Curveballs for Jobu 8/28/11

Curveballs for Jobu is the trip around the ballparks Offbasepercentage keeps forgetting to take.

Today's honorary bat boy is Jody Reed.


[Reed autographed 1991 Score card. Estimated value: 8 kidney beans]


Indians 8, Royals 7. Cleveland trailed 7-5 in the bottom of the eighth when Asdrubal Cabrera launched a three-run home run to put the Tribe ahead for good. That was Cabrera's 21st home run, which leads all Asdrubals.

Pirates 7, Cardinals 0. Chris Carpenter came into his Saturday start with a 2.33 ERA in 19 career starts against the Pittsburgh, but the Overbays got to the right-hander for six earned. That's not only the most he's ever allowed to the Pirates, but the most since surrendering seven to the Reds May 15. You know who else gave up seven runs that day? Brian Duensing.

Angels 8, Rangers 4. The California Angels Based Out of Anaheim hit five home runs Saturday, including one from rookie Mike Trout, MTD's new imaginary boyfriend since Chase Utley extended the restraining order to 1,000 feet.

MTD after Trout's home run: "I want to take him to prom."

Devilrays 6, Bluejays 5. While watching this game I was forced to look at this logo



and that wasn't a nice thing for the Bluejays to do.

Tigers 6, Twins 4. Carl Pavano: 6 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 2 HR, LOSS.

Dodgers 7, Rockies 6 (11). A day after becoming the fastest Dodger to reach the 30-30 plateau, Matt Kemp hit a walk-off home run in the 11th as LA won its fifth straight game.

Whitesox 3, Mariners 0. Ken Harrelson's pick to click, Johnny Danksy, twirled a three-hit shut out and had 10 hegones! The Seattle offense, which had been lost for months, was finally spotted in a grocery store parking lot in Livingston, Montana.

"I told you it was in Livingston!"

- Fake Mariners fan fighting with his girlfriend

Diamondbacks 3, Padres 1. Fantasy Watch: Aaron Cunningham: 0-for-4.

Yankees at Orioles DH ppd John Habyan
Marlins at Phillies DH ppd hot dog bun riot
Braves at Mets ppd Chip Caray skinned knee



Other games, but down here....

Reds 6, Nationals 3
Brewers 6, Cubs 4
Redsox 9-4, Athletics 3-0
Giants 2, Astros 1 (10)

Curveballs for Jobu 8/19/11

Curveballs for Jobu is the trip around the ballparks that Offbasepercentage keeps forgetting to take.

Today's honorary bat boy is Brook Fordyce.




Jobu last appeared on June 29, when candy was only five cents and the Astros had Mike Scott. Since that time, MTD has been on a journey trying to discover the true meaning of the third day after Christmas, while Derwood took up work as a traveling air guitar salesman.


Yankees 8, Twins 4. My first Jobu since May 3 and of course we lead off with the Yankees. But this game was more about the Twins. It's been an interesting year for Minnesota, for hilarious reasons: Carl Pavano stinks, and for historic reasons: James Thome recently hit his 600th home run. But Thursday may have been the most bizarre day of the season for the Hrbeks. Minnesota came to the park with no bench, and that's not me trying to make fun of the caliber of players on the bench, or suggesting that the players were forced to stand all game. The Twins did not have anyone available on the bench: Michael Cuddyer (neck), Denard Span (concussion symptoms), and Matt Tolbert (?) were all banged up with injuries and didn't play, Jason Kubel was away from the team for family reasons, and a person named Luke Hughes missed his flight from Triple-A Rochester because HE WAS AT THE WRONG GATE. That's like the time when I was supposed to fly to New York for a family reunion, but was at the wrong airport. It's not that Uncle Ralph was mad, he was just disappointed. Anyway, Hughes arrived just in time to strike out on three pitches in the ninth, and New York stayed a half game up on Boston in the AL East.

Dodgers 5, Brewers 1. How do you slow down a red-hot team? Let Rod Barajas playa hate. The LA catcher hit a solo home run in the second to get the Barajas (new word for "party") started and the Dodgers never trailed in preventing Milwaukee from completing a 7-0 home stand. Clayton Kershaw was pretty good, too, tossing eight shut out innings in winning his 15th game.

Nationals 3, Reds 1. Now, I've been away for quite a while, but I think I may know what's wrong with the Reds: Miguel Cairo is batting fifth. Anyway, Thursday belonged to Jesus Flores, who homered for the first time since May 8, 2009. You know who else homered that day? Chris Coste.

Indians 4, Whitesox 2. The return of KenHarrelsonVoice™!

"Well, the good guys came into Thursday's game hoping to pick up a half-sandwich on the idle Tiggers. Sox got a little bingo from Pauly in the third, you can put it on the boarrrrrd, yes! Attaboy Pauly. But the Tribe came right back with two in the fourth against Zach Stewart. Stewsie left one out over the plate and Matt Laporta put it on the boarrrrrd, no. Our Sox threatened in a couple innings, but couldn't push any peas across the dish. The good guys did strike out 13 bad guys: Jason Donald in the first, he gone! Shin-Soo Choo in the second, he gone! Carlos Santana in the ninth, he gone! Wimpy's pick to click, Juan Pierre, went 1-for-5."

Braves 1, Giants 0. Mike Minor (6 IP, 4 H, 9 K) and three relievers combined on a five-hitter as Atlanta won on Paul Runge bobblehead night.

Bluejays 7, Athletics 0. Actual announced attendance: 14.




Other games, but down here...

Padres 3, Marlins 1
Angels 2, Rangers 1
Phillies 4, Diamondbacks 1
Redsox 4, Royals 3

Let's Make Fun of Carl Pavano!

The Coasters? Take it away, please....





Wow. It's like Christmas morning, except instead of a new bike or a pot of mashed potatoes, it's Carl Pavano failing at his job and then acting like a 7-year old in the dugout!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a fantastic video of Carl Pavano following his little league pitching performance by going into the dugout and swinging a bat at inanimate objects!

Hey, That's My Uncle's Logo!

The Lohud Yankees Blog has a story on a Yonkers woman who is filing a lawsuit against the Yankees claiming the organization stole the top hat logo from her uncle.

The woman's name is Tanit Buday, and her uncle was Kenneth Timur, not to be confused with Tibor, who got promoted ahead of Homer at the Nuclear Power Plant. What is interesting about Buday's suit is, it has brought to light a few other lawsuits against the Yankees:

* A Staten Island woman is suing, claiming the team stole the idea of wearing pants from her raccoon, Vincent.

* A Queens woman is suing, claiming the team stole the interlocking NY logo from her uncle and his religious support group Novice Yeshivas.

* A Yonkers man is filing a lawsuit against Tanit Buday, claiming his Yonkers neighbor stole his idea for a lawsuit against the Yankees.

* A Long Island teenager is suing the Yankees, claiming the organization removed, without cause, Derek Jeter from her basement.

* Local couple Dominic and Marie Delvecchio is suing the Yankees for stealing their idea for a promotional day called Bring Your Sausage & Peppers Sandwich to the Ballpark.

* And unrelated to the Yankees, a Bronxville man is suing a man from South Jersey for not specifying whether his forthcoming 'knuckle sandwich' was literal or figurative.

[UPDATE: It was figurative, and the Bronxville man nearly starved to death].

The Derwood Morris Semi-Baseball-Related Bucket List

This list isn't all baseball, but to the Offbase fraternity of readers/hobos, it hardly matters.

Presenting the Derwood Morris bucket list.

1. Meet one person who has ordered oatmeal at McDonalds
2. High dive into a pool of soy sauce
3. Bring Mariano Rivera from the bullpen to the mound in a Yankees wheelbarrow™, sit in the wheelbarrow behind the mound for the ninth inning
4. Meet a woman named Mildred
5. Purchase a minor league baseball team and re-name it the Flying Derwoods
6. Co-star as Stiles Stalinski in Teen Wolf 3
7. Live in a hockey goal for one day
8. Meet a man named Mildred
9. Convince a stranger that we attended the same elementary school
10. Go for a swim while wearing an overcoat and jeans
11. Fit an entire head of lettuce in my mouth

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Todays honorary bat boy is Benny Agbayani.

Marlins 6, Mets 2.

Josh Johnson wasted no time proving that last year's breakout performance was no fluke by taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Of course, it was against the Mets who seem to just ooze futility as an organization these days. I may have had a few questionable comments about the Marlins John Buck signing but he made me look like a fool (more of a fool?) by hitting a grand slam. Everbody's favorite baseball tweeter @LomoMarlins also added a homer. Carlos Beltran returned to the Mets lineup going 1-4, so there's that.

White Sox 15, Indians 10.
If Indians fans knew they'd get 10 runs on opening day, they probably would have been ecstatic. But they still got routed by the Sox in a game that was never even close. Adam Dunn launched one in his Sox debut. Thanks to MLB.TV, I didn't have to listen to Hawk Harrelson which is why my laptop isn't smashed into bits right now.

Blue Jays 13, Twins 3.
Blog enemy Carl Pavano tossed some BP for the fellas at the Rogers Center giving up seven earned over four innings. J.P. Arencibia, Jose Bautista and Adam Lind all took Pavano yard. The young Jays catcher wasn't finished either as he hit another homer in the 8th inning. Justin Morneau went 0-4 in his first game back from a season ending concussion that cost him half of last season.

Dodgers 4, Giants 3.
The defending champs fell to 0-2 but Brandon Belt hit his first career home run. I've watched a few of his plate appearances and I don't see any way that the Giants can send him down unless I just jinxed him and he goes on a 0-46 un-tear.

Orioles 4, Rays 1.
Who had Jeremy Guthrie outdueling David Price? Price looked filthy at times and struck out seven over seven but allowed all four earned runs. Brian Roberts hit a triple which is good for my fantasy team because I wasn't sure he was still alive. Mark Reynolds only struck out once, much to my chagrin.

Pirates 6, Cubs 3.
Andrew McCutchen is good at the baseball. The Cubs, not so much.

Royals 2, Angels 1.
Kila Ka'aihue hit the walk off home run against Michael Kohn as Rehab's "Drinking Problem" played in my bedroom.

Also played...
Rangers 9, Red Sox 5.
Mariners 6, A's 2.
Phillies 5, Astros 4.
Diamondbacks 7, Rockies 6 (11).

Off Base AL Central Preview

Offbase editors Derwood Morris and MTD haven't had much luck previewing things lately-MTD incorrectly predicted Gary Discarcina would come out of retirement to help the Angels win the 2009 World Series and Derwood thought Teen Wolf 3 would be the 2010 summer blockbuster. But here are division previews anyway.

Today I preview the AL Central because my boy Mike at The Golden Sombrero doesn't respond to text messages anymore. Jerk.

Chicago (2010: 88-74)
The White Sox picked up Adam Dunn's Three True Outcomes to DH for a pretty good lineup provided Paul Konerko, Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin don't completely collapse on themselves. Somebody better knock on wood. The good news is Gordan Beckham can't possibly be as bad as he was in 2010. Unless he's been studying the Brandon Wood handbook to future unemployment. Remember when Jake Peavy was a great pitcher? No, seriously, I really want to know. Somebody look that up for me.

Minnesota (94-68)
I'm fascinated by the Twins. Justin Morneau won an MVP that he didn't deserve in 2006 but was well on his way to an MVP season last year before a concussion derailed his second half. I blame that on pee-wee hockey and Canada. Joe Nathan missed the entire season and Joe Mauer went back to not hitting for power. And then Carl Pavano pitched like he belonged in Major League Baseball and they won 94 games. My Off Base prediction for the Twins is that Tsuyoshi Nishioka will hit .387 in 2011 and then .116 in 2012 but they'll still make the playoffs thanks to Gardy's willingness to sac bunt in the first inning.

Detroit (81-81)
Miguel Cabrera had another offseason bout with alcohol and is projected to have another 35+ home run season. There's something to be said about consistency. Austin Jackson's BABIP and OBP should regress in a big way leaving Cabrera and Victor Martinez as the only Major League bats in the lineup.

Cleveland (69-93)
Quick, name a starter other than Fausto Carmona. Shin-Soo Choo is pretty much the bright spot for the Indians until Carlos Santana is fully healthy from his season ending injury in his rookie year. Grady Sizemore is still trying to get his once-bright career back on track after being derailed by injuries. Here's to hoping Grady can play at a high level again and keeps his clothes on.

Kansas City (67-95)
The Royals farm system is loaded. 2011 begins their journey toward World Series Championship contention...in 2015.

New York at Minnesota

As soon as I start a baseball blog, the Angels miss the playoffs for the first time since 2006. I hope you like your post-season previews filled with animosity and tears.

Derwood wanted to write this preview but he opened an email from some porn-spam and it burned down his apartment. Now he's selling oranges off of the 75-loop in Atlanta, swing by on your commute. The Yanks face the Twins at 7:37 Central Time Wednesday night so long as George Lopez doesn't have an emergency prime-time special.

My Completely Biased Opinion.
Yep, I hate the Bronx Bombers. Yet, I love Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin. Go figure. Meanwhile, I really like Joe Mauer and whatever Gardy is doing in the Twin Cities. Can I pick against the Evil Empire? Sure can. More on that later.

Just Some of the Facts M'am.
I already touched on the Yanks' decision to skip AJ Burnett in the ALDS which probably isn't the worst idea. Instead the Yanks will trot out CC Sabathia on short rest for game 4 if necessary and let Phil Hughes take the mound for game 3. Sabathia was 21-7 with a 3.18/3.54/3.78 pitching line. 21 wins? Give that man the Cy Young The Twins will counter with Francisco Liriano and his 3.62/2.66/3.06 and 6 WAR. So Liriano was just about 1 win better than Sabathia this season. That my friends, is huge. But will Liriano get any Cy love with his pedestrian 14 wins and bloated 3.62 ERA? No sir but don't let that fool you. He is a true ace.

Capt'n Jetes hit .270/.340/.370 and saw his wOBA fall .70 points from last season. And according to Fangraphs' WAR, this was Jeter's worst season EVER unless you want to count his 51 plate appearances in 1995. But at least he'll only re-sign next season for around 4 more years and $80 million. Joe Mauer had a disappointing season of his own, hitting .327/.402/.469. Slacker. The Twins had to shut Justin Morneau down for the season after a concussion turned out to be the only thing that could slow him down. In 348 plate appearances, Morneau hit 18 home runs and .345/.437/.618. That is half of an MVP season.

Prediction.
My utter disdain for the Yankees prevents me from ever picking them despite my desire to be right. Do I feel good picking a team that is starting Carl Pavano in game 2? Nope, sure don't but here it goes anyway. Twins in 5.

AJ Burnett Told No Thank You By Yankees

The Yankees have decided to start CC Sabathia on short rest rather than giving AJ Burnett a game 4 start. Burnett had just about his worst professional season in 2010 during the second year of his 5-year, $82.5 million contract. His 5.26/4.83/4.66 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) line is the worst of his career and, perhaps even more concerning, he struck out much fewer (6.99 K/9) than his career average (8.34 K/9). His walk and strand rates were right along his career norms and his BABIP (.319) wasn't wildly unlucky. He simply stopped striking hitters out this year.

So the Yanks will give Sabathia and 38-year-old Andy "Come On, You Know You Want To" Pettitte 2 starts if necessary against the Twins and they'll mix in a game 3 start from Phil Hughes. How the Yankees can spend $3 billion on payroll and not find a quality fourth starter baffles me. I suppose that will be corrected this off-season when they write Cliff Lee a blank check.

In a rather amusing turn of events, the Yankees will face former "employee" and blog enemy Carl Pavano. Pavano is enjoying a nice bounce back season for the Twins sporting a decent 3.75/4.02/4.01 pitching line. And with a 17-11 record, he'll most likely receive way too many Cy Young votes. Which I will find hilarious because it will make Derwood's head explode.

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is Butch Wynegar, whose real name is Harold Delano Wynegar.

Whitesox 11, Twins 0. These are the kind of days Yankees fans live for. Carl Pavano: 6 IP, 15 H, 7 ER.

Indians 7, Royals 3. A Cleveland-Kansas City game is a magical time in sport where the winning team makes five errors and wins by four runs. KC actually led 3-0 heading into the 8th inning, but the Royals decided to hand the ball to Blake Wood, Dusty Hughes and Greg Holland (1 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER). With the win, the Tribe have officially kicked off their run at the 2018 AL pennant.

Marlins 4, Pirates 2. The Buccos fell to 40-81, which means one more loss to clinch an 18th consecutive losing season. And we can also restart the John Russell Countdown to Unemployment at 10 days. Argenis Diaz: 2-for-3, RBI.

Dodgers 2, Rockies 0. As if the Cubs' season wasn't horrifying enough, Ted Lilly pitched a complete game, two-hitter and struck out 11, improving his Dodger numbers to 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA since the trade. Lilly retired 19 batters in a row at one point, and a bewildered Dodger fan, on his way to the parking lot in the sixth inning said "when did the Dodgers trade for Ernie Lilly?"

Astros 3, Mets 2. I apologize to the Lee family, but I didn't know Carlos was still alive. Lee hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the seventh inning and Bud Norris allowed two runs in seven innings on Bud Norris bobblehead night.

Curveballs for Jobu

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

Today's honorary bat boy is Jim Vatcher. He's here to remind you that the Braves traded Dale Murphy.

Curveballs for Jobu thought about playing hooky today but I caught it smoking cigarettes behind a dumpster and made it come in to work. I'm at the helm today because Derwood doesn't have the Internet. He moved into a neighborhood that AT&T only offers dial-up. Which, I assume, means he moved to some jungle community in South America.

Rangers 3, A's 1. Cliff Lee threw another 9 inning, no decision game for the second time in three starts. He struck out 13 while shockingly not walking a batter. His strikeout to walk ratio is now a silly 16.29. Nelson Cruz hit a walk-off 2-run home run in the 10th to improve my fantasy team's playoff hopes while dashing the Angels' playoff hopes.

Twins 11, Royals 2. Blog enemy Carl Pavano just keeps on winning. He went 5 innings but he only surrendered 1 one and ran his record to 13-6 and is tied for the AL lead in wins. I may have to get Derwood sedated when Pavano receives CY Young votes this year. Bruce Chen only need 113 pitches to give up 11 hits, 6 runs and 3 walks in one of his more impressive outings. Wilson Betemit: 1-4.

Nationals 3, Braves 0. Stephen Strasburg was scratched before the game but I'm pretty sure he still struck out 5. Miguel Batista is apparently still playing pro ball and got the start in Strasburg's place. He combined with Sean Burnett, Drew Storen and Matt Capps to blank the Braves.

Mets 8, Cardinals 2. Adam Wainwright got lit up to the tune of 6 runs over 5 innings and his ERA ballooned to 2.23. Jeff Francoeur homered and only saw 9 pitches in his 4 plate appearances. Francoeur was in a hurry because he was trying to get home in time for the new episode of Louie. Can't say I blame him either.

Curveballs for Jobu

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

Today's honorary bat boy is Tony Womack



Yankees 10, Royals 4. Excuse me, but Alex Rodriguez homered Thursday, his 599th career long ball, and is on the verge of becoming the seventh player in history to hit 600 home runs.....(crickets).......(louder crickets). I think the milestone deserves respect it just isn't getting. I mean, the guy is only one of the 15 or 20 best baseball players of all time and he's about to hit his 600TH HOME RUN. "No, Derwood, we'd rather talk about Carl Pavano's fourth complete game of the season, even though he pitched in 145 2/3 innings in FOUR SEASONS with the Yankees. And Rodriguez also took steroids, even though everybody was taking them, including Carl Pavano!"

That concludes this brief edition of Whining and Ridiculous & Slanderous Accusations.

Nationals 7, Reds 1. I really thought Livan Hernandez had died two years ago. That's not meant to be an insensitive comment directed at the Hernandez family, I actually thought I remembered hearing about a mountain climbing accident or something. But he's alive, 79-years old, and pitching complete games in 2010. Thursday, Hernandez had his second nine-inning start of the year, throwing 72 of his 102 pitches for strikes as the Nats salvaged a split against Cincy. Also alive: Adam Kennedy (2-for-4, BB, RBI).

Redsox 8, Mariners 6 (13). John Lackey, the ugliest on a really ugly Boston team, had a no-hitter going through 7 2/3 innings. A fellow Yankees fan and I pulled out a Josh Bard rookie card (estimated value: 4 mustard packets), rubbed it a little, started talking to it-"duck snort to right-center field"-and sure enough Bard snorted to RCF. Ugly guy loses no-no. Then in the ninth, Bill Hall happened. With Boston up 6-4, Jack Wilson, facing the 5th-ugliest Redsox Jonathan Papelbon, hit a double play grounder to shortstop, but after Marco Scutaro flipped to second for the first out, Hall's throw landed in Edmonds, WA and the tying runs scored. Unfortunately, Seattle reliever Garrett Olson is horrible and the lefty allowed a two-run double to equally-horrible Eric Patterson, and us Yankees fans had to settle for Lackey's night being ruined. Good enough.

James Howard Thome: 1st Ballot Hall of Famer

I was looking at Sunday box scores earlier today and landed on Minnesota's come-from-behind win over the Whitesox. There he was, 39-year old Jim Thome, picking up two more hits. We're now in the Padding My HOF Resume portion of the big lefty's career.



Thome shouldn't have any problem getting in on his first try, five years from whenever he retires, and if he's had a decline I missed it. His 2010 slash line - .257/.380/.539 as a part-time player heading into Sunday's game - is excellent, and he's still hitting the ball out of the park and drawing walks (10 HR and 31 BB in 184 PA). Thome isn't one of the first names that fans think of when discussing first-ballot HOFers, but it should be.

Career statistics (through games of July 17, 2010)

BA/OBP/SLUG/OPS: .277/.404/.556/.960
OPS+: 146
HR: 574
BB: 1,650

Hang on, it gets better

OBP seasons of .410 or better: 9 (career high-.450 in 1996)
OPS+ seasons of 150 or better: 9 (career high-197 in 2002)
Seasons with 100 or more walks: 9 (career high-127 in 1999)

About that 2002 season

Any time you get close to a 200 OPS+ in a single season, something went Bizzaro Irabuian for you that year. Thome has had several outstanding seasons, but he went nuts in '02. His slash line of .304/.445/.677, OPS of 1.122 and the aforementioned OPS+, along with 52 home runs should've won him the AL MVP. But, wait: Miguel Tejada had 204 hits! And I'm assuming leadership! And was a great clubhouse guy! And gave Oakland Tribune beat writers bite size Three Musketeers bars before every game! And also had a WAR of 5.2, while Thome, who finished seventh in the balloting, had a WAR of 8.1. In fact, only Alex Rodriguez, who finished second, and Jason Giambi (fifth), had an argument to have finished ahead of Thome.

Let's see who else finished ahead of Thome in 2002:

* Alfonso Soriano and his .332 OBP, 23 walks and 4.7 WAR? That smells like Pavano, but Soriano finished THIRD.
* Garret Anderson and his .332 OBP and .871 OPS? That contains a pungent fragrance reminiscent of 1996 post-season Kenny Rogers, but Anderson finished fifth.
* Torii Hunter and his 3.0 WAR? That gives off an odor of Mondesi, but Hunter finished sixth and received 16% more of the vote than Thome.

This started as a tribute to the career of Jim Thome and quickly spiraled into MVP Voters Are Dunderheads and Yankees Whining, Part 37.

Curveballs for Jobu

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

Today's honorary bat boy is Rolando Roomes.

Hey Sunday shut ins, I'll be covering our little round up today while Derwood is back from his vacation and had to go back to earning money. If you're in the Atlanta area, stop by the interstate and buy a sack of oranges from him. He needs the money. Crazy ain't cheap and he buys it in bulk from Costco. Let's take a spin through some of yesterday's games and if you're good, maybe I'll buy you some cotton candy.

Reds 8, Rockies 1. Edison Volquez made his first start after a little, good ole fashioned Tommy John surgery. And if he's going to pitch like this, the Cardinals need to start sweating. Volquez went 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 9. The Reds offense smacked 4 home runs including another pair from Drew Stubbs. Cincinnati is starting to look pretty dangerous and they still have Aroldis Chapman waiting in the minors.

Red Sox 3, Rangers 2. Cliff Lee's second Ranger start went much better than his first one. Lee pitched, wait for it, 9 innings but allowed 2 runs and a walk. Another walk? I'm starting to doubt Derwood's robot theory. Youkilis drove in the tying run in the 9th against Lee and the Sox won in the 11th off of a Youkilis sac fly.

Twins 3, White Sox 2. There was no wasted pitching in this game. Blog enemy Carl Pavano went all 9 innings and only allowed 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 6. Mark Buehrle went all 8 innings but allowed 3 runs on 9 hits to take the loss. Paul Konerko continued his above average season hitting his 21st homer of the year. That always makes Paul Konerko dog smile.

Marlins 2, Nationals 0. Josh Johnson thew another 6 scoreless innings and ran his record to 10-3. Just between us, Johnson's ERA is now 1.62 and he's the best pitcher in the National League. That's just our secret. I'm not sure anyone else has noticed yet.

Giants 8, Mets 4. Blog favorite Buster Posey hit another home run. That's 8 home runs and a .356/.391/.591 slash line for the Giants' clean-up hitter. Which begs the age old question, Bengie Molina?

Rays 10, Yankees 5. I covered A.J. Burnett's bad day in Shot of the Night.

Curveballs for Jobu

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

Today's honorary bat boy: Jamie Quirk



Astros 5, Brewers 1. The last time Wandy Rodriguez faced Milwaukee he allowed 10 earned runs in four innings last August 14. So, basically blog enemy Carl Pavano's 2007 season. Rodriguez had no such Irabu this time around, pitching seven solid innings and adding a squeeze bunt RBI in the sixth.

Rays 9, Redsox 4. I'll tell you who had a great night on the mound: Manny Delcarmen. Trailing 3-1 in the eighth, Delcarmen threw 14 pitches, allowed four hits, five earned runs and walked a batter. That, my friends, is how you bridge the gap to Ramon Ramirez.

Indians 3, Bluejays 1. The Tribe will be a part of Jobu every day until they lose. Wednesday's win was Cleveland's fourth in a row as The Aaron Laffey is a Starting Pitcher in the Major Leagues Experiment finally provided some encouraging data. Laffey, who allowed 11 earned runs in 5 1/3 IP in his only two starts of the season, pitched six innings and won for the first time since last August.

Royals 7, Whitesox 6. They may have to send the rubber-padded truck and get me into the jacket without the sleeves for saying this, but the Kansas City Royals aren't that bad. KC won for the fifth time in seven games, opening up a tight game with a four-run seventh, three off Tony Pena, the crew's pick to click. Zack Greinke allowed six earned runs, but his eight innings marked the 14th time in 17 starts he's gone at least six.

Mets 6, Marlins 5. All that matters is that Bernie Williams played both the U.S. and Puerto Rican anthems on electric guitar before the game.

Curveballs for Jobu

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

Today's honorary bat boy: Bill Doran



Whitesox 6, Nationals 3. Lost in the Strasburg mania this weekend was the realization that Washington is managed by Jim Riggleman and therefore stinks. That's six consecutive Rigglemans and eight Rigglemans out of nine for the Nats. Chicago got seven innings of three-run ball from Freddy Garcia, and with John Danks and Jake Peavy and Mark Buehrle looking better with each start, the Palehose are legitimate contenders in the Central. Unless of course Ozzie Guillen keeps playing Smart Ball, then Chicago is screwed.



Twins 4, Phillies 1. Blog enemy Carl Pavano pitched 45 2/3 innings in his two seasons with the Yankees. Sunday for Minnesota he pitched nine, nearly 20% of his total innings in two full seasons in New York. If I ever see Carl Pavano in person, I will lob a sock full of mustard at him and laugh from a secure location.

Mariners 1, Reds 0. Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched six shutout innings for his first win of the season, but the real story continues to be Arthur Rhodes. Forget small sample sizes, Rhodes is 40 and in 30 2/3 innings has allowed one earned run and 25 base runners (0.29 ERA, 0.81 WHIP). He also pitched in three different post-seasons on teams that were eliminated by the Yankees. That made me feel better after the Pavano stuff.

Rangers 5, Astros 4. Are families in the state of Texas divided over the Texas-Houston baseball rivalry? Has interleague play lost the luster it never really had in the first place? Will the Astros win 55 games? If Texas wins the AL West and no one cares, did it really happen? For more of Questions No One Is Asking, tune in to Jobu June 26 for our next Astros-Rangers recap.

Curveballs for Jobu

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

Today's honorary bat boy: Lenn Sakata




Tigers 12, Indians 6. Russell Branyan hit a one-out single into center field in the second inning, though replays showed it was clearly a ground out to second base, and Rick Porcello lost his perfect game.

Astros 6, Nationals 4. Cristian Guzman made three errors, the last of which came after he was moved from shortstop to right field (Riggleman'd) and helped Houston tie the game in the ninth. A batter later, Carlos Lee ripped a two-run home run, handing Washington its third consecutive loss. We predicted this would happen.

Mariners 4, Twins 1. King Felix allowed Justin Morneau's RBI-single in the first and nothing else, going eight in a nine-strikeout victory. The M's ran a lot on blog enemy Carl Pavano and Joe Mauer, picking up five stolen bases, three by Suzuki, Ichiro.

Athletics 9, Redsox 8. Tim Wakefield in his last two starts against Kansas City and Oakland: 9 2/3 IP, 20 H, 15 ER. Simply Irabuian.



Angels 5, Royals 4. Anaheim got back to .500 with the win, but Brian Fuentes almost let it get away. The Angels closer gave up a pinch-hit, two-run home run to Willie Bloomquist (OPS+ of 54 before Thursday's game), walked two, and nearly allowed another home run to Yuniesky Betancourt before finally getting the save. Zack Grienke (6 IP, 10 H, 4 ER) has allowed four or more runs in four of his six home starts, and 11 runs total in his six road starts. I don't think he would have this problem if KC ownership would use my suggestion and instead of water, fill the outfield fountains with mustard.