Yardwork: White Sox Win on Walkoff Balk, Cubs Lose on Walkoff Wild Pitch
By Tim Ryan
As for the White Sox win via walkoff balk, the most surprising storyline might have been Hawk Harrelson’s call, which somehow wasn’t a complete abomination, at least by his “standards.” The last team to lose in such hilarious fashion was naturally the New York Mets a few weeks ago, so of course, up next in line were the Royals.
"“We had a tough loss against the Mets (Sunday), so I was like ‘Derek I’m going to take a picture of you in this uniform here and I’m going to lift our guys’ spirits (in New York),” Cashman said. “… and I’m also going to send the message: try to do everything you can to not get injured so you don’t wind up in a minor league rehab assignment wearing a uniform looking like this.”"
Fantastic. Does anyone remember Brian Cashman being this consistently candid about, well, pretty much everything? Maybe it’s the absence of Big Stein, but I swear he’s never been this loose. Love how he offered up his top three draft picks — Cano, Reyes, A-Rod — if he were to pick from the current Yankee and Met rosters. Jeter was hitless in his return and the Yankees lost 6-3 in Cleveland thanks to some shoddy defense (looking at you, Gardner and A-Rod) and a typical AJ Burnett meltdown, all taking place in the seventh.
Albert Pujols could return to the Cards lineup a month early depending on what doctors say later this afternoon. While that’s impressive, the most fascinating aspect has to be Tim Kurkjian’s gushing report on that possibility earlier this morning on SportsCenter. After listening to Timmy preach on the legend of Pujols, I’m confident that if ESPN held a prom or a fancy ballroom dance, he would ask Albert to be his date.
Phils 1, Marlins 0 — Vance Worley threw seven shutouts innings and was rewarded after the game by being sent down to the minors. Before you sling feces, it was done with good reason. The Phils have an off day on Thursday, so Worley will get a start in the minors and then rejoin the team after the All-Star break. Worley allowed just two hits, both of which were singles. This is great news for everyone who loves the Phillies. This is atrocious news for everyone else.
Rangers 13, O’s 4 — I was amused that one of the headlines for this game was, “Rangers Ruin Showalter’s Return to Texas.” Yes, the buzz surrounding Showalter’s homecoming was palpable to say the least. Endy Chavez, who continues to miraculously tread water in the majors, went 2-for-3 with a double, a homer and 4 RBI.
Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 7 — It would be an understatement to say John Lackey has not pitched well this season and it certainly appears to be getting worse. His line? 2.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. Glass half-full? No walks! Amazingly, after serving up a double to Jacoby Ellsbury, “closer” Frank Frank struck out Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez and Yamaico Navarro to preserve the win.
Twins 7, Rays 0 — Brian Duensing pitched a complete game shutout and the Twins have won two straight. Do I dare discuss their climb back to .500? I shall not. I’ll let them do their thing. I will say that I’m pretty excited for the usual AL Central clusterfuck as we head into the second half of the season.
Why on earth would I choose a Mets walkoff clip against the Yanks? Because Jason Bay takes a lot of crap in New York and he’s handled it with nothing but patience and class. But wait, that clip is not embeddable yet? MLB Advanced Media strikes again.
How about Doc’s return to Toronto?
[Werth photo via Getty; Jeter photo via Off the Bench]