Frayed Knot

Wouldn't it be nice to smack this guy around? I think it would be fun, fun, fun if we did.

Two dinky hits in the inning but he's got no one to blame for the walk.

That was a huge K - need one more baby

The problems in the early going for Wright were: - power was down - strike-outs were up - his hitting w/RiSP was bad #1 is possibly due to the new stadium and/or small sample size #2 was slightly disturbing if only because it was so out of whack to the consistency he had displayed in his career. His ~110 Ks/yr were suddenly on a pace for 200+ #3 is usually a self-correcting fluke that will trend towards normal with a larger sample size although it does tend to be the one that gets radio call-in types (on both sides of the phone line) apoplectic the quickest

Y'know what would be another good "punishment"? ... Put him in the 2-hole starting tomorrow w/Castillo up top. You wanna make things happen hot shot - do it with your bat

Tigers cruising with a 5-0 lead and Verlander on the mound. He gets pulled w/one out in the 7th after allowing a single & a walk (120+ pitches) and then the roof caves in. Twins win 6-5

Bruntlett strikes out to end the inning (Broxton Ks the side - whoopie) and they're going to the 10th

Philly 9th: Howard - K Werth - K (his 4th of the day) Ibanez - 1B Dobbs - BB Ruiz - Game-tying 2RBI 2B

Dojers tally one in top-9 (off Lidge) so Broxton comes in to attempt a save with a [u:e29a5c51a0]two[/u:e29a5c51a0] run lead.

golf clap

Marlins lose and are swept by Brew Crew. Their 11-1 start has been followed by 6 wins out of the next 23 games Phils head to the 9th down 2-1 and those shudders you will feel from 100 miles down the road are from the footsteps of Jonathan Broxton tromping in from the pen.

HR James Loney -- 2-1 Trolley Dodgers, middle of the 7th

A couple of gay dames to keep our interest going until the 10PM start. Most notably: Phils v Dodgers - currently tied at 1 at the end of the 6th. Hamels v Billingsley and Marlins @ Brewers - currently 5-3 Milwaukee in bottom 6. Johnson & Bush (but not Lyndon or George) were the starters there.

LWFS, Sharpie, and GWreck up for the road trip

More catcher news - from Adam Rubin's blog, NYDN: Catcher Javier Valentin, Jose's brother, has signed with the Mets and will report to Triple-A Buffalo, replacing Rafael Arroyo on the Bisons' roster. Valentin, 33, has appeared in 631 major-league games from 1997-2008, with a combined .251 average, 45 homers and 210 RBI in 1,507 at-bats. He spent spring training with the Nationals but declared himself a free agent when Washington asked him to go to the minors.

="Benjamin Grimm"]And he has a $9 million option for next year? I don't see that being picked up. Yeah, $8.6 with a $1mil buyout. That's overly hefty for a good set-up man much less a shaky one. No I can't see that getting picked up, nor does he have any incentive to re-negotiate that into a less-hefty/longer term one. He'd be a FA otherwise and be able to negotiate with anyone. At those prices we'd be better off trying to work out a one-year deal with (ducks) Wagner to be the set-up/alt closer. And, of course, it doesn't help that Sean Green, the "extra" incentive in that package, isn't pulling his weight either. He's rapidly becoming this trade's version of Gene Walter or Bill Pecota. And while I normally hate to presume ahead in these things (but apparently am going to do it anyway) the best case scenario for les Metsies is that Putz re-finds his form to the point where we can deal him for something good, either towards the trading deadline (if things are going poorly for the team) or after the season to someone looking for a 2010 closer if things go well. And, yeah, slow pitchers in general are annoying and slow relievers, for some reason, even moreso to me. Papelbon may be real good but Jeez is he a chore to watch!

Stokes - 1.0 Feliciano - 1.1 Rodriguez - 0.7 Reyes - 1.3 Sheffield - 1.5 Tatis - 2.3 Beltran - 0.7 Church - 0.5 Castillo - 0.4

Nothing like extra-innings on getaway day before a coast-to-coast flight w/no day off. Sean Green trying to win friends and influence games.

Of course Reyes striking out isn't part of the plan.

I don't mind the bunt there. Cora's not likely to get an extra base hit, we stay out of the GiDP, and in this case we ARE playing for just one run.

Cora PH-ing, likely to bunt.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: ="Frayed Knot"]="HahnSolo"]Frankie in a tie game after two innings last night? I think it's a good spot for him. You figure only one inning anyway and the pitcher's spot is up in the bottom half. Indeed. I haven't been a huge Manuel-the-BP-manager fan, but color me 100 percent in favor the continued Gossaging of the Rod. Plus it's a home game so there's not going to be a save situation anyway.

Nice of Chipper not to take 2nd on that play too.

HahnSolo wrote: Frankie in a tie game after two innings last night? I think it's a good spot for him. You figure only one inning anyway and the pitcher's spot is up in the bottom half.

Edgy DC wrote: Yeah, but he also pinch-hit a lefthanded reserve for his lefthanded starting outfielder and it worked for him. And now he's got a really bad OF defense leftover. In fact he's got middle infielders in CF & 1B and LFs in both LF & RF