There's only one cure for what's wrong with all of us pitchers, and that's to take a year off. Then, after you've gone a year without throwing, quit altogether.
--- Jim Palmer
Yesterday I was raving about how brilliantly Rich Harden has pitched over the last month (5-1, 1.34). Barry Zito, of course, has been even better (5-0, 1.22) over the same period. As it happens, they follow each other in the rotation, and the two of them now seem to be engaged in some kind of competition as to who can more completely shut down the other team.
Last week, of course, Harden and Zito both took no-hitters into the 8th inning against Texas. Two nights ago, Harden beat the division-leading Angels, allowing a single run. Last night it was Zito's turn, tossing 7 shutout innings as Oakland moved past Texas into second place. Anyone still think Billy Beane kept the wrong guy (the youngest one, with the highest strikeout rate) from the old Big Three?
The A's are now 6.5 back of the Angels, and they're suddenly just 2.5 games out of the Wild Card. Ozzie Guillen may already be having nightmares about his White Sox bumping into their nemesis (Oakland has won 7 of 9 from Chicago this year) in the first round of the post-season.
Oakland slipped by Texas because the Rangers were losing in Arlington to the Yankees and their improbable fifth starter du jour, Aaron Small. KingRyan documented Small's long and winding journey to last night's start: suffice it to say he's been claimed on waivers three times, and given his release five times. Last night, he earned his first major league win since September 2, 1998 - seven years ago.
As you can probably imagine, the gloating from Mick Doherty is reaching truly cosmic levels, especially after what the Rangers did to the Blue Jays staff just two weeks ago. Aaron Small? Mick speculated that today's NY Daily News headline would read "Yanks Play Small Ball," or some variation thereof. As always, the ingenuity at the NYDN has been underestimated: "Biggie Small."
The Orioles couldn't keep pace with the Red Sox and Yankees, losing again in Minnesota and again on a ninth inning hit (this one a walkoff homer) by Jaques Jones.
John Smoltz won his seventh in a row and the Braves closed again to .5 back of the Nationals. Jeff Francouer, just 21 years old, wasn't supposed to arrive in the majors until next year at the earliest, but here he is, hitting .409 with 3 HRs after his first 7 games.
Meanwhile, strange rumblings out of Washington, where the Nats lost despite the usual strong effort from Livan "The Cyborg" Hernandez. Afterwards Hernandez said he was 99.9 percent sure that his season was over, and that he would have knee surgery. His knee has been troubling him - he had it drained in May. It doesn't appear to be bothering his pitching, something Hernandez himself confirmed:
It's not the doctors. It's me. I'm the doctor. I don't need it, but I'm going to [have an operation.]
You're wondering why?
I'm tired of something. ... I'll tell you when the season's over. I'm mad... I'm not happy for three years. After the season, I'm going to tell you..
Frank Robinson says he has no idea what his ace is talking about.
Today's games! We have some matinees, and I myself will be at the RC to see Josh take on the Mariners. But the really interesting matchup is in US Cellular, where the two division leading Sox teams tangle for the first time this season (yes, the Red Sox have played the Cubs this year, but not the White Sox. Go figure.)
AL
Kansas City (Howell 1-3, 8.01) at Cleveland (Westbrook 6-12, 4.77) 12:05
Seattle (Pineiro 3-5, 5.61) at Toronto (Towers 6-8, 4.85) 12:37
Minnesota (Santana 8-5, 3.84) at Detroit (Johnson 6-7, 3.84) 7:05
Boston (Clement 10-3, 4.21) at Chicago (Buehrle 11-3, 2.58) 8:05
Oakland (Blanton 5-8, 4.64) at Texas (Rogers 11-4, 2.54) 8:05
New York (Johnson 10-6, 4.23) at Los Angeles (Colon 11-6, 3.64) 10:05
NL
San Diego (Peavy 8-3, 3.03) at New York (Ishii 2-8, 5.57) 12:10
Chicago (Maddux 8-7, 4.51) at Cincinnati (Milton 4-10, 6.93) 12:35
Los Angeles (Perez 4-5, 5.06) at Philadelphia (Lieber 9-8, 5.14) 1:05
Milwaukee (Capuano 10-6, 3.68) at St.Louis (Marquis 9-6, 3.78) 2:10
Houston (Oswalt 12-8, 2.54) at Washington (Loaiza 6-5, 3.62) 7:05
Colorado (Francis 8-6, 5.25) at Pittsburgh (Duke 2-0, 1.23) 7:05
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050720184258938