MySports Today

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…

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…

The Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent starting pitcher Pedro Martinez to a 1-year, $1 million contract.  The contract has incentives which could allow Martinez to earn up to another $1.5 million.  Martinez is a 3-time CY Young Award winner, but he has not pitched in a game since the 2008 MLB schedule.  Martinez went 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA in 2008 for the rival-New York Mets, as he won only 32 games for the Mets during the life of a 4-year $53 million contract that he signed 2005.

Martinez is still as cocky as ever, but a little more realistic.  Here’s what he had to say about joining the Phillies: “I bring with me a legacy, I bring with me my last name…I’ll be the first one convinced, really convinced, if I can do it or not.  If I don’t do it, I’m going to go on and take myself our of baseball.”

It should be interesting to see how Pedro fits in with the Phillies, but I’m sure that the Mets will be thrilled to see Pedey on the mound sometime soon. The defending World Series Champion Phillies hope that Pedey will have enough in the tank to propel them to another NL East division title in 2009 and a long return playoff run to the World Series.

The American League defeated the National League 4-3 in the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  The AL is now 12-0-1 since its last defeat back in Philadelphia back in 1996.  The last time the NL didn’t lose was at Miller Park in Milwaukee in 2002 when the two leagues tied 7-7 after 11 innings.

The AL jumped on NL starter Tim Lincecum right off the bat with a single by Ichiro Suzuki and a HBP by Derek Jeter.  After a Joe Mauer groundout that forced out Ichiro at 3rd base, Derek Jeter scored the game’s 1st run on a fielder’s choice error by home town hero Albert Pujols at 1st base.  Jason Bay then followed with a single to center field that loaded the bases, and the AL scored another run on a Josh Hamilton fielder’s choice groundout.  Hamilton avoided getting doubled up at 1st to allow Mauer to score.

The NL scored all 3 of their runs in the 2nd inning and took a 3-2 lead.  After 2 quick hits, the NL put together 4 straight hits off AL starter Roy Halladay to take the lead.  David Wright and Shane Victorino singled, and home town Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina delivered an RBI single to center field that allowed Wright and Victorino to score after a Hamilton throwing error.  Prince Fielder then pinch-hit for Lincecum and put the NL ahead with an RBI double to left field that scored Molina.  But the NL offense disappeared the rest of the way, as 22 of their final 24 batters failed to reach base.

The AL tied the game in the 5th inning off of Chad Billingsley on a Joe Mauer double that scored Derek Jeter.  With the game tied at 3 in the bottom of the 7th inning, the Tampa Bay Rays Carl Crawford made a specatacular catch by pulling back Brad Hawpe’s shot to deep left field that would have been a home run.  The next inning, Detroit Tigers Curtis Granderson tripled and scored the winning run on an Andruw Jones’ sacrifice fly.

The AL pitching said it all on Tuesday night.  From the 3rd through the 7th innings, Mark Buehrle, Zach greinke, Edwin Jackson, Felix Hernandez and Jonathan Papelbon each worked perfect innings.  After getting the 1st 2 outs of the 8th inning, Joe Nathan allowed a walk and a hit to put the go ahead runs on base.  But he was able to strike out Phillies slugger Ryan Howard to end the threat.  And Mariano Rivera worked a perfect 9th inning to preserve the win for the AL and home field advantage for the AL in the 2009 World Series.  No one had more than 1 of anything except for Jeter – he scored 2 runs despite never getting a hit.

Carl Crawford was named the 2009 All-Star Game’s MVP for his spectacular catch that saved the game at the time for the AL.  Crawford became the 1st non-pitcher to win the MVP Award without having an RBI or scoring a run.

Couple of side notes – President Barack Obama honored former Cards great Lou Brock before the game and threw out the 1st pitch – in a Chicago White Sox jacket – to current Cards great Albert Pujols.  Obama became the 5th sitting U.S. President to throw out the 1st pitch at an MLB All-Star Game (the NL had won each of those previous games up until last night).  Former Cards great Stan Musial – one of the games’ greatest hitters of all-time – was also honored before the game.

The 2010 MLB All-Star Game will be played at Angel Stadium, the home field for the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles.

The 2009 MLB All-Star Game is set for tonight at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  The National League will try to win its 1st All-Star Game in 13 years – it is the longest unbeaten streak in All-Star history.

Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants will take on Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Here’s how the lineups look:

AL – Ichiro Suzuki RF (Seattle Mariners); Derek Jeter SS (NY Yankees); Joe Mauer C (Minnesota Twins); Mark Teixeira 1B (NY Yankees); Jason Bay LF (Boston Red Sox); Josh Hamilton CF (Texas Rangers); Michael Young 3B (Texas Rangers); & Aaron Hill 2B (Toronto Blue Jays).

NL – Hanley Ramirez SS (Florida Marlins); Chase Utley 2B (Philadelphia Phillies); Albert Pujols 1B (St. Louis Cardinals); Ryan Braun RF (Milwaukee Brewers); Raul Ibanez LF (Philadelphia Phillies); David Wright 3B (NY Mets); Shane Victorino CF (Philadelphia Phillies); & Yadier Molina C (St. Louis Cardinals).

On a side not, President Barack Obama will throw out the ceremonial 1st pitch to St. Louis’ own Albert Pujols.

Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers defeated Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers int he Home Run Hitting Contest on Monday night.

The 2009 MLB All-Star Game is set to start at 8:05PM and will be televised on FOX.

It was a night to remember in Philadelphia (unless you were a Reds fan).  The Phillies scored 10 runs in the 1st inning and scored in each of the first 4 innings to put the game away early.  Tack on a 6-run 8th inning, and Cole Hamels had more than enough support to even his record at 5-5 during the 2009 MLB schedule.  Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto actually got 2 outs afer he gave up a 2-run HR to Shane Victorino, but the next 8 Phillies reached base before Ryan Howard struck out to end the 10-run inning.  Howard made 2 of 3 outs in the inning.  Shan Victorino hit a 2-run HR in the inning and went 4 for 5 overall with 4 RBI’s and 5 runs scored.  Gregg Dobbs hit a 2-run HR in the inning and went 4 for 6 with 2 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.  Chase Utley hit a 3-run HR in the 1st inning too and had 2 hits on the night.  Other notables – Jayson Werth – 2 for 5 with 5 RBI’s and 2 runs scored, including a Grand Salm that capped the scoring in the 8th inning.  Jimmy Rollins went 3 for 4 with 1 RBI and 4 runs scored.  Even Cole Hamels got into the action – 2 hits, 2 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.  Hamels pitched 7 innings, giving up just 1 ER on a Johnny Gomes solo home run in the 2nd inning.

A few Reds pitchers had nights that they would like to forget:

Johnny Cueto – 2/3 inning; 9 ER; 5 hits; 3 walks; 1 HBP; 1 K.

Daniel Herrera – 2 1/3 inning; 3 ER; 5 hits; 1 walk; 2 K’s.

Nick Masset – 1 inning; 4 runs (3 earned); 4 hits; 1 walk; 1 K.

Daniel Herrera – 1 inning; 6 ER; 4 hits; 2 walks; 1 K.

Ouch – what an offensive showing by the Phillies as they increased their lead in the NL East to 2 games over the Marlins and 4.5 games over the Mets.

We are just shy of the midway point of the 2009 MLB schedule and the Mets are right where they want to be at 37-34.  The Mets trail the Phillies by just 1/2 game in the NL East race.  Given the injury issues, you can’t really complain too much about their position in the standings.  Currently, the Mets have 7 players on the disabled list who would be playing a vital role in the Mets everyday attack.  Outfielders Carlos Beltran and Angel Pagan; Shortstop Jose Reyes; 1st Baseman Carlos Delgado; Starting Pitchers John Maines and Oliver Perez; and Relief Pitcher J.J. Putz.  At some point during the next few months, the Mets expect to have all of those players back and ready for MLB action.  If the Mets can weather the storm during the month of July and stay towards the top of the NL East, they should have a good chance to dethrone the Phillies from a 3rd straight NL East crown. David Wright has shouldered the load for much of the season with a .356 batting average; 39 RBI’s, 47 runs and a whopping 19 stolen bases.  Johan Santana (9-5; 3.08 ERA; 1.20 WHIP; 100 K’s; 30 BB’s) and Frankie Rodriguez (20 saves; 1.01 ERA; 1.07 WHIP; 38 K’s; 19 BB’s) have shouldered the pitching loads.  When everybody is back and healthy in Queens, the Mets should be one of the best teams in the NL.

I am optimistic that this will be the case – losing such quality hitters like Beltran, Reyes and Delgado for such an extended period is just too hard for a team to overcome everyday during the long MLB season.  Not having 40% of your starting rotation is also hard to overcome for most MLB teams.  Fortunately for the Mets, the Phillies have struggled at home to the tune of an atrocious 13-22 record.  That being said, however, the Phillies 24-11 road record is by far the best road record of any team in the major leagues and the Phillies will not be able to keep that pace up over the long season.  10 of their 37 wins have come against the worst team in baseball – the Washington Nationals – and their weaknesses were exposed when they played the AL East in interleague play – losing 10 games to the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles andRays.

The NL East race should be a fun one to watch over the next 3 months.  The past 2 seasons, the Mets have choked away big leads to the Phillies down the stretch.  It will be interesting to see if the Mets can make a move from behind and overtake the Phillies in 2009.  The fun will begin this weekend as the Mets battle the Yankees at CITI for the final 3 games of the 2009 interleague Subway Series.

Ouch – getting booed in front of your own home crowd after only 2 games to start the season.

Guess that’s what you get from Phillies fans…

2009 Home Opener on Sunday night – Braves 4, Phillies 1.  Only 4 hits, 2 of which same in the 9th inning when the Phillies scored their lone run.

Tuesday Night – Game 2 – Braves 4, Phillies 0.  At least the Phils got 6 hits in this game, but no runs to show for it.

Fans booed constantly throughout both contests.  Can you believe the short memories on these crazy Phillies fans?