Category: Linescores of the Day

Bobby Crosby, Oakland A’s

4 for 6, HR, 2 runs, 4 rbis

Since coming off the DL, Crosby has been hitting the ball well.  He has a .341 BA in 127 at-bats with 5 homers.  He made the difference this 10-7 Oakland victory over Toronto.

 

Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians

4 for 5, 2 HR, 3 runs, 5 rbis

Hafner, one of the better AL players not chosen for a spot on the an All-Star roster, showed why he should’ve been considered.  He was responsible for 6 of the 9 runs Cleveland scored.

Felipe Lopez, Cincinnati Reds

4 for 5, 3B, HR, 3 runs, 2 rbis

Leadoff man Lopez was a double short of the cycle.

 

Jesse Crain, Minnesota Twins

2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HR

Nothing special about Crain’s performance Friday.  It was actually a blown save.  However, thanks to Minnesota’s 4-run 8th, he got the cheap win.  Crain now is 8-0 in less than 40 innings.  That makes him 9th in the AL in wins right now.

 

Kevin Mench, Texas Rangers

3 for 4, 3 HR, 3 runs, 5 rbis

Mench scored the hat trick Thursday and helped the Rangers crush the Halos 18-5.

A bit of trivia… Last month, Kevin Mench passed Chris Widger for 5th in career homeruns among all players from Delaware.  Where would I get this info, you ask?  From the Delaware Baseball web site, of course.

 

Kerry Wood, Chicago Cubs

6 IP, 2 H, 1 run, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 1 HR

Kerry didn’t get the win but in his first start since being on the DL, he proved he didn’t have any problem pitching.  Now if the Cubs could get him some run support.

 

 

Morgan Ensberg, Houston Astros

1 for 4, HR, run, 5 rbis

This falls in the unusual LSOTD category.  Ensberg managed this by hitting a grand slam and a sac fly.  Not to diminish his performance because the grand salami is hard to come by but in addition to his 5 rbis, he also had 6 LOB.  Too bad for Houston as they lost to Colorado 6-5.

 

Julio Franco, Atlanta Braves

1 for 1, HR, run, 4 rbis

Julio Franco made the most of one AB, hitting a grand slam.  Two years ago, he hit a grand slam at age 44 when he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam. 

6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0, ER, 3 BB, 0 K

Prior was ready to come back, that was pretty evident.

Prior retired 18 of the 19 batters he faced.  Not wanting to push their luck, the Cubs coaching staff decided to pull him after six innings which in this case might have been the prudent thing to do.  New addition Jerome Williams, pitched two scoreless innings after giving up a walk.  I like Williams.  Once he decides that he’ll get his stuff together, he’ll be a good addition to the Cubs staff.

Prior seemed tickled pink by Burnitz’ baserunning.  Burnitz got on first via a Konerko error, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sac fly.  What year is this? 1908?  Quoth Prior:

 ”I think what made it even a better ballgame was the way Burnitz ran the bases in that inning,” Prior said. “That insurance run was key.”

My Cub fan buddy TDChitown was at the Cell for the game.  I talked to him this morning and I could practically hear him beaming.  Prior was back healthy and strong, the Cubs took two of three from the Sox, things were looking up in Wrigleyville.  He said the Cell was a great place to see a Sox/Cubs game save for the drunk Sox fans who wouldn’t stop whining about how “bad” the Cubs were.  Seems kinda ironic since Prior was pitching a one-hitter against them.

The Cubs are more than ready to have Prior back.  Not only that, Kerry Wood is scheduled to be back on Wednesday.  Whether or not this translates to a possible run on the first place Cardinals remains to be seen. 

Cliff Floyd, New York Mets

2 for 3, 2 HR, 3 runs, 4 rbis

At 33, Floyd may be headed for his best season yet.  His career best is 22 homeruns and 103 rbis.  At this point, he already has 20 and 51 respectively.