Brett Gardner's Golden Sombrero

A golden sombrero is awarded to a player who manages to strike out four times in a single game (real golden sombrero not included). It's quite the feat unless you're Ryan Howard or Mark Reynolds. Unfortunately, no-hitters and Brian Wilson's beard are all the rage nowadays. Not for me, though. I will pour over the box scores to bring you the finest at swinging and missing.


Brett Gardner had a really good 2010 season for the Yankees as a speedy left-handed hitter, putting together a .383 on-base percentage and collecting a 4.5 WAR. He was assured a job out of spring training and was even going to lead off against right-handed pitchers.

I'm not sure what happened leading up to the month of April, but it's possible Gardner wasn't notified the season had begun. Or maybe he just stopped bringing his bat to the plate with him, I don't know, I haven't seen every Yankees game. Either way, something is wrong in Brett Gardner Land (population: dozens of called strikes), and Sunday against the Orioles was the left fielder's toughest day at the plate in a month full of tough days at the plate.


Let's sample the cool breezes at Camden Yards.

2nd inning - Gardner strikes out looking against Jake Arrieta.

4th inning - Gardner again strikes out looking against Arrieta.

Fake Jake Arrieta quote in toned-down KenHarrelsonVoice™: "he gone."

9th inning - You know the old saying: sometimes there's just too much Kevin Gregg to handle, and Gardner finds thought out the smelly way, fanning on four pitches.

11th inning - Jason Berken gets a four-pitch swinging K.


[*Note* While Gardner's offense has been Simply Espinozian through the season's first month (.154/.214/.288 slash line coming into Sunday's game), he did make a great catch to end the bottom of the eighth inning and keep a game tied the Yankees would go on to win in 11. Contributions.]

Curveballs for Jobu

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

Today's honorary bat boy: Jayhawk Owens




Dodgers 12, Reds 0. Cincy starter Aaron Harang did a little bit of everything Tuesday and everything was horrible. He allowed five earned runs in just 4 1/3 innings, threw two wild pitches and hit a batter. After a rain delay, Harang didn't return and the Reds' bullpen was dreadful. Logan Ondrusek pitched 2/3 of an inning of three-hit ball, continuing the miserable start to his rookie year (13 1/3 IP, 1.95 WHIP, 8.10 ERA) and Micah Owings kept it real with a 1 1/3 inning, five-earned run outing. LA, coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Angels, tied a season-high with 19 hits and have scored 40 runs in four games (2-2 record) at Great American Ballpark in 2010. Words used in this recap: horrible, dreadful, miserable, Micah.

Rangers 3, Marlins 2. Matt Treanor beat his former team with a go-ahead, two-run triple in the ninth and Texas won its third straight. Since being swept by the Twins May 28-30, the Rangers have been enjoying June, going 10-4 and turning a half-game deficit in the West to a two-game lead. After two more with Florida, Texas gets six against Houston and three against Pittsburgh, or as we like to call it at Offbase, Panhandler's Row.

Royals 15, Astros 7. Felipe Paulino grew up a Royals fan, had a Terry Shumpert poster on his bedroom wall and always wanted to play for KC, so Tuesday's start-8 ER in 4 2/3 IP-was a disappointment for the right-hander. I made all that up, except the part about disappointment and Paulino being right-handed.



Athletics 9, Cubs 5. It hasn't been a great stretch of games for Derrek Lee. He's 4-for-33 in his last eight games and Tuesday the Chicago first baseman made two errors in a four-run Oakland fourth. I guess for position players that would be Simply Espinozian. Kevin Kouzmanoff is having a lot of fun in June. He ended May with a slash line of .244/.284/.335, but it's been a different story this month. His three hits Tuesday extended his hitting streak to 15 games and during the streak the Kouzer is 27-for-59 (.458).

Orioles 4, Giants 1. O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! O's win! I wrote that 18 times, one for each of Baltimore's victories in this magical season. We do have a bright spot: rookie Jake Arrieta has won his first two starts after seven innings of three-hit ball.