MLB: Day Thirty-Four
On Friday the Mets and the Braves continued to role. The Atlanta Braves did it with a very familiar name while the New York Mets did it with a pitcher whose name isn’t quite so familiar.
The Atlanta Braves continue to get top-quality starts from John Smoltz. Smotlz has been with the Braves for many, many years. He’s gone from being a top starter to being a closer and back to being a top starter. On Friday Smoltz pitched 7 innings and gave-up 6 hits and no runs. Smoltz is now 4-1 on the year.
The New York Mets have been getting even better pitching from John Maine. Maine is 5-0 on the season and has an ERA of 1.37. On Friday night Maine and the Mets beat the Colorado Rockies, Maine has been nothing short of spectacular this season.
Justin Verlander is another pitcher that is expected to do some great things this year. After winning Rookie of the Year honors last year, the Detoit hurler is expected by many to become an All-Star this year. Verlander has been solid all year but had a rough outing in his last start. He was much better against the Kansas Roayals on Friday night.
Verlander had a shutout going into the 8th inning. Then he opened the 8th with a single and a walk and that was it. Both of those runners scored so Verlander gave-up 2 runs but he was still very good.
And so are the Tigers.
The Tigers are now just a game behind the Cleveland Indians.
Detroit has always gotten good starting pitching but their bullpen and their hitting were not up to par at the beginning of the season. Now the bullpen is shutting down the opponent and the hitters are starting to hit. Gary Sheffield is producing at the plate the way everyone expected him to when he became a Tiger. Magglio Ordonez, Placido Polanco, and Carlos Guillen are all having great hitting seasons. Sean Cassey and Craig Monroe are also hitting the ball better.
It may be tough for Cleveland to hold off the Tigers much longer.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals got a win on Friday night. They have been struggling in every facet of their game. They also are still dealing with the tragedy that happened a few days ago. Now comes word that their ace pitcher may miss some major time.
Finally, the Yankees got hammered on Friday night by the Seattle Mariners 15-11. Amazing that they scored 11 runs and still lost. Just shows how important pitching really is.
