Master Index of Archived Threads


OoTSB, 5/17

Edgy DC May 17 2011 09:04 PM

Vin Mazzarro, Royals pitcher, gives up 14.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 17 2011 10:17 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Yeah that was Monday. MFYs broke their losing streak tonite as Gayrod hit 2 HRs and even Posada had 2 hits. I know it doesn;t matter but I'd like to beat those fuckers this weekend.

Frayed Knot May 18 2011 06:27 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Half-good news in the NL East * Astros had Atlanta down 1-0 as Wandy Rodriguez was dealing a 5-hit shutout through 8 ... but he's at 113 pitches so naturally Houston goes to their closer (Mark Melancon) for the 9th (straight change, no PH situation) and he promptly serves up a 2-out/PH/game-tying HR to Brian McCann. McCann stayed in the game and then in the 11th hit another HR to win it. * St Louie got 4 singles in the bottom of the 9th off Denys Baez to beat the Phils 2-1, Lance Berkman (.352/.455/.688) with the winning hit. Decent outing from Oswalt (which hasn't been the case lately): 5 IPs; 1 R; 6 singles + a double -- but not good enough. * Like the Mets, the Nationals also pre-canceled their game faced with nothing more than threats of off and on rain - and theirs was a gay dame with plenty of time to finish it if interrupted. I like to think they preferred to be all rested up for us.

Edgy DC May 18 2011 07:00 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Yeah that was Monday. MFYs broke their losing streak tonite as Gayrod hit 2 HRs and even Posada had 2 hits. I know it doesn;t matter but I'd like to beat those fuckers this weekend. I suck. I'm so sucky, I read yestiddy's boxes and think it's today.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 18 2011 07:18 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Here's more on that game from Posnanski. I was gonna mention it Monday but got pissed off at the Mets and baseball in general. The worst pitching performance in the history of baseball began innocently. Vin Mazzaro entered the Kansas City-Cleveland game on Monday night in the top of the third inning, with his Royals losing 3-0. He had to come into the game early because Royals starter Kyle Davies left in the first inning with a sore shoulder. Reliever Nate Adcock came in, allowed a run in the second, and walked the leadoff man in the third. Thus entered Mazzaro. The Royals had traded David DeJesus to Oakland for Mazzaro during the off-season. The word from scouts was that Mazzaro had good stuff. The Royals had intended to make Mazzaro their fifth starter, but he did not impress the Royals much during spring training or in his early minor league work. He pitched a little better after that, though, and the Royals brought him up when Bruce Chen got hurt. In his first inning, Mazzaro got Travis Hafner to fly out, struck out Orlando Cabrera and then, after uncorking a wild pitch — which I only mention to use a favorite verb “uncork” — he induced Travis Buck into an inning-ending groundout. You never would have guessed from that first inning that Mazzaro was about the make history. But isn’t that the thing about history? You rarely see it coming. Who saw the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act coming? Point is, Matt LaPorta led off the fourth inning with a single, and then Mazzaro got Jack Hannahan to hit into a fielder’s choice. Man on first, one out, no runs allowed yet. Mazzaro walked Michael Brantley…. Asdrubal Cabrera blooped a single over short to score Hannahan (Run 1)…. Pitching coach Bob McClure went to the mound to calm down Mazzaro. Hey, no big deal. A single, a walk, a bloop, can happen to anyone…. And the talk may have calmed Mazzaro. He got Shin-Soo Choo to fly to center. Yes, it was deep to center. But it was still an out — there were now two outs with runners on first and third. And here we go: A. Cabrera stole second…. Mazzaro walked Carlos Santana to load the bases…. Hafner doubled to clear those bases (Runs 2, 3, 4)…. O. Cabrera singled home Hafner (Run 5)…. Buck hit an infield single…. LaPorta crushed a double into the left field corner (Runs 6, 7)…. Hannahan hit a ground-ball single…. And Michael Brantley homered (Runs 8, 9, 10). Yep, that’s a 10-run inning. Mazzaro struck out A. Cabrera to end the nastiness, but, as the announcers like to say, the damage was done. Bad as it was to allow 10 runs, however, it was not HISTORIC damage. Lots of relievers have given up 10 runs in an appearance — heck, just since 1919, 148 pitchers have done it. Shoot, it wasn’t even historic for the Royals: Kansas City’s Jimmy Gobble did it less than three years ago. There are some pretty familiar names on the list of relievers who have allowed 10 runs — Joe Sambito, Calvin Schiraldi, Mel Rojas, Dave LaRoche, Spec Shea, Art Ditmar and so on. So, no, Vin Mazzaro did not make any real history in the fourth inning in Kansas City, Mo., on Monday night. But … then he came out for the fifth inning. We can speculate all we want why Royals manager Ned Yost sent Mazzaro out there for the fifth inning. He certainly wanted to save some of his other arms in what had become a lost game. He probably wanted to give Mazzaro a chance to get some outs and at least cushion the horror of the night. Maybe he was just ticked off. Whatever, Mazzaro got the first out of the inning, retiring Choo on another fly out. But then Carlos Santana doubled…. Travis Hafner walked…. Again McClure visited the mound, though at this point I’m not sure what there was to say. You would assume that everyone realized there would be no happy ending, and Mazzaro would have been pulled for his own good. But no. He stayed. And he gave up an infield single to O. Cabrera, which loaded the bases. Travis Buck then hit a line-drive single to left SO HARD that only one run could score (Run 11). And that, finally, was the last pitch thrown by Vin Mazzaro. Unfortunately for him, the loaded bases he left out there — well, as you know, all those runners were his responsibility. Reliever Jeremy Jeffress came into the game, and he could have done Mazzaro a solid by getting a double play and ending the nightmare. He did not. He instead threw a 95-mph fastball that Matt LaPorta scorched off the wall in left field (Runs 12, 13). Man, did LaPorta hit that one. The ball didn’t have enough lift to be a grand slam, but it was smashed hard enough that it could have gone through the wall. And when Hannahan grounded out to short (Run 14), the night of Vin Mazzaro was officially over. His line: 2 1/3 innings, 11 hits, 14 runs, all earned, three walks and two strikeouts. And that’s history: No reliever since World War II had allowed 14 runs in a game — that unlucky soul was the somewhat unfortunately named Les McCrabb, whom teammates called “Buster.” Heck, no STARTING PITCHER has allowed 14 runs in a game since 1998, when Mike Oquist did the deed, and it has now only happened three times in the last 60 years. What’s more amazing is that nobody in baseball history had ever allowed 14 earned runs in fewer than three innings pitched until Mazzaro did it. True, you could argue that Lefty O’Doul’s outing in 1923, when he allowed 16 runs in three innings was worse … except that THIRTEEN of those runs were unearned (That’s right: 13 were unearned). It seems pretty clear. Vin Mazzaro — through a combination of bad luck, bad pitching and bad timing — had the worst pitching performance in baseball history. There’s no telling what happens to Mazzaro now. It seems unlikely that he will stay in the big leagues. But you never know about the future. Mazzaro should take a little solace knowing that in one game, a 20-year-old pitcher gave up 15 hits and 15 runs — including home runs to a couple of guys named DiMaggio and Gehrig. He walked nine. He threw a wild pitch. It wasn’t good. That guy was named Bob Feller, and he led the American League in victories the next three years. Les McCrabb had a different destiny. After his rough game, in which he gave up 14 runs in four innings, he disappeared from the big leagues for eight years. He managed to show up for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1950, though. He gave up seven hits in an inning. Buster McCrabb pitched a scoreless third of an inning the next time out and retired to Quarryville, Pa., where he grew mushrooms and lived to be 94 years old. So that’s not too bad, either.

Edgy DC May 18 2011 07:28 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Here's more on that game from Posnanski. I was gonna mention it Monday but got pissed off at the Mets and baseball in general. ... In his first inning, Mazzaro got Travis Hafner to fly out, struck out Orlando Cabrera and then, after uncorking a wild pitch — which I only mention to use a favorite verb “uncork” — he induced Travis Buck into an inning-ending groundout. You never would have guessed from that first inning that Mazzaro was about the make history. But isn’t that the thing about history? You rarely see it coming. Who saw the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act coming? Point is, Matt LaPorta led off the fourth inning with a single, and then Mazzaro got Jack Hannahan to hit into a fielder’s choice. Man on first, one out, no runs allowed yet. ... And I never like to miss a chance to work in a reference to Reed Smoot, big shot but too easily forgotten Sentator from the pre-World War II era.

Ashie62 May 18 2011 08:00 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Yeah that was Monday. MFYs broke their losing streak tonite as Gayrod hit 2 HRs and even Posada had 2 hits. I know it doesn;t matter but I'd like to beat those fuckers this weekend. Its always a blessed thing to beat those fuckers, even if it doesn't matter..

themetfairy May 18 2011 08:21 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Ashie62 wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Yeah that was Monday. MFYs broke their losing streak tonite as Gayrod hit 2 HRs and even Posada had 2 hits. I know it doesn;t matter but I'd like to beat those fuckers this weekend. Its always a blessed thing to beat those fuckers, even if it doesn't matter.. This

sharpie May 18 2011 08:35 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

It always matters.

metirish May 18 2011 08:48 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Just saw a shot of Willie Randolph in the Baltimore dugout, did I know he was now part of the O's coaching staff?, if I did then it didn't stick. MFY's and O's tied at 1 in the 12th....bases loaded for Markakis....

Frayed Knot May 18 2011 09:05 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

O's have left the bags loaded a couple innings in a row here (and like 8 LOBs in the last 3 innings) and now they're trying to get the Yanx to do the same.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 18 2011 09:07 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Heh heh. Keep going John Sterling (as noted in other thread, he's working this one sans Suzyn.)

Frayed Knot May 18 2011 09:08 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Yanx w/1st & 3rd no one out fail to score in top 12 Great watching ARod bitch about strike 3 to him which was absolutely a strike. Captain Clutch has ended several innings himself w/runners on.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 18 2011 09:08 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Done and done. (And it started as first-and-third with nobody out and the World's Most Expensive Centaur up.)

Frayed Knot May 18 2011 09:10 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Marlins lost to Cubbies 7-5 Braves out in the desert down 2-0 to the Snakes in the 5th Things tightening up in the NL East

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 18 2011 09:12 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

It's still fun watching Vlad hit. Is it me, or does Luke Scott have a Jason Patric thing going on?

Frayed Knot May 18 2011 09:22 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

13 innings, 21 hits, 2 runs. Yanx get hit to start the 14th (22 hits now). It's like a rule in this game that the leadoff guy has to get on ... and then not score.

Ceetar May 18 2011 09:28 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

burn out that bullpen. I hope tomorrow goes extras too.

Frayed Knot May 18 2011 09:31 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Two more RiSP outs for the Yanx in the 14th (Jeter & Granderson GOs) Both teams now are like 2 for 20-something combined in this game. It's like two entire lineups of Jason Bays out there!

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 18 2011 09:34 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Suzyn's back.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 18 2011 09:50 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Ah, the hell with it. MFYs romping now in 15th, O's pitcher, last guy in bullpen, gets ejected for throwing last MFY position player, Dickerson.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 18 2011 10:02 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Ah, the hell with it. MFYs romping now in 15th, O's pitcher, last guy in bullpen, gets ejected for throwing last MFY position player, Dickerson. Did I speak too soon? None out, tying run at the plate in bottom 15th, O'd down by 3.

Frayed Knot May 18 2011 10:06 PM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Man, the Os just invented ways to lose this game. Could have been bases-loaded w/one out ... but NOOOOO, the runner gets clipped by a sure single and it's 2-outs/2-on instead. And the fly out ends the game.

Edgy DC May 19 2011 06:58 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

It's goot that the Yankees have to be thrown victories these days anyhow. I imagine Buck Showalter relishes beating them, thinks all Torre's championships should have been his, and will demand his players go after them with full vigor. The scheduled return of Ollie was a Harrsiburg rainout.

Ceetar May 19 2011 07:13 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Edgy DC wrote: It's good that the Yankees have to be thrown victories these days anyhow. I imagine Buck Showalter relishes beating them, thinks all Torre's championships should have been his, and will demand his players go after them with full vigor. The scheduled return of Ollie was a Harrsiburg rainout. Think he pitches today during the day. At least it's up against the Mets game so the beat writers will be mildly distracted so that we don't get play by play? I assume there will be enough fans at YSiii to get Jeter a good razzing Friday right?

Frayed Knot May 19 2011 10:37 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17 Edited 1 time(s), most recently on May 19 2011 01:25 PM

Edgy DC wrote: It's goot that the Yankees have to be thrown victories these days anyhow. Sure, although they missed their share of chances too. In all some wacky stuff in that game and I only saw parts of it. - O's chances: Got the leadoff runner on in the 10th; then got him on again in the 11th which turned into bases-loaded/1 out; in the 12th the first two made outs but then they loaded the bases; got the leadoff guy on again in the 13th and eventually left two on; actually went out in order in the 14th; put 2-on with 1 out in the 15th (now down by 3) and then had a clear single hit the runner going from 1st which would have loaded them up again. - ARod was almost the defensive goat for the 2nd time in a week but a great play by Teixeira saved both the error and the game. - Had the game gone on the Yanx would have lost their DH after losing their last position player due to a HBP and forcing DH Jeter into the field. - Colon was pulled with a 3-hit shutout and only 87 pitches under his (ample) belt. - Mariano not only blew the save but did so and finished the inning on just 9 pitches. Even so they did not bring him back for the 10th - Yanx got 2 on in the 12th and 3 on in the 13th (w/1 out) but didn't score either time I imagine Buck Showalter relishes beating them, thinks all Torre's championships should have been his, and will demand his players go after them with full vigor. He certainly doesn't look or talk like he feels all warm and fuzzy to his former org and certainly didn't look it last night. He even called out Jeter earlier in the year for trying to get balls called by jumping out of the way of not-very inside pitches.

Ceetar May 19 2011 10:40 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

The drama of extra inning games is so much more boring in the AL.

Frayed Knot May 19 2011 10:46 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Yup. Pitchers never get pulled because of lineup issues (part of what made the Mariano short stint even odder) and the only way teams do run into lineup crunches is in odd circumstances like last night when a batter takes a fastball to the face after all the subs are spent and then the pitcher who throws it is ejected. O's used [u:177s1qi1]Nine[/u:177s1qi1] different hurlers last night.

Gwreck May 19 2011 11:05 AM Re: OoTSB, 5/17

Duplicate post