The Marlins go for the sweeep in Miami today against the Marlins beginning shortly at 12:10PM

#Dodgers lineup:Gwynn 7, Carroll 6, Ethier 9, Kemp 8, Loney 3, Barajas 2, Miles 5, De Jesus 4, Billingsley 1

April 27, 2011 8:40 am via ÜberSocialReplyRetweetFavorite

@Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers

#Marlins 4/27 vs LA: coghlan 8, infante 4, ramirez 6, gsanchez 3, stanton 9, dobbs 5, bonifacio 7, haytes 2, asanchez 1

April 27, 2011 8:15 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@marlinsbaseball

MarlinsBaseball.com

Also, the Phillies try to avoid a sweep in Arizona at 3:40PM today

Today's lineup (3:40 vs AZ)-Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, J Roll SS, Howard 1B, Francisco RF, Mayberry LF, Ruiz C, Valdez 2B, Hamels P. #phils

April 27, 2011 12:58 pm via Mobile WebReplyRetweetFavorite

@philaphillies

Phillies

4/27 @Phillies vs. #dbacks: Young CF, Johnson 2B, Upton RF, Drew SS, Roberts LF, Nady 1B, Mora 3B, Blanco C, Saunders LHP

April 27, 2011 11:19 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@dbacks

Arizona Diamondbacks

the Braves will look to take the series versus the Padres in San Diego

Today's lineup (3:35 SportSouth):Prado 7Heyward 9Chipper 5McCann 2Uggla 4Freeman 3Gonzalez 6McLouth 8Hanson 1

April 27, 2011 12:51 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@Braves

Atlanta Braves

#Padres Maybin 8 Bartlett 6 Ludwick 7 Cantu 5 Hawpe 3 Hudson 4 Venable 9 Johnson 2 Latos 1

April 27, 2011 12:21 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@SDPadres

San Diego Padres

and finally, the Nationals and Mets matchup in game two of a three game set.

Wednesday lineup @ Washington: Reyes-SS, Turner-2B, Wright-3B, Beltran-RF, Bay-LF, Davis-1B, Hairston-CF, Nickeas-C, Dickey-RHP

April 27, 2011 1:04 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@NewYorkMets

New York Mets

#Nationals lineup vs. #Mets - Espinosa 4, Ankiel 8, Werth 9, LaRoche 3, Ramos 2, Morse 7, Hairston 5, Cora 6, Gorzelanny 1

April 27, 2011 12:38 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@NationalsPR

Nationals PR

Tonight, the Phillies continue their set against the Diamondbacks and hope to pull even at home.  The lineups have yet to be posted, but we will have them when they are.

The Dodgers take on the Marlins again tonight, who have a chance to take over first place with help tonight from the D’Backs.

#Dodgers lineup:Miles 3B,Carroll SS,Ethier RF,Kemp CF,Sands LF,Loney 1B,Barajas C,De Jesus 2B,Kershaw P

April 26, 2011 2:49 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers

#Marlins 4/26 vs LAD: coghlan 8, infante 4, ramirez 6, sanchez 3, stanton 9, buck 2, helms 5, bonifacio 7, volstad 1

April 26, 2011 1:20 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@marlinsbaseball

MarlinsBaseball.com

During the late game, the Braves will look to right the ship after losing a 13 inning battle against the Padres last night.  Again, these will be posted when available.

Finally, the Mets take on the Nationals in Washington tonight beginning a three game set.

@NewYorkMets line-up for tonight's game @Nationals: Reyes-6, Murphy-4, Wright-5, Beltran-9, Bay-7, Davis-3, Thole-2, Pridie-8, Young-1

April 26, 2011 1:43 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@NewYorkMets

New York Mets

#Nationals lineup vs. #Mets - Espinosa 4, Ankiel 8, Werth 9, LaRoche 3, Ramos 2, Morse 7, Hairston 5, Cora 6, Zimmermann 1

April 26, 2011 2:23 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@NationalsPR

Nationals PR

Phillies vs. Mets

R.A. Dickey and Cole Hamels locked up in a pitchers’ duel Friday night at Citi Field.  Both pitchers went the distance, but the night belonged to Dickey as the Mets defeated the Phillies 1-0.

Dickey’s knuckleball baffled the Phillies hitters all night long, and as he cruised through five hitless innings, Mets fans wondered if this might be the first no-hitter in franchise history.   But it was the opposing pitcher that spoiled that bid as Hamels hit a clean single to right field with one out in the sixth inning.   Meanwhile, Hamels kept the Mets off balance and off of the scoreboard.  It looked like the Mets had taken a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when Mike Hessman hit a drive to left field that the umpires called a home run.  However, after a lengthy replay review, the umps ruled fan interference on the play and placed Hessman on third base.   Despite being on third with no outs, the Mets stranded Hessman and let a golden opportunity slip by.

In the sixth, the Mets finally broke through.  With two outs and no one on base, David Wright and Carlos Beltran hit back-to-back doubles to plate the game’s first – and only – run.  Dickey (8-5) didn’t allow a base runner after Hamels’ single, finishing with seven strikeouts in his nine innings.  Hamels (7-9) took the hard-luck loss for the Phils.

 

 

Braves vs. Dodgers

Pitching also stole the spotlight in Atlanta on Friday night as the first place Braves defeated the Dodgers by a score of 1-o.

The Braves’ Tim Hudson and the Dodgers’  Hiroki Kuroda matched zeroes for six innings.  The game’s lone run came in the seventh, when Brooks Conrad, playing third base in place of the injured Chipper Jones, homered to center field off of Kuroda.  

Hudson (14-5) allowed just 3 hits over eight innings of work, striking out six.  Kuroda (8-11) took the loss despite allowing just three hits in his seven innings.  Braves’ closer Billy Wagner came on in the ninth and locked down his 29th save of the season.

 

 

Nationals vs. Diamondbacks

The Nationals scored early and let their pitching do the rest, as the Nats defeated the Diamondbacks 4-2 in Washington.

The Nationals scored three runs in the first off of Arizona starter Joe Saunders (1-2), highlighted by a Ryan Zimmerman two-run single.   Wil Nieves extended Washington’s lead to 4-0 with a solo home run in the second.  The D-Backs cut the Nats lead in half with two fifth inning runs off of starter John Lannan, but managed just one hit after that.  Lannan (4-5) allowed just four hits over seven innings, striking out five.  Sean Burnett pitched two perfect innings, striking out four, to pick up his second save on the season.

 

 

Marlins vs. Reds

The Reds roughed up Marlins’ ace Josh Johnson Friday night as they cruised to a 7-2 victory in Cincinnati.

The Reds jumped on Johnson in the first inning, scoring three runs courtesy of RBI singles by Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, and Jay Bruce.  Bruce later homered as the Reds built a 7-0 lead.   The Marlins’ only offense came off of the bat of rookie Mike Stanton, who hit solo home runs in both the sixth and eighth innings. 

Edinson Volquez (3-1) scattered eight hits over six innings of work, allowing just one run and striking out six.  Johnson (10-5) lasted just 3.2 innings in the loss, allowing six runs and ten hits.

Braves vs. Marlins

 

The first place Braves used late inning heroics on Saturday night to defeat the Marlins by a score of 10-5 in Miami.

 

The Braves got off to a quick start as Martin Prado led off the game with a home run off of starter Anibal Sanchez.  However, the Marlins answered back with a run in the bottom of the first, and used long balls from Dan Uggla and Mike Stanton to build a 5-2 lead against Atlanta starter Kris Medlen.  The Marlins held that lead until the top of the eighth, when the Braves exploded against Florida’s bullpen.  Troy Glaus walked with the bases loaded, and Eric Hinske followed with a 2-run single to tie the game at 5.  Brooks Conrad then followed with a pinch-hit grand slam off of Marlins reliever Burke Bandenhop to give the Braves a 9-5 lead.  The Braves added another run to cap off an 8 run inning.

 

Braves reliever Jesse Chavez (2-1) pitched a perfect seventh inning in relief and earned the victory, while Jhan Marinez (1-1) picked up the loss for Florida.

 

 

Rockies vs. Phillies

 

The Phillies jumped all over Cy Young candidate Ubaldo Jimenez and rolled to a 10-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies in Philadelphia.

 

Jimenez (15-2) held the Phillies off of the scoreboard for the first two innings, but then failed to record an out in the third as the Phillies scored seven runs.  Ryan Howard hit a 3-run triple to put the Phillies on the board, and then scored on a wild pitch.  Later in the inning, Greg Dobbs singled home a run, and Jimmy Rollins tripled home two more as the Phillies build a 7-0 lead.  Jimenez was charged with 6 runs over his 2+ innings, allowing just 3 hits but walking 6.

 

Those seven runs were more than enough for Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (6-4).  Kendrick pitched seven innings and allowed just one run on a solo homer by Ian Stewart.  The Phillies added two more in the sixth courtesy of a Raul Ibanez two-run homer, and Rollins singled home another run in the seventh to cap off the Phillies scoring.  The Rockies scored a run off of Jose Contreras, but Vance Worley pitched a scoreless ninth inning to close out the game.

 

 

Mets vs. Dodgers

 

The Mets offensive struggles continued Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.  Despite strong pitching, the Mets couldn’t score a run when they needed to and fell 3-2 to the Dodgers in 13 innings.

 

Mets starter Mike Pelfrey made it through five innings for the first time since June 25.  He allowed two runs and six hits over those five innings, and departed with New York trailing 2-0.   Dodgers starter Carlos Monasterios pitched five scoreless innings, but LA went to the bullpen in the sixth, and the Mets finally broke through.  Rod Barajas singled home a run, and Jose Reyes singled home another to tie the game at 2.  The Mets threatened to take the lead, but left the bases loaded.

 

From there, the bullpens took over.  The Dodgers emptied their bullpen, and called upon their last pitcher, George Sherrill, for the 13th.  Sherrill pitched a perfect inning, and the Dodgers finally broke through in the bottom of the frame.  The Mets were forced to call upon Oliver Perez as they ran out of relievers.  Perez came in to bail the Mets out in the 12th, and retired the first batter in the 13th before facing James Loney.  Loney hit a long home run to right center to send the Dodgers fans home happy, and hand the Mets yet another walk-off loss.  Sherrill (1-1) picked up the victory, and Perez (0-4) suffered the loss.

 

 

Nationals vs. Brewers

 

The Nationals mounted a ninth inning rally to tie the Brewers in Milwaukee, but the Brewers answered in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Nats by a score of 4-3.

 

Nationals starter J.D. Martin was forced the leave the game in the third inning after aggravating a bulging disk in his back.  Ryan Braun and Jim Edmonds homered to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead.  Brewers starter Manny Parra pitched well, but allowed a run in the fifth and a run in the sixth as the Nats tied the score.  The Brewers scored in the bottom of the sixth on a double by Jonathan Lucroy, and took a 3-2 lead into the ninth.  John Axford came on to attempt the save for Milwaukee, but the Nationals loaded the bases with no outs.  Pinch hitter Adam Dunn hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Ryan Zimmerman with the tying run, but Axford retired the next two Nats to limit the damage.

 

In the bottom of the ninth, Drew Storen came in for the Nationals.  With one out, Storen allowed a single to Rickie Weeks and walked Joe Inglett to bring up Ryan Braun.  Braun singled off of the left field wall to bring home Weeks and give the Brewers a walk-off victory.  Axford (6-1) picked up the victory despite blowing the save, and Storen (2-2) was tagged with the loss.

Nationals vs. Astros

The Nationals took on the Astros in Houston on Thursday afternoon looking to salvage a split of the four game series.  The Nats came within an out of doing just that, but poor defense and another blown save cost them as they fell to the Astros by a score of 6-4.

Down 3-2 heading to the ninth inning, the Nationals rallied against Houston closer Matt Lindstrom with two outs and nobody on base.  After a Michael Morse single, Willie Harris tripled to left field to tie the game, and Cristian Guzman followed with a single to give Washington a 4-3 lead.  However, Matt Capps suffered his second blown save of the series.  Guzman, a career infielder, was moved from shortstop to right field in the bottom of the eighth inning, and that move cost the Nats.  With two outs and Michael Bourn on second, Guzman misplayed Lance Berkman’s line drive into a two-base error, allowing Bourn to score the tying run.  Carlos Lee followed with a home run to left field to give the Astros a walk-off victory. 

The Nationals have lost three in a row and ended up with a 3-7 record on their 10 game road trip.  Washington hopes to turn their fortunes around when they return home to face the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

 

Brewers vs. Marlins

Behind another strong pitching performance from ace Josh Johnson, the Marlins defeated the Brewers 3-2 in Miami to take three of four from Milwaukee.

Johnson went seven innings, allowing just one run and striking out eight to improve to 6-2 on the season.  The Marlins built a 3-0 lead off Brewers starter Chris Capuano, who was making his first start since 2007 in his return from Tommy John surgery.  Catcher Ronny Paulino had two RBI, and Dan Uggla drove in one and scored two for Florida.  Leo Nunez came on in the ninth inning to protect a 3-1 lead and made it interesting.  Three straight singles with one out cut the lead to 3-2, but Nunez rebounded to retire Prince Fielder and strike out Corey Hart to earn his 12th save on the season.

The Marlins head to New York to open up a three game series against the Mets on Friday evening.

 

Braves vs. Dodgers

The first place Braves opened up a ten game road trip on Thursday night.   Atlanta extended their winning streak to nine games as they held on to defeat the Dodgers 4-3 in Los Angeles.

Troy Glaus homered and drove two runs to lead the Braves offense.  Starter Kris Medlen also got into the action with an RBI double in the sixth to extend Atlanta’s lead to 4-0.  Medlen pitched into the eighth inning, leaving with one out and the bases loaded.  Peter Moylan came in and allowed all three inherited runners to score to cut the Braves lead to 4-3.  With closer Billy Wagner unavailable after appearing in four straight games, Takashi Saito was called on to try to seal the victory.  Saito retired the first two batters and got ahead of Russell Martin 0 and 2 before departing with a hamstring injury.  Jonny Venters threw one pitch and struck out Martin to earn his first major league save.

The Braves look to make it 10 in a row Friday night in Los Angeles.

 

The Mets and Phillies were off on Thursday, but be sure to check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog and Phillies Phandom for the latest on both teams.

Crickets. Nothing is really going on. After last week’s flurry of activity, it is all quiet on the Free Agent/Trade front. I think it is safe to assume that the Bay/Holliday sweepstakes will not be over until sometime in January. There may be minor free agent signings over the next couple of days, but nothing major.

Surprisingly, this article is not about me.

Though I admit, I find it more exciting to find out where the under the radar free agents end up as opposed to the high priced stars. We all know Jason Bay is going to a handful of places. Same with Matt Holliday. Its guys like Orlando Hudson and Ben Sheets who will be interesting and it is those types of signings that make the difference.

Orlando Hudson signed a 1 year deal with the Dodgers and suffice to say, he was a major part of the Dodgers offense for most of the season. Certainly the Dodgers got a great return on their one year investment.

For example, Jayson Werth signed a one year $850,000 deal with the Phillies prior to the 2007 season. I think that has worked out quite nicely for the Phillies. Adam Dunn signed with the Nationals last season for 2 yrs/$20 million, which while high, isnt too bad considering the Nationals received 38 HR’s, 105 RBI, and a .267 average for their money. If I remember correctly, no one wanted to pay him because of the cost/value differential. Think the Braves or Mets wouldnt mind having that kind of production in the lineup?

The point is, unless you are the Yankees, and you fill almost every position on your roster with a big name free agent signing, teams win and lose from 1-40 on the roster. This means that you have to maximize your budget and find the best deals. Typically those deals are for guys, like Ben Sheets, who may end up being the Comeback Player of the Year next season. We could be talking in July saying things like, can you believe the Rangers signed Sheets for only $3 million for one season, when Sheets has a 10-2 record with a 3.13 ERA. Or how could a team NOT sign Matt Capps after he gets his 20th save.

I know it is a fairly obvious point but I think it often gets overlooked, especially during free agency.  Many fans overlook the value guys.  Sure Mark DeRosa or Adam Kennedy may not be stars, but what they add to their new teams might be more valuable than adding merely one big star.  Every season it seems like players who no one wanted in December end up playing a big role during the season.  Jeff Weaver for the Dodgers is another example.  Pedro Martinez for the Phillies. 

 

Does anyone want to sign me? I will bring my attractive wife!

Here is a list of guys, in no particular order, who I think will be a steal when they are finally signed:  (A steal reflecting a positive production/cost ratio as compared to other players)

-Doug Davis (P)

-Brett Myers (P)

-Hank Blalock (1B/3B/DH)

-Octavio Dotel (P)

-Kelly Johnson (2B)

-Xavier Nady (OF)

-Scott Podsednik (OF)

Now, I think there are more guys available who are valuable and not included on this list, but I think this is representative of the players who can definetly help a team win.  These are guys who I am interested in seeing where they end up and following them next year.

 

Happy Holidays!