For the seventh time this season, pitcher has thrown a no-hitter in Major League Baseball. On Friday night, Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds struck out ten and walked one in a 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bailey joins Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox, Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Johan Santana of the New York Mets, Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants, Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners and a six pitcher effort by Seattle.
The Reds are one of four teams that have qualified for the postseason. They are joined by the National League East champion Washington Nationals, National League West champion San Francisco Giants and the National League wildcard champion Atlanta Braves.
In other baseball news, the Cleveland Indians have fired manager Manny Acta and named Sandy Alomar Jr. his replacement. The Houston Astros have also named Bo Porter their 2013 manager. Porter is currently the third base coach for the Washington Nationals.
The Canadian Football League commences this weekend.
On Saturday night the Edmonton Eskimos host a familiar person to town. Ricky Ray will be quarterbacking not the Eskimos however at Commonwealth Stadium, but the Toronto Argonauts (Saturday, TSN, 5pm).
In a very controversial off season deal, Eskimos GM Eric Tillman traded Ray for quarterback Steven Jyles, kicker Grant Shaw and a first round pick in 2012.
In the Canadian Football League I thought you needed a solid quarterback to win football games. Ricky Ray is a great quarterback and the Eskimos let him go. Apparently Tillman didn’t get the memo.
In what is becoming a trend in Major League Baseball, there was another no-hitter on Wednesday night.
This time it was a perfect game for San Francisco Giants’ right hander Matt Cain.
Cain, pitched the 22nd perfect game in baseball history in a 10-0 shutout win over the Houston Astros. It was also the fifth no-hitter this season, following Philip Humber, Jered Weaver, Johan Santana and the six Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Cain also had a career high 14 strikeouts.
The perfect game came in San Francisco also came on the eve of the 2012 United States Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco–fitting because Cain is an avid golfer.
The ten runs San Francisco scored in the no-hitter was the most since the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles on September 1, 2007 on a no-hitter by Clay Buchholz.
Right fielder Gregor Blanco and first baseman Brandon Belt each had three runs batted in for the Giants, who are now 3.5 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the National League West. The Giants do however hold the wildcard spot.
This week on the show we’re looking at the Stanley Cup Finals, the latest news on the Phoenix Coyotes ownership situation, another boxing controversy and some sad news in the world of horse racing.
In the GABBYs: Union Rags, Charlie Sheen, Chad Ochocinco, the AHL, the San Diego Padres and the NBA. The Punchline this week is Elvin Ramirez.
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame – we break down the opening games of the Stanley Cup Final, discuss the news involving Nick Lidstrom & Tim Thomas and look at the coaching situation in three NHL cities. As well, we talk about the NFL bounty story and the NBA Draft Lottery!
In the GABBYs: Johan Santana, Cal FC, the Charlotte Bobcats, Mayweather & Pacquiao, Jonathan Lucroy & New York TV station WABC. The Punchline this week is Terrell Owens.
For the first time in his Major League Baseball career, Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers has won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the American League.
Verlander led the American League in wins (24), earned run average (2.4), strikeouts (250), game starts (34), innings pitched (251) and walks and hits per innings pitched (whip) (0.92).
Verlander becomes the first Detroit Tiger since Willie Hernandez in 1984 to win the Cy Young Award and the third Tiger in baseball history as Denny McLain won in 1968 and 1969.
Verlander’s 24 wins was the most for an American League Cy Young winner since Bob Welch of the Oakland Athletics had 27 wins in 1990.
Other career highlights for Verlander this season was throwing his second career no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on May 7, in a 9-0 Detroit win. On June 25, Verlander threw a career high 14 strikeouts in a 6-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. He also became the first pitcher in the American League to lead the league in wins, strikeouts and earned run average since Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins in 2006.
Verlander was also a major reason why the Detroit Tigers won the American League Central and advanced to the American League Championship Series.
The San Francisco Giants significantly improved their outfield late last night with the acquisition of outfielder Carlos Beltran from the New York Mets for pitching prospect Zack Wheeler.
After an abundance of injuries, mostly knee issues over the last few years, Beltran has performed admirably in 2011, batting .289 with 15 home runs and 66 runs batted in. He is getting up in age a little at 34, but has shown this year he still has offensive skills.
Beltran should fit in nicely in centerfield where the Giants haven’t received great production this year from Andres Torres (.235, 3 HR, 18 RBIs) and Aaron Rowand (.244, 4 HR, 20 RBIs).
The Giants currently lead the Arizona Diamondbacks by three games in the National League West.
With Wheeler, the Mets are receiving a top prospect that has an effective curveball and a fastball at 95 miles per hour. But my motto is Wheeler is only a prospect. There was a lot of hype about Stephen Strasburg a year ago too.
In another move Thursday, the Cleveland Indians have acquired Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome (.273, 3 HR, 13 RBIs) from the Chicago Cubs for prospects and cash. The Indians have struggled lately, going 3-7 in their last ten games, and were no-hit yesterday by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim starter Johan Santana.
Remember back when the Edmonton Trappers were an MLB affiliate, and players like Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and Johan Santana rolled through town on occasion?
Well, another big name from that era is at Telus Field all weekend!
Jose Canseco, a man once destined for Cooperstown, is now almost 47 years old and playing for and managing the North American Baseball League’s Yuma Scorpions alongside his brother Ozzie. He certainly had the numbers to back up a Hall of Fame claim, but his literary work, namely “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big,” derailed any hope of that ever becoming a reality. Back in 2005, no one believed him. Nowadays though, no one looks at players from that era the same way.
On Thursday night at Telus Field, Canseco says blacklisted or not, he feels like he made a difference to the game he loves. (more…)
Francisco Liriano of the Minnesota Twins has had quite the baseball career so far.
In his rookie season of 2006, he had an outstanding year, going 12-3 with an earned run average of 2.16. The performance made the Twins franchise decide that Johan Santana could be expendable, and allowed their former ace to go to the New York Mets.
Since then however Liriano has had a rocky road, never really living up to expectations. He went through Tommy John surgery, missing all of 2007 and posted an earned run average over five in 2009.
This year heading into last night, Liriano had an earned run average of 9.13. He had 18 walks in 23.2 innings of work. He had already this year given up seven runs in three innings in a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays and seven runs in five innings in a loss to the Kansas City Royals.
There were simply no signs toward his sensationalism he performed on the mound in Chicago against the White Sox last night. That is why baseball is a funny game. You just simply never know what you’re going to get from anyone at anytime.
Remember back when the Edmonton Trappers were an MLB affiliate, and players like Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and Johan Santana rolled through town on occasion?
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