Yesterday was a pretty wild day in the Major Leagues. That is why we all love baseball.
First things first, Nationals manager Bryan Williams took rising star Bryce Harper out of a close game in the sixth inning because of a "lack of hustle". After failing to get a hit in his first two at-bats, Harper faced a similar fate after hitting a weak ground ball to pitcher Lance Lynn. Harper put his head down and solemnly trotted about 50 feet down the line until he peeled off into the dugout - before the ball had even reached first basemen's Adams' glove. This is where Williams was furious, so he simply removed Harper from the game. In the 9th, his replacement Kevin Frandsen came up with runners on second and third with one out and grounded to the third basemen Carpenter, scoring a run, but also hurting the rally. After the game, Harper gave a mature answer to the media, saying he understood Williams' choice and its in the past - its time to regroup and keep playing. Harper is in the lineup today for the finale against the Cardinals, and as of right now is 0-1. The funniest part, though, is the program of yesterday's game:
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| Courtesy of Darren Rovell on Twitter. |
Staying in the National League, the Braves and Mets had a battle of their own. In a 7-3 game in the 9th, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez sent stud closer Craig Kimbrel into the game, his first in about a week. Kimbrel was dealing with some arm soreness, nothing major, but enough to sit him down - you don't want to lose the best closer in the game. Kimbrel had some control issues, hitting Eric Young Jr., and then allowing a double to Captain America David Wright, a single to Curtis Granderson, and walking Lucas Duda. Gonzalez then came to the mound to remove Kimbrel from the game, but was met with some opposition. After exchanging some words, replays show Kimbrel mouthing "this is bull [feces]" under his breath. Flamethrower Jordan Walden then came in to retire Travis d'Arnaud and notch his first save of the season.
I also got the pleasure of going to my first Tigers game of the season, a 5-2 win over the Angels. The Tigers had not beaten the Angels since September of 2012, so it was nice seeing a victory. For the first time in his young but illustrious career, Mike Trout struck out four times in a game. Every great player has had a golden sombrero some time or another in his career, it's a matter of how they react. Trout is in the lineup today and is 0-2 with another strikeout as I'm writing this. Youngster Nick Castellanos had a frozen rope of a home run as did Albert Pujols. We were lucky enough to have the second row behind the visitors' dugout, so seeing these guys 20 feet away really shows you how muscular all of them are, and explains why Pujols' 498th career home run was a missile off the first pitch he saw from Joe Nathan in the ninth. I was keeping score next to my dad, and just looked up in time to see him swing and send it 400 feet away in a matter of seconds. The best part: the Tigers fan that caught the ball threw it right back. It made my heart sing. That said, the sun was pretty brutal, I suffered a nasty sunglasses tan...
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| Kids, wear your sunscreen. |
Other news and notes:
- Congratulations Evan Longoria on becoming the Rays franchise leader in home runs
- Jays starter Mark Buerhle improves to 4-0 with a 5-0 win over the Indians
- Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez threw a 2-hit shutout using only 90 pitches against the Mariners - fun fact, that is the longest travel any team will ever have!
It's been a great start to the season for all baseball fans! Thanks for reading and Happy Easter!
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