Joe Blanton and the Phillies bullpen outpointed Paul Maholm and the  Pirates bullpen for 11 innings as only 6 Pirates reached base, 2 on hits and 4 on walks. But recent call-up Les Walrond was clubbed in the 12th inning while the Phils offense continued its hibernation as Pittsburgh shut them out 2-0 in Friday’s series opener.

With the loss, the Phillies 1st place lead in the NL East slipped to 1 games over the Mets and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Marlins as the Mets shut out the Marlins.  The 4th place Braves, who again defeated Arizona, are now 8 games back in the division.  It is an absolute must for the Phillies to take their mext 2 games from the Pirates lest either the Mets or Marlins overtake them.

The Phils enemic offense, scoreless for 23 straight innings, wasted a brilliant effort by Joe Blanton. Imitation, or in blogosphere — repetition is the sincerest form of flattery and Phillies Nations’ Tim Malcolm best described Blanton’s effort, the effort of the Phil’s bullpen and the ongoing mystery about the Phils’ missing offense;

…Give a huge hand to Joe Blanton. Kentucky Joe threw a one-hitter in seven innings, walking two and striking out seven. All four of his pitches were working. He spotted his fastball. He induced easy outs and got a few called strikeouts. Simply put, he was as dominant as he could’ve been.

And it’s sad. His great effort was wasted. As was Chad Durbin’s (1.1 IP, 0 ER), JC Romero’s (1.1 IP, 0 ER) and — well, even though he loaded the bases in the 10th — Brad Lidge (0.1 IP, 0 ER). The pitching was not an issue at all. By the time Les Walrond took the mound for his second inning of work, you couldn’t fault the Phils’ pitching for giving up runs. I mean, two runs against isn’t that bad.

All of the blame goes to the offense.  The middle of the order went 0-for-13. Yet again, Eric Bruntlett was a hole at the plate. When the Phils got hits and walks, they couldn’t get the runners home. Count the outcomes — Pat Burrell’s pop up to end a bases-loaded threat to possibly win it;  Chase Utley leaving seven on base; of course, the play that ended the game, with Shane Victorino being doubled up after a great diving catch by Brandon Moss.

Charlie, Isn’t it time for another meeting?   Here are some other pertinent stats from the Beerleaguer blog on the deep trance which is the current state of the Phillies’ offense;

Zero-for-nine with runners in scoring position, six hits total, 22 left stranded. A combined 2-for-36 with runners in scoring position over their last four games. A total of 17 runs in August.

The bottom-line is that the Phillies had runners on in ten of the twelve innings against both Maholm and the Pirates bullpen but couldn’t push anything home.  Those with a strong-stomach can check out the play-by-play by clicking here.  It’s too disgusting to go into.  Aside from the 0-fer-the 3, 4, and 5 hitters in the Phils’ lineup, the gapping offensive hole at 3rd base due to Pedro Feliz’s stint on the DL with lower back inflammation is beyond apparent.

Both starters left after 7 innings.  Maholm, who threw 116 pitches, gave up 5 hits while walking 3 and striking out 10.   Blanton, who threw one of the finest games of his career to date, threw 105 pitches.

But things all came down to the twelfth inning with Walrond giving up doubles to catcher Ryan Doumit and rightfielder Steve Pearce for 1 Bucs’ run and then being charged for the 2nd run when Clay Condrey gave up a single to load the bases followed by 2nd baseman Freddy Sanchez’s RBI single.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Friday’s games, click here.

On Saturday, Brett Myers is opposed by Ian Snell.  In Sunday’s final, veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer tries again for his 11th win opposed by  Jason Davis.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Saturday’s games, click here.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

Nearly 2 years ago, I blogged about Detroit Tigers veteran 43 year lefthander Kenny Rogers and the discoloration on his left hand exhibited in the first inning the Tigers’ 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in game 2 of the 2006 World Series.

The Cards went on to win the series by 4 games to 1, Rogers never got a 2nd start and it was never really established whether or not Rogers had a foreign substance on his left hand in the game, i.e. pine tar.

But two Hall of Famers were involved in one of the most infamous episodes in Major League Baseball history — The ‘Pine Tar Incident.’

That incident was recalled by both Hall of Famers; Kansas City Royals 3rd baseman George Brett and Goose Gossage, then closer for the New York Yankees, on Thursday, July 24, the event’s 25th anniversary.

Baseball Library describes the scene in the ninth inning at Yankee stadium;

George Brett hits an apparent 2-run home run off Rich Gossage to give the Royals a 5-4 lead with 2 outs in the 9th inning‚ only to have it taken away when Yankees manager Billy Martin‚ at the urging of coach Don Zimmer‚ points out that the pine tar on Brett’s bat handle exceeds the 17 inches allowed in the rules. As a result‚ Brett is called out for illegally batting the ball‚ giving New York a 4-3 victory. Brett goes ballistic a the Royals immediately protest‚ and AL President Lee MacPhail overrules his umpires for the first time saying that‚ while the rules should certainly be rewritten and clarified‚ the home run will stand…

The game resumed from the point of Brett’s homer on August 18th as also described by Baseball Library;

In the continuation of the “Pine Tar Game‚” Hal McRae strikes out for the last KC out and Dan Quisenberry retires the Yankees in order in the bottom of the 9th to preserve the Royals’ 5-4 victory. The conclusion takes just 12 minutes (and 16 pitches)…

MLB.com’s Mychael Urban recounts a more personal side of the event;

It happened 25 years ago, but the Hall of Fame principals involved remember it like it was yesterday.

With his Royals down a run with two outs in the ninth inning, with the most feared closer in the game on the mound, Brett hit a two-run homer off Goose Gossage.

But that’s not what Brett’s boys want to watch over and over … and over again. They want to see their old man in the most passionate display of on-field snappage ever seen.

this … this was truly epic.

“He was the maddest human being I think I’ve ever seen,” Gossage says now. “Maddest baseball player I’ve ever seen, for sure. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone madder than George Brett at that moment in time.”

You’ve seen it on ballpark blooper reels and countless television shows counting down the biggest sports meltdowns of all-time. If it’s not atop the list, it’s at least in the top three.

“In the top three?” Gossage asks incredulously. “I’d say it’s number one, two and three combined!”

After Brett returned to the Royals dugout, Yankees manager Billy Martin asked home-plate umpire Tim McClelland to inspect the bat with which Brett had goosed the Goose. McClelland obliged, found the pine tar to be excessively illegal under baseball’s rules, turned to the Royals dugout, pointed the bat at Brett and raised his fist.

That dramatic home run? Just another out. The game was over.

But the show had just begun. Brett bounced off the dugout bench as if shot from a cannon, a ball of bug-eyed fury aimed directly at McClelland.

Never mind that McClelland was 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, protected by all sorts of ump armor and holding a large wooden stick. Brett wanted a piece of the big man, and it took the spirited efforts of several players to keep their enraged teammate from trying to get at him.

“I have no idea what I’d have done if nobody stopped me, but it wouldn’t have been pretty,” Brett concedes.

So indelible are the images of the incident, it even has its own Wikipedia page, and rarely does a day go by that Brett or Gossage or both aren’t asked about it.

“If I’ve heard the words ‘pine tar’ once, I’ve heard them nine million times,” says Brett, a 1999 Hall of Fame inductee.

Gossage, who formally joins the game’s immortals in Cooperstown this Sunday, rolls his eyes and says, “I’d like to forget it, to be honest with you, but people won’t let me.”

Truth be told, many people have long forgotten why Gossage would prefer to put it to rest. The Royals appealed McClelland’s call, and it was eventually overturned. The game was resumed on Aug. 18, with the home run back on the board, and the 5-4 lead it gave the Royals held up as the winner.

While Brett was going ballistic, Gossage says, “I was out there laughing my head off. I thought it was hilarious.”

Alas, he adds, “George got the last laugh. He hit a game-winning homer and I got a blown save and a loss.”

True, Brett says, but the homer isn’t what most people remember. It’s the sight of the maniac in powder blue bolting onto the field.

Were it not for Hal McRae, Brett notes, the enduring memory of him might be the posterior problems he suffered during the 1980 playoffs.

McRae was on-deck when the Pine Tar Incident started to unfold and heard Martin yelling for the bat. If McRae had reacted quickly enough and tossed the bat into the Royals dugout, the whole thing might never have happened.

“I’m actually thankful to Hal for that,” Brett says with a chuckle. “Otherwise I’d be known as the guy with hemorrhoids.”

Brett retired 10 years after the Pine Tar Incident, Gossage a year after Brett. But they never spoke to each other about it during their playing days. In fact, they didn’t speak at all.

“I didn’t like Brett,” Gossage admits. “I didn’t like any hitters. I had tremendous respect for him, but I couldn’t stand George Brett back then.”

“I never said a word to Goose when we were playing,” Brett confirms. “I played with him in All-Star Games, played against him in All-Star Games, played against him in Yankee Stadium, and played against him when he was with other American League teams, but I never said a word to him.”

And now?

“I love him. Love him to death,” Gossage gushed. “Greatest hitter I ever faced in his prime when I was in my prime.”

And, apparently, an awfully good sport.

                                         

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

Make that 11 wins and a tie for the American League in the last 12 All Star Games as Seattle Mariners perennial All Star centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki worked his annual trash-talking magic against the National League yet again, as he’s done each All Star Game since 2001.  It took fifteen innings this time as the Americans pushed in a run on a bases loaded sacrifice fly in the fifteenth inning to edge the Nationals by a 4-3 score.

Phillies’ closer Brad Lidge got into 1 out,  bases loaded jam as Minnesota Twins 1st baseman Justin Morneau singled to shallow center,Texas Rangers 2nd baseman Ian Kinsler lined out to leftfield and Tampa Bay Rays catcher Dioner Navarro followed by singling to centerfield. Lidge then walked Boston Red Sox rightfielder J.D. Drew loading the bases.  Texas Ranger shortstop Michael Young then drove in Morneau with the winning run on a sacrifice fly to rightfield, with Morneau glazing his right foot onto the plate barely beating Milwaukee rightfielder Corey Hart’s throw and  Atlanta catcher Brian McCann’s tag, to end the 4 hour, 50 minute Yankee Stadium marathon.

Colorado Rockies rightfieder Matt Holliday got the National League on the board first with a fifth inninglead-off solo homer to rightfield off of L.A. Angels’ Erwin Santana.  In the sixth, the Nationals scored their 2nd run on  Houston 1st baseman Lance Berkman’s sacrifice fly to centerfield off of  Oakland A’s Justin Duchscherer after Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez singled to leftfield and went to 3rd on Phillies 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s single to right.

Boston rightfielder J.D. Drew tied up the game in the seventh with a 2 run shot to right off of Cincinnati’s Edwin Volquez.

The Nationals went ahead again in the eighth on San Diego Padres 1st baseman Adrian Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly to center scoring Astro shortstop  Miguel Tejada who had singled, stole 2nd base and took 3rd on a catcher’s throwing error.

Hanley Ramirez, Tejada and St. Louis Cardinals’ DH Albert Pujols all had 2 hits for the Nationals.  Drew and Morneau had 2 hits each for the Americans.

The Americans tied it up in their eighth inning on pinch hitter Tampa Bay 3rd baseman Evan Longoria’s ground rule double to leftfield off of Mets closer Billy Wagner scored Cleveland centerfielder Grady Sizemore who had singled to rightfield and stole 2nd base.

Then came extra innings and the Nationals eluding jams in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth innings, in spite of 3 errors by Florida 2nd baseman  Dan Uggla, 2 plays at the plate in the tenth and one in the elventh, before finally going down in the fifteenth. Lidge, who was the 11th National League pitcher used, was charged with the loss.  For play-by-play on the game,  click here. 

Suzuki, who won the 2007 All Star classic with an inside-the-park- homer and who again trash-talked the NL in the pre-game pep talk, was 1 for 3 with a harmless third inning lead-off single to rightfield off of Milwaukee’s starter Ben Sheets.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum notes these game facts for Yahoo sports;

Young got the winning hit off Trevor Hoffman in the 2006 All-Star game at Pittsburgh, and it gave the win to Tampa Bay’s  Scott Kazmir, the 12th AL pitcher.

Young’s winning fly also avoided a repeat of 2002, when the game at Milwaukee ended in a 7-7, 12-inning tie—and caused the commissioner’s office to expand the rosters.

Drew was picked as the MVP, with his two-run homer in the seventh made it 2-all. Being from Boston, he was booed when presented with his trophy.

“One of those undescribable events,” Drew said. “To be voted in by the players and to be in this position is really an honor.”

This game tied the NL’s 2-1, 15-inning victory in 1967 at Anaheim.

With the American League win, the AL has earned the home field advantage in the 2008 World Series under the recent MLB rule-change awarding home field advantage to the league winning the season’s All Star game.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

The above headline is NOT a typo.

Four days ago, the AL Los Angeles Angels starter Jered Weaver and reliever Jose Arredondo combined to pitch an 8 inning no-hitter against their city rivals from the NL, the Dodgers, in inter-league play.

But the Angels lost by a 1-0 score when the Dodgers scored a fifth inning run as centerfielder Matt Kemp reached on a slow roller toward the first-base side of the mound which was flubbed for an error by pitcher Weaver.  Weaver’s error led to the Dodger’s only score as Kemp stole 2nd base with 3rd baseman Blake DeWitt at bat facing Weaver. Kemp advanced to 3rd base on catcher Jeff Mathis’ errant throw on the stolen base.  Kemp then scored on DeWitt’s sacrifice fly to rightfield.

Weaver left the game after six innings having tossed 97 pitches while walking 3 and striking out 6.  Arredondo took over in the seventh and set the last 6 Dodgers down in order.

Meanwhile, AP sports writer Ken Peters noted for Yahoo sports;

The Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley (7-7) scattered three hits over seven innings, then Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito shut out the Angels for the next two innings. Blanked for the second game in a row, the Angels finished with five hits, but never got a runner as far as third.

Closer Saito was credited with his 12th save of the season.

AP’s Peters further noted;

The Dodgers became the fifth team in modern major league history to win without getting a hit. Because they didn’t have to bat in the ninth, the game doesn’t qualify as a no-hitter.

It was only the fifth game in the majors since 1900 when the winning team didn’t get a hit, and first since Boston’s Matt Young in 1992, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Baseball Library reported on the Matt Young no-hit loss;

On April 12, 1992 Red Sox pitcher Matt Young does not give up a hit in hurling an 8-inning‚ complete game against the  Indians. He loses‚ however‚ by a score of 2-1‚ in the 1st game of a twinbill.

Here are 3 other games in MLB history where a pitcher tossed a no-hitter and his team lost. 

This blog recorded that in April, 1967, Steve Barber and Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles pitched a combined no-hitter, but lost 2-1 to the Detroit Tigers.  

Wikipedia tells that;

On April 23, 1964, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s became the only pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter in nine innings when he was beaten 1-0 by Cincinnati. The winning run was scored by Pete Rose in the top of the ninth inning via an error, groundout, and another error.

Joe Nuxhall, who pitched his first MLB game at 1 1/2 months short of his 16th birthday in 1944, was the winning pitcher for the Reds giving up 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 6.

This blog also wrote two years ago about Harvey Haddix’s 12 inning no-hitter on May 12, 1959 which Pittsburgh lost 1-0 in the 13th inning to Lew Burdette and the Milwaukee Braves on an error and 1st baseman Joe Adcock’s homer which became an awarded double due to bizarre base-running.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame 2nd baseman Ryne Sandberg, whose hitting exploits led the Cubs to NL East Division championships in 1984 and 1989, had many a great game and great season during his storied 16 year career, the last 15 years of which were with the Cubs.

Sandberg hit 30 homers in 1989 while batting .290, 40 homers and 100 RBIs with a .306 BA in 1990 followed by 26 homers and 100 RBIs and a .291 BA in 1991 — at the zenith of his career.  But there is one game which, with a little help from the infamous Wrigley Field wind, will always be fondly remembered by all Cub fans as one of Sandberg’s greatest.

Baseball Library describes the scene 24 years ago to the day, on June 23, 1984;

At Wrigley Field‚ in game that will be known as the Sandberg game‚ the Cubs Ryne Sandberg goes 5-for-6 with game-tying home runs off Cardinals relief ace Bruce Sutter in both the 9th and 10th innings. He drives in 7 runs to lead Chicago to a 12-11 win in 11 innings. It is the first time Sutter has given up two HRs to the same batter in the same game. Dave Owens’ base-loaded single wins it. Willie McGee hits for the cycle and drives in 6 runs in a losing cause.

While the Cubs went on to win the NL East Division crown in 1984 by 6 1/2 games over the 2nd place Mets, St. Louis finished a distant 3rd, 12 1/2 games behind the Cubbies.  

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

Lefthanded pitcher Ken Brett, the older brother of Kansas City Royals’ great Hall of Fame 3rd baseman George Brett and who passed away in November, 2003 at 55 after a long battle with brain cancer, never compiled earth-shattering won-loss records (83-85 lifetime) or stats during his 14 year MLB career.  But he did come away from his career with a MLB record and a couple of other notes of distinction including a pretty fair lifetime ERA of 3.93.

Baseball Library writes of Brett;

Although later overshadowed by younger brother George, in 1967 Ken became the youngest pitcher (19 years, one month) to pitch in a World Series game. He went on to tie the modern record for playing with the most teams (10).*  A three- time 13-game winner, the clever lefty was the winning pitcher while representing the Pirates in the 1974 All-Star Game at Pittsburgh.

         *Note: 

Yahoo’s answers notes that Brett does not hold the MLB record for having played on the most teams as journeyman pitcher Mike Morgan played for 12 different teams.

Brett nearly pitched a no-hitter on May 26, 1976 for the Chicago White Sox  against the California Angels which was spoiled by a controversial ninth inning slow roller down the 3rd base line was allowed to roll unplayed and which was scored a hit rather than an error.  Brett went on to pitch the tenth inning and got credited for the win by a 1-0 score when the White Sox pushed home a run in the eleventh inning.  Brett gave up 2 hits for the game.

But Ken Brett was best known for his hitting.  Wikipedia notes;

He was the fourth overall pick in the 1966 baseball draft, selected by the  Boston Red Sox as a pitcher; the 23 other MLB teams coveted him as a sweet-swinging center fielder.

Baseball Library described Ken Brett’s hitting skills this way;

A good hitter (.262), he set a record for pitchers in 1973 by homering in four straight starts with the Phillies.

Baseball Library continues by recording that on June 23, 1973;

Phillies pitcher Ken Brett beats the Expos 7-2 and hits a HR for a ML-record 4th consecutive game‚ three of them leading off innings. He hit HRs on   13th‚ and 18th‚ all solo: he will total 10 homers for his career.

Brett’s 4th homer in 4 starts capped the consecutive homer string as he completed the latter 3 games of the 4 game streak.  Brett hit his 4th homer of the string two years to the day after another Phillies pitcher, Rick Wise no-hit the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 while belting 2 homers in the game.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |