There are precious few things I hate more than bad relief pitching. Specifically guys who come in and can't throw strikes. We sure saw a lot of that this week.
- In fifth inning on Thursday, Cubs' Scott Feldman was relieved by Hideki Takahashi with a one run lead. Takahashi walked the pitcher with the bases loaded, Cubs lost by one run, and Feldman was charged with the loss.
- With a two-run Reds lead in the eighth inning on Sunday, Jonathan Broxton walked the first batter, and the next batter hit a home run to tie the game. After the next batter grounded out, Broxton again walked a batter immediately followed by another home run to break the tie. The Pirates then pinch-hit with a pitcher (Jonathan Sanchez) and Broxton walked him! Sanchez also scored in the inning.
- Speaking of those Reds, they took advantage of some awful relief pitching earlier in the week. On Monday in a tie game in the ninth, St Louis reliever Mitchell Boggs walked four of the first six batters he faced. The Reds scored nine runs in the ninth inning (and Chris Heisey had the distinction of making the first and second outs).
- Dodgers were down 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth on Friday. Clayton Kershaw gets pulled with the bases loaded, and he "relief" walks home two runs.
- In the fifth on Wednesday, Mark Buehrle intentionally walked Prince Fielder to load the bases, and then was lifted for a reliever. The new pitcher walked the next two batters, followed by a single. All three runs were charged to Buehrle.
Then in the seventh of the same game with a two-run lead, a one out single caused Jim Leyland to make a call to the pen. The reliever threw a wild pitch and then went on to walk three batters in a row. (That terrible pitcher was lifted, and the next guy immediately gave up a double to clear the bases).
So twice in one game, three batters were walked consecutively.
- In his first three appearances in mop-up time, Yankees' Joba Chamberlain recorded eight outs and walked six batters.
- Tigers' relievers have walked 24 batters in 37 innings.
Other relief pitching notes:
- Phillies' Chad Durbin has made four relief appearances, and allowed all seven runners on base to score.
- Astros pitcher Erik Bedard was pulled from a game Tuesday after four shutout innings with his team up 13-0. Reliever Paul Clemens also pitched four innings and allowed five runs. Naturally, the win was credited to Clemens.
- Cardinals relievers have blown 5 of 7 save opportunities this season. So you can appreciate Jake Westbrook and Adam Wainwright each throwing complete games this week.
Craziest Fact of the Week
- Mother Nature struck hard on Wednesday, causing four delays (in Detroit, Texas, Philadelphia and Boston), and two postponements (in Cleveland and Chicago). But that wasn't the only delay that day, as the Nationals and White Sox players and fans had to wait to start because the umpires got caught in a traffic jam! If you have driven in Washington D.C., you could understand.
Lest you think I only remember the Bad, here are some noteworthy performances:
- Newcomer John Buck homered in four straight games this week. His six homers is more than all the Mets catchers had combined last season, and his 19 RBI after two weeks is just two less than 2012 starter Josh Thole had all season.
- Another (relatively) new Met, Matt Harvey from nearby New London CT, is now 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 22 innings. He won both games this week on the road, including taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
- After a sluggish first week, the Tigers hitters are really slugging. Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Johnny Peralta (batters 1-5) hit .416 with 32 runs scored in six games.
- On a chilly Thursday afternoon in Detroit, the Tigers won big but how they did was the real story.
With two outs in the first, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder both walked. Then, seeing that nobody was holding him on at second or covering third, Cabrera stole third base without a pitch being thrown or a play at the base! He then scored on a soft single.
In the second inning after a couple singles, Alex Avila tagged up to second on a fly ball to left field. Austin Jackson singled next, and Avila was able to score from second. The throw came to the plate, and Jackson advanced to second base. Torii Hunter then singled, and Jackson scored from second base. Cabrera came up again and the speed merchant legged out a triple as Rajai Davis slid into the center field wall, and scored on another soft single to center. The Tigers built a 6-1 lead on a lot of heads up base running and just being smarter and more aggressive than the Blue Jays.
- Braves are the hottest team in the league, winning nine in a row and 11-1 overall. And the most amazing aspect of that is that they are winning despite no production from Jason Heyward (.103), BJ Upton (.163) or Dan Uggla (.171).
- Oakland A's started an impressive 9-2 and have scored the most runs in the league. Seth Smith, Jed Lowrie and Coco Crisp combined to hit 17 doubles in those first 11 games.
- Indians pitcher Justin Masterson is pitching like ace he is supposed to be, now 3-0, allowing just one run in 22 innings. He pitched a complete game shutout on Friday, which he had to do because the Indians scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the ninth.
Players of the Week
For the second week in a row it's a slugger from the AL and a starting pitcher from the NL.
AL: Prince Fielder went 12 for 19 with 9 walks for a ridiculous .733 on base percentage with 11 RBI.
NL: Adam Wainwright threw a complete game shutout, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 12 with no walks. With the bat he went 3 for 3 with 2 RBI and a run scored.
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