EVIL~! alkeiper

This is the one Benoit match I might have taken. It's got some historical intrigue as well as being a great match.

Great to see Dan Giese pitch well tonight, even if for the Yankees. The guy pitched extremely well in AAA his entire career, he deserves an opportunity. Note for Yankee fans, at least they didn't lose it in the eighth inning!

The game was tied. Joba has only come into a tie game twice this season. The Yankees had seven games where they were tied in the eighth coming into last night, so the other five times a different pitcher got the ball.

Yunel Escobar with a home run to win the game. Marlins drop to 1.5 back of the Phils.

The Marlins had a shot to put away the Braves, but lost the lead on a wild pitch in the ninth with two outs. Both teams are blowing opportunities.

Since I may not get a chance tomorrow, there are rumors the Yankees will call up Dan Giese to their bullpen. Giese is 4-2 this season with a 1.98 ERA, 51 K's and 14 BBs in 59 innings. He doesn't have great stuff but he throws strikes and makes the offense beat him.

Holy shit, Chris Snelling came off the disabled list!

Shea Stadium!

Gary Majewski now coming in for the Reds with the bases loaded. From what I saw in the minors, he's toast.

The Phillies have been white-hot the last week and a half.

Damn, Bruce got us. 2-1 Phils.

MW679 is up, followed by King Cucharacha. MellowBlissful can make his selection if he pops up.

Goddamn, Chase Utley is absolutely sick. 21 home runs!

The Phillies recorded an out on Jay Bruce!

Florida is up by three, hard to see them losing that much ground so soon.

I wouldn't debate the ability of the Japanese stars, the wrestling exhibitions were top notch. The fans I think appreciated the match. There's just no passion there at all in the crowd.

On Daily News Live, the panelists and Ken Rosenthal are crediting Charlie Manuel's decision to use Geoff Jenkins instead of Greg Dobbs as "intuition." Yeah. That and that Jenkins was good enough to start as a corner outfielder for a decade.

Buddy Rogers had 30000 at Comiskey for a title rematch against Pat O'Connor later in the summer of '61. Bruno's biggest might have been his defense against Stan Hansen, 32000 at Shea Stadium.

Yeah, risking an honest toss would have cost them the Savage/Crush match.

That gives them a combined age of 25.8. That's impressive, but matched by the Marlins and Rockies. The Pirates and Giants are actually a hair younger.

The AAA Phillies were scheduled to face Bailey tonight. They have a rough enough time without having to face good pitchers. The Reds now have four rookie of the year candidates (Bruce, Votto, Cueto and Bailey). That doesn't count Edison Volquez, not rookie-eligible but just 24 years old. For kicks, Dusty Baker has never managed a player who finished in the top 5 in Rookie of the Year balloting, and managed only two players who received any votes at all.

Did they? One of the reasons the O's are close to .500 is their bullpen, which is staffed by Matt Albers and Dennis Sarfate, both pitching well and both acquisitions from Houston. Tejada is no longer an elite player, he's lost a step at the plate and I believe his defense has suffered. This is just an assumption but notice that the O's are giving up less runs with Luis Hernandez at shortstop? The trade probably made Houston better right now. Long term the upside is minimal depending on Troy Patton's recovery, but how many other offers were floating?

The Phillies grabbed first place again, taking two of three from the Marlins. Four games against Jay Bruce and the Reds await. Chase Utley is an absolute monster this season, hitting his 20th home run of the season yesterday. He had 22 all of last season. The record for a second baseman is 43 by Davey Johnson. There may not be a better player in the National League right now.

It's been 12 hours. The Franchise can make his pick.

When ESPNU kept advertising UCLA/Cal State at 11, I thought they were going early in the morning. Stanford/Pepperdine kicks off at 4pm, three more around 7pm, San Diego/Fresno St. at 9pm, and the UCLA game at 11pm. All Eastern of course. ESPNU's broadcast schedule lists games on air at 7 and 11pm. There is nothing else like this in baseball. Six games today, every one of them is a winner-advances, loser-goes-home scenario.