the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Reed was a control specialist who did not overpower hitters but relied more on hitting his spots. Though he had three walks, Gee strikes me as someone who lives and dies by his control. A more contemporary example would be Tom Glavine. Let’s just say Glavine was not too prone to hitting his spots, especially in the unspeakable final game of the 2007 season.

Gee also smacked an RBI single in the second inning, adding to his terrific night.

Rarely does a player collect his first big league win, hit, and RBI in the same night, but Gee was truly something else.

Before we get too excited about Gee, let’s see how he fares in his next few starts. But I do have to say, he certainly earned those next few starts with his performance tonight.

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You can’t get off to a much more auspicious start to your Major League career than Dillon Gee did tonight. In his debut, Gee held the Washington Nationals hitless through the first five innings. Though the baseball gods and the bat of Willie Harris would not allow Dillon to flirt with history beyond out number fifteen, he nonetheless posted one of the best debuts in recent memory.

The most impressive aspect of his performance was his willingness to pitch to contact. This led to quick and easy outs, especially in the first few innings.

His control was good, his fastball had life, his breaking ball was effective, and he had Nationals hitters confused and off-balance much of the night.

He even brought the lumber…

To read the rest of this article, please visit Mets Gazette 

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