Saturday Sendoff Shutouts

Santana’s Shining Shutout Saturday
Mets 1, Brewers 0

The Mets had to win the game with their ace on the mound pitching the way he did.
Johan Santana gave another optimum performance, dazzling in seven innings for the Mets. Santana breezed through the Brewers to improve his record to 2-1 on the young season. Johan allowed five hits and struck out seven Brewers before being relieved by J.J. Putz. Putz threw a scoreless eighth after New York gave Santana a chance to win in their half of the seventh. Jose Reyes grounded into a fielder’s choice and the Mets scratched a run across the board. The dribbler broke the draw and turned out to be the game-decider as the Mets upheld the lead. Francisco Rodriguez earned his third save in the ninth, fanning two in the frame.
The Brewers were unable to garner hits against a dominant Santana in his CitiField debut. The Mets bats were just as lethargic facing right-hander, Yovani Gallardo. Gallardo threw 103 pitches, but I felt Ken Macha pulled the 23 year old from the game too early.
New York’s shoddy hitters couldn’t make contact and left too many runners in scoring position again. For once, you would like to see the team take a commanding lead with their star pitcher on the mound. Everything becomes magnified when the other pitcher is just as domineering. It left very little cushion for Santana, not that he needed it yesterday.
Only when Carlos Villanueva took over in the seventh did the Mets have success at the plate. Ramon Castro drew a leadoff walk off Villanueva. Manager, Jerry Manuel, removed Castro for pinch runner and backup catcher, Omir Santos. The next batter, Alex Cora pinch-hitting for Santana, laid down a sacrifice bunt. Cora was safe at first on the sacrifice when Rickie Weeks dropped the throw at first base. Santos scampered to third on the error. With runners at the corners and nobody out, Reyes drilled a hard liner back to the pitcher. The ball bounced off Villanueva to shortstop, JJ Hardy. Hardy got the force at second for the first out, but Santos scored on the play. David Wright disappointingly ended the inning on a groundout double play ball, thus ending the third baseman’s ten game hitting streak.
The revamped Mets bullpen was right on, doing an honorable job. Putz set down the Brewers in order in the eighth and Krod gave up a single to Milwaukee leadoff man, Ryan Braun, before saving them game for Santana.



Greinke Grows, Glows in Grinder
Royals 2, Rangers 0
Zack Greinke needed 111 pitches and did not allow a run, in a seven hitter for his first career shutout. Greinke hasn’t allowed a run in any of his three starts so far this year. His 34 consecutive scoreless innings date back to last season and the ace is now 3-0 with a perfect 0.0 ERA.
Greinke’s change-up was effective and his fastball topped off in 90’s against Kevin Millwood and the Rangers. Both Greinke and Millwood threw complete games. Millwood went nine innings, scattering five hits, with three walks and three strikeouts before skipping off the mound with a loss.
The Rangers are losers of seven of their last eight games. They had a few opportunities against Greinke. In the second inning, Hank Blalock tripled to lead off but the ensuing three batters recorded outs. Chris Davis and Nelson Cruz struck out. Davis also struck out looking to end the game with a runner on third base. Greinke got himself in a jam during the third inning with only one out. He allowed a runner to reach third before striking out the red hot, Ian Kinsler. Then, he induced a ground ball to Michael Young, who had his 5,000th career at bat yesterday.
Kansas City scored in the sixth on a Billy Butler double with two outs. Miguel Olivo drove in the game’s second run on a seventh inning solo homerun.
Grienke has matured and come a long way from where he was last year. Pitching in Texas is not easy because of the hitter-friendly Ballpark in Arlington. The Royals lead the AL Central in wins and are showing the league they have quality arms.

Jackson Jettisons & Jilts
Tigers 2, Mariners 0
Right-hander, Edwin Jackson, shutdown the Seattle Mariners with 7 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. The Mariners were unable to get a good assessment of Jackson. Jackson outpitched Seattle’s Erik Bedard to notch his first victory of the year. The Tiger hurler fanned six and issued just one walk on the afternoon. Bobby Seay relieved Jackson and struck out Ichiro Suziki with a man on first and two outs. Fernando Rodney picked up his third save for Detroit. Rodney walked Endy Chavez to lead off the ninth, but retired the final three batters. Ken Griffey, Jr., Adrian Beltre and Mike Sweeney all failed to convert a Rodney offering into a hit. Chavez was the first base runner he allowed all year and he has yet to give up a hit.
Miguel Cabrera scored the Tigers first fun in the sixth as Brandon Inge stamped out a single to right field. Seattle’s Suzuki significantly overthrew backstop, Rob Johnson, also allowed Gerald Laird to score for what would be the final run.
Bedard threw 100 pitches in an efficient start. His cutter was biting despite the nine hits he allowed to Detroit. The Tigers came closest to crossing the plate on a shallow fly by Yuniesky Betancourt in the fifth. Jose Lopez attempted to tag up but failed when centerfielder, Curtis Granderson, threw him out at home. Chavez returned Granderson the favor in the seventh when Curtis tried to score on a flyout by Cabrera. He was nailed at the plate by Endy’s powerful arm. Chavez stole a base in the first inning after a double off Jackson. With one out, Edwin retired Griffey on a foul out and Beltre on a grouder.


Rodriguez Romps Reds
Astros 7, Reds 0
Wandy Rodriguez completed a seven strong innings with a strikeout of Laynce Nix to end Cincinnati’s only real threat of the day. After walking two batters in the innings, Rodriguez excelled and escaped the jam to recorded his 10th strikeout. The total ties his career best. Nix gets the golden sombrero for striking out three times in three at-bats against Rodriguez. Wandy delivered the message early and allowed only two hits as the Reds struggled to figure him out. They never adjusted to his curveball as Rodriguez set them down searching for answers inning after inning. Chris Sampson and Jeff Fulchino chipped with hitless innings in relief.
Aaron Harang gave up five runs in six innings for the Reds. He fanned six Astros, made some good pitches but failed to record outs. The Astros got to Harang early with four consecutive singles in the first frame. Houston scored on back-to-back RBI singles in the first. Hunter Pence and Geoff Blum were the Astro culprits. The lead increased to 3-0 in the fifth on a Carlos Lee double to left. Blum’s double with the bases loaded in the seventh scored two runs, and Ivan Rodriguez added two more on his own double for the 7-0 final. Lance Berkman scored a run after reaching base on four straight balls. The walk by Haranag was followed by a plunking of Miguel Tejada. Dusty Baker replaced his erratic starter with relief pitcher, Jared Burton. Burton walked Lee and gave up the back-to-back doubles to Lee and Pudge.
Ramon Hernandez, the Reds’ catcher, drew a walk in the eighth, but Cincinnati’s slim hopes of negating the shutout fell short. Alex Gonzalez fumbled on his way to grounding into a double play to kill the rally. In addition, Houston base runners successful swiped three bags against Hernandez.

Snell Stifles in Slamming Saturday
Pirates 10, Braves 0
The Pirates hammered Atlanta with a cluster of hits, including a pair of three run shots by Craig Monroe. Monroe finished with six RBIs after drilling the dingers in back-to-back innings. Ian Snell threw seven scoreless to blank the Braves minus Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar. Snell allowed five hits and the Pirates suddenly have the lowest ERA in the major leagues (2.63). Seattle is second in team ERA with 3.01. Pittsburgh’s starting staff also has more shutouts than any other team, with three on the year.
Manager, John Russell, will use Monroe more against right-handed pitchers and more than just a pinch hitter. He was in the lineup against the lefty, Jo-Jo Reyes, and could not have had a better game offensively. The Pirates took the first two game of the three game set by pounding out a total of 13 hits. The 6-5 Bucs had a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Andy LaRoche drove in Ryan Doumit on a blast to left. Doumit reached base on a double off Reyes. LaRoche came into the game batting a weak .091 but that will change after yesterday’s three hit game. Andy had two doubles to go along with the RBI single. Doumit doubled three times in the Pirate victory.
The game was blown open in the sixth, as Pittsburgh went on a four run rout. Nate McLouth hit an RBI single after a double off the bat of Freddy Sanchez. Reyes then issued two walks, one intentional, to set the stage for Monroe. Monroe did not let his guard down even though he struggled with Reyes’ sinker earlier in the day. Craig shellacked the sinker past the centerfield bullpen for the 5-0 lead. Reliever, Buddy Carlyle, surrendered the second Monroe round tripper on a hanging slider. The long ball launched in the seventh with two outs and two on board. It landed it practically the same spot beyond the bullpen grass.
Snell improved to 1-2 with a 94 pitch effort. Russell removed him because the Pirates’ rally resulted in a safe enough lead.

Davis’ Diamondbacks Dent & Dint
Diamondbacks 2, Giants 0
Dan Haren’s terrific start was wasted Friday night in an Arizona loss. The Diamondbacks bounced back Saturday with a shutout of San Francisco. Chris Young clubbed a two run double to give Arizona the only runs they would need in the NL West showdown at AT & T Park.
Reigning CY Young winner, Tim Lincecum, was on the hill for San Francisco. Tim was looking for his first win against a team he has a habit of dominating. Lincecum received little run support in a solid effort. He struck out 13 Dbacks on his way to a five hit shutout. Tim was pulled in the eighth inning after just 98 pitches. Jeremy Affeldt came in and with one out, got the Giants into a jam when Chad Tracy drew a walk. Brian Wilson replaced Affleldt but was just as unsuccessful. Mark Reynolds lined a single to put Arizona runners on the first two bases. Young came to bat and immediately got into a 0-2 hole. Chris was behind in the count but Bengie Molina allowed a passed ball and the Dbacks’ runner advanced a base. Young worked Wilson to a full count before sending a slider into left field.
Diamondbacks’ lefty, Doug Davis, was terrific. He fired eight innings of shutout ball and pitched out of trouble. The Giants managed eight hits off Davis, who had his curveball in top form Saturday. Chad Qualls picked up his first save of the season. San Francisco tried to score in the first inning on a steal attempt at the plate. Speedy, Emmanuel Burriss, took off as Davis went into his windup. The lefty noticed Burriss’ move and sped up his fastball to seal the easy out. You have to give the Giants some credit for being aggressive I guess.

Parting points: No comment on the Yankee game yesterday. Yay for the Rockets though.
Reading- John Feinstein’s book about Red Auerbach