Tuesday Morning Quick Hitters

Jon Lester pitches a gem as the Boston Red Sox move 1/2 game back of the Tampa Bay Rays, beating the Rays 3 – 0 at Fenway.

The Philadelphia Phillies moved 1/2 game closer to the New York Mets Monday by beating the Florida Marlins 8 – 6.

The Cincinnati Reds seem to have the Milwaukee Brewers late inning number of late, rallying for 3 9th inning runs to beat the Brew Crew 5 – 4. The brewers still hold a 3 game lead over the Phillies in the Wild Card.

The NL West stayed the same as the LA Dodgers lost to the San Diego Padres 4 – 0 and the Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the lowly San Francisco Giants 6 – 2. The Dodgers are 1 1/2 games up on the D-Backs.

The Oakland Raiders futility continued, as the Denver Broncos stomped all over the Black Hole 42 – 14.

In the early game, the Aaron Rodgers Era started on a high note for the Green Bay Packers by beating division rival Minnesota Vikings 24 – 19.

Obviously, Tom Brady was placed on IR yesterday. Tom Curran of MSNBC got an email from Tom Brady yesterday.

Tuesday Quick Hitters

Adrian Beltre and Stephen Drew each hit for the cycle yesterday…..first time in 88 years that two players hit for the cycle on the same day.

Dustin Pedroia helped the Sox get past the Orioles.

Cliff Lee picked up win number 20 as the Indians dropped the ChiSox into a tie with the Minnesota Twins.

The Diamondbacks picked up some help over the weekend as they beat St. Louis and remain 2.5 games up on the Dodgers.

Ben Sheets went down with an injury as the Brewers fell to the Mets.

A-Rod and the Yankees, hoping to somehow make the playoffs, outlasted the Tigers.

Despite 4 turnovers, UCLA continued the upset trend from this weekend.

Clemson, Pitt, and Va. Tech were the other top 25 teams going down at the hands of the unranked.

Number 2 ranked OSU could be in trouble as they head into their meeting with USC on the 13th.

Also hit by the injury bug were Auburn and Mizzou while 2 OU players were reportedly involved in an altercation.

Outside of Mizzou/Illinois and Utah/Michigan, the rest of the weekend was filled primarily with blowouts.

Maine was on the losing end of one of those blowouts.

Both Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are set to start week 1…….we think, and the fans for their respective teams hope so.

The Ravens handed the keys to the offense to a rookie.

The Oakland Raiders continue to stockpile discarded receivers and are possibly interested in another.

Former Pats S Eugene Wilson was released by the Bucs….could Minny be his next stop?

Ocho Cinco says he is good to go.

Jags T Richard Collier is fighting for his life after being shot early Tuesday morning.

The Pats sign CB Deltha O’Neal who was released early by the Bengals.

Initial injury reports for the upcoming Redskins/Giants game are out…..by the way, isn’t it about time for a name change controversy in DC?

The Lions added Rudi Johnson to their backfield.

Meanwhile in KC, players their “feel good” going into the opener….translation: they heard the rumor Brady may be out and Matt Cassel is still the back up.

The four letter network released their “experts'” picks.

New England fans had a few questions about the Pats’ recent roster moves.

Dodgers/Phils Saturday Afternoon Baseball Live Blog

I am lucky enough to have the Dodgers/Phillies game be on at 3:55 in crystal clear High Definition, so I figured what the hay, why not a live blog? Lucky for me Tim McCarver is doing the game, because, well, he is Tim McCarver. First some quick over/unders…

1. Mentions of new series on Fox and FX during game-Over/Under 9.5

I take the over here…

2. Comments about Manny Ramirez’s gameplan to get out of Boston-3.5

McCarver will hit this one with a tangent somewhere around the 4th inning

3. How many hits Jimmy Rollins gets today-1.5

He will go 1-4, I take the under here

4. Amount of times Jeanne Zelasko will try and be funny when she interrupts with highlights from another game-3.5

I will take the under here, she already thinks she is funny (although she is not)

5. Amount of times Kenny Albert tries to get attention back on the game after McCarver goes off on a random tangent about Bob Gibson-1.5

I will take the over here.

The Match-Up:
Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers against Cole Hamels for the Phillies.

3:51 pm- First McCarverism– “If they(Dodgers) can score the runs, then they can pitch, with the youngster Clayton Kershaw an example of that, and he’ll be starting for the Dodgers today”

Translation- When the Dodgers offense is rolling, it makes it easier for guys like Kershaw to pitch, because it takes the pressure off of him to make a great pitch every throw.

I will do my best to translate today.

3:56- Danny Ardoin does the introductions of the Dodger lineup, which is highlighted by him calling Matt Kemp “The Baby Bull” and then interjecting nicknames between the hitters first and last name (ie Andre “All I do is get big hits” Ethier). He calls Nomar Garciaparra “The Low Rider” which has something to do with the song that plays every time Nomar bats at Dodger Stadium (ha, ha, ha). The best was saved for last though as he called Clayton Kershaw “Sunshine”. Ardoin is definitely not Will Ohman….

4:02 – Cole Hamels developed his change-up because of a broken arm in high school (Thank you Mr McCarver for that). After Kenny Albert does his Budweiser promo, we get McCarverism number 2- “It’s exactly what the Phillies and the, uh, Dodgers are hopeful of, the perfect balance”

Translation-“Both teams here today are hoping to get timely hitting and good pitching”

4:09- Tim McCarver on Jeff Kents’s anger over people thinking he is hitting better because he is in front of Manny Ramirez “My gosh, I mean how can it not influence you when Manny Ramirez is hitting in the slot behind you? He must be seeing better pitches with Manny being behind him. I think you can agree that’s the wrong guy (Vin Scully) to take on in Southern California. Is that not a bit of an overreaction?” Kenny Albert “Uhh, yess“-awkward silence- Albert “The 2-1 pitch to Kent…”

1-2-3 for Hamels…

4:14- They have the Phillies Phanatic doing the lineups by pantomime. Oh how unique (by unique I mean god awful). At least I have learned one thing today, never, ever, play charades with the Phillie Phanatic. I am sure Taco Bell is thrilled to have their name attached to that mess.

Jimmy Rollins favorite count (because he sees it so much) 1-2, and he gets hit by a pitch. No word on if the crowd was booing the pitcher or Rollins after he was hit.

McCarverism: “The best time to come inside on a hitter is with 2 strikes”

Translation: “I just announce every game as though you have never ever seen baseball before and I have to teach you from scratch and use big words”

The Phils are rocking the throwbacks today, I like the pinstripes.

McCarver– “That was a put-me-away curveball there”

Translation- “He threw two fastballs and he wanted to change it up a bit and catch the hitter off guard”

I wonder if Joe Torre made Clayton Kershaw cut his hair?

After McCarver complains that the Phillies don’t move runners along (which is valid) Burrell bombs a three-run homer to left and it’s 3-0 Phils (yay!)

Lefty O’Doul gets a name drop by Kenny Albert. When he gets back to the hotel he will call his dad and ask what he thought of it, and Marv will say nothing but “Yesssss!”. Kenny will then hang up and cry himself to sleep with an empty bottle of vodka in his hand….

Does anyone else think that Jayson Werth looks like Shaggy from “Scooby Doo“?

Werth gets to first on a check swing hit that he slides in head first for.

If this becomes a blowout, the odds McCarver goes off on a tangent are very, very high…

McCarver– “No pun intended, but is it worth it (Get it? Werth and worth? ha, wow) to slide headfirst into first base?”

Albert: “Earlier this week a US runner got a bronze medal for sliding into the finish line”

McCarver “Well if he hadn’t done that he would have won gold. Kidding, kidding”

Albert: “Ha, ha, actually they said he probably wouldn’t have medaled if he hadn’t done that”

McCarver: :“Mmmhmmmm. Well the Olympics are every 4 years, you play baseball every day”

Translation: Damn you Kenny Albert!

4:35- Kenny Albert talks Manny, McCarver goes back to Burrell’s home run and lets us know that the ball hit the “fair pole”, or the foul pole, and the ball bounced off into foul territory. He also thinks that instant replay is not a good idea because they are doing it in season, not at the beginning, and the viewers TV habits will change (ie they will have visual proof when a pompous blowhard is wrong).

Is anyone else ready to slap Frank Caliendo in the face yet? Because I am….

4:37-McCarver has to call Gary Maddox “Gary Mad-Ox”. Just a slight difference, but the type someone who is a pompous know it all does to make you hate them even more.

Rollins grounds out (he is 0-1, the under here we come).

4:39 pm- Russell Martin hits a 2 run home run and it’s 3-2. Somewhere, Alyssa Milano is proud of her man…..

UPDATE-The internet went down right after Martin’s home run. The Phillies won 9-2, and there is no word on whether or not Albert and McCarver got into a fist fight in the parking lot. By the way Jimmy Rollins went 1-4, don’t say I didn’t tell you that was going to happen…..

Thursday Quick Hitters

The California (editor’s note:Jeff just won’t call them anything else, seriously, it must be his love for Brian Downing) Angels pulled the rug out from under the Rays.

The New York Yankees rode the left arm of Andy Pettitte to a win.

Clay Buchholz continued his stellar play. Josh Beckett is looking to return on Tuesday. A discussion you heard on The Sports Vortex last night, before the game was over, was nailed on the head by Matty! Clay Buchholz was demoted to the Portland Sea Dogs.

The White Sox continued to blister the Mariners, and Ken Griffey, Jr hit another milestone in the process.

The Twins kept pace and remain one game back in the AL Central.

The Mets took advantage of the Braves, again. They also added another arm to their bullpen.

Brett Myers told the Nationals “Boom outta here!” as the Phils remain a game and a half back.

Cincy held the Cubs in check.

JJ Hardy powered the Brew Crew to victory.

The Cardinals got good news and bad news.

The D-Backs and Padres had quite a pitcher’s duel.

Chad Billingsley threw a lot of pitches for the Dodgers and their atrocious defense beat them again.

Steven Jackson will apparently end his holdout. He may even practice on Thursday.

Oklahoma City waives Donyell Marshall.

The Dodgers Re-Acquire Greg Maddux

The LA Times is reporting that the Dodgers have finally reached an agreement with the San Diego Padres to re-acquire future hall-of-famer Greg Maddux. No word on who will be headed to San Diego yet, or how the salary is getting worked out, but whatever, what matters is that the Dodgers have a pitcher that they certainly needed since the injury to Brad Penny(perhaps just in time to start against the Rockies tomorrow night). In other Dodger news, no one has punched Jeff Kent in the face for comments made about Vin Scully. If Andruw Jones did it, it would be his first hit all year (ba-dum-cha)! Thank you, thank you…

Tuesday’s Links

Today’s links are brought to you by Jeff’s alarm clock….

Josh Beckett pitched to form last night as the Red Sox survived being no-hit through 6 innings and beat the White Sox 5-1.

The Yankees continued to slide, and lost to the Twins 4-0. Joe Girardi addressed his teams lack of hustle, as well.

The White Sox bats went quiet, on a night when John Danks was perfect through 6 1/3 innings.

The Twins got a hell of a performance from a new dad.

The New York Mets bullpen continues to be a bone of contention, and this team’s Achilles heel. Pedro refused to throw his teammates under the bus, at least in the press.

Kyle Kendrick tossed a stinker in LA. Brad Lidge says he is good to go.

Manny-Mania is just getting ridiculous, and the Dodgers knocked off the Phils at home. TJ Simers is concerned about haircuts. The Dodgers are also keeping an eye on the innings of youngster Clayton Kershaw.

Aaron Rodgers took the field to a standing ovation from the Packers faithful. No word on whether they did the same thing when Tony Kornhesier stopped talking.

The Bengaals starters did not start the preseason well.

Thursdays (Hopefully this will be the last one with Brett Favre for a while) Quick Hitters

MLB

The Boston Red Sox offense took off again last night. Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis were the only 2 starters not to have an RBI in the game. Ellsbury hit a 3 run blast off Ron Mahay and Jed Lowrie and JD Drew added 2 RBIs apiece to pace the Sox to a 8 – 2 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Jason Giambi and Sidney Ponson sur the Yankees to a 5 – 3 win in Texas. The Yanks also lost newly aquired catcher Ivan Rodriguez to a knee injury after David Murphy took him out at the plate. In other Yankee news Joba Chamberlain was placed on the 15 day DL.

The Tampa Bay Rays used some heroics to stay 3 games up on the Sox in the AL East. Carlos Pena capped a 6 run 9th inning with a 3 run HR to top the Cleveland Indians 10 – 7.

The Chicago Cubs kept a 5 game lead over Milwaukee Brewers by beating the Houston Astros 11 – 4. Alfonso Soriano and Mark DeRosa powered the Cubbies with a 3 run HR and a grand slam respectively.

Rickie Weeks best day of his career at the plate (4 hits) helped the Brew Crew keep pace with the Chicago Cubs, beating Cincinnatti Reds 6 – 3.

Kyle Kendrick pitched a gem last night for the Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Howard homered to power the Phils over the Florida Marlins 5 – 0. The win opened a 2 1/2 game lead over the Marlins and 3 full games over the Mets in the NL East.

Pedro Martinez and the New York Mets couldn’t hold down the San Diego Padres, losing 4 – 2. Brian Giles and Chase Headley both homered to help power the Pads.

Derek Lowe lasted only 3 1/3 innings allowing 8 runs in that span, getting the loss in St Louis’ win over the LA Dodgers 9 – 6. Albert Pujols and his grand slam help St Louis continue to play wild card killer.

The Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins kept status quo in the tightest divisional race in MLB right now. Minnesota topped Seattle 7 – 3, and the Pale Hose topped the Tigers 5 – 1.

NFL

The Brett Favre saga is over, as previously reported by the Central Maine Sports Blog. The Jets traded a conditional 2009 4th Round pick for Favre. If Favre lights up Broadway, the draft pick could be a 2nd or even a 1st round pick.

That’s it…tomorrow we will get back to reporting real NFL stories.

NBA

The Boston Celtics will raise Banner 17 to the rafters October 28th in front of King James and his Cleveland Cavaliers.

The San Diego Clippers…ooops sorry I’m old….Los Angeles Clippers have acquired Steve Novak from the Houston Rockets.

Greg Oden will finally take an NBA court against the West Champ Los Angeles Lakers.

Manny Loves LA, Bay to Beantown, Pitt Restocks Farm

The Manny Ramirez saga finally came to a merciful end this afternoon, with the Dodgers snagging the disgruntled outfielder for Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris (who were sent to Pittsburgh). The Pirates sent Jason Bay to Boston, who gave up Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen (also to Pittsburgh). The Sox are also playing Manny’s salary for the rest of this year as well. Thanks to everyone in the live chat this afternoon for being there during this.

Instant Analysis? Manny gives the Dodgers the bat they have needed for years, Bay gives the Red Sox a more than capable replacement in left, and the Pirates get a much better haul than they did in the Nady/Marte deal. Like this deal all the way around.

Manny To Philly a Reality?

Now that one Mark Teixeira is on the West Coast, we can turn our attention to Manny Ramirez. Jon Heyman from SI.com is reporting that there is a three team race for Manny Ramirez with Philadelphia in the lead, the Dodgers running in second, and a mystery team in third. You have to check out his article to read, you won’t even believe it….

The Phillies deal just makes no sense to me whatsoever. The Dodgers I can see, they always need a bat, but the Phillies already have a left-fielder who can hit who doesn’t push travelling secretaries and pimp-slap teammates, his name is Pat Burrell.