Game Recap

Mark Buehrle was jovial after the sixth inning.

He was content enough with his situation in the game that when a fellow player asked how he was feeling in the dugout, he simply replied, "I've got a no-hitter."

Most pitchers treat talking about a no-hitter during a game the same as saying Macbeth before actors put on the play, but Buehrle didn't seem to have a care in the world. He was acting invincible, and he certainly looked like it, until the seventh inning.

First, let me preface my comments by saying that as someone who spent many years attending a Baptist church (like Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane), I'm sure he's a nice guy. Heck, he teaches Sunday School. Any nicer, he'd probably be driving an ice cream truck and giving kids Popsicles and Rocky Road ice cream cones for free.

But I digress. While McLane is a wonderful guy, I question his skills as an owner.

Here's why.

Carl Crawford went 4-for-4 with an RBI this Sunday, but did something even more incredible. He stole six bases. In one game.

We all know what a thief Crawford is, but geez. No one has done something this awesome on the base paths for 18 years. 

Am I dreaming? I never thought I would be able to start a game recap with that headline.

Yet, it is appropriate, as Vernon Wells and Alex Rios hit their fourth and second home runs respectively to lead the Jays to a 4-3 win and a series sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.

Wells started it off for the Jays, hitting a two-run shot after Rios' double put him in scoring position.

Unfortunately, the lead did not last long, as Luke Scott creamed a pitch over the wall for his fourth of the year, tying it up 2-2.

The Reds entered the season knowing that the pitching staff would have to lead them in order for them to have the success that they have hoped for. 

So far this season the pitching has been as good as they could of expected.

Leading the staff today, was young Johnny Cueto who went eight innings of shutout baseball, allowing four hits with nine strikeouts sprinkled in. 

Most importantly, he showed some control and only walked one batter in the game. 

No Manny.  No Furcal.  No Blake.  No Martin.  All of them were missing from the starting lineup.

No problem!

Who needs stars at the plate when you have a star on the mound!  Chad Billingsley pitched solidly, and the offense scored big in two separate innings as the Dodgers defeat the Padres 7-3 at Dodger Stadium.

After a cold, rainy and just plain dreary and disappointing month of April, the Cubs begin the month of May 2-0. The story of the game was Ted Lilly, on the mound and at the plate.

On the mound Lilly was great, striking out 10, and walking none. He gave up five hits, one of which was a solo home-run by Cody Ross. At the plate Lilly came through with a 2 run double of the right field wall with two outs in the third inning.

Good teams find ways to win close games. Right now, the Colorado Rockies are not a good team.

Despite an outstanding effort from Ubaldo Jimenez, the Rockies dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to the Giants on Friday night in San Francisco. The loss moves the Rockies to 8-13 on the season, 4-8 on the road.

Of the 13 losses, five of them have come by one-run margins.

An inability to get hits at key moments continues to plague the Rockies.

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If one team actually played the game perfectly (which would mean the other team couldn’t, quite), baseball would be dull. Tonight, in the first of a weekend series against the Royals, the Twins produce a dull second inning and eight other exciting ones as they hoist themselves over .500.

Kevin Slowey starts for the Twins. In his last outing against the Indians, he was masterful and he has assembled a pretty 3-0 record, though the journey there has required some nail biting.

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated their neighbors from San Diego on Thursday 8-5, in a game which could be described as a knife fight—only both sides were using butter knives.

Each side tried to give away the game. The Dodgers,with yet another ineffective start from James McDonald; and the Padres, with a shaky bullpen and a magic bullet of a throw from rightfielder Brian Giles that eluded every glove in it's path to allow Casey Blake to bring in the eventual winning run.