MLB: Wild Friday Night in Baseball

Posted on | April 18, 2009 | No Comments

What a crazy night in baseball. Huge leads disappeared into thin hair and quirky innings were more common than 1-2-3 innings. In fact, 7 teams that won on Friday night were down by at least 3 runs at some point during the game. The Boston Red Sox came back from a 7 run deficit. And the Minnesota Twins trialed 9-4 in the bottom of the 8th inning before rallying for 7 runs.

One of the craziest innings was the 5th inning between the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners. The Tigers had their ace, Justin Verlander, on the mound. Verlander was perfect through 4 innings. In fact, he struck out the side in the 4th inning. His pitch count was right around 50 and he looked like he would have a shot at at a perfect game or perhaps a no-hitter. A shutout certainly looked likely.

Then the wheels came off in the bottom of the 5th inning. Verlander gave-up 5 quick runs. But of all those troubles. there were far more lucky hits than solid hits. There was an error, a bunt single, a very questionable ball 4, and a wild pitch that all contributed greatly to Verlander’s demise. Bad luck will always come. And Verlander does a horrible job of dealing with such things. He needs to be able to slow down and compose himself when the wheels start to get off the track. Otherwise, he will never be a truly dominant pitcher.

Meanwhile, the Yankees got their first home win. They decided to use the long ball – they hit 5 homers. The Florida Marlins also continued to play the best baseball in the Majors. They came back late to beat the Washington Nationals. Poor Washington is still stuck on one win for the entire season. The Marlins scored a run to tie the game at 2 in the 9th inning and then they scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th.

Related posts:

1. MLB: Walk-Offs Highlight Friday Night
2. MLB: Wild Games in Boston and Minnesota
3. MLB: Yankees Win a Wild One
4. MLB: The Tigers’ Bullpen is an Embarrassment
5. Best Pitching Tandem in Baseball

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