Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Off Base Percentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy: Tim Teufel

Yankees 9, Diamondbacks 3. Dan Haren had gone seven innings, allowing three runs and was at 109 pitches. Naturally, it was time for Arizona manager A.J. Hinch to go to his bullpen, or The Rudy Steins as I like to call them. The Yankees said "yes, we have no problem hitting against AA pitchers," and in the eighth, NY broke it open with six runs against Esmerling Vasquez (6.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) and Chad Qualls (8.88 ERA, 2.26 WHIP). Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte continues to amaze. The southpaw threw seven innings of two-run ball and Alex Rodriguez homered (first since June 3) and drove in three for the defending champions, who are a season-best 1 1/2 games up in the East.

Cardinals 9, Bluejays 4. Jose Bautista came in to the 2010 season with 59 career home runs, never hitting more than 16 in any of his four full seasons. After hitting two off Jaime Garcia, Bautista has a ML-high 20 home runs and his OPS+ of 146 is 48 points higher than his career mark. Oh, yes, something about the winning team. Matt Holliday, whose nickname on Baseball Reference is "Big Daddy", has had a fun four games, going 11-for-17 with five home runs. St. Louis stays a game up on Cincinnati in the Central because....

Reds 4, Athletics 2. This was just a case of playa-hatin'. In this particular incident, Oakland pitcher Dallas Braden didn't respect Bronson Arroyo (8 IP, 2 ER) or the 305, and the Reds kept Whitey winless since May 9. Coco Crisp sighting: two-run home run in the third for Oakland's only runs.

Mariners 2, Cubs 0. A lot of Mariners' trade talk centers around Cliff Lee, but is Jason Vargas available? Another dominant start-7 IP, 4 H, 7 K, 1 BB-for the lefty, who last year was demoted to the bullpen after a dreadful start against the Royals, if you can believe that. This season, he's been a perfect compliment for the ridiculous Lee. Imagine if the Mariners had an offense.

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Off Base Percentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy: Jim Eisenreich



Braves 6, Rays 2. Since the Reds beat him up for eight earned runs in 1 2/3 innings May 20, Tommy Hanson has given up seven runs in his last five starts (31 IP, 2.03 ERA), all Braves wins. Hanson was excellent again Wednesday, tossing seven shutout innings on a three-hitter. One of the hits was a bunt single by Carlos Pena, which doesn't count because I don't believe it actually happened.

Giants 6, Orioles 3. The feel-good story of the summer has ended. After winning their first consecutive game Tuesday, the O's couldn't figure out Tim Lincecum (6 IP, 2 ER, 10 K) and fell to 18-48, but they did hit him in the shoulder with a line drive, which in 2010 counts as a victory for Baltimore.



Mariners 2, Cardinals 1. We have found A Bright Spot in the 2010 Season of the Seattle Mariners™. Jason Vargas allowed one earned run in 7 2/3 innings of five-hit ball, continuing his excellent season. Since his first start of the season, when Texas got to him for five earned runs in 5 1/3, Vargas hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of his 12 starts.

Bluejays 7, Padres 1. It's amazing how a player can fall off the face of the earth for a couple years, then he's taking Kevin Correia deep on Kevin Correia Bobblehead Day (rumor). Vernon Wells, who sold me a DVD player at a Best Buy just last year, hit his 16th home run in a resurgent year. He still doesn't get on base enough, but his power is back (.571 slugging, almost 100 points higher than his career mark) and the DVD player no longer works.

Whitesox 7, Pirates 2. The last time Pittsburgh won was June 5, which doesn't sound that bad until you realize it's June 17. That's 10 consecutive losses for the Pirates after Zach Duke (5 2/3 IP, 5 ER) lost his 49th game of the year (unofficial).