My Sports News Digest

SAN FRANCISCO (MLB/Wire) – Cliff Lee’s curveball still broke perfectly in the 10th inning. Matt Cain’s fastball stayed nasty through nine. Even Cain could reflect on a memorable night in which the aces combined to throw 19 scoreless innings, bringing back memories of those great old righty-lefty showdowns of Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax. “That was really fun to be a part of,” Cain said. Melky Cabrera hit an RBI single in the 11th inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 on Wednesday night, ending a thrilling pitchers’ duel that seemed as if it might go [...]

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PHOENIX (SILVA/MLB) – When the Diamondbacks placed outfielder Chris Young on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday morning, they said it was because of a “right shoulder contusion.” But an MRI taken Wednesday afternoon has revealed the matter to be far worse. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports that Young has been diagnosed with a slight ligament tear in his shoulder and a deep bruise in his shoulder joint. There’s currently no timetable for his return. Young, 28, recorded an impressive .410/.500/.897 batting line, five home runs, two stolen bases and 13 RBI through his first 46 plate appearances of the 2012 [...]

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MIAMI (Calcaterra/MLB) – I’m not a big fan of big, garish entertainment at baseball games that distract from the action on the field. Give me the diamond, the sounds of the game, the smell of beer and grilling meat and maybe a little organ music and I’m good to go. In light of that, why do I read Doug Smith’s grousing about the scene at the Marlins’ new ballpark and find myself siding with the swimming pools, DJ and bikini girls? Not sure if was the bikini-clad women – plants by the franchise, obviously – prancing around or the costumed [...]

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Updated Apr 18, 2012 2:54 AM ET DENVER Baseball’s old man is still fending off Father Time. Jamie Moyer showed there remains a place for a vintage lefty in a young man’s game as the 49-year-old became the oldest pitcher to ever win a major league contest. He threw seven strong innings and Dexter Fowler hit a two-run homer to help the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 5-3 on Tuesday night. “It’s a great night for the Rockies, as far as winning a baseball game. But it’s an historic night for one tremendous human being,” Rockies manager Jim [...]

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CALCATERRA/MLB – One last thing on the Cody Ross strikeout: feel pity for Ross, feel some aggravation at umpire Larry Vanover, but let us not slight Jose Molina, whose pitch framing is about as good as it gets in baseball and, as Bradley Woodrum notes at FanGraphs today, was likely the biggest reason that call went the way it went. That link has a lot of detail about pitch location and framing. But if it’s too much for you, the topic of a catcher’s influence on the game is tackled in a less complicated fashion in Anna McDonald’s piece from [...]

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Updated Apr 17, 2012 1:28 AM ET KANSAS CITY, Mo. Jim Leyland had already decided after the eighth inning Monday night that he was sticking with Justin Verlander in the ninth, no matter what happened against the Kansas City Royals. So when the crusty Detroit manager ambled out to the mound, with two on and two out in a 3-2 game, his message for his ace was simple: “You’re going to get me fired.” “Seriously,” Verlander said afterward. “That’s what he told me.” Leyland’s heart must have really been racing when he headed back to the dugout and watched Verlander [...]

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Updated Apr 16, 2012 2:49 PM ET BOSTON James Shields allowed four hits in 8 1-3 innings, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 1-0 Monday to avoid a four-game sweep. The only run came when Daniel Bard (0-2) walked Evan Longoria on four pitches with the bases loaded in the seventh. Shields (2-0) led the majors with 11 complete games last year and had a chance for another until he walked Dustin Pedroia with one out in the ninth. Fernando Rodney retired the next two batters for his fourth save in four chances. Shields gave up [...]

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And That Happened: Sunday’s scores and highlights Craig Calcaterra Apr 16, 2012, 5:45 AM EDT 5 Comments Marlins 5, Astros 4: Omar Infante and Hanley Ramirez hit home runs, finally putting that crazy home run sculpture into action. Somehow we all survived, though I’m not ruling out the possibility that we all got thrown into an alternate timeline or something and won’t truly realize it until all the crazy occult stuff starts happening. Kind of like when Ash heard that tape of the professor reciting passages from the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. If Logan Morrison starts calling his bat his “boomstick” and [...]

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