Yardwork: Mattingly Mistake, Pinella Retiring, Affable Alex Cora
By Ty Duffy
San Francisco 7-5 Los Angeles: Don Mattingly inadvertently walked to the mound twice, which Bruce Bochy spotted. This forced the Dodgers to take out Jonathan Broxton with the bases loaded and a 5-4 lead in the ninth. San Francisco scored three runs. Ballgame. Expect endless analyst debates about this zany decision today. July baseball. Feel the excitement.
Chicago Cubs 14-7 Houston: Aramis Ramirez hit three home runs, raising his adjusted OPS+ to an electrifying 87. His effort was enough for Eric Byrnes to bust out the Pujols comparisons. Lou Pinella announced he will retire at the end of the season. With him and Bobby Cox leaving, the last barricades against the encroaching Jamesian utilitarianism are falling. The crotchety yet winsome “old school baseball guy” will soon be a relic. The game that arose as a pastoral antidote to soulless, efficient industry is becoming its finest specimen.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 10-2 New York Yankees: Yankees lose. Thuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh Yankees lose. New York has helicopter parented their young pitching, with little success. In his fourth season, Phil Hughes is in “uncharted territory” and showing signs of fatigue in mid-July after throwing 106 innings. I guess that’s better than Joe Torre “Proctoring” him. The Yankees have three everyday hitters batting over .300 right now. Would anyone have bet at the beginning of the season two of them would be Nick Swisher and Brett Gardiner?
Cleveland 4-3 Minnesota: The Cleve has won six in a row for the first time since 2008. If baseball had relegation, this might mean something. They could win 20 in a row and it would not matter. Don’t worry Cleveland. It’s less than two months until Jake Delhomme’s inevitable Super Bowl run begins. The White sox are now 3.5 up over Detroit and the Twinkies.
St. Louis 7-1 Philadelphia: Jamie Moyer, 64, left in the first inning with an elbow problem. The Cardinals pounced on the bullpen. St. Louis is half a game ahead of Cincinnati in the Central. The Phillies, losers of three in a row, are now four games and five teams away from the Wild Card. Some good news? Ryan Howard is on pace for just over three wins above replacement, which would mean the Phillies would only be paying him twice what he’s worth, if the extension began this season instead of in 2012.
[Mr. Met via Getty]