FROM THE BILL CHUCK FILES…
By Baseball Newstalgist, Bill Chuck

NINE TO KNOW

July 2, 2009 - Here are nine items you need to know in order to talk baseball today.

1. Well, that was a shocker redux: Bullpen meltdowns are not that unusual and in the game following the Boston bullpen’s collapse to the Orioles, the Orioles’ bullpen collapsed for the Red Sox. Baltimore starter Brad Bergesen pitched well again allowing just one run on four hits while walking none. He was pulled after eight innings and 103 pitches, with his team up 5-1. In the Boston 9th, Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer off Jim Johnson before O’s closer George Sherrill struck out (five-whiffer) Jason Bay and David Ortiz. Sherrill then allowed a single and two walks for pinch-hitter Rocco Baldelli, who grounded a single up the middle to make it 5-5. In the 11th, Julio Lugo singled in the tiebreaking run to give Boston the 6-5 victory. Talk about: The Red Sox took two of three from Baltimore for their seventh straight series win. The Boston bullpen pitched four perfect innings closed out by Jonathan Papelbon’s 20th save of the season and 133rd with the Red Sox, breaking the meaningless team record held by Bob Stanley.


2. 1-0: I love the excitement of 1-0 games in baseball, and last night I was a happy man. The Dodgers played their 50th and final game without Manny B Manny, beating the Colorado Rockies 1-0 on pinch-hitter Rafael Furcal's 8th inning RBI single. Jason Hammel (eight IP, one ER) was the hard-luck loser, pitching his first complete game and losing for the first time in his last eight starts (5-1). Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw pitched five scoreless innings but was not involved in the decision but he did lower his ERA to 0.76 over his last four starts. Talk about: The Dodgers became the first team with 50 wins this season and went 29-21 in Manny’s absence. Juan Pierre , who started every game during Manny's absence, will return to a part-timer despite hitting .318 with 21 RBIs, 31 runs scored, 15 walks and 21 stolen bases.


3. 1-0: I love the excitement of 1-0 games in baseball (for the record, I find 1-0 games in soccer boring), and last night I was a happy man. Great match-up in Cincy, as the Reds behind Johnny Cueto defeated the Dreadfulbacks, 1-0. Joey Votto singled home a run in the 6th to complete scoring while Arizona managed two infield singles to complete their offense. Jon Garland (4-8) was the hard-luck loser and now hasn't won since May 19, going 0-6 with a pair of no-decisions with Arizona scoring three or fewer runs in five of those games. Talk about: Since he was reinstated from the disabled list for anxiety issues, Votto has gone 11 for 32.


4. 1-0: I love the excitement of 1-0 games in baseball (for the record, 1-0 games in football are impossible), and yesterday I was a happy man. Last season, the Mets had no 1-0 wins, this season they now have three including two against Milwaukee after defeating the Brewers, 1-0 to stop their five-game losing streak. Mike Pelfrey (6-3) gave up six hits and two walks in 7.2 innings, and Ryan Church singled home the only run of the game against hard luck loser Yovanni Gallardo, who struck out a career high 12. According to our friends at the Elias Sports Bureau Gallardo's 12 strikeouts were the most by a pitcher against the Mets since John Smoltz struck out 15 for the Braves on April 10, 2005. Talk about: Pelfrey picked up his major league leadingfourth balk of the season.


5. Oh, Canada!: Nice way to celebrate Canada Day (hope it was a good one for you, Jerry Howarth) as the Toronto Blue Jays ended Tampa Bay’s seven game winning streak defeating the Bay Rays, 5-0. Ricky Romero (6-3) continued his outstanding pitching allowing just four hits through eight innings. He walked four, struck out seven and lowered his ERA to 2.85 and has not allowed a run in his past 20 innings. Scott Rolen homered to extend his hitting streak to 19 games. Rod Barajas and Adam Lind also went deep. Talk about: During his 19-game hitting streak, Rolen is hitting .423 (33-for-78) and making a late run for All-Star consideration.


6. Yankees keep winning: The Yankees topped the Mariners last night, 4-2 for their seventh straight win. Andy Pettitte (8-3) pitched seven strong for the win. The hot Alex Rodriguez homered (#566) and in his last seven games, he is 10 for 23 (.435) with four homers, 13 RBIs and 10 walks. Talk about: Ken Griffey homered for the M’s, it was his 621st. According to our friends at Elias, the last time two players with at least 550 career homers connected in the same game was May 8, 1971, when Hank Aaron and Willie Mays did it.


7. Ugly for the Phils, uglier for Rollins: Somehow, the Phillies are still in first place. Following their 11-1 shellacking by the Braves last night, Philadelphia has lost 11 of 14, including the first two games at Atlanta, where the Phillies were 9-0 last season. The Phillies lead Florida by one-half game. Jimmy Rollins was 0 for 3 with a walk and is now down to .205 in a 0 for his last 27 drought. Talk about: Jair Jurrgens (6-6) was the winner and despite his W-L record has pitched really well this season receiving only five runs in his last four losses. Jurrjens was 0-4 in June despite a 3.68 ERA in five starts. Cole Hamels (4-5) continued to struggle for the pitching poor Phils. His ERA rose to 4.98. He was 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA last season.


8. I love my walkoffs: The Cards’ rookie Colby Rasmus hit his first walkoff homer, leading off the 10th off of Bobby Howry to give St. Louis a 2-1 win over the Giants. It was the fifth career walkoff homer allowed by Howry. Both no-decision starters were brilliant as Matt Cain allowed just one run in seven innings for the Giants while Adam Wainwright allowed one run in nine innings for the Cardinals. Talk about: According to our buds at ESPN (shout out to Mark Simon who deserves some love) Albert Pujols is batting .337 with 30 HRs and 77 RBIs through the Cardinals first 80 games. The only other players to hit .330 with 30 HR and 75 RBI in his team's first 80 games are Babe Ruth 1921 Yankees, Jimmie Foxx 1932 A's, Luis Gonzalez 2001 Diamondbacks.


9. BUY IT.
Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales, is a terrific present for any occasion and is available on Amazon.com. Read an excerpt on SI.com. More of my Red Sox notes can often be found on http://sawxheads.trufan.com/.



Check my Tweet for #10 – http://twitter.com/BillyBall



A very happy birthday to Peter Meisel, who will be appearing at the Laugh Garage in Sydney, AU on July 7th and at Playground 10, in New York, NY in September.






Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com (www.Billy-Ball.com) and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, “Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales,” with a Foreword by Jon Miller, published by ACTA Sports, and available worldwide.


Bill Chuck is available for radio appearances, and writing for print or the web: Bill@billy-ball.com or 617-566-2784.

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