Red Sox starter Felix Doubront didn’t have a good grip before he threw this pitch:

 

– Rick Green

Can you name this former player? Post your guess in the comments below.

– Rick Green

Here’s a look at Friday’s starting pitchers. Matt Harvey is pitching in the first game at 2:20 p.m.:

AL
Houston (Lyles 1-1) at Pittsburgh (J.Gomez 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
Seattle (Maurer 2-5) at Cleveland (U.Jimenez 3-2), 7:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Hellickson 1-2) at Baltimore (Hammel 5-1), 7:05 p.m.
Toronto (Buehrle 1-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Kuroda 5-2), 7:05 p.m.
Detroit (Porcello 1-2) at Texas (Tepesch 3-3), 8:05 p.m.
Boston (Buchholz 6-0) at Minnesota (Worley 1-4), 8:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Sale 4-2) at L.A. Angels (C.Wilson 3-2), 10:05 p.m.
Kansas City (Shields 2-3) at Oakland (Parker 2-5), 10:05 p.m.

NL
N.Y. Mets (Harvey 4-0) at Chicago Cubs (E.Jackson 1-5), 2:20 p.m.
Cincinnati (Cingrani 2-0) at Philadelphia (Lee 4-2), 7:05 p.m.
Houston (Lyles 1-1) at Pittsburgh (J.Gomez 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
Arizona (Cahill 2-4) at Miami (Slowey 1-3), 7:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Ryu 4-2) at Atlanta (Maholm 4-4), 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee (W.Peralta 3-3) at St. Louis (J.Garcia 4-2), 8:15 p.m.
San Francisco (Bumgarner 4-1) at Colorado (J.De La Rosa 4-3), 8:40 p.m.
Washington (G.Gonzalez 3-2) at San Diego (B.Smith 0-0), 10:10 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:

Read the rest of this entry »

Former Erie SeaWolves outfielder Avisail Garcia hit his first MLB home run Wednesday night against the Houston Astros.

Garcia’s shot, a three-run blast, came in the second inning.

Here’s more on Garica. Here’s a clip of his homer:

– Rick Green

The Pittsburgh Pirates got a big boost from Travis Snider against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday night.

Here’s a clip of his big home run:

– Rick Green

Want to know how much money a team is paying players on the disabled list?

The New York Times has an online graphic that can tell you.

Check it out at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/13/sports/baseball/money-on-the-bench.html?ref=sports&_r=3&

It’s a pretty slick running calculation.

For example, the Yankees have, as of this posting, have paid $399,454 to players on the disabled list on Thursday alone. The Pirates, by comparison, paid $44,400 and the Indians paid $46, 930.

– Rick Green

There’s a light schedule Thursday, with the first game at 1:45 p.m. The matchup of the day is Darvish-Verlander at 8:05 p.m.:

AL
Seattle (Harang 1-4) at N.Y. Yankees (Pettitte 4-2), 7:05 p.m.
Boston (Doubront 3-1) at Tampa Bay (Cobb 4-2), 7:10 p.m.
Detroit (Verlander 4-3) at Texas (Darvish 6-1), 8:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Quintana 2-1) at L.A. Angels (Williams 2-1), 10:05 p.m.
NL
N.Y. Mets (Niese 2-4) at St. Louis (Wainwright 5-2), 1:45 p.m.
Milwaukee (Burgos 1-1) at Pittsburgh (Liriano 1-0), 7:05 p.m.
Cincinnati (Latos 4-0) at Miami (Fernandez 2-2), 7:10 p.m.
San Francisco (M.Cain 2-2) at Colorado (Chacin 3-2), 8:40 p.m.
Washington (Strasburg 1-5) at San Diego (Volquez 3-3), 10:10 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:

Must start
Can you believe Stephen Strasburg is 1-5? I’m still going with him. … Others to go with include Alex Cobb, Justin Verlander, Yu Darvish, Mat Latos and Adam Wainwright.

Good start
I like Andy Pettitte vs. the Mariners about as much as I dislike Aaron Harang today. … Jerome Williams is a nice option if you’re streaming. … If you’re a White Sox fan, I could see giving Jose Quintana a shot.

Neutral
I think the Nats get by Edison Volquez. … I’ve dropped Cain big time today. He’s struggling and at Colorado. … Jhoulys Chacin has a good ERA, but I’m leery in Colorado. … Jose Fernandez has been solid for Marlins’ standards, but I won’t go with him. … I still want to see more from Francisco Liriano before I jump on board. … Hiram Burgos might get an avoid, but the Brewers manage to play well vs. the Bucs.

Avoid
Don’t like Jon Neise at the Cards today. … Repeat: I don’t like Harang today. … Feeling lucky? Felix Doubront has a 6-plus ERA.

– Rick Green

Andrew McCutchen was Mr. Clutch for the Pirates late Tuesday night.

McCutchen hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 12th to give the Pirates a much-needed win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Here’s the blast:

– Rick Green

Here’s a look at Wednesday’s games. First game is at 12:35, so set your lineup early.

AL
San Diego (Marquis 4-2) at Baltimore (F.Garcia 0-1), 12:35 p.m.
Cleveland (Kluber 2-2) at Philadelphia (Hamels 1-5), 1:05 p.m.
Houston (Keuchel 0-1) at Detroit (Scherzer 5-0), 1:08 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Axelrod 0-3) at Minnesota (Pelfrey 3-3), 1:10 p.m.
Texas (Ogando 3-2) at Oakland (Straily 1-1), 3:35 p.m.
Seattle (Iwakuma 4-1) at N.Y. Yankees (P.Hughes 2-2), 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Vogelsong 1-3) at Toronto (R.Ortiz 0-1), 7:07 p.m.
Boston (Lester 5-0) at Tampa Bay (Price 1-3), 7:10 p.m.
Kansas City (W.Davis 2-3) at L.A. Angels (Enright 0-1), 10:05 p.m.

NL
San Diego (Marquis 4-2) at Baltimore (F.Garcia 0-1), 12:35 p.m.
Cleveland (Kluber 2-2) at Philadelphia (Hamels 1-5), 1:05 p.m.
Atlanta (Hudson 4-2) at Arizona (Kennedy 1-3), 3:40 p.m.
Milwaukee (Gallardo 3-2) at Pittsburgh (W.Rodriguez 3-2), 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Vogelsong 1-3) at Toronto (R.Ortiz 0-1), 7:07 p.m.
Cincinnati (Leake 2-2) at Miami (Sanabia 2-5), 7:10 p.m.
Colorado (Garland 3-3) at Chicago Cubs (Samardzija 1-5), 8:05 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Marcum 0-3) at St. Louis (S.Miller 5-2), 8:15 p.m.
Washington (Detwiler 2-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Greinke 1-0), 10:10 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:
Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a look at Tuesday’s pitching matchups:

AL
Cleveland (Kazmir 2-1) at Philadelphia (Pettibone 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
San Diego (Cashner 2-2) at Baltimore (Tillman 3-1), 7:05 p.m.
Seattle (F.Hernandez 5-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 4-3), 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Zito 3-1) at Toronto (Dickey 2-5), 7:07 p.m.
Houston (Harrell 3-3) at Detroit (Fister 4-1), 7:08 p.m.
Boston (Lackey 1-3) at Tampa Bay (M.Moore 6-0), 7:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Peavy 4-1) at Minnesota (Correia 4-2), 8:10 p.m.
Kansas City (Guthrie 5-0) at L.A. Angels (Vargas 1-3), 10:05 p.m.
Texas (D.Holland 3-2) at Oakland (Colon 3-2), 10:05 p.m.

NL
Cleveland (Kazmir 2-1) at Philadelphia (Pettibone 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
Milwaukee (Lohse 1-4) at Pittsburgh (Locke 3-1), 7:05 p.m.
San Diego (Cashner 2-2) at Baltimore (Tillman 3-1), 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Zito 3-1) at Toronto (Dickey 2-5), 7:07 p.m.
Cincinnati (H.Bailey 1-3) at Miami (Nolasco 2-4), 7:10 p.m.
Colorado (Francis 1-3) at Chicago Cubs (Villanueva 1-2), 8:05 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Gee 2-4) at St. Louis (Gast 0-0), 8:15 p.m.
Atlanta (Teheran 2-0) at Arizona (Corbin 5-0), 9:40 p.m.
Washington (Haren 4-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 3-2), 10:10 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:

Read the rest of this entry »