Curveballs for Jobu

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

Today's honorary bay boy is Jeff Clement and he's here to remind you that he was taken 4 picks before Troy Tulowitzki. Oh, and he's a Pirate now.

Hey kids, looks like I'll be in charge of Jobu for the foreseeable future. Uncle Derwood suffered a crippling injury to both hands in an unfortunate soup can opening incident. We're trying to decide whether to put him on the 15 or 60 day DL. In the meantime, you're stuck with me at the helm which means plenty of highlights of poor relief pitching. Let's get at it...

Rockies 13, Diamondbacks 4. The Rox won their 8th straight and will continue to get top billing until they lose. They're only 2.5 games out in the NL West and I will switch my allegiance to them in the wake of the demise of the Angels. Troy Tulowitzki went 3-3 with 2 home runs and a double while raising his line to .327/.394/.567. If the young short stop can stay healthy for a full season, he will join the ranks of players who get snubbed on MVP votes. *cough*Chase Utley*cough*

Rangers 6, Yankees 5 (13). The playoff series preview ended in dramatic fashion with Nelson Cruz hitting the walkoff home run in the 13th inning. After a rough 3 innings from C.J. Wilson, the Rangers employed 300 relief pitchers to finish the game off. Derek Jeter went 1-7 but made close to $140,000 for the game. I can't wait for the Jeter hot stove bidding war. It's going to be fun to watch the Yankees bid against sanity.

Marlins 3, Nationals 1. Number of brawls: 0, number of fans in attendance: 37.

Phillies 8, Mets 4. I didn't even realize the Mets were still fielding a team. Roy Halladay gave up 4 earned runs but won his 18th of the season inching him closer to the Cy Young. Chase Utley went 1-5 but the hit was a home run. I still don't think he's healthy.

Rays 9, Blue Jays 8. Jose Bautista continued his assault on baseballs hitting 2 more home runs (46). Adam Lind hit his disappointing 21st homer of the year. It would be interesting to see how good the Jays could be if they played in any other division and stopped leading off with Dewayne Wise. But Yuni Escobar threw the ball in the general direction of first base allowing Evan Longoria to score the go ahead run on an error in the 9th inning.

Giants 1, Padres 0. In what will be the most compelling race down the stretch, the Giants slid by the Padres for the old virtual tie for 1st place in the West. My money is still on the Rockies due to their inability to lose in September. Blog favorite Buster Posey: DNP.

Curveballs for Jobu

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

Today's honorary bay boy is Dax Jones and he's here to remind you that his only career homer was of the inside the park variety.

Hey gang, I'm back in charge of Jobu today because, quite frankly, I think Derwood packed his bindle and jumped on the train out of town. I'm going to put his crazy looking mug on some milk cartons and see if anything turns up. If you see him on the streets, proceed with caution. He's very unstable and will probably try to sell you nose hairs. Anyway, there were only 6 games yesterday but that doesn't mean I don't have plenty to talk about. Let's get to it...

Rockies 6, Reds 5. It's September which means the Rockies don't just get hot, they catch fire. The Rockies finished off the 4 game sweep of the Reds while extending their winning streak to a season best 7 games. The Rockies scored the go-ahead-run in the 8th inning with the old fashioned straight steal of home. With the squeeze on, Chris Nelson caught Rockies' pitcher Nick Masset asleep at the wheel and swiped home for his first career stolen base. The last time that happened was 4/21/06 by Dan Uggla. CarGo: 0-4, Votto: 0-4.

Cardinals 11, Braves 4. Somehow, Colby Rasmus talked Tony La Russa into letting him play and all he did was go 4-4 with 2 home runs. Those are the kind of shenanigans that will probably get Rasmus benched for three games. Let's see, some guy A. Pujols hit a home run. Nate McClouth managed to get in the game and went 2-2 skyrocketing his line to .178/.284/.269 while getting the Brandon Wood nod of approval.

Giants 7, Padres 3. John Garland threw batting practice to Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe and blog favorite Buster Posey all of whom hit towering home runs. Kevin Corriea wasn't about to be shown up by Garland and teed up a ball for Pat Burrell. I don't know if he threw it underhand or placed it on an actual tee or if they practiced before the game but Burrell smacked that thing 421 feet of off the top of Petco. David Eckstein: 1-4. What's up, little buddy? Good to see you still have work.

Rangers 4, Blue Jays 2. Nelson Cruz went 2-4 with his 25th double of the season to raise his line to .313/.368/.567. He could have really helped my fantasy team if he hadn't made as many trips to the DL as your sister made to planned parenthood this year. Jose Bautista hit his 44th home run of the season. Thankfully, no letters were harmed by this dinger. I'd like to set the over/under on Bautista home runs at 31 for next season. Dewayne Wise led off for the Jays and went 0-4 to see his OBP fall below .300 for the season. Either Cito is just mailing it in now or doesn't understand some basic fundamentals.

Curveballs For Jobu

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

Today's honorary bat boy: Pete O'Brien




Giants 10, Orioles 2. I hope this isn't becoming an every morning thing, but I'm about to make another apology. Yesterday it was Troy Glaus, today it's Pat Burrell. Mr. Burrell: I'm terribly sorry, sir. I didn't mean to assume you had passed on to the Slowpitch Softball Field in the Sky. It wasn't intentional-me thinking you had hung up your spikes and that glove with the big hole in it. Apparently, you're on the Giants, you hit a home run Monday, and last Friday you also hit a home run and you're 11-for-27 (.407) in 10 games with San Francisco. Please accept my apologies.

Bluejays 6, Padres 3. David Eckstein is so whiteguygritty that he starts earthquakes. That's the report out of San Diego as a minor quake shook Petco Park for a few seconds, right after Eckstein intangibled a ground out to shortstop. Toronto won, despite the fact that Dewayne Wise, career .255 on-base percentage, batted lead off.

Cardinals 9, Mariners 3. Luke French replaced Ian Snell in the Seattle rotation and gave up six hits and four earned runs in four innings. I guess Snell replaced French in the bullpen, because Snell relieved French and allowed four earned runs in two innings. Seattle Mariners Fever: Catch It!!

Brewers 12, Angels 2. It's 3:01 a.m. and I have had the hicupps for the last 15 minutes, so we're going to make this quick. Ryan Braun grand slam, Randy Wolf seven innings of three-run ball, Brewers win.