The thermometer has reached 30 for three straight days here in northern Maine. It's getting exciting! Stuff is actually melting. The trick is not getting TOO excited. Last year, or was it the year before? Anyway, it was in May and we had two snow storms with ten or more inches of snow. Even so, the sun is higher in the sky and we are more than halfway through March. Yes, baseball is on its way. Looking at today's games, here are some things we might look forward to:
- The Rangers beat Oakland, 8-5. Kris Benson started for the Rangers and gave up four runs right off the bat (literally). But he held on and was scoreless in his final three innings and the Rangers came back an won. Maybe both comeback players of the year will come from Texas. Benson for the Rangers and Hampton for the Astros. Gonzalez, the A's starter was roughed up for six runs. He was relieved by Josh Outman who pitched four strong innings and is having a fine spring. Is there a much better name for a pitcher than "Outman"? That's almost as good as Ryan Longwell, the field goal kicker.
- Clayton Kershaw threw five fantastic innings and the Dodgers beat the Rockies 3-2. Kershaw also hit a homer! Jeff Weaver also pitched for the Dodgers. Apparently, Joe Torre wasn't tormented enough by Weaver in New York, so Weaver followed him to LA to finish him off. The Dodgers won despite getting only four hits. The entire team is not hitting at this point.
- The Brewers beat the Indians, 7-5. Manny Parra had a decent start for the Brewers though David Riske got the win in relief (despite giving up a run in an inning. His spring ERA is over 11). For the Brewers, Prince Fielder knocked in a couple, Hardy had a double and a triple and the red-hot, Corey Hart, hit is fifth homer of the spring. Speaking of hot, Sizemore had two more hits for the Indians and is batting .480!
- The Cubs beat a split squad of Mariners with very few regulars on either side playing. Heilman had another good start for the Cubs, but it is hard to gauge that with the amount of talent playing for the Mariners.
- The Giants beat the White Sox, 6-4. The White Sox bullpen wasted a brilliant effort by John Danks, who appears poised to have a terrific year. Giant's starter, Cain was cuffed around a little in his five innings of work. Quentin had his first homer of the spring for Chicago and Konerko hit his fourth.
- The Orioles and Nationals both had great starts from young pitchers. Alfredo Simon was fantastic for the Orioles and Shairon Martis was very good for the Nationals. Washington won the game because their bullpen was better. Willingham his his first homer of the spring for Washington. Nolan Reimold had his fourth homer of the spring for the Orioles and is batting .321. Wieters had another hit today.
- In the Phillies, Marlins game today, starters Joe Blanton and Chris Volstad combined for ten innings and only two hits between them (one each) as both pitched superbly. Marlins' pitchers after Volstad gave up the game though and the Phillies won, 5-1. Howard drove in his fifteenth run of the spring.
- Joel Pineiro got his second win of the spring for the Cardinals today as he beat Kazmir and the Bay Rays. Ludwick and Ankiel both hit their first homers of the spring against Kazmir. Ankiel was 3 for 3 with three driven in and two runs scored. Morgan Ensberg made two errors today for the Bay Rays and already has four for the spring. He is only batting .200, which doesn't bode well for his future there. He has fallen a long, long way from his 2005 season with the Astros.
- The Mets beat the Astros, who have won maybe two games all spring. They sure look bad at this point. Jose Reyes and Mike Pelfrey had great games for the Mets, Reyes with three hits and Pelfrey with six strong innings pitched.
- Lester pitched great for the Red Sox. Arroyo did not for the Reds and the Red Sox won the game 9-1. Jed Lowrie had three hits for the Red Sox and has taken off since Lugo got hurt. Maybe he just needed to feel secure? The Reds young pitching should be a big benefit for the Reds this year, but the team just doesn't have any offense.
- Javier Vazquez pitched great for the Braves and Dontrelle Willis again struggled as the Braves beat the Tigers, 5-2. Poor Willis was even wild to first base and picked up an error on a pick off attempt.
- A. J. Burnett faced his old team for the first time and though he struggled with his control (walking three in three innings), he held on for his third win of the spring. Jorge Posada has been leading off for the Yankees. Not understanding that... Nady had a triple among his two hits. Austin Jackson is having a good spring and it won't be long before he is the Yankee centerfielder.
- Ichiro isn't hitting well for Japan in the WBC. He is now batting .125 for the "Classic."
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