Quote of the day
"It's [Kobayashi’s] choice not to be here. He could have signed the same contract he signed three years (ago). It's sad that he thinks he's Kobe Bryant. This is competitive eating. It's supposed to be fun." -- Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Joey Chesnut, on the ineligibility of former 6-time champion Kobayashi to compete because he won't sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating (the fast-food equivalent of the NFL). Daily blurb
We had two more 1-0 games yesterday, with one of the shutouts by the Phillies – but not from any of the usual suspects. This was seven innings of 2-hit ball pitched by Vance Worley, who was rewarded for his efforts by getting shipped back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after the outing. That’s reasonable, though, as the Phils don’t need a 5th starter until after the All Star break.
The other 1-0 game featured a pair of compete games by the starting pitchers. Chris Carpenter got the better of Johnny Cueto, who surrendered the game’s only run on a pinch hit infield single with two outs in the eighth. The game was also notable in that Cueto failed to strike out a single batter. I suspect it’s quite unusual for a complete game pitcher to fail to punch out anyone – especially in the N.L.