Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the idiot nation
Everything isn't meant to be OK


Now that both the Angels and A's have had their streaks broken off, the longest current win streak in the AL is the four in a row run off by the Texas Rangers. Kenny Rogers, suspension under appeal, will try to extend it.

The Nationals have won five in a row for the best current streak in the majors.

Things could be going better for Carlos Beltran. In the third inning yesterday, with the Marlins ahead 1-0, Beltran came up with one out and Jose Reyes on first. He hit a soft popup to first base, and stood in the batter's box watching it. So Carlos Delgado let it drop, and started a 3-6-3 double play to end the inning.

I imagine the New York papers are all over him today.

Four men trying to make their cases for starting the All-Star Game are in action today. Besides Roy Halladay, Mark Buehrle is matched up with Barry Zito in the rubber game of Chicago's set with Oakland. In the other league, the D-Train will try to become the first NL pitcher to win 13 games, and the man with the best ERA in all of baseball, Roger Clemens, will try to win his 7th game. Assuming, of course, that the Astros score a run for him. Or even two.

So todays's games:

AL
New York (Wang 4-3, 4.26) at Detroit Robertson 3-6, 3.58) 1:05
Toronto (Halladay 11-4, 2.40) at Boston (Arroyo 6-4, 4.21) 2:05
Tampa Bay (Kazmir 3-5, 4.40) at Minnesota (Mays 4-3, 3.94) 2:10
Chicago (Buehrle 10-1, 2.42) at Oakland (Zito 4-8, 4.21) 4:05
Texas (Rogers 9-3, 2.46) at Seattle (Moyer 6-3, 4.88) 4:05
Cleveland (Lee 8-3, 3.56) at Baltimore (Ponson 7-5, 5.35) 5:00
Los Angeles (Washburn 4-3, 3.21) at Kansas City (Greinke 1-9, 5.92) 7:10

NL
Florida (Willis 12-3, 2.04) at New York (Zambrano 4-6, 3.84) 1:10
Houston (Clemens 6-3, 1.50) at Cincinnati (Claussen 4-5, 3.97) 1:15
Pittsburgh (Fogg 4-4, 4.37) at Milwaukee (Davis 9-7, 4.32) 2:05
Colorado (Jennings 4-8, 5.75) at St.Louis (Mulder 9-5, 4.54) 2:15
Washington (Drese 6-7, 5.68) at Chicago (Zambrano 5-4, 3.93) 2:20
San Francisco (Schmidt 6-3, 4.81) at San Diego (Stauffer 1-4, 4.78) 4:05
Atlanta (Sosa 4-1, 2.78) at Philadelphia (Tejeda 1-1, 2.35) 8:05
Arizona (Halsey 4-7, 4.37) at Los Angeles (Houlton 4-1, 5.44) 10:10

This Day in Baseball: 3 July 2005 | 11 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mike Green - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 12:55 PM EDT (#121337) #
After last night, I was thinking more "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

So, my question after Jon Garland's 13th win last night is whether he is for real. Will he be a good pitcher over the next 5 years? You can certainly make a case either way, but the times that I've seen him in person prior to this year he looked a lot better than his numbers.
Rob - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 12:59 PM EDT (#121338) #
What, no "Holiday"? Friday or Monday, it doesn't matter.

Cesar Izturis, one of my favourite whipping boys, has cooled off considerably from his hot start. He now sits at .275/.322/.338 with more CS than SB. 10th out of 14 in the NL in OPS among shortstops.

He might have great defense (personally, I never thought he was anything special in T.O.) but he's not a star this season, so far. The cries for him to make the All-Star Team were way, way off-base.

Of course, it's not like he has any competition. The SS field is very weak this year; I even voted for Felipe Lopez.
VBF - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 01:25 PM EDT (#121341) #
So Carlos Delgado let it drop, and started a 3-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Ouch.

Did Kenny Rogers issue a statement since the incident?

BallGuy - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 01:38 PM EDT (#121342) #
Yes he said spoke with his father after the incident who gave him some advice:

Promise me, son, not to do the things I’ve done.
Walk away from trouble if you can.
It won’t mean you’re weak if you turn the other cheek.
I hope you’re old enough to understand:
Son, you don’t have to fight to be a man

Mick Doherty - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 01:39 PM EDT (#121343) #
Rogers' attorneys -- not his agent -- issued a statement on his behalf. Whatever.

I haven't seen the Beltron play, but can someone explain to me why it was not an infield fly rule?
Fawaz - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 01:43 PM EDT (#121345) #
Doesn't the infield fly rule require there to be more than one runner on base in a position to be forced out? There was only one runner on for Beltran, and if he hustles there's no DP.
BallGuy - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 01:57 PM EDT (#121348) #
There must be runners on first & second with less than 2 outs. In this instance, there was only a runner at first. A good heads up play by Delgado. The same can't be said for Beltran.
Nick - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 01:57 PM EDT (#121349) #
Fawaz is correct. Infield fly rule applies if there are less than 2 outs and there are runners on 1st and 2nd or if the bases are loaded. If there is just a runner on first (as was the case in the Marlins-Mets game yesterday), there is no infield fly rule.
VBF - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 02:12 PM EDT (#121354) #
I'm probably making something out of nothing, but it sort of bothers me when players/attorneys/agents issue statements. I mean, they really should address the issue through a press conference.

I'm not a big fan of Don Zimmer, but after the Pedro incident, when he went and faced the media head on, I gained a little bit more respect of him. I just think it's the right thing to do.
Tyler - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 10:52 PM EDT (#121411) #
I'm probably making something out of nothing, but it sort of bothers me when players/attorneys/agents issue statements. I mean, they really should address the issue through a press conference.

I'm not a big fan of Don Zimmer, but after the Pedro incident, when he went and faced the media head on, I gained a little bit more respect of him. I just think it's the right thing to do.

It's the difference between potentially facing criminal charges (Rogers) and not (Pedro). Really, there's nothing for Rogers to gain by speaking to the media, and there's real potential for loss if he says something that screws up his case.

Craig B - Sunday, July 03 2005 @ 11:12 PM EDT (#121414) #
There must be runners on first & second with less than 2 outs. In this instance, there was only a runner at first. A good heads up play by Delgado. The same can't be said for Beltran.

And the reason why the IF fly rule doesn't apply, is that if the batter runs (as he should) there is no chance of a double play. The IF fly rule is there to prevent the cheap double play, but doesn't help you if you decide to give the defense a free one yourself.

This Day in Baseball: 3 July 2005 | 11 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.