Curveballs for Jobu 5/17/11

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

Today's honorary bat boy is Frank Menechino.

A's 5, Angels 4 (10).
It was another challenging night for the Angels bullpen as Jordan Walden blew a save and Fernando Rodney made me cry a little. Any rational baseball fan knows the only business Rodney has near the pitchers mound is replacing a rosin bag or etching the Angels logo on the back of it. But Mike Scioscia just keeps running him out there and losing games because of it. Rodney walked two and threw a wild pitch before allowing the Mark Ellis game winning hit. I threw some plastic lawn furniture.

Rangers 4, White Sox 0.
Colby Lewis tossed his first career shutout on 5 hits and 7 strikeouts. It was't that surprising considering how terrible most of the Sox lineup is at hitting baseballs. The Rangers moved back into first in the West and I don't recognize any of the people they have wondering their outfield nowadays.

Indians 19, Royals 1.
How bad was your day yesterday? Yeah? Well Vin Mazzaro's was worse. In the course of recording 7 outs, Mazzaro gave up 14 runs on 10 hits and 3 walks. After the game, he was demoted. So yeah, the deli messed up your lunch? Suck it up jerk.

Cardinals 3, Phillies 1.
Tony La Russa returned to the dugout after battling shingles and plugged Albert Pujols in at third base for the first time in nine years. Why not, I say. While your at it, if you could get Colby Rasmus some time at second base, that would be great. The middle infield of my fantasy team is a train wreck. Pujols went 0-4 but the Cards still managed to defeat Cliff Lee. Lee, uncharacteristically, walked 6 and gave up 6 hits while allowing all 3 earned runs.

Marlins 2, Mets 1 (11).
Josh Johnson had a short outing lasting only 5 innings after being hit by a Carlos Beltran liner. Hanley Ramirez went 0-6 and the game winning hit was delivered by Marlins reliever Burke Badenhop. It was a weird game. But the biggest news broke before the first pitch. An MRI revealed David Wright has a stress fracture in his lower back, crippling the Mets chances for 2011. That would have been funnier if the Mets had any chance at 2011 before the season started.

Brewers 2, Dodgers 1.
Shaun Marcum is quietly having a great season for the Brewers. Overshadowed by the Zack Grienke trade, Marcum improved to 2.54/2.63/3.25 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) after his 7 inning, 5 hit, 1 earned run performance on Monday.

Other games, but down here...
Rays 6, Yankees 5.
Blue Jays 4, Tigers 2. Jose Bautista homers 0
Red Sox 8, Orioles 7.
Mariners 5, Twins 2.
Nationals 4, Pirates 2.
Braves 3, Astros 2.
Reds 7, Cubs 4.
Rockies 7, Giants 4.
Padres 8, Diamondbacks 4.

Jason Isringhausen Is Alive, And Pitching?

With just a few weeks left before the Mets are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, they turned to a familiar arm to pump some life (Ensure?) into their bullpen. Jason Isringhausen was called upon to help the group of struggling relievers who have the fourth worst ERA in baseball to go with the matching fourth worst WAR. So Terry Collins was obviously pretty excited about his new weapon...

"I'd like to get him in the fire," Collins said.

He did just that. Isringhausen entered with two runners on in the seventh and retired both batters he faced, getting pinch-hitter Todd Helton on a soft fly to center to end the inning.

After keeping the score tied at 4, Isringhausen pumped his fist as he walked off the mound. He flashed a smile and was greeted warmly by teammates in the dugout.

The 38-year-old pitcher brings his 84-year-old right arm, featuring three Tommy Johns, to a pen featuring household names Pedro Beato, Tim Byrdak and Ryota Igarashi. This could be a good opportunity for Isringhausen since the Mets need somebody to keep K-Rod from finishing enough games to vest his option. Unfortunately, I'm guessing Izzy only has about 4.2 innings left in that arm before another injury.