What's the Buzz? 5/20/06
Hard-nosed baseball today. That's what we got.
The crosstown rivalries were fierce today.
In New York, the Yankess, down 4-0 in the top of the ninth, rallied against closer Billy Wagner for the victory. Not even a save situation but I guess someone wanted more of that "Enter Sandman" drama. As the Mettalica song blared, Wagner walked in and gave a rock solid 1/3 inning with 4 ER. Mariano Rivera, the real "sandman", went on to pitch 2 innings with 4 K's and earned himself the win when Andy Phillips earned his pinstripes with a game winning RBI single in the 11th. Unfortunately, with every good bit of Yankees news comes a little bad as the rumors are now swirling that the Bombers could be interested in signing Richard Hidalgo. First Terrence Long and now this? Please say it ain't so...
While Barry Bonds tied Babe Ruth on the all-time HR list with his 714th career HR today, the real story was closer Armando Benitez blowing the game by allowing inherited runners to score. I don't even know why they were on base in the first place. Manager Felipe Alou shouldn't have let Jason Schmidt go out for the ninth. No matter how good he looked, he had already thrown 113 pitches at that point. In the end, the Giants came back and won it in the 10th and Benitez was given Schmidt's win.
The battle for supremacy in Chicago got ugly when Cubs catcher Michael Barrett took offense to being barrelled over by Sox catcher A.J.Pierzynski and sucker punched him after the play. Both benches cleared and in the end both catchers were ejected along with Sox OF Brian Anderson and Cubs 1B John Mabry. In the end, the Sox came out on top behind 8 solid innings of shutout ball from Freddy Garcia and 2 HR and 6 RBI from Tadahito Iguchi. The poor Cubbies are really get pushed around that town these days.
In other news...
The countdown begins on Reds closer David Weathers. He blew his third straight save opportunity today and Todd Coffey is waiting in the wings with his 0.70 ERA and his 22 K's in 25 2/3 innings.
Braves catcher Brian McCann, off to a great season so far, left today's game with a left ankle sprain suffered in a home plate collision today. They say he's day to day, but it looks like he may end up on the DL.
Cardinals pitcher Anthony Reyes made his long awaited debut throwingfor 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball allowing only 4 hits. No word on whether he will get another start before Sidney Ponson comes back. The team may not need a 5th starter next week.
Twins OF Shannon Stewart may need to go on the DL with a heel injury that seems to be lingering. If he does, look for the return of Jason Kubel. He should get the call up and platoon with Lew Ford if Stewart goes down.
The Mariners finally ended their relationship with Matt Lawton as the designated him for assignment and will probably grant him his release. Maybe he'll catch on somewhere else, but if he's not happy being a bench player these days, maybe he should find a new line of work.
Also on the release front. the Angels finally dumped infielder Edgardo Alfonzo. He was pitiful in the meager 50 at bats he got and it doesn't look like he will find a job elsewhere unless a serious plague strikes a few teams. He could be calling it a career.
Jason Lane continues to lose playing time in Houston with his poor play. Not that Preston Wilson has been any better, but that still isn't the way to be guaranteed a strating position. It could be trouble if he continues to sit, but chances are they'll go back to using him regularly soon.
That's all I 've got for you for now...
Catch you next time...
The crosstown rivalries were fierce today.
In New York, the Yankess, down 4-0 in the top of the ninth, rallied against closer Billy Wagner for the victory. Not even a save situation but I guess someone wanted more of that "Enter Sandman" drama. As the Mettalica song blared, Wagner walked in and gave a rock solid 1/3 inning with 4 ER. Mariano Rivera, the real "sandman", went on to pitch 2 innings with 4 K's and earned himself the win when Andy Phillips earned his pinstripes with a game winning RBI single in the 11th. Unfortunately, with every good bit of Yankees news comes a little bad as the rumors are now swirling that the Bombers could be interested in signing Richard Hidalgo. First Terrence Long and now this? Please say it ain't so...
While Barry Bonds tied Babe Ruth on the all-time HR list with his 714th career HR today, the real story was closer Armando Benitez blowing the game by allowing inherited runners to score. I don't even know why they were on base in the first place. Manager Felipe Alou shouldn't have let Jason Schmidt go out for the ninth. No matter how good he looked, he had already thrown 113 pitches at that point. In the end, the Giants came back and won it in the 10th and Benitez was given Schmidt's win.
The battle for supremacy in Chicago got ugly when Cubs catcher Michael Barrett took offense to being barrelled over by Sox catcher A.J.Pierzynski and sucker punched him after the play. Both benches cleared and in the end both catchers were ejected along with Sox OF Brian Anderson and Cubs 1B John Mabry. In the end, the Sox came out on top behind 8 solid innings of shutout ball from Freddy Garcia and 2 HR and 6 RBI from Tadahito Iguchi. The poor Cubbies are really get pushed around that town these days.
In other news...
The countdown begins on Reds closer David Weathers. He blew his third straight save opportunity today and Todd Coffey is waiting in the wings with his 0.70 ERA and his 22 K's in 25 2/3 innings.
Braves catcher Brian McCann, off to a great season so far, left today's game with a left ankle sprain suffered in a home plate collision today. They say he's day to day, but it looks like he may end up on the DL.
Cardinals pitcher Anthony Reyes made his long awaited debut throwingfor 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball allowing only 4 hits. No word on whether he will get another start before Sidney Ponson comes back. The team may not need a 5th starter next week.
Twins OF Shannon Stewart may need to go on the DL with a heel injury that seems to be lingering. If he does, look for the return of Jason Kubel. He should get the call up and platoon with Lew Ford if Stewart goes down.
The Mariners finally ended their relationship with Matt Lawton as the designated him for assignment and will probably grant him his release. Maybe he'll catch on somewhere else, but if he's not happy being a bench player these days, maybe he should find a new line of work.
Also on the release front. the Angels finally dumped infielder Edgardo Alfonzo. He was pitiful in the meager 50 at bats he got and it doesn't look like he will find a job elsewhere unless a serious plague strikes a few teams. He could be calling it a career.
Jason Lane continues to lose playing time in Houston with his poor play. Not that Preston Wilson has been any better, but that still isn't the way to be guaranteed a strating position. It could be trouble if he continues to sit, but chances are they'll go back to using him regularly soon.
That's all I 've got for you for now...
Catch you next time...
posted by Howard Bender at
10:33 PM
