MySports Today

Johan Santana will have season-ending elbow surgery to clean out some bone chips in his throwing arm.  The Mets are going ahead with the surgery now so that Santana will be ready for the start of spring training in 2010 – the Mets are 57-69 and they trail the 1st place Philadelphia Phillies by 16.5 games in the NL East race.  Santana had a great start to the 2009 season and his overall numbers in 25 starts were solid – 13-9 record, 3.13 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 146 strikeouts. But since his June 30th start against the Phillies, Santana has compiled a 6-7 record with a 4.02 ERA and only 5.5 average strikeouts per game.  Santana had this to say about the decision: “I didn’t want to shut it down.  That said, you don’t want to go out there and blow it and make it worse…  It’s not the worst.  Believe me, I’m going to be ready.”  If history is any indication, Santana should be just fine – he had the same surgery after the 2003 MLB season, and he won a career-high 20 games for the Twins in 2004 winning the A.L. Cy Young award in a landslide.  He went on to win another Cy Young award with the Twins before signing his lucrative contract with the Mets before the 2008 MLB season.

In addition to all of the other injuries that the club has had to deal with (David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, John Maine), the Mets found out today that Oliver Perez – season-ending surgery to repair right knee tendinitis – and J.J. Putz – who suffered a setback during his rehabilitation from elbow surgery with a sligh right forearm tear – will also miss the rest of the season.  Perez (3-4 record; 6.82 ERA; 1.92 WHIP) and Putz (1-4 record; 5.22 ERA; 1.64 WHIP) both struggled in 2009, as did most of the Mets.  Not sure if any other team suffered from the injury bug as much as the Mets did during the 2009 MLB schedule…

Phillies 2nd baseman Eric Bruntlett turned an unassisted triple play to end Sunday’s 9-7 win over the Mets, only the 2nd time a player has turned that feat in MLB history and the 1st time since 1927.  Let’s set the stage.

The Mets trailed the Phillies 9-6 heading into the 9th inning and faced off against Phillies closer Brad Lidge.  Angel Pagan started the inning off by reaching on an error by Ryan Howard – he made it all the way to 3rd base.  Luis Castillo then reached base on another Phillies error – this one by Bruntlett himself – which allowed Pagan to score.  Daniel Murphy singled which moved Castillo to 2nd base.  Castillo and Murphy attempted a double-steal, but Jeff Francouer hit a scorching line drive up the middle.  Bruntlett was headed over to 2nd base to cover for the steal and ended up catching the line drive for the 1st out of the triple play.  Bruntlett stepped on 2nd base forcing our Castillo who was trying to steal 3rd base.  Bruntlett then reacted quickly tagging Murphy out right near the 2nd base bag for the triple play.  Crazy, crazy, crazy.  It was the 15th triple play all-time in MLB history.

Pedro Martinez picked up his 2nd win in 2009 in his 1st return start against the Mets in New York.  Martinez gave up 4 ER on 7 hits and 1 walk over 6 innings.  Brad Lidge picked up his 25th save of the season. The Phillies are now 21 games over .500 at 71-50.  The Phillies have a 6.5 games lead over the Atlanta Braves and a 7.5 games lead over the Florida Marlins.  With the mid-season addition of Cliff Lee, the Phillies look poised to win the NL Pennant and defend their 2008 World Series title against the AL Pennant winner in the October Classic…

Gary Sheffield is upset with the New York Mets for putting him on waivers earlier this month.  Now he is demanding a contract extension, which the Mets declined to discuss.  Now he is asking to be released or traded so that he can play for a playoff contender for the rest of the 2009 MLB schedule.  If not, he is going to sit – what a great team player, huh?  What is it with these professional athletes?

It is customary for most MLB teams to put a vast majority of their rosters on waivers after the July trading deadline, just to see if there is any interest from other teams.  Even star athletes are put on waivers – look at Alex Rios who was in the 2nd year of a 6-year deal getting traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Chicago White Sox last week just so the Jays could clear some salary. When the San Francisco Giants claimed Sheffield off of waivers, the Mets pulled him right back because they want him to play the rest of the season on New York.

You see the Mets do need Gary Sheffield right now – the Mets are 57-65 and trail the Philadelphia Phillies by 13.5 games in the NL East race.  The Mets trail the Rockies by 11 games in the NL Wild Card race, so chances of post-season play are slim to none.  Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and John Maine have been on the DL for most of the season, and David Wright is still recovering from getting hit in the head by a pitch last weekend against Matt Cain of the Giants.  Besides Johan Santana, Gary Sheffield is the next best thing to come to CITI Field for these days.

It’s not a good situation for GM OMar Minaya and the Mets in their new CITI Field in 2009.  This Sheffield issue has just made things worst.  At this point, the best thing going for the Mets is for the season to end…

The Yankees and Red Sox will resume their bitter rivalry with a 3-game weekend series at Fenway Park this weekend.  After the Red Sox won the 1st 8 games of the series in 2009 – with sweeps in April, May and June – the Red Sox sent the reeling Red Sox to a 6th consecutive loss just 12 days ago when the Yankees swept the Red Sox in a 4-game weekend set at the New Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.  The Yankees outscored the Red Sox 25-8 in the series, as only 1 of the games – a 15-inning 2-0 marathon on Friday night – was really close.  That sweep pushed the Red Sox back further in the race for the AL East, and the Yankees still have a commanding 6 1/2 games lead for the division title.

The pitching match-ups favor the Yankees right now.  Brad Penny v. Andy Petitte on Friday night; A.J. Burnett v. Junichi Tazawa on Saturday afternoon with the FOX game of the week; and CC Sabathia v. Josh Beckett on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.  With those match-ups, you gotta think the Yankees will win at least 2 of the games, but I guess anything is possible.  If the Red Sox don’t get off to a good start on Friday night, it could be a long weekend for Red Sox Nation in Boston…

The St. Louis Cardinals made another solid move in their push for the 2009 MLB post-season by signing John Smoltz to the league minimum on Wednesday.  Smoltz struggled in 8 starts for the Boston Red Sox during the 2009 MLB schedule.  Smoltz posted a 2-5 record in 40 innings pitched.  He gave up a whopping 37 ER’s and 8 home runs, sporting a hefty 8.32 ERA and 1.70 WHIP.  Smoltz rejected the Red Sox offer to stay in the ‘pen for the rest of the season, and when the Red Sox could not orchestrate a trade with another team, Smoltz became a free agent after this Monday’s deadline.

The Cardinals will pay Smoltz the pro rate portion of the league minimum for the rest of the season.  The Red Sox are still on the hook for the $5 million deal they signed him to this off-season, less the portion paid by the Cards.

Smoltz will likely serve as a set-up man for Cards closer Ryan Franklin or as a late inning reliever.  This is a GREAT MOVE for the Cards.  Smoltz was once a closer for the Braves – - so he has the experience there.  Smoltz also seemed to fare better during the 1st few innings of his starts this season – in his last 5 starts for the Red Sox, he did not give up any runs in the 1st 2 innings of any start.  That could mean that Smoltz still has what it takes for an inning or 2, but lose his good stuff or become more predictable the longer he stays in the game.  The Cards are in the driver’s seat with a 6-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central, and the addition of Smoltz just makes them that much deeper in the bullpen.  With the earlier additions of Mark DeRosa and Matt Holiday, the Cardinals have clearly made some of the best mid-season moves in all of baseball.  Kudos to General Manager John Mozeliak and his staff and Manager Tony LaRussa for putting the pieces together to form one of the best teams in the National League in 2009.

The Good – Y. E. Yang – 2009 PGA Champion – Yang turned a 2-shot deficit into a 3-shot win over golf’s greatest player – Tiger Woods.  The 2 played head-to-head in the final pairing in Sunday’s final round, and Yang proved that Woods is mortal.  Yang knocked in a 60-foot chip on the 14th hole to take a 1 shot lead over Woods – his 1st lead of the tournament.  Although Yang bogeyed the 17th hole, Woods did too, and Yang clung to his 1-shot lead heading into 18.  Normally this is when Woods turns the tides and pulls off the improbable victory, but it wasn’t meant to be this time around, as Yang birdied and Woods bogeyed to give Yang the 3-shot win.  Yang became the 1st Asian-born male to win a men’s major championship.  Yang had this to say about his play:  “I usually go for broke.  The odds are against me.  Nobody’s going to be really disappointed that I lose.  So I really had nothing much at stake, and that’s how I played it.”  Yang also hopes that his win will spark interest in golf in Asia and South Korea as Se Ri Pak’s 1st major championship win for an Asian born female did back in 1998 – since then, 7 different South Korean women have combined to win 11 women’s major championships.  Congrats Y.E.!

The Bad – Chicago Cubs “Ace” Carlos Zambrano – “Big Z” has been out with back soreness and back spasms and the team’s medical staff has implored Zambrano to maintain the strength in his core by strengthening his abdominal muscles and his hamstrings.  Big Z had this to say about his conditioning:  “There’s things in life you don’t like that you have to do.  I don’t like to do abs, but I’ll have to start doing my abs every day…  Like the doctors say, I’m a strong man, a big man, and that’s what big men do.  Wherever they are weak, they get stronger.”  Really?!  Wow – a professional athlete actually has to work out and keep his body in shape during the course of an MLB season?  Unbelievable…

Big Z was on the DL earlier this year when he injured his hamstring trying to beat out a groundball.  After coming out of his previous start after only 3 innings with back stiffness, Zambrano did not obtain any special treatment during the 5 days leading up to his next start and ended up aggravating his back injury by swinging too hard during batting practice.  Doesn’t this guy realize he’s getting paid $16+ million each season to pitch, not be the next Babe Ruth?  What a moron – especially from your “Ace” pitcher.  Zambrano was able to throw all of his pitches in a productive bullpen session on Sunday and is scheduled to pitch for Class A Peoria on Thursday.  If all goes well, Zambrano will start against the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, August 25th.

We’re trying a new installment for the MySportsToday faithful.  The Good & The Bad will feature some of sports’ best performances of the day and some of sports’ worst performances of the day.  Here is our 1st installment:

The Good – - Felix Pie – - In the Orioles 16-6 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Friday night in Baltimore, Pie hit for the cycle.  Pie had an RBI double in the 2nd inning; a solo home run in the 3rd inning; and a single to lead off the 7th inning.  So all he needed was the all-important triple – the toughest part of the cycle, although not so hard with Pie’s blazing speed..  The O’s tacked on 5 runs in the 7th as Pie came up for the 2nd time in the inning (he had already scored once after his lead-off single).  Pie cruched a ball to deep right center field and raced around the bases for a 2-run triple in the 7th inning.  All-in-all, it was a special night for Pie – 4 for 5 at the plate, 4 RBI’s and 3 runs scored.  His only blemishes – a strikeout in the 4th inning and a fielding error…

The Bad – - Kyle Orton – - In the Broncos 17-16 loss to the 49ers in San Francisco, the Broncos new “franchise” quarterback was miserable.  Orton threw 3 interceptions, including 1 in the red zone, and completed only 9 of 16 passes.  Orton’s passer rating – 32.6 – ouch!  After the Broncos newly-hired head coach Josh McDaniels and Owner Pat Bowlen aggravated Broncos Quarterback Jay Cutler in the off-seaso (by trying to acquire Matt Cassell from the New England Patriots), Cutler forced the Broncos hand by demanding a trade.  Ultimately, those demands led to a deal with the Chicago Bears that sent Orton and 1st round draft picks in 2009 and 2010 back to the Broncos.  While it’s still the pre-season, if Orton keeps up his bad play, it could end up being one of the worst trades in NFL history.

The Phillies announced that Pedro Martinez will make his 1st start of the 2009 MLB schedule against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.  Martinez will oppose right-handed starter Jeff Samardzija – former standout wide receiver at the University of Notre Dame – in the 2nd game of a 3-game series between the defending World Series Champion Phillies and the struggling Cubs.  The 37-year old Martinez bumped the 46-year old Jamie Moyer from his spot in the Phillies starting rotation, while Samardzija is filling in for the injured carlos Zambrano.   Although Martinez did fan 11 guys in 6 innings of his latest rehab start, I’m thinking that he will be rusty – as will Samardzija – and it will be a high-scoring slugfest at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field…

It was a crazy night in baseball on Friday night as the MLB schedule saw lots of walk-off home runs.  It’s not too late to get MLB tickets to see exciting pennant race baseball the rest of the way.  Here’s a little tidbit of the games most exciting endings:

Yankees 2, Red Sox 0 in 15 innings – Alex Rodriguez hit a walk-off 2-run home run against Junichi Tazawa and the Boston Red Sox in the bottom of the 15th inning.

Padres 6, Mets 2 – Mets Closer Francisco Rodriguez blew a 2-1 9th inning lead.  The Padres scored 5 runs of K-Rod in the 9th inning, winning it on Everth Cabrera’s walk-off Grand Slam.

Mariners 7, Rays 6 in 12 innings.  After the Rays took a 6-5 lead in the top of the 12th inning, the Mariners topped the Rays on Ryan Langerhans 2-run walk-off home run.

Braves 9, Dodgers 5 in 12 innings.  The Braves tied the game at 5 on Garrett Anderson’s RBI single off of Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton in the 9th inning.  In the 12th inning, the Braves took the lead for good on a Yunel Escobar RBI single and a 3-run home run by Ryan Church.

Reds 10, Giants 5 – The Reds scored 2 runs in the 8th inning to tie the game at 5, and then piled on 5 runs in the 9th inning to pull off the improbably 10-5 win over the wild card-leading Giants in San Francisco.

Lots of fun games to watch – gotta love these pennant races!

MLB announced that White Sox 3rd baseman Gordon Beckham was named the American League Rookie of the Month for the month of July.  The 22-year old 1st round draft pick batted a hefty .330 during the month of July.

The future for Beckham looks bright in Chicago.  The White Sox have a nice balance of youthful energy and veteran experience, so look for the White Sox to remain competitive for the next several years.