Quote of the day
"That's what I get paid for. Not to make the fans suffer like that, but to get the job done." -- Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, after striking out Alex Rodriguez on a full count with two runners on base to save a 6-4 win over the Yankees Daily Blurb
The NL took the early lead in interleague play, going 22-20 vs. AL teams this weekend. Perhaps more telling, NL teams won 9 of the 14 series. Only one weekend series was a 3-0 sweep – Oakland over San Fran. Every other series broke 2-1. The senior circuit gets the chance to expand on that next month, when interleague play starts in earnest on June 11th.
The typical pitching studs haven’t exactly been lighting it up of late. Over the past 15 days (3 starts), here are the top five starting pitchers in RotoHog points: Kershaw, Cueto, Hudson, Latos, Billingsley. The next three have stronger resumes – Josh Johnson, Jon Lester, and Ubaldo Jimenez. Then we revert back to names like Marcum, Clayton Richards, Saunders, Arroyo. So where are the studs? Wainwright ranks #42, Lincecum #53, Carpenter #63, Halladay #179, and Sabathia is not even in the top 200. It’s been a good couple of weeks to take the road less traveled.
In GuruGolf, kudos to the yips, whose weekend -53 in best ball scoring was a full eight strokes better than closest contender. In a much more closely contested race in worst ball scoring, Dave’s Duffers (+48) eked out a narrow one stroke victory over five other teams.