Wednesday Exhibition Games and the WBC

And yes, for those cynical enough, that heading was redundant. Team USA lost, Puerto Rico won. Wait...isn't Puerto Rico a part of the USA? Oh never mind. Here is a look at what happened on Wednesday:

- Verlander had a bad start for the Tigers, but Sabathia was worse and the Yankees lost. Melky Cabrera, who has to feel like someone who forgot the words on American Idol, went hitless and is down to .238 for the spring. The writing is on the wall, Son. Sheffield hit two homers, but, is still old. Teixeira is batting .529.

- The Phillies and Braves had 36 hits between them in a Braves win. Just about every pitcher on either staff barfed except for Reyes. He might be one of the best Braves pitchers at this point. Philadelphia's starter, Kendrick, got bombed. But John Mayberry Jr. hit his third homer of the spring. He is making things interesting in the outfield for that club.

- We can't Harang Aaron today as he pitched very well against the Astros in a Cincinnati win. Homer Bailey pitched well after Harang too. He's looking good this spring. Yesterday in the FanDome, we wondered if De La Rosa was the only three word last named person in the majors. Don't know if he is going to make it past spring, but the Astros have their own: De La Vara. So that question is answered. Hanigan had another hit for the Reds and is hitting a incredulous .529. The Astros may lose 90 games this year.

- The bullpen blew the game for the Orioles as the Twins beat them. Kubel is having a great spring for the Twins. Span and Crede are really struggling though, both hitting well below the Mendoza line. Wieters had another hit and his average is still over .400. Bite the bullet, McPhail. Keep the kid in April.

- The Blue Jays and Pittsburgh played their way to an eleven inning 2-2 tie, which is a bit like kissing your sister except that it meant great pitching for both teams. Halladay was great again as was Pittsburgh's Maholm. Travis Snider is having a great spring for the Blue Jays after a nice September call up last year.

- The Marlins blew the save in the ninth inning, giving up four runs allowing the Cardinals to win 8-4. Wellemeyer looked great for St. Louis in the start. Khalil Greene is having a great spring. The Cardinals do seem to have a knack of taking castoffs and making good players out of them, don't they? Uggla had an ugly day: three at bats, three strikeouts. The Cardinals' Mitchell Boggs hasn't given up a run this spring.

- The Rockies blanked Cleveland today. Aaron Cook was fantastic for the Rockies. He pitched five full innings giving up only three hits and other than his seven strikeouts, there were nothing else but zeroes across his line. The other three pitchers for Colorado: Corpas, Chacin and Lindsay have all gone all spring without giving up any runs. Tulo is still scuffling at the plate though.

- Bush had a great start for the Brewers but Julio gave up four runs late (no surprise there) and Milwaukee lost to the White Sox. Buehrle, Russell, Jenks, Dotel and Egbert all pitched great for the White Sox. Can you imagine the teasing Egbert had as a schoolboy? Trot Nixon has looked brutal for the Brewers and is batting .085. He keeps that up and he'll be cut soon. Bet the Brewers can't wait to get Braun back.

- A kid named Chris Jakubauskas pitched well in the start for Seattle, but then Thomas came in and got whacked. The Mariners are desperate for pitching. They just can't get many people out. Mike Sweeney isn't going to go quietly at the end of his career as he fights valiently for a job with Seattle. The Griffey signing was bad news for him. Sweeney, one of the most likable guys in the majors is batting .400 this spring. Chris Shelton (remember him from the Tigers?) is batting .500. Alex Gordon really doesn't look that much better for the Royals after working with Mark McGwire over the winter.

- For some reason, Japan played the Giants today. Lincecum pitched well for the Giants but Justin Miller later worked an inning and gave up four runs and got the loss.

And now on to the WBC or the WBCIIOY as the Fan calls it (The World Baseball Classic Is It Over Yet?):

- The stacked Venezuela team beat the Americans today. Jeter went 2 for 4 and Braun went 4 for 4 and Iannetta hit a homer. But it was all for naught as Guthrie pitched an inning and gave up the game with four runs.

- Puerto Rico beat those naughty Netherlanders today 5-0. The Fan's man, Bernie Williams still doesn't have a hit in the series. Oh well. It was a nice dream while it lasted.

That's it for Wednesday. Only 25 more days until the real season starts!