Plunking Cano is a No-no. Team Torto Rolls In Cleveland

Nick and I again met up after work in our private booth at the Crown Plaza hotel bar. And Nick again took the helm of Matt's 'all-lefties-all-the-time' team for our second and final series of the season, with similar results.

Game 1: M.Garza @ D.Price
Solid starting pitching got this one rolling thru the first 3, with 12 K's between Price and Garza early.  My squad broke thru in the 4th though, on a leadoff single by Cano, followed by back-to-back doubles from Beltre and Godzilla.  Up 2-zip, Garza cruised for 7 and 2/3rds before tiring, giving the ball up to Octavio "No-Tell" Dotel to sidearm him out of the jam.  My boys picked up 2 more insurance runs along the way on a pair of Maggs Ordonez RBI-hits in the 7th and 9th. Matt's bats were ice cold in this one, and with Aardsma in for the 9th in a non-save situation, the shutout was preserved.  Garza's performance left some in the Cleveland crowd quite perturbed though, as he plunked Howie Kendrick, Carlos Pena, and Nelson Cruz during his innings.  Price retaliated once hitting G-Money Laird.  Hit batters would become a recurring theme this series...
Torto wins 4-0
WP - M.Garza (13 Ks in 7.2)
LP - D.Price
HR - None


Cano appeals to the ump after being plunked by Rowland-Smith.
When Yankees talk, umpires listen. Can you say ejection?

 Game 2: R.Halladay @ R.Rowland-Smith
After getting Game 1 with my #5 starter in convincing fashion, I felt real good with Halladay now toeing the rubber, coming off 18 straight scoreless innings.  Something had to give on that streak though, and so it did.  Halladay was rocky early, giving up 5 hits in the first (including 3 2Bs) that amounted in 3 runs.  Lucky to get out of the first, Halladay did then settle in for a few innings.  Ryan Rowland-Smith made it his business to carry retaliation into game 2.  He beaned Godzilla in the top of the 1st, and then in the 2nd (after issuing a leadoff walk to Jason Bartlett) he plunked the affable and always likeable Robbie Cano.  The ump had enough, and immediately tossed Rowland-Smith and his lame hyphenated name (later to be suspended for 7 games).  Cano shrugged off the pitch without injury, and both he and Bartlett were subsequently scored by back-to-back singles by Maggs and Beltre.  Now down only one, my squad tied it up in the next frame, on a Cano RBI-single.  Tempers cooled from there, as Halladay kept his composure and worked scoreless 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings.  Matt got a go-ahead run in the 5th (Billy Butler RBI single), and tacked another 3 on Halladay (gave up 7 ERs!) in the 7th.  My bats went cold the rest of the way, as Matt held it together with the Twins entire middle relief corps (Breslow, Gurrier, and Mijares).
Matt wins 7-3
WP - C.Breslow
LP - R.Halladay
HR - None
 
Game 3:  J.Verlander @ S.Kazmir
Verlander dominated this match in our last series, going the distance and fanning 16.  It appeared that Matt's hitters learned nothing from that outing.  The fireballer was on his game again, striking out the side in the bottom of the first.  Around the 4th, Nick made the observation that, "hey, there's been no home runs in this series yet".  As if on cue, Robbie Cano then belted a 2-run shot.  Things got a little chippy in this game again though, when Kazmir plunked Adrian Beltre in the 5th.    Not to be outdone at by Kazmir, Jose "He Ain't Heavy, He's" Mijares tried to double the damage by nailing Magglio Ordonez in the shin. By now, Verlander had seen enough, and retaliated the next inning by planting a 99 MPH fastball in Nelson Cruz's back.  Benches nearly cleared, but cooler heads prevailed, despite the home team being down 6-1 at this point.  Justin Morneau put an exclamation point on the game with a 7th inning 2-run blast. A fired up Verlander again went the distance, but this time only whiffing 13.  
Torto wins 8-1
WP - J.Verlander (CG, 13Ks)
LP - S.Kazmir
HR -  R.Cano, J.Morneau
 
Torto takes the series 2-1.
***Record Alert*** 9 hit batsment in this series, friends. 5 of my guys hit, and 4 of Matt's - and 1 ejection/suspension (R.Rowland-Smith for 7 games)
 
A fun, chippy series - with my squad left a little bewildered whenever Matt/Nick rolled out one of the rare RHPs in his 'pen.  Bewildered or no, they hit the lefties well enough to take 2 of 3.

More good pitching for Team Torto - Matt @ Torto Series Update

This gameball was very tired of being launched out of a howitzer in Game 1
-image by S.Pearlstein/Roar of the Tigers

Nick and I met again after work this week on Wednesday evening, but this time my squad was tangling with Matt's band of bombers and lefty tossers. Nick was, of course at the helm for Matt, deftly handling his roster for him.  Not deftly enough though, as my bats were alive and my pitching solid.

Game 1: S.Kazmir vs. J.Verlander
Verlander, while not untouchable this game, pitched exactly the kind of game I see on FSN-Detroit about 6-7 times a season.  He gives up a few dingers, but otherwise dominates his opponents.  Matt jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a two-out Gordon Beckham HR, that should have been jammed to a deep drive, but I realized it a batsman too late.  Too bad for me - and down 2 in the 2nd.  My boys got it back though, on a 2-out, RBI doubles from Robbie Cano and Orlando Cabrera.  Matt snagged the lead back in the 3rd, on a Carlos Pena solo jack.  But the floodgates opened in the bottom of the 5th, when Kazmir loaded up the bases and then walked in 2 runs, before Cabrera struck again with a base clearing 2-RBI double.  That would be the lead Verlander would need to win the game, and in typical fashion - he got stronger as the game went on, striking out 8 in the final 3 innings (he finished with 16K), and probably throwing around 140 pitches to do it.  I felt like Old Man Leyland leaving him out there like that, but reality imitates PTP.
Torto wins 7-4
WP-J.Verlander (CG)
LP - S.Kazmir
HR - G.Beckham, Carlos Pena
**INJURY UPDATE** Matt's Brett Gardner is out for 6 games, hurt crashing into the wall chasing a Maggs 3B off the wall.

Game 2: A.Pettite @ I.Snell
Ian Snell got the call for his 2nd start of the season, filling in for Broken Bedard.  And much like his first start, he filled in admirably.  A cocky Jason Bartlett scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the 1st, by slapping a single, getting advanced by Cano, nabbing 3rd from a sleepy-eyed Pettite (who would later in the game pick off the cocky Bartlett at 1st), and coming home on a 2-out Raburn single.  Good baseball.  Nick rolled Matt back to the tie on a Billy Butler solo shot, and took the lead in the 3rd on a Jason Bay RBI-double.  Pettite was got to in the 4th though, when he gave up a solo HR to Raburn, and double to Beltre, and singles from Laird, Cano, and Maggs. 4 crossed the plate, and 5-2 was the score.  Things quieted down from there, with Snell getting to the 6th, and Lyon pitching the 7th and 8th.  Matt mustered one more run when J-Bay tripled and was scored on a Carlos Pena groundout.  Justin Morneau nullified that run though, but hitting a solo shot in the bottom of the 8th.  David Aaaaarrrrrrrrrrdsma closed it out.
Torto wins 6-3
WP- I.Snell
LP - A.Pettite
S - D.Aardsma
HR - B.Butler, R.Raburn, J.Morneau

Game 3: J.Lester @ B.Bergesen
Brittle Brad tossed another excellent start, giving up only 2-runs in 8 innings (on a Beckham 2-run HR).  Lester was molested by my lefty killers though, 'not having his good stuff' and getting roughed up for 5 runs in the 1st, including a 2-run shot to Ryan Sweeny (ouch- you just can't do that, especially on a lefty v. lefty matchup).  That pretty much made it the game, although I tacked on 3 more in the mid-innings.  Matt was plagued by 3 tough errors in this one that extended innings and scored runs.  Lefty Matt Thorton came in for the meaningless 9th.
Torto wins 8-2
WP - B.Bergesen
LP - J.Lester
HR - G.Beckham, R.Sweeny

One interesting tidbit from the series was that on three of the deep drives, Nick and I rolled 'double zeros' on the distance roll (me twice, Nick once).  That drew some laughs and disgusted sighs.

So that marks back-to-back sweeps of the Super Ewoldt Brothers for me, and a vault of my team into relevance.  A good showing in the APD this Sunday, and the playoffs seem very possible - something I definitely didn't think could happen after the first 12 games.

Bergy, Garza, Halladay - Dealin'. Nick - Reelin'.

Worth the 1st Round Draft Pick?  You bet.

Nick and I tangled for some early morning pre-Gravy Bowl PTP last Saturday.  This was our second matchup of this AL season (that series update has not been posted yet, but Nick won the first series 2-1, on the road with the strength of his bats).  This time around though, the bats would not be the story. 

Game 1:  'Brittle Brad' Bergesen @ Tommy Hunter
The first run of the game came on a Godzilla solo-shot in the top of the 4th, giving my squad a 1-0 lead. 2 more runs were brought across in the top of the 5th, on a Kurt (Not Asian) Suzuki RBI double, immediately followed by a Jason Bartlett RBI single.  Torto up, 3-naught.  Nick fought back in the bottom of the same frame, getting a run the hard way by advancing the 'Korean Delight', Shin Soo-Choo all the way around to home after a leadoff single thru a series of well placed ground ball outs and a Asdrubal Cabrera single, to close the gap to 3-1.  Nick was quick with the hook on Hunter, and yanked him after just 4+ innings of work. My squad added one more unearned run with 2-outs in the 6th, when Marco Scutaro made a wild throw to let Mike Lowell on base.  Ryan Sweeny then drove Old Man Lowell across home on a triple into the gap.  Bergesen was dealing all game, uncharacteristically striking out 7 in 8 innings, while only yielding 5 hits. Matt Thornton came in to close the 9th.

Torto wins 4-1
WP - B.Bergesen
LP- T.Hunter
S - M.Thornton
HR - H.Matsui
SB - J.Bartlett 2

Game 2:  Matt Garza @ James Shields
Solid pitching (or poor hitting) continued in Game 2.  I jumped out to a early 3-run lead, on 5 straight singles from the 3 thru 7 hitters.  Garza was pitching a gem until the 6th when he gave up a 3-run shot to Jason Kubel.  All knotted up 3-3 in the 8th, Jason Bartlett hit a solo jack to break the tie.  More drama in the bottom of the 8th, when Denard Span led off with a single, and then proceeded to break up a double play on an Adam Lind groundball, slamming into Bartlett and injuring him for 3 games. Garza then walked Texeiera and officially 'tired', came out of the game. David Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrdsma came in for the final inning and 2/3rds, retiring the final five batters, striking out 3 of them.

Torto wins 4-3
WP - Garza
LP - F.Francisco
S - D.Aardsma
HR - J.Kubel, J.Bartlett

Game 3:  Roy 'Doc' Halladay @ Jake Peavy
Lights out pitching in this one.  Halladay fresh off a complete game shutout vs. Keither, was ready to pitch another one.  Peavy didn't give an inch either, though, with a 0-0 tie going into the top of the 7th.  The tie was broken NL-style, with Orlando Cabrera (filling in for the injured Bartlett) successfully bunting over men on 2nd and 3rd.  The Light Hitting Gerry Laird then uncharacteristically hit a 2-out RBI single to score another run.  Two runs would be all that was needed for Halladay to get the win.  Peavy also went the distance in the loss.

Torto wins 2-0
WP - R.Halladay
LP - J.Peavy

Torto sweeps the series 3-0. 

It was nice to see my team do what I actually drafted it to do - win with good pitching and defense.  And even nicer to pull myself back into relevance with the sweep, putting my record at 10 - 11, and pushing Nick behind me in the standings.  Were Keith not able to completely dominate me this season, I might actually be looking at an over-500 record. 

***Record alert*** - Roy Halladay has now pitched 18 straight scoreless innings, and in his 5 starts this season, 4 have been complete games, and 3 of those shutouts.  Ridiculously impressive.  Now I've surely jinxed him for a 5-run 1st inning his next start.