OoTS 4/5

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Matusaka Mania begins in Kansas City... NOW!!!!

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Surrenders a leadoff single. They should aall him Di-SUCK-y!!!11

[Guest Rotblatt]

So DeJesus with a single, German ground out, then Dice-K walked Teahen before getting Brown to ground into a DP--1-6-3.

All in all, a little shaky for a first inning, but scoreless.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

He also gave up a walk but avoided any trouble with a 1-6-3 DP.

In the lineup for Kansas City again today is the mysterious Ross Gload, who as a minor leaguer was acquired by the Mets from the Rockies in the complex Burnitz-Zeile-Rusch-D'Amico-Harris-Agbayani-Ochoa deal then sent back to them before camp ever started, as if we never wanted him in the first place.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Overshadowed by Matsuzakarama is Zach Greinke's return to the Royals rotation.

He came back for 3 appearances (1 start) last September after missing the whole season with serious anxiety problems, including an inability to work out in front of others and, oddly, crying himself to sleep after the breakup of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

Glad to see the guy (possibly) has his head back on straight.

[soupcan]

OlerudOwned wrote: ..and, oddly, crying himself to sleep after the breakup of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

Please tell me that's a joke.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yeah, really.

I mean, it's not like when...

I'm sorry. I can't complete the joke. I can't think of another celebrity breakup that might have made me weep.

Sorry.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

http://deadspin.com/sports/baseball/whats-going-on-with-zack-greinke-157692.php

The audio interview linked there, it's...I honestly can't tell if he's kidding or not. The part about crying in bed seems like he might be exaggerating a bit, but the car-punching anger seems genuine.

I just don't know. He's either a master of deadpan or completely bonkers.

[Guest attgig]

would've been interesting if boston didn't go over the top of us by 12 mil and he was wearing a met uni.

#2 starter in our rotation?

[metirish]

attgig wrote: would've been interesting if boston didn't go over the top of us by 12 mil and he was wearing a met uni. #2 starter in our rotation?

mabe even a #1 but I think he would be the Mets third or fourth starter,Maine will win as many if not ,ore games than Dice.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Brian McCann is red hot, and the Phillies Totally-Awesome-Bandwagon-Worthy-Better-Than-Mets-2007-Division-Champs pitching staff is getting whacked early.

2-0 Braves in the after half an inning.

[Benjamin Grimm]

metirish wrote: mabe even a #1 but I think he would be the Mets third or fourth starter,Maine will win as many if not ,ore games than Dice.

If the Mets had signed Matsuzaka, there's no way he'd start after John Maine.

Maine might end up with more wins, but Matsuzaka would have probably been the Game 2 starter, after Glavine. The only thing that distinguishes a 1 from a 2 from a 3 is which games they start during the first week of the season.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Dice-K hasn't allowed a baserunner since the first inning, and now has 5 K's through 4 scoreless innings.

Not bad.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Rotblatt wrote: Dice-K hasn't allowed a baserunner since the first inning, and now has 5 K's through 4 scoreless innings. Not bad.

Practically John Maine territory he's in now.

[Guest Rotblatt]

. . . and now the John Maine wannabe gives up his first run--a dinger to DeJesus to start off the bottom of the 6th.

Poser.

[Guest Rotblatt]

He made it through the 6th, allowing two more hits but not another run, and striking out 2. He's at 96 pitches, so I imagine that's it for him today, and he finishes with a line of

6 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 ER

By the way, there's a thread on SoSH called something like, "Matsuzaka: Best Pitcher in the AL?" which I find absolutely hilarious. In all fairness, the thread was after some random reporter called Matsuzaka the favorite to win the Cy Young award, and most of the posters are appropriately skeptical, but still . . .

Matsuzaka unadjusted 2006 stats:
186.3 IP, 2.13 ERA, 0.923 WHIP, 9.66 K/9, 1.59 BB/9

Santana's:
233.7 IP, 2.77 ERA, 0.997 WHIP, 9.45 K/9, 1.81 BB/9

Even if you assumed there was NO difference between the NPL and the MLB, you might be tempted to call Santana more valuable, given the extra innings pitched.

[Guest Rotblatt]

And, whoa, Matsuzaka stayed in to pitch a perfect 7th, striking out 2 more.

7 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 10 K, 1 ER

Economical about it, too--only took him 12 pitches!

[metirish]

John Maine is the only pitcher in MLB history who's last name is a State...I bet Dice-man can't say that.

[Frayed Knot]

Infield prospect-turned outfield prospect-turned infielder Kelly Johnson hits a 2R HR for Atlanta. Lead Philly 4-1 in the 5th looking for the sweep.
Chuck James v Adam Eaton

[Guest Rotblatt]

I can't believe it, but I'm actually rooting for Atlanta. They're not nearly as presumptuous as those Philly clowns.

Bad guys beating the evil guys 5-1 in top of the fifth.

[Guest Edgy DC]

metirish wrote: John Maine is the only pitcher in MLB history who's last name is a State...I bet Dice-man can't say that.

I think Claudell and a few dozen other Washingtons might disagree.

[metirish]

Ha..I'm certain Gary said that during the game last night.....

[Guest Edgy DC]

There are also a few Guerreros and Hidalgos.

[Frayed Knot]

John Maine is the only pitcher in MLB history who's last name is a State...I bet Dice-man can't say that.

[soupcan]

Joe Montana got paid to throw a ball.

[Guest Edgy DC]

="Frayed Knot"]John Maine is the only pitcher in MLB history who's last name is a State...I bet Dice-man can't say that.

Got me.

[smg58]

I wonder what Mr. Rollins is thinking now...

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think the Braves have proved that the Phillies are the team to beat.

They've already done it three times.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Jeter's got two errors and shown terrible range in tonite's MFYs-Rays game. Elijah Dukes* just hit a laser beam HR and TB leads 5-4 and threatening.

oooh, 6-4

On the mound for your TBDRs -- Jae Seo.

*-Is that an awesome name or what?

[metirish]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Jeter's got two errors and shown terrible range in tonite's MFYs-Rays game. Elijah Dukes* just hit a laser beam HR and TB leads 5-4 and threatening. oooh, 6-4 On the mound for your TBDRs -- Jae Seo. *-Is that an awesome name or what?

Joe Girardi then gave the viewers four reasons why it's tough to play under these conditions.