Yardwork: Jim Leyland Erupts & the Dodgers Collect 25 Hits
By Tim Ryan
The always colorful Jim Leyland went nuclear on umpire Ed Rapuano last night after he changed a call at first base, initially calling Detroit’s Andy Dirks safe but then overturning the call after conferring with home plate umpire, Alfonso Marquez. What you’re seeing here in the GIF is Jimmy mocking the manner in which Rapuano changed the call. Genius. Yesterday I happened to stumble upon a Lou Piniella quote from Old Timer’s Day where he mentioned what George Steinbrenner said to him when he first hired him:
"“Your Job is to win games but you get paid to put fannies in the seats too, so when you get kicked out, put on a good show.”"
Whether he was trying to or not, and my guess is that this is just how he is when he’s supremely pissed off, Jim Leyland sure as hell knows how to put on a show. The Tigers got two in the eighth sparked by Jhonny Peralta’s triple and beat Toronto by a score of 4-2. Max Scherzer had a nice outing, going seven innings and allowing two runs while striking out nine.
Dodgers 15, Twins 0 — This one got bad enough to the point Twins fans were forced to resort to chants of “we’re not bankrupt!” The Dodgers finished with a ridiculous 25 hits, and Matt Kemp had four of them including a double and his 22nd homer of the season. In the deep, dreary shadows of this Dodgers season, Kemp’s resurgence has been a nice story that’s not getting much attention at all.
Braves 3, Mariners 1 — Freddie “Freebird” Freeman broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh with a two-run shot off of Erik Bedard. Bedard also gave up a homer to Brian McCann but I remain shocked by how well he’s pitched this season, mainly because I did not think he would pitch this year, or any year.
Indians 5, Diamondbacks 4 — Orlando Cabrera homered off J.J. Putz with two outs in the ninth. He would make a wonderful addition to the Giants if the Indians would oblige.
Padres 4, Royals 3! I cannot think of a worse interleague matchup than this one, but I suppose you would rather pit Glass Joe against Don Flamenco and watch the two flail at one another rather than witness Glass Joe take on Soda Popinski or Bald Bull. All you need to know about this showdown is that Mat Latos scored on a wild pitch. Jason Lisk Mancrush Watch: Eric Hosmer went 1-for-3 with a double and sac fly. He also had an error.
Cubs 7, Rockies 3 — Matt Garza went a solid 7 1-3 innings but did allow two home runs. He’s given up five long balls over his last three starts. That’s a bit concerning, although this is how the story goes for the Cubbies. Even when they win, they still lose. Carlos Pena was one of three Cubs who went deep. After looking at his numbers, he’s basically an end-of-career Tino Martinez at this point.
Since there were some who expressed dissatisfaction via Twitter and email regarding the absence of their team in yesterday’s edition of Yardwork after the Mets took two of three from the 2010 AL champs, here’s Jose Reyes abusing the Rangers on Sunday. The dude has 14 triples:
[GIF via Mocksession]