Beat Downs

Holy Moley! Two blogs in two days? Butter me up, 'cause I must be on some kind of a roll. You can blame my nerdy friend for that joke. But seriously folks, isn't it nice to have me back in the full swing of things? And speaking of full swings, there were some taken last night as several teams demolished several other teams. For a little bit more of the info, let's take a peak at the deets. That's short for details.
First, let's take a look at the Yankees/Indians game. This contest was close until the bottom of the 7th inning, when Alex Rodriguez, fresh off hitting David Huff, decided to hit the ball so hard that it would never hurt anybody ever again. The result being his seventh homer of the season, and the 20th grand slam of his illustrious career. A-Rod ended up with 6 RBIs in total, and the N.Y. Yankees spanked the Indians with a season-high 18 hits, eventually beating them 11-2. In no small part, the win was due to the Yankee starter Andy Pettitte, who was brilliant, giving up only one run over the course of 7 strong innnings. Of course, I forgot to start him in my fantasy league. Also, Robinson Cano managed to collect two more hits, and three more RBIs yesterday, bringing his season average to .363. Right now Cano is on pace to smack 33 HRs, 120 RBIs, 48 doubles, and 219 hits. Wow! Those are ridiculous numbers from a second base-man.
In the National Leage, the Milwaukee Brewers have been known to put up some sick numbers this year, particularly against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Too bad they were playing the Flordia Marlins though. The Fish walloped the Brew Crew 13-5 yesterday. The Marlins were down 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Cody Ross's three-run homer sparked a 7-run inning. Speedster Cameron Maybin hit an in-the-park homerun, to add insult to injury. And every Marlins player was on base at least once in the game. The Brewers could turn this around on Florida real quick though, so this could be a great series to watch.
In Houston, Roy Oswalt has had trouble getting offense behind his ten quality starts in a row. He didn't get any help on Monday either, and might have been a little perturbed about it. The normally cool and collected Oswalt blew a gasket and was tossed in the third after arguing with home-plate umpire Bill Hohn about balls and strikes. His streak gone, as was he, the now and soon-to-be Oswalt-less Houston Astro couldn't contain the suddenly resurgent Nationals offense. Washington's three and four hitters, Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman, had 4 RBIs each and the Nats put the hurt on Houston, finally beating them 14-4. Things are looking worse for Houston everyday, and I wouldn't be surprised if Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, or maybe even Carlos Lee was gone in the next month.
Maybe the most important of the Monday beat downs, the St. Louis Cardinals made a statement to the Cincinatti Reds that the Central was not won yet. Card's upstart pitcher Jaime Garcia threw six quality innings, striking out six, and even getting two hits in the process. Five Cardinals drove in two runners, and St. Louis raked 16 hits. Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo had one of his worst starts of the year, allowing 7 runs in just 4.1 innings, and the struggling Reds bullpen didn't help matters. If the Reds are indeed going to contend the for N.L. Central, then they are going to need more consistent pitching. Might the Reds pick up the newly available Dontrelle Willis, or Jarrod Washburn. Will they try and trade for Oswalt or Cliff Lee? Could be very interesting if they did.
The N.Y. Mets allowed the most runs in the history of PETCO Park yesterday. Ugh! Shortstop Jerry Hairston Jr. hit a grand slam in the second inning. In addition to the 19 hits the San Diego Padres laid down, the Mets helped them out with 8 walks. Chase Headley made the most of the opportunity, going 4-5, driving in a runner, and scoring four runs himself. Three Mets pitchers allowed 16 runs in six innings, but embarrassingly Oliver Perez came in for clean-up duty and showing that he couldn't even do that well. But with Perez refusing assignment to the minors, the Mets are stuck with a guy who can't even mop-up terrible games. The Padres continue to surprise just about everyone and remain at the top of the N.L. West heap.
Those were some lopsided games on Monday. But sometimes it's great to watch one team demolish another. I always feel a little bad for the team getting pummeled, though. But you know what the best revenge is? Go do it to them the next day. Play ball!