Wednesday, July 30, 2008

breaking up is hard to do

Baseball Update:
The Braves finally pulled the trigger on a deal for Mark Teixeira, sending the first baseman to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek.

Things only got better to LA, as John Lackey took a no-hitter against the Red Sox into the ninth inning until it was broken up by a Dustin Pedoria single. The Angels went on to win, 6-2.

The Rays capitalized on Boston's loss with a 3-0 blanking of the Blue Jays. Matt Garza recorded his first career shut out in the win.

Doug Davis retired the first 20 batters he faced as the Diamondbacks shut out the Padres, 3-0. Brian Giles broke up Davis flirtation with perfection in the seventh wiht a two out single. The Diamondbacks optioned pitcher Micah Owings to the minors after losing his eighth straight start on Monday.

Justin Morneau's bases clearing double highlighted a five run fifth inning in the Twins 6-5 defeat of the White Sox. The win pulled Minnesota a half game behind Chicago in the AL Central.

The Cubs got a stellar performance from ace Carlos Zambrano in their 7-1 shelling of the Brewers. The win ensured the Cubs they would leave town with the NL Central lead.

Oliver Perez got his first win in a month as the Mets took out the Marlins, 4-1. Carlos Delgado continued his hot streak with a two run homer in the eighth to break open the game. Pedro Martinez, who flew back to the Dominican for his father's funeral, will be available to pitch on Friday. He's also making a pitch to the Mets to bring in Manny Ramirez.

Earthquakes be damned, Jason Johnson would have none of it, making his first start in two years, the pitcher was sharp going six shut out innnings in the Dodgers 2-0 victory over the Giants.

The Orioles continued their winning ways in the Bronx with their 7-6 victory over the Yankees. Daniel Cabrera pitched into the eight before getting ejected for hitting Alex Rodriguez with a pitch. The O's are now 7-4 against the Bombers this season.

Congrats to Ichiro Suzuki on collecting his combined 3,000th hit in the major leagues (USA and Japan). The milestone came in the first inning of the Mariners 11-10 loss to the Rangers.

Injury Update: The Rockies placed Scott Podsednik on the 15 day DL because of a non-displaced fracture of his left pinky. Can't tough that out?...Also landing on the DL, the Rangers' Hank Blalock (right shoulder inflammation), the Phillies' Pedro Feliz (lower back injury), the Twins' Alexi Casilla (torn righ thumb ligament) and the Pirates' Adam LaRoche (strained muscle in his ribcage).

Three Cardinals minor leaguers were suspended 50 games a piece for violating the league's drug policy. Braulin Beltre and Andres Beras both tested positive for a metabolite of Boldenone while Yedilson Pena tested positive for metabolites of stanozolol. All are members of the organization's Dominican Summer League team.

Sad news, former Red Sox catcher Russ Gibson has died. He was only 69.

Nascar Update:
44 teams are on the entry list for this weekend's race at Pocono. Click here to see who is scheduled to qualify.

"Ooops, my bad," Nascar told fans in response to the uproar over the tire fiasco at the Brickyard, "However, you will not be getting your money or hours of your life back. Oh, but please come back next year! Trust me, it can only get better. "

Nascar.com goes 1on1 with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin.

Jimmie Johnson and Randy Moss are teaming up at Brisol Motor Speedway on August 30th. Two time Cup Champion Johnson will drive Moss' #81 Chevy in the Truck Series.

Petty Enterprises will use three different drivers over the next three races as it evaluates the #45 car. Chad McCumbee, Kyle Petty and Terry Labonte will all take turns at the wheel. I think it's time Kyle steps out of the Nascar as a driver and lets McCumbee or another driver take over the #45.

News&Notes: The Kings are sending Ron Artest to the Rockets for Donte Greene, Bobby Jackson and a 2009 first-round pick...The Saints signed first round draft pick Sedrick Ellis to a five year deal that could be worth $49 million...Dallas Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman will miss at least 3 weeks with a groin injury...Annika Sorenstam is scratching her head over Michelle Wie's decision to pull herself out of the Women's British Open to instead play in the PGA's Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. Wie has never won a women's event and has never made the cut for the PGA. That about sums up her career...Guess what Iraq, you can participate in the Olympics...Finally Brett Farve sent a reinstatement letter to commissioner Roger Goodell. I've mentioned before that I could care less whether he wants to desecrate his legacy by doing this crap, but I figured some people out there do.

Check this out: Justin Timberlake is outraged that Ashton Kutcher would suggest that he started the trucker hat phase. "[We - Timberlake and buddy Trace Ayala] were wearing them when we were seventeen." Good try kids, I think everyone wore them at least once before the big craze hit in the mid 2000s. It was called little league and they were kind of a requirement. Click here for more on JT.

It's been fun blogging with you,
Kate

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