Q: When is it ok to get swept by the Red Sox? A: NEVER!
27 May
NPB Chiba Lotte Marines (9) at Hiroshima Carp (1). When you give up four home runs in one game, it takes some mighty fine offense to catch up. Hiroshima’s offense is so streaky, this will never happen when they need it. The Carp record declines to 19-29-0 in fifth. I want to see them be < 10 games back for the rest of the season. Come on, guys!
Rakuten Eagles (3) at Yakult Swallows (2). Rakuten just gets it done against the heavily struggling Yakult squad. Their manager has stepped down due to the ridiculous skip the team has faced so far. Rakuten's record improves to 22-28. They're getting there.
MLB Oakland Athletics (6) at Baltimore Orioles (1). After a stellar start to the season, Brian Matusz has been having some serious struggles, giving up all six of Oakland’s runs. Their record rests at 15-32 after the bloodbath.
Atlanta Braves (7) at Florida Marlins (3). When I left this game it was 1-0 Marlins. Then I check the scores after my softball game and they’ve somehow managed to blow it! The Hopper, Burke Badenhop, just isn’t getting it done for the Fish these days. This loss costs them second place with their 24-23 record.
Boston Red Sox (11) at Tampa Bay Rays (3). What is going on with the Rays these past three days? I would never have thought Matt Garza would give up six to the Sox. Baseball’s a game of ebbs and flows, but the Rays need to start flowing again and soon! Their 32-15 record is still good enough for first, but they can’t keep losing like this if they want to hold on to it.
Washington Nationals (7) at San Francisco Giants (3). The only team that I follow here to win last night, the Nats put forth a great effort against Tim Lincecum, of all people, notching six of the seven on his watch. They are now in a three-way tie with Florida and New York for third with their 24-23 record.
Seibu gets its revenge.
Hiroshima takes an ugly loss from the first place Lions, but at least they won the day before.
25 May
NPB Saitama Seibu Lions (10) at Hiroshima Carp (7). Takeya Nakamura blew this game open in the third with a grand slam. Hiroshima desperately tried to recover in the 8th with a five-run rally partially fueled by a Kenta Kurihara blast, but it wasn’t enough. The Carp record drops to 19-28-0 in fifth.
MLB Oakland Athletics (1) at Baltimore Orioles (5). Markakis homered and Baltimore managed another win, but there’s nothing less interesting to me than the Oakland Athletics. Sorry Oakland. Baltimore’s record climbs to 15-31 in last.
Atlanta Braves (4) at Florida Marlins (6). Atlanta is surprisingly not that great this year, despite everyone’s predictions to the contrary. Kenshin Kawakami has been beat up and sports an 0-7 record after this game. I really did not expect that at all. Florida ends the day with a 24-22 record in second, two games back.
Boston Red Sox (2) at Tampa Bay Rays (0). A very well pitched game, but Lester was better than Jamie Shields. I really hope Boston doesn’t return the favor and sweep the Rays at home. Come on Tampa Bay! The Rays are now 32-14 after their two game losing streak.
Washington Nationals (2) at San Francisco Giants (4). Liván Hernández has another bad day and the Nats bats can’t keep up. Washington is now tied for last with the Mets with a 23-23 record.
The Rays were the only MLB team I follow with a game yesterday, which they promptly went ahead and blew.
24 May
NPB Saitama Seibu Lions (0) at Hiroshima Carp (3). Eric Stults is really starting to bring it all together. His second win comes against a tough first place Seibu team. Hiroshima’s record improves to 19-27-0 in fifth.
Rakuten Eagles (0) at Chunichi Dragons (3). Can’t totally blame Rasner for this one, especially not when the Rakuten bats are silent. He turned in a quality start, after all. Rakuten is now 21-28-0 in fifth.
MLB Boston Red Sox (6) at Tampa Bay Rays (1). Wade Davis has really been knocked around since his first few starts. The loss puts Tampa Bay at 32-13, only 5.5 ahead.
I did a search for "blooper" in Flickr to express my frustration and this unexpectedly came up. Not what I had in mind, but it relieves some of the stress.
My PS3 decided to stop reading discs correctly for the second time in its lifespan, temporarily halting my video game NPB season with the Carp just about to widen the gap between third and fourth by beating the Swallows. Hopefully I get the system back before next week, but it’s leaving me at a loss for stuff to play this week. Looks like L4D2 and Sam & Max will be getting my attention.
30 April
NPB Chunichi Dragons (0) at Hiroshima Carp (9). Nothing like a solid, blowout, shutout win to get the weekend started.
Orix Buffaloes (1) at Rakuten Eagles (2). Winning the close ones is key. Rakuten’s weekend rotation is among the strongest in the NPB, so it’s nice to see them get wins.
MLB Boston Red Sox (4) at Baltimore Orioles (5). The only thing better than the Sox losing to the Orioles in a game is being there in person to witness it (which I was).
Washington Nationals (7) at Florida Marlins (1). What happened Ricky?
Kansas City Royals (3) at Tampa Bay Rays (2). Probably the only time all year KC’s bullpen will outduel anyone. There’s a reason Maddon is riding the starters hard in Tampa. Still, it was a strong effort by Jeff Niemann, yet again.
1 May
NPB Dragons (12) at Carp (6). Chunichi gives back as hard as it took.
Buffaloes (1) at Eagles (2). Two nights in a row!
MLB Royals (4) at Rays (2). Another late inning loss despite solid pitching by David Price.
Red Sox (9) at Orioles (12). Daisuke Matsuzaka’s first start back doesn’t go quite like he hoped, giving up six earned (seven total).
Nationals (1) at Marlins (7). This is what I like to see. Way to go Volstad, who throws a complete game gem against the Nats and finally gets his stuff together this season.
2 May
NPB Buffaloes (2) at Eagles (3). Whoa! Series sweep! This puts the Eagles tied for fourth with their 15-19-0 record!
Dragons (3) at Carp (4). Hiroshima takes the rubber game and holds on for the series win. 13-18-0 has them a game behind Yokohama and half a game up on the Swallows.
MLB Nationals (3) at Marlins (9). Another solid win for Josh Johnson who was not as sharp as last time, but sharp enough. Both Florida and Washington end their weekend at 13-12, tied for third, 1.5 back from first.
Red Sox (2) at Orioles (3). Another sweep for the weekend. These three wins put Baltimore at 7-18. They’re still in last, but now they’re only 9.5 games back.
Royals (0) at Rays (1). An old fashioned pitching duel between Greinke and Davis ends with Wade on top. The Rays go into this week still in first with an 18-7 record and a 1.5 game lead.
I bet it was this partly this guy's fault, too.
When you have a series against the Giants (and you’re the Hiroshima Carp), things can get ugly. PYS 2010 has taught me that as well, where my version of the Hiroshima Carp are barely a fourth place team.
23 April
NPB Hiroshima Carp (4) at Yomiuri Giants (10). The Giants offense is potent, to say the least.
Nippon-Ham Fighters (2) at Rakuten Eagles (11). Hokkaido really can’t catch a break, can they?
MLB Los Angeles Dodgers (1) at Washington Nationals (5). Luis Atilano makes his MLB debut for the Nationals and manages to notch his first win in the same day. Congratulations, Luis.
Baltimore Orioles (3) at Boston Red Sox (4). What’s good for Boston is always considered bad to me. The Orioles continue to get a tough break.
Toronto Blue Jays (6) at Tampa Bay Rays (5). Not how I would have wanted it, but there’s still two games left in the series.
Florida Marlins at Colorado Rockies. Postponed for rain.
24 April
NPB Fighters (0) at Eagles (3). I can’t complain about how well Rakuten is doing against Hokkaido.
Carp (4) at Giants (7). Hiroshima answers back with some runs, but the Fish can’t notch quite enough for the win.
MLB Dodgers (4) at Nationals (3). LA comes back right away to win a close one.
Marlins (4) at Rockies (1). Game 1 of the series made up from yesterday. Get ready for a doubleheader.
Blue Jays (3) at Rays (9). Tampa Bay answers back with some serious run support.
Orioles (6) at Red Sox (7). So close! Baltimore is really struggling to get another win.
Marlins (1) at Rockies (8). The Fish get knocked around by the mountains.
25 April
NPB Fighters (3) at Eagles (4). Rakuten completes the series sweep, which is great for their record and should push them further up in the standings. The Golden Eagles end the week at 12-16-0, still in fifth.
Carp (2) at Giants (8). Like the Eagles, the Giants sweep the Carp, devastating their place. Hiroshima closes the week at 10-15-0, surprisingly just a game back from the fourth place Swallows.
MLB Orioles (7) at Red Sox (6). It’s funny when an Orioles win provides so much excitement, but that’s what happens when your team is only 3-16 in dead last.
Dodgers (0) at Nationals (1). These are the types of games that Washington has to win if they want to compete. The Nats are putting together quite the season with their 10-9 > 0.500 record so soon in the season. New York also had a good weekend while Florida had a poor one, which means all three of those teams are tied at 10-9, 1.5 games back on the Phillies in second.
Blue Jays (0) at Rays (6). If David Price keeps pitching like this…Wow. Nice work. Tampa Bay’s 14-5 record is good enough a 1.5 game lead on the Yankees for first place.
Marlins (4) at Rockies (8). Another series loss for Florida. Just a little disappointing, but at least they’re still only 1.5 GB from first with that same 10-9 record as everyone else.
Funny commercials aside, we’ve got some history today as the Rays swept the Red Sox on Patriots Day for the second time in the franchise’s history (first in a four-game series). Go Rays! Welcome to first place this year.
19 April
NPB Off-day.
MLB Tampa Bay Rays (8) at Boston Red Sox (2). Keep on panicking in Bean Town, because the Red Sox have dropped yet another to the Rays. Sure, the Rays are bound to lose a few soon, but how nice is it for them to have posted a seven-game win streak to push themselves into first place. They’ll need the cushion in the standings since the Yankees and Red Sox are due to play the worst team in baseball soon, the Orioles. Tampa Bay moves into sole possession of first place (by half a game) with their 10-3 record.
Colorado Rockies (2) at Washington Nationals (5). Colorado drops one against Washington and I’m a bit surprised. We’ll see what happens over the next two games in the series. Washington is now playing super-0.500 baseball with a 7-6 record in fourth, but only 1.5 games back.
Baltimore Orioles (2) at Seattle Mariners (8). Ugly for Baltimore. This series could get even uglier with King Felix Hernandez pitching in the third game. Baltimore’s only real chance is tomorrow. The Orioles fall to 2-12 in last.
The Phanatic likes to mess around with everyone, including reporters.
I spent a far-too-cold night at Citizens Bank Park freezing my butt off, but enjoying a Marlins victory over Fish-killer Jamie Moyer. A review of the park should be hitting soon, but I’ve got to finish writing it first.
16 April
NPB Chunichi Dragons (3) at Hiroshima Carp (4). If I’m not mistaken, this one was won in extra innings. A thrilling victory for the Carp.
Rakuten Eagles (1) at Softbank Hawks (9). The losing streak continues
MLB Florida Marlins (6) at Philadelphia Phillies (8). Roy Halladay throws 8 innings of 2-run baseball that’s almost ruined by his relief in the 9th. Florida doesn’t have enough to get the last two, but they make it interesting.
Milwaukee Brewers (3) at Washington Nationals (5). Is this a two-game win streak I smell?
Baltimore Orioles (2) at Oakland Athletics (4). It just gets uglier and uglier for the Os.
17 April
NPB Dragons (7) at Carp (8). It’s always refreshing to see my other Fish manage so many runs. More late-inning heroics push Hiroshima up and give them the series win.
Eagles (8) at Hawks (3). The Golden Eagles have tons of run-scoring potential, but they’re often unable to get it done. When you’ve got Iwakuma and Ma-kun pitching Saturday and Sunday, respectively, you’d better score runs to capitalize on good pitching performances.
MLB Brewers (0) at Nationals (8). Liván Hernández shows, once again, that he is still an amazing pitcher. I’ll never forget his performance for the Fish in 1997 and it makes me happy that he’s still going so strong. 3-game win streak for the Nats.
Orioles (3) at Athletics (4). More ugliness. How much longer will Dave Trembley have a job if things continue like this? Is there some unspoken Baltimore-Washington rule that one of the teams must be terrible?
Marlins (5) at Phillies (1). The game I was at. What a beauty. Good thing the Fish got to Jamie Moyer early, because the bats were mostly silent after the first inning.
Tampa Bay Rays (3) at Boston Red Sox (1). This game started on Friday, but was rain-delayed in the 9th inning at a 1-1 tie. It resumed and went for 12 before finally getting resolved in Tampa Bay’s favor.
Rays (6) at Red Sox (5). Should have been more of a blow-out for the Rays than it was, but Longoria’s home run turned out to be the difference.
18 April
NPB Eagles (0) at Hawks (1). Masahiro Tanaka throws a gem of a game that the Hawks win with in the bottom of the 9th while Ma-kun tried to get his 27th out. It’s a shame that he goes for so many and his offense does squat for him. Rakuten finishes the week in fifth with 8-15-0 with a huge 8.5 game deficit.
Dragons (2) at Carp (4). Was this what I think it was? A series sweep by the Carp! Could this mean fortune is beginning to favor Hiroshima? The Carp close the weekend 9-11-0 in fourth and only three games back from first.
MLB Marlins (2) at Phillies (0). Lefty Nate Robertson does what he was hired to do: kill Phillies left-handed hitters. The Marlins win yet another series and raise their standing to 8-5 putting them half a game back on the Phils.
Rays (7) at Red Sox (1). An amazing performance by Matt Garza puts the Rays ahead of the Sox yet again. If Tampa Bay can manage one more win in this long series, they’ve got themselves a sweep on their hands. Should they manage said sweep, it would be the second sweep of the Sox at Fenway in Rays history. The Rays are 9-3 and tied for first with the Yankees.
Brewers (11) at Nationals (7). Jason Marquis has the ugliest performance of his career, giving up seven runs in the first inning without recording an out. He’s pulled and the Nats give up three more. They make a strong comeback effort, but it’s not quite enough. They’re playing 0.500 baseball, folks, with a 6-6 record that puts then in fourth, but only two games back from Philadelphia. Also great is that they’re two games above New York. Fantastic baseball being played so far.
Orioles (8) at Athletics (3). The skid ends for Baltimore, but the damage has been done. Baltimore is only 2-11 and a gigantic (for this point in the season) 7.5 games back. Ouch.
No witty captions today, sorry.
9 April
NPB Hiroshima Carp (0) at Yokohama Baystars (5). Not the outcome I would have expected, but Yokohama is deceptively strong at times (and Hiroshima is pretty weak this year).
Orix Buffaloes (8) at Rakuten Eagles (3). Orix made some serious upgrades in the off-season, but I wonder if they can keep this pace up all season.
MLB Toronto Blue Jays (7) at Baltimore Orioles (6). The Orioles blow their home opener and not many are surprised. Tough break for the (orange) birds.
Los Angeles Dodgers (7) at Florida Marlins (3). Tough loss for the Fish who had an awful showing for their home opener.
New York Yankees (3) at Tampa Bay Rays (9). David Price might just have that season everyone thought he would have last year this year.
Washington Nationals (2) at New York Mets (8). About what you’d expect.
10 April
NPB Carp (7) at Baystars (3). Now that’s what I’m talking about.
Buffaloes (1) at Eagles (6). More wins for my teams.
MLB Nationals (4) at Mets (3). Surprising comeback for the Nats (almost any win is kind of surprising for them). Can they take the rubber game too?
Yankees (10) at Rays (0). An embarrassing shutout in which C.C. Sabathia throws 8 innings of no-hitter baseball. This one hurt.
Blue Jays (3) at Orioles (0). At least it wasn’t the Orioles closer who blew this game.
Dodgers (6) at Marlins (7). Walk-off wins are always nice.
11 April
NPB Buffaloes (1) at Eagles (4). Yet another win for the Eagles. Their record rises to 7-10-0 for the weekend, but they’re still in fifth by 1.5 games.
Carp (3) at Baystars (6). It’s good to see them scoring runs, but the Carp couldn’t take the series. Their record falls to 4-10-0, but they’re surprisingly only 5.5 games back from first and 1.5 from fifth.
MLB Nationals (5) at Mets (2). Washington takes the series with a huge win over Johan Santana who gave up a grand slam to Josh Willingham. The Nats are a decent 3-3 and tied for third (with Atlanta) in the NL East.
Dodgers (5) at Marlins (6). Another close one that the Fish won thanks to the powerful bat of the Mexican slugger, Jorge Cantú. The Marlins now have a 4-2 record and sole control of second in the NL East.
Blue Jays (5) at Orioles (2). Baltimore needs to do something (but not for the next three games against Tampa) to start turning this team around. They are 1-5 in last for the AL East which, surprisingly, has Toronto leading it at 5-1.
Yankees (7) at Rays (3). Another tough loss to swallow, but Tampa Bay needs to turn around and beat up on the Os to lift their record and spirits before they head to Boston at the end of the week. Tampa Bay is 3-3 and tied for third with the BoSox.
160 games in for some teams.
Words cannot describe how great it is to FINALLY have the 2010 season underway for both leagues! Since we had an MLB-only post last week, we’ll start with the NPB.
Sorry Min
What an unfortunate week it’s been for me to root for the Carp and the Eagles. Both teams put together three wins over the last week, which is pretty shameful.
Hiroshima faced off against two tough teams last week, the Giants and the Tigers, but managed to get their miraculous win over the Swallows who have had a hot start to the season. In other non-reputable news, Marty Brown, skipper for the Carp, got thrown out of the game on Sunday. He currently leads NPB managers in the number of times thrown out of a ballpark.
Rakuten has had a 100% better week with two wins, but it was still a pretty poor performance. The Hawks were supposed to be a pretty easy win for them, but they only took one of the series. The struggling Fighters provided their sole other win. Thank God the Eagles don’t have to face Darvish this week.
The Florida Marlins: America's Only Baseball Team With Cheerleaders
It’s been just two days since the MLB season started, but they’ve already been pretty exciting. A great play by Mark Buehrle, an exciting game from the Yankees and Red Sox, Obama throwing the first pitch, fantastic pitching performances by Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum, and Johan Santana, and the exciting debut of Jason Heyward for the Braves.
My Fish didn’t fare too well against the Mets losing 1-7 against Johan Santana. It brought Johnson’s lifetime record against the Mets finally down to 7-1 in an outing in which he gave up four runs. There’s not much you can do against Santana, so it was pretty disappointing. Hopefully they can bounce back against the Mets tonight.
Tampa Bay opened last night against the Orioles in a real nailbiter that went down to the wire. Thanks to Carl Crawford, the Rays were able to win in a walk-off in the 9th. It was good to see the bullpen hold Orioles pretty close and give the Rays a chance to score the runs they needed. This team could go places this year.
Enjoy this new Longoria commercial for New Era caps.
This morning I went and bought a ticket to watch the Nationals play the Red Sox in an exhibition and noticed a pretty neat feature: Mobile Phone Tickets. The gist is that you buy your ticket, get a text, and that text can be scanned for your entrance to the ballpark.
Absolutely brilliant, but then I noticed that they charge $1.75 for this service. Why?
I guess it takes some effort to have software send a text message in the same way that it takes some effort to have a computer send me my ticket to print out (which costs the same baffling amount, $1.75), but, really, should I be charged $1.75 for them to send me a text message that already costs me money?
No thanks. I’ll just pick up my ticket at Will Call which costs me a cool $0.00.
(I do realize that this is a picture of a rail ticket on a phone, but you get the general idea)
