Yardwork: Pirates Get Shafted in the 19th Inning, Praying Mantis Visits Marlins
By Tim Ryan
Marlins 11, Nats 2 — On a much lighter note than the controversy at Turner Field, a praying mantis made pals with some of the Marlins last night while Jordan Zimmermann got shelled.
Yankees 4, Mariners 1 — This headline about sums it up: “Mariners lose 17th straight, striking out 18 times.” CC fought a couple rain delays and flirted with a perfect game into the seventh, striking out a career high 14, but it was not to be. Last night was the first chance in awhile that I got to see a full start from Doug Fister and I must say, the dude can pitch. I was impressed with his fists of fury. He rarely gets run support though, which explains why Dougie is often spotted fisting himself.
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Angels 2, Indians 1 — Jered Weaver pitched seven innings of one-run ball. He’s been nothing but efficiently awesome. I just have a feeling Jered will need to legpress a live alligator between each pitch in order to impress the, at times, blind sports media.
Tigers 5, White Sox 4 — It wasn’t quite the same type of evening for Justin Verlander. The Tigers stud served up two dingers but managed to hold on for eight innings. This type of start is where someone annoying might say, “this guy is a gamer,” a close friend of the “this guy is a baseball player” expression. Wilson Betemit’s RBI single in the eighth was the difference. I still can’t believe the White Sox swapped Nick Swisher for Betemit with a straight face.
Phils 7, Giants 2 — Chase Utley hit an inside the park home run that was capped by a adept, thunderous slide into home plate. It sounds so cliche, because it is, but it’s hard not to love the way Utley plays. He also said “Muff” at the end of his postgame interview. Muff is a reference to announcer Chris Wheeler. Muff.
[Top photo via Getty]