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minor lines, 5/24/12

steve S, McCovey Chronicles — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:31:54 -0000

Thursday highlights from the Giants' farm: both Justin Christian and Eli Whiteside homered among three hits, and Eric Hacker allowed just 1 ER in 7.0 IP.

AAA: Fresno defeated Albuquerque 12-5
(after leading 8-0 entering the 6th inning)

Fresno: CF Justin Christian: 3 for 4, HR, BB, CS
Fresno: SS Skyler Stromsmoe: 2 for 3, 2B, 2 BB, E
Fresno: C Eli Whiteside: 3 for 5, HR, SO
Albuquerque: C Tim Federowicz: 2 for 3, HR, HBP

Fresno: SP Eric Hacker: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K--1 HR

Christian and Whiteside each had three of the Grizzlies' fifteen hits, raising their respective AVGs to .366 and .235. They also had their 5th and 1st HRs. Reaching base four times, Stromsmoe improved his season line to .256/.374/.367. Federowicz, who might be the Dodgers' regular catcher by the end of the season, had his 4th HR while reaching base three times.

Making his third straight start with 1 R in 7.0 IP, Hacker improved his ERA to 3.09.

AA: Richmond lost to Bowie 6-5
(scoring one run to tie in the top of the 9th inning but allowing a run in the bottom of the 9th inning)

Richmond: CF Gary Brown: 2 for 5, 2 SB
Richmond: 1B-2B Jose Flores: 3 for 3, SF, SB
Richmond: LF Wendell Fairley: 2 for 4, 2B, GiDP
Bowie: 2B Jonathan Schoop: 3 for 3

Richmond: SP Justin Fitzgerald: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K--1 HR

Flores, Fairley, and Brown each had a multi-hit game, but none has an AVG higher than .255. Brown now has 14 SB. Schoop replaced the Orioles' rehabing Brian Roberts in the lineup and singled in all three plate appearances. He began the year considered a top 100 prospect, but has been off to a slow start as his AVG remains below .250.

After allowing more than 3 R just once in his first seven starts, Fitzgerald has allowed at least 4 R in each of his last three starts. His ERA is now above 4.50.

A+: San Jose tied with Bakersfield 3-3 (entering the 12th inning)
(still in progress at press time)

San Jose: SS Joe Panik: 2 for 5, 2B, BB, SO
San Jose: C Andrew Susac: 1 for 3, 2 BB, SO

San Jose: SP Justin Schumer: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K--2 HR, 1 HB

Through eleven innings, Panik had the Giants' only multi-hit line, and his 12th double was their lone XBH. Both he and Susac, the latter playing his first game after five days off, both reached base three times.

Schumer had a quality start, despite allowing a couple big flies. He has been susceptible to the long ball having allowed 9 HRs in 52.2 IP so far this year.

A-: Augusta defeated Savannah 3-2 (10 innings)

Augusta: CF Jesus Galindo: 2 for 4, 3B, HBP, SO

Augusta: SP Chris Marlowe: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K--1 HR, 1 WP
Savannah: SP Tyler Pill: 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K--1 HB

Galindo reached base three times, while the rest of the GreenJackets' lineup combined for just four singles.

Marlowe had a fairly non-descript start. He has pitched exactly 4.0 IP in five of his eight starts. The Mets' Pill, younger brother of the Giants' Brett Pill, has made three of his eight starts against the GreenJackets and allowed a total of 3 ER in 19.1 IP over those three starts.

Site Note

Jeff Sullivan, Lookout Landing — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:28:01 -0000

That game recap below is the last thing I'll be writing for a little while, as tomorrow morning we go away for a week. It's not the best time for a trip, but we didn't choose the timing of this trip, for reasons that aren't worth getting into. I've stepped away from blogging for a few days at a time to go camping, but this'll be the first extended break since late December 2006, so this is gonna be weird. In late December 2006, the Mariners almost signed Barry Zito, so hopefully nothing like that happens this time.

The site is being left in the very capable hands of Matthew. This is not Matthew's job, the way it's my job, so don't expect posts to drone on forever, but Matthew will be forcing content down your throats and you're gonna fuckin like it. Everything that needs to be covered will be covered. And more! Obviously there will still be game threads because we're not complete idiots.

I'll be back around next Friday, which I'm looking forward to and dreading. I'm dreading it because oh god, the catching up, the catching up is the worst. Don't send me too many emails. It'll be interesting to catch up on a week of Mariners action since that'll let me look at a slightly bigger picture than the day-to-day stuff. In closing, here is Munenori Kawasaki's head.*

* (not his real head)**

** (but a picture of his real head)

Mejia And La Stella Extend Hitting Streaks To 12 Games In Thursday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action

cbwilk, Talking Chop — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:28:34 -0000

Ernesto Mejia and Tommy La Stella each extended their hitting streaks to 12 games, Luis Durango And Josh Wilson had 3 hit days for Gwinnett to support Yohan Flande's solid start, Christian Bethancourt and Todd Cunningham stayed hot for Mississippi, Adam Milligan had a breakout game for Lynchburg, and Rome split a doubheader behind homers from Kyle Kubitza, William Beckwith, and Brandon Drury.

Gwinnett Braves 1, Rochester Red Wings 3

Luis Durango CF 3-3, SB (22), SAC, .286 AVG
Ernesto Mejia 1B 1-4, .304 AVG
Josh Wilson SS 3-4, .248 AVG
Yohan Flande 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 3.97 ERA
Jaye Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 2.53 ERA

Ernesto Mejia singled to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, and during that span he's hit .419 with a 1.224 OPS, 4 doubles, a triple, 3 homers, and 12 RBI. Luis Durango had a perfect day at the plate, with 3 singles, a sacrifice bunt, and his league leading 22nd stolen base of the season. In his last 2 games, he's gone 6-8 with a double, a RBI, and 2 steals. Josh Wilson also had a 3 hit day, making him 6-15 during his current 4 game hitting streak. After allowing 9 earned runs in 7.2 innings in his last 2 starts, Yohan Flande got back on track tonight, allowing only 1 run in 7 innings. Jaye Chapman struck out 2 in a scoreless inning tonight, and the 25 year old righty has a 2.53 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, 11 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, and 3.3 K/BB in 21.1 innings over 18 appearances.

Eric Junge is scheduled to start against the Red Wings Friday night. John Smoltz will be at Coolray Field prior to the game to sign copies of his book Starting And Closing.

Mississippi Braves 2, Pensacola Blue Wahoos 4

Todd Cunningham CF 2-5, .317 AVG
Ian Gac 1B 1-3, BB, .235 AVG
Christian Bethancourt C 2-4, .300 AVG
Joe Leonard 3B 2-3, HR (2), 2 RBI, BB, .263 AVG
Cory Harrilchak RF 2-3, 2B, .200 AVG
Gary Moran 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 3.27 ERA
Chris Jones 0.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 3.78 ERA
Andrew Russell 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 2.21 ERA

Christian Bethancourt followed up yesterday's 2 hit performance with another 2 hit showing today, and since returning from the disabled list, he's hitting .421 with a .842 OPS in 6 games. Todd Cunningham also had a 2 hit day, extending what has been an outstanding May that's seen him hit .357 with a .857 OPS, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 9 RBI, and 5 stolen bases in 70 at bats. Joe Leonard also had a 2 hit day that included clubbing out his second homer of the year. He extended his hitting streak to 6 games, going 8-19 with 2 doubles, a homer, 6 RBI, and 4 walks in that span. After allowing 2 earned runs in 14.2 innings over his last 4 appearances, Gary Moran had an ineffective start today, allowing 3 walks and 3 earned runs in 5.1 innings. Chris Jones made his first appearance since May 5th, striking out 1 of the 2 hitters he faces. Andrew Russell hasn't allowed an earned run in his last 5 appearances, striking out 5 over 5 innings in that span.

Luis Avlian will start for Mississippi tomorrow.

Lynchburg Hillcats 6, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 8

Tommy La Stella 2B 1-5, .299 AVG
Adam Milligan DH 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, BB, .250 AVG
Chris Garcia 1B 3--5, 2B, 2 RBI, .336 AVG
Aaron Northcraft 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 3.86 ERA
Caleb Brewer 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 4.05 ERA
Ronan Pacheco 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 6.85 ERA

This game had some fireworks, as Hillcats center fielder Matt Lipka broke up a pair of double plays by sliding hard into second, and Pelicans second baseman Santiago Chirino took offense when Lipka slid into him in the eighth, confronting Lipka and shoving him. The benches cleared and Chirino and Pelicans manager Jason Wood were ejected. Tommy La Stella extended his hitting streak to 12 games, and during that span he's hit .319 with a .841 OPS, a double, 2 homers, and 6 RBI. Adam Milligan had been 3-20 in his first 5 games with the Hillcats, but he doubled that hit total in 4 at bats today, rapping out a RBI single, a pair of doubles, and working a walk in five plate appearances. Chris Garcia also had a 3 hit day, driving in two runs and upping his batting average to .336, which is third in the league, and his OBP to .444, which is second in the league. Aaron Northcraft had his worst start of the year, allowing 13 baserunners and 7 earned runs in just 4.1 innings. His last start was his best of the year, as he allowed just 1 earned run over 7 innings, but in his last 3 starts, he has a 7.80 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP in 15 innings.

Cody Martin gets the start Friday night as the Hillcats return to Lynchburg to begin a series against the Potomac Nationals.

Rome Braves 4, Asheville Tourists 6, Game 1

Tony Mueller CF 1-3, BB, .219 AVG
Sergio Miranda 2B 2-4, E (3), .250 AVG
Will Skinner 1-3, 2B, RBI, .256 AVG
Brandon Drury 3B 1-3, RBI, .167 AVG
Abner Abreu RF 2-3, .333 AVG
Rafael Briceno 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 6.89 ERA
Bryam Garcia 1.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 3.18 ERA

Rafel Briceno had yet another poor start, allowing 6 earned runs over 5.1 innings. In his last 2 starts, he's allowed 10 earned runs in 9.1 innings, and his 6.89 ERA is the worst in the league, while his 1.68 WHIP is second worst, just ahead of Asheville's Ben Alsup's 1.69 WHIP.

Rome Braves 4, Asheville Tourists 3, Game 2

Will Skinner RF 1-2, 2 BB, .261 AVG
Kyle Kubitza 3B 1-4, HR (6), RBI, SB (8), .261 AVG
William Beckwith 1B 1-3, HR (2), RBI, .289 AVG
Brandon Drury DH 1-2, HR (1), RBI, HBP, .171 AVG
Abner Abreu CF 2-3, SB (1), .444 AVG
Ernesto Silva 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 6.34 ERA

Will Skinner combined to go 2-5 with a double, a RBI, and 2 walks in the doubleheader, extending his hitting streak to 5 games. During that span he's gone 6-12 with 3 doubles, 2 RBI, and 4 walks. Kyle Kubitza hit his sixth homer and nabbed his eighth stolen base in the second game, making him 6-15 with a triple, a homer, 7 RBI, 2 walks, and 2 steals in his last 5 games. William Beckwith hit his second homer of the year in the second game, after doubling in the first game. Brandon Drury combined to go 2-5 in the two games, hitting his first homer of the season and driving in a pair of runs. Abner Abreu went 4-6 in the double header, his first hits with his new team. Ernesto Silva had a nice start in the second game, allowing 1 run over 5 innings. In his last 2 appearances, he's allowed 2 runs over 8 innings, but has also given up 5 walks in that span.

David Filak will face the Tourists Friday night.

Dan Haren Makes Mariners Look Like Mariners

Jeff Sullivan, Lookout Landing — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:40:47 -0000

It can be incredibly easy to make a baseball fan believe something. A year ago, based on small-sample numbers, I wanted to believe that Carlos Peguero was improving his plate discipline. Every spring, fans of every single baseball team believe their team has a chance, and probably a better chance than it actually has. Superstitions exist because baseball fans believe saying "no-hitter" will jinx a no-hitter. A fan will be willing to believe a good performance is sustainable, and willing to believe a bad performance is not. Baseball fans are full of beliefs, and optimism.

Tonight the Mariners hosted the Angels, and the Mariners lost by three runs. There is such a thing as a close-feeling three-run game. All a three-run game needs in order to seem close is for the losing team to have made the pitcher work. If your team is losing by three runs, but every so often it's hitting the ball hard, or it's getting the occasional hit, or it's working good at-bats and making the pitcher work for his outs, you'll have some confidence that a comeback is possible until it is no longer possible.

We're always ready to believe, and we'll start to believe at any positive signal. So I think it says something and a half that this three-run game might as well have been a twenty-run game. As soon as the Angels pulled ahead and the Mariners tried to bat, it became readily evident that the Mariners weren't going to do anything unless Dan Haren issued several consecutive intentional walks.

It doesn't actually work like that - games can turn around on a dime. The Mariners could've started hitting Haren in the second or the sixth or the ninth, and that would've been a normal baseball thing. Momentum and all. But feelings are feelings, and the feeling was that Dan Haren was able to do exactly what he wanted to do, and what he wanted to do was get the Mariners out all the time.

As soon as Dan Haren started to pitch, it looked like he was in absolute command. And he remained in absolute command throughout, such that, at the end, he was charged with but a single line drive. Haren faced 31 batters, and he struck 14 of them out. He'd never before struck out more than a dozen batters in a game. Since joining the Angels, he's averaged about seven strikeouts per nine innings. Tonight he quite literally doubled that. And he didn't walk anyone, although he came close, once, or maybe twice.

The Mariners felt a familiar kind of helpless, and while they haven't looked this helpless very often in 2012, they looked this helpless all kinds of often in 2011 and 2010, and those memories are hard to shake. Our impressions of the Mariners are still in some way colored by those older editions of the Mariners, and so in some way tonight was a return to normalcy. Coming up, they're celebrating a retro Felix Day. This was a retro Mariners Day, a nod to recent season past.

It was only a coincidence that the Mariners struck out 14 times and didn't walk upon Miguel Olivo's return to the lineup, but that's a fun fact for people who like to be bitter about sports. The Mariners also gave a vote of confidence to Alex Liddi by demoting Casper Wells, and Liddi responded by going 0-for-4 against Haren with four swinging strikeouts on the same pitch. Haren kept giving Liddi cutters low and away, and Liddi kept missing them. Eric Wedge said afterward he was frustrated by his team's inability to make adjustments as the game wore on, and while he wasn't talking only about Liddi, he was presumably talking a little about Liddi. Liddi threw in one of the worse defensive diving attempts I've seen, going after a foul pop-up and diving forward seconds before the ball came down. The ball also came down a few feet away. Alex Liddi isn't a left fielder, but these Mariners are all about on-the-job training.

What this baseball game was was the sort of baseball game we expected the Mariners to play against the Angels coming into the year. The Angels were supposed to feature awesome run prevention and some ability in the middle of the lineup, and the Mariners were supposed to be raw and generally under-productive. Today the Mariners struck out 14 times without walking, and Albert Pujols finished 3-for-4 with a home run. Granted, it was a home run off maybe the worst pitch Jason Vargas could have thrown:

But April Albert Pujols probably wouldn't have taken that yard. The Angels stumbled out of the gate and didn't look the way they were supposed to look, but tonight the Angels looked like the projected 2012 Angels, and they made the Mariners look like the projected 2012 Mariners. They didn't kill the Mariners with plastic explosives; they handed the Mariners a pillow and asked them to suffocate themselves. What Dan Haren wanted the Mariners to do, they did, as if they were happy to play along. He finished with 19 swinging strikes. The Mariners attempted 55 swings. Most of them were defensive.

You watch a game like this and you wonder how Dan Haren ever gets hit, but Dan Haren does get hit sometimes. He usually looks more or less the same, and some hitters can handle him. None of the Mariners hitters could handle him at all and at this point I'm just rambling and being repetitive about how Haren made the Mariners look terrible. It's as if, if I write about this enough, I can put all of my memories of this game on the Internet and remove them from my physical brain. What actually happens is that, by writing about this over and over, I'm only cementing my memories of this game. We're all so self-destructive.

There's really just not much else to say about this. There wasn't even bullet-hole material. At one point Ichiro caught the second out of an inning thinking it was the third out, and he started jogging back in. Nothing bad happened as a result so it didn't matter, but I can't remember the last time we saw Ichiro look that kind of human. Even in Boston, when he dropped that fly ball, he was dealing with the sun, and the sun can blind anything. Has Ichiro ever forgotten about the number of outs? I wonder what this means for Munenori Kawasaki. Has Kawasaki's image of Ichiro been irreparably shattered? Alternatively, will Kawasaki strive to pretend all subsequent second outs are third outs? When Ichiro made the mistake, did Kawasaki run out of the dugout screaming? The camera never shows what you want it to show.

After all that talk of the Mariners competing and looking at least a little tough even in most of their losses, we were given this game, which was a three-run game in which the Mariners never competed. Jason Vargas did, and that's great for him, but after the top of the first he was stuck with a loss. He did a remarkable job the rest of the way, considering he was already doomed. The differences between good Vargas and bad Vargas are usually so subtle that it's hard to know how he did after an outing, but I can't imagine anyone's displeased with the way that Vargas pitched. He made that one mistake in a 3-and-1 count to Albert Pujols, but even the best pitchers are allowed to make some mistakes. The only pitcher who doesn't make mistakes is Hisashi Iwakuma, because he never throws pitches.

Tomorrow these same Mariners face those same Angels, with some key differences: Blake Beavan will slot in for Jason Vargas, and Ervin Santana will slot in for Dan Haren. The consequences of these substitutions are unpredictable, but at least if Santana's better than Haren was, he can only be better by so much. There's an upper bound for these things, and Haren approached it. Good for Dan Haren! He seems like a neat fellow.

Dan Haren Fans Fourteen Mariners In CG Shutout, Angels win 3-0

Mayheminthehood, Halos Heaven — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:06:43 -0000

Dan Haren's back felt better, apparently, because tonight it looked like Dan Haren's back...in 2011 form, that is. Or perhaps that is premature. But he needed a victory like this, to say the least. Oh, and that Albert Pujols fellow squared up a few balls nicely, hit one out of the park. You know, just a great game to watch, basically. Ho hum.

I'm sorry, what I meant to say was:

CUE THE SHUFFLEBOT. DIRTY DAN HAREN WAS DEALING, PUJOLS WAS PULVERIZING, MORALES ADDED TO THE OFFENSE, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

Good. Got that out of my system.

Tonight we got to watch Dan Haren, the grizzled, bearded, well- traveled workhorse of a pitcher that we've come to know and love, look absolutely amazing as he got a career high 14 strikeouts against the AL West rival Seattle Mariners. 9 IP, no runs, 0 BB, 14 SOs...to be exact! Those 14 Ks included his career 1,500th strikeout, no big deal(Read: Very cool, big deal). In fact, Dan Haren had the second most Ks without giving up a walk in Angels club history, second only behind Frank Tanana's 17 in 1976. Superb, career highlight, red letter day for "Dirty" Dan Haren, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

The Angels also did something very important tonight at the plate, something they sometimes forget to do when the pitcher is doing his fair share of the work, and that was score runs. This was done mostly by the elusive Albert Pujols: slugger of baseballs, formerly of the Cardinals of St. Louis. You know, the one that rakes. The one that puts fear into the hearts of men and dudes-sitting-against-the-rails-in-left-field-but-refuses-to-put-down-beer-to-catch-homerun-balls. Is HE back, too? La Maquina hit a bomb early in the game, number 450 of his career to be exact. He is now two behind the guy whose baseball card Milhouse wanted ever so badly to buy from Comic Book Guy...t he one with the sideburns. It was also his fifth of the season, and again, I think the guy may be waking up. For reals this time. Each ball he hit(okay, except for the last at-bat) was squared up nicely, and for Angels fans, it was the icing on an already amazing baseball cake that was Haren's insane evening.

Two career milestones for two bonafide studs who haven't been too studly this season... so far. That can all change. Gram Parsons once wrote "When today, I heard them say your name, that's all it took." He was undoubtedly talking about a love lost that was still taking up residency in his mind, and how the simple uttering of a word can bring back the flood. But for two men in love with the game, perhaps a great evening like tonight is all it will take to light up Haren and Pujols, to break down the floodgate that's been holding back the Deluge of Awesome this season. For tonight, we'll settle for it lighting up the halo.

/cue shufflebot

Poll

Panther Of The Game:

21-26, Chart

Jeff Sullivan, Lookout Landing — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:46:33 -0000

Biggest Contribution: Steve Delabar, +3.1%
Biggest Suckfest: Alex Liddi, -11.7%
Most Important AB: Ichiro double, +6.8%
Most Important Pitch: Pujols homer, -15.7%
Total Contribution by Pitcher(s): -2.4%
Total Contribution by Lineup: -47.6%
Total Contribution by Opposition: 0.0%
(What is this chart?)

White Sox 11, Twins 8: It ain't no fun if the homies can't have runs

e-gus, South Side Sox — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:54:58 -0000

The M&M boys were the only Twins to do any damage tonight while the White Sox and strong winds made short work of the Minnesota pitching staff.

The Sox started the salvo when A.J. Pierzynski crushed a foul ball in the second inning. The howling winds pushed it fair and he had his eighth homer and 29th RBI of the season.

Minnesota answered with a run in the third, but the White Sox came right back and put 'a big crooked number on the board' pushing three runs across on an error by Alexi Casilla, singles from Gordon Beckham and Paul Konerko, and a double by Rios. Runs were scored in seven of the nine innings tonight -- the third was the only one they didn't arrive via the home run.

Philip Humber ran into trouble in the fifth inning. Denard Span doubled, reached third on a sacrifice, then scored on a wild pitch. Joe Mauer homered. Josh Willingham walked. Justin Morneau doubled and that was it for our starter. He left the game with 4 1/3 innings complete, walking three and allowing six hits (one homer) while striking out four..

Nate Jones came in and promptly surrendered a base hit to Dozier, which cashed in two more runs on Humber's tab. He settled down after that for 1 2/3 scoreless innings and picked up the win when the Sox went off for six runs in the sixth to put this one out of reach.

Konerko led off the inning with a homer. Alex Rios immediately followed with a smash of his own and that was all she wrote for the Twins starter Cole DeVries. Left hander Brian Duensing came in and got A.J. to ground out before he got into big trouble. Dayan Viciedo doubled. Alexei Ramirez singled. Orlando "O-Doggy Dogg" Hudson walked.

That brought Alejandro DeAza to the plate. In the bottom of the fifth, he smoked a 3-1 pitch for what was initialyl ruled a homer. But after he circled the bases complete with fireworks, the umps went to the replay, which showed the ball just foul. So he was back up there and ended up striking out.

This time, he kept it fair this time for the grand salami. Living like a baller, loc. 10-5 White Sox at the end of the frame.

Justin Morneau tried to keep the party going with a solo shot in the seventh, but Viciedo countered with a bomb of his own in the eighth. Five homers from five different White Sox today.

Morneau hit another homer in the ninth, this one a two-run shot, to narrow the lead to three. But Addison Reed settled down and struck out the next two Twinkies to end the game.

Record: 23-22 | Box score | Play-by-play

Naked Punch: Phillies 10, Cardinals 9

WholeCamels, The Good Phight — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:14:47 -0000

The Phillies have seemed to have a way of not hitting for what feels like weeks at a time, and then their bats will put it together on a night the starting pitching stinks. Tonight was one of those nights. Also, a grown man ran onto the field in the nude, and that's fun stuff.

Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook got dinked and dunked for four runs in the first inning, which is hard to believe but it'll happen. The Phillies would add two more in the second to take an insurmountable lead...

The lead was never "surmounted" but it was most definitely "mounted." The Cardinals would score four in the third, and three in the fifth, including a game-tying two run home run to deep center by the loathsome Yadier Molina.

The Phillies answered quickly in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs on RBI singles from Freddy Galvis and pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot to take a 9-7 lead. The Cards would score again in the bottom of the seventh, and the Phillies would score their 10th run in the eighth on a solo blast from Ty Wigginton. Antonio Bastardo worked a scary eighth inning, allowing a Cardinal run but finally striking out Carlos Beltran with two runners on base for the final out of the inning.

Jonathan Papelbon allowed a single hit in the ninth but no runs to register his 13th "Save."

Four Phillies -- Galvis, Carlos Ruiz, Ty Wigginton, and Placido Polanco -- collected three hits apiece, with new papa Jimmy Rollins collecting two base knocks of his own. Phillies starter Joe Blanton allowed seven runs in 4.1 innings, pheeeeeewww.

An exciting game, but the bad kind of "kill you dead" excitement.

GameGraph below.

Source: FanGraphs