Prof: Scout gets the day off today, so you’re stuck with me. Happy Friday, fam! Let’s go. Since it’s a Girl Power Friday, I’m going with one of my personal faves, Miss Amy Winehouse. I could easily post ten videos of some of her best songs, but I chose three from different stages of her career that I feel show off her dark, jazzy vocal and warm sense of humor. Enjoy.
Braves 2, Reds 4 – After a several hour rain delay, the Braves attempted to come back from a two run deficit with a Freddie Freeman home run, but Cincinnati immediately countered with a sacrifice play, allowing Eugenio Suarez to score. Suarez was involved in every Reds scoring play, which of course makes him the man of the evening.
Marlins 3, Phillies 1 F/10 – Starlin Castro lifted love (and the Feesh) where it belonged with a two run homer in extra innings, which wasted a quality start by Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (who drew the no decision).
Tigers 3, Red Sox 7 – Long time readers know that I consider Rick Porcello the luckiest man in baseball. This time, Porcello wasn’t lucky, just better than Jordan Zimmermann – sadly, that’s not saying much. It was Boston’s bats that really did the heavy lifting here – lots of RBI doubles to be had.
Spiders 2, Astros 1 – Noted Drone Enthusiast Trevor Bauer went the distance against Gerrit Cole. On paper, if you just looked at the box score, one would think Cole had the better night (ten strikeouts as opposed to Bauer’s three), but Bauer gets the win as Cole allowed one additional run (Jake Bauers’ home run in the fifth inning). In fact, it was nothing but a home run night, as the other runs of the evening were scored by Leonys Martin and George Springer.
Yankees 5, Angels 11 – For a few innings, you’d be forgiven if you thought the Yankees would win. But Tommy LaStella (former Brave and Cub!) has other plans. David Fletcher was just as effective in this rout of New York. Rough night for Tanaka, who allowed five runs.
Diamondbacks 5, Pirates 0 – Prof: ZACK GREINKE. If this were Twitter I’d simply say “Enough said”, but this is FI, and we like to opine around here. ZG went seven innings and had seven strikeouts, but that’s not the only cool thing he did. Greinke hit a triple in the fifth inning and was able to score a run to help his own cause. In fact, ZG currently sports a batting average of .462. Now, of course he’s a pitcher and he only gets in the lineup every fifth day, but especially now that he’s gotten over his usual April funk, he’s dropped his ERA to a more manageable 3.72. Put that together and you have yourself a bona fide two way threat.
Rangers 2, Mariners 14 – Prof: Seattle continues to play meaningful baseball. They are now 17-11 and show no signs of slowing down. Marco Gonzales is the first pitcher to win five on the season. Tim Beckham and Ryon Healy both had three RBI.
Dodgers 2, Cubs 1 – Prof: Even the best among us make mistakes. Example – Javier Baez, who committed an error which allowed a run in the fifth inning. The Cubs just couldn’t catch fire against Ross Stripling, Kenley Jansen and the rest of the Dodgers crew.
Fan Interference 
Nats had the day off, but they did make some news yesterday, announcing that they’re calling up middle infield wunderkind Carter Kieboom.
There’s some palace intrigue here, since he’s not yet on the 40 man roster, and while he’s a shortstop by trade, he was supposed to be learning the finer points of second base at Fresno this year, so he could man that position starting next year.
The Nats have already returned Jake Noll to Fresno, so a spot’s open on the 25 man roster, which means Anthony Rendon is likely to return to game action tonight, weather permitting.
What we don’t yet know is what move the Nats will make to get Kieboom on the 40 man roster. There were reports last Friday that Trea Turner couldn’t yet straighten his broken finger, and there’s been no official estimate from the Nats on Turner’s return, so it’s possible they could move him to the 60 day IL.
On the other hand, this could be the end of the line for Trevor Rosenthal.
I guess we’ll know before the Nats play their next game, which is scheduled for tonight in DC against the Padres, but it may be washed out by rain.
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Another possibility for Kieboom roster move:
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And now the Gnats’ offense gonna go KIEBOOM!
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They tried that with his older brother, Spencer, who’s a backup catcher in the organization, but it didn’t work out too well.
Official announcement is that it’s Glover going to the 60 day IL, so Rosenthal survives, and Turner can still theoretically return before June.
Good thing the NL East is so, um, “competitive”* this year, and the Nats are getting a chance to hang around.
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Greinke! THAT IS WHY pitchers should hit. Going back to a prior post, that is also why pitchers are fielders.
The statheads have greatly enhanced the understanding of baseball. But statheads by nature try to explain everything, and so we have the three true outcomes, and other attempts to understand and thereby predict outcome. Pitchers who generally hit poorly and field poorly compared to other infielders irritate the predictability that is the logical yield of statistics. And yet, the only reason we watch the games is the UNpredictability. Let the pitchers hit!
A triple by Zack is an automatic lead on every sports show BECAUSE it’s unusual.
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The NL East was supposed to be a powerhouse division this season but it has so far sucked. And so, to release pent-up ennui and spice up those long lonely dinners in front of the cable downloads, the beloved wooden spoon has returned!
Broiled line caught Kalgin Island king salmon sakai cuts and belly strips (“toro” in sushispeak) with homemade morel mushroom sauce.
3 line-caught Kalgin Island salmon sakai cuts or 1-1/2 pounds of red king salmon belly meat strips.
Here’s the sauce:
-rinse and dry 1 lb morels.
-saute in 1/4 cup butter, over low flame, a half cup of diced onions, 3 large garlic cloves finely diced, a sprinkle of thyme, salt, black pepper and a couple shots of Tabasco. When the onions are translucent add the mushrooms, stir slightly and cover.
-cook until the entire kitchen is maddeningly fragrant with morel aroma. Add 1/2 cup goat milk and 1/2 cup chicken stock. Stir, cover and let simmer for 20-25 minutes.
Pour the mushroom mixture into a blender and blend but don’t puree. Return mixture to saucepan, add a little more goat milk and chicken stock if it’s too thick and bring back to a simmer over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Sigh with gratification.
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Well, I was drinking last night…
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