The Kansas City Royals completed their season-opening sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 4-1 win at Comerica Park on Wednesday afternoon, leaving the team as the only one that has yet to suffer a defeat in the young 2008 Major League Baseball season.
I’d like to say that I saw this coming — I could point to my AL Central preview post to show that I at least thought Kansas City would be competitive this year — but this pesky “I shall make a prediction for every game of the MLB season! What a great idea this is!” documents my small amount of faith for the Royals in this opening series (I had them winning on Wednesday, at least). Also, I picked the Detroit Tigers to win the division in that post, and to win it all in this one. So, any way I try to spin it, I still coming out looking like a jackass. Suffice it to say, once again, I was wrong. (What a credibility-building statement. Did I really need to throw in “once again”?)
In fact, I was wrong quite a bit when it came to picking the winners of today’s games. My hopes of catching the Milwaukee Brewers early on were shattered despite the Brew Crew suffering its first defeat this afternoon. Worse, the Brewers have been joined in a four-way tie for first place in the division, which will make my sub-.500 prediction day look even worse in the standings.
But enough about me (for now). Time to blurb it up.
- Cincinnati Reds 3, Arizona Diamondbacks 2
- Johnny Cueto retired 21 of the 22 batters he faced in his Major League debut — 10 by strikeout — to lead the Reds to victory. A solo home run by Justin Upton to lead off the sixth inning was the only blemish on his debut outing.
- Lefthander Doug Davis, who will undergo treatment for thyroid cancer later this month, got the ball for Arizona. He allowed three runs — two earned — on four hits in 3 2/3 innings while walking six and striking out four.
- Chicago White Sox 2, Cleveland Indians 1
- John Danks outdueled Jake Westbrook, allowing just two hits in 6 2/3 innings, as the White Sox squeaked past the Indians. Solo home runs by Juan Uribe and Joe Crede did the damage against Westbrook.
- Reliever Octavio Dotel was credited with a win after recording the final out of the seventh inning. He also improved his earned-run average to 20.25.
- Kansas City Royals 4, Detroit Tigers 1
- The Royals stand alone as the only undefeated team in Major League Baseball after holding the Tigers lineup to 5 runs in a three-game sweep to open the year. Conversely, the Tigers now stand alone as the only winless team in the Big Leagues.
- Things got even worse for Detroit in the eighth inning when Gary Sheffield reportedly tore a tendon in his left index finger while sliding head-first into second base. In a situation where insult was very literally added to injury, the Tigers DH was tagged out on the play.
- In my own defense, the last team to win the World Series did so in spite of a season-opening loss to the Kansas City Royals.
- Philadelphia Phillies 8, Washington Nationals 7 (10 innings)
- The Phillies finally found their way into the win column, rallying back from a 5-run deficit to eventually overtake the then-undefeated Nats in extra frames.
- Philadelphia’s big rally came with one out in the sixth inning, when the Phillies strung together seven consecutive singles, followed by a hit batter and another single. Chase Utley, the man responsible for the first single, finally ended the onslaught by grounding into an inning-ending double play.
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5, Minnesota Twins 4
- Ervin Santana picked up his first win of the season for the Angels, pitching six innings of 4-hit, 2-run ball. In so doing, he matched his 2007 total for road wins. Santana was 1-10 in 14 road starts last year.
- Torii Hunter victimized his former team for his first home run as an Angel to begin the seventh inning.
- St. Louis Cardinals 3, Colorado Rockies 0
- The Cardinals won their season-opening series against the defending National League Champions despite leadoff hitter Skip Schumaker going 0-for-11 in the three-game set. He did draw three walks during the series.
- Brad Thompson led the Cardinals past Colorado in the rubber game of the series, throwing 6 2/3 scoreless innings and helping his own cause with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning.
- Chicago Cubs 6, Milwaukee Brewers 3
- Ryan Dempster picked up his first win as a starter in nearly three years, and Kerry Wood, whose last win as a major league starter came almost two years ago (and was closed out by Dempster) picked up his first Big League save as the Cubs salvaged their 3-game set with Milwaukee.
- San Diego Padres 3, Houston Astros 2
- Trevor Hoffman bounced back from his Wednesday night meltdown, pitching a perfect ninth inning to secure San Diego’s third win of the season.
- New York Yankees 3, Toronto Blue Jays 2
- David Eckstein’s grit, hustle and determination were no match for the Yankees’ actual ability to play baseball, as he was able to will the Blue Jays to but a single win in their season-opening series with the Bronx Bombers. Joba Chamberlain picked up his first win of the season in relief, while Mariano Rivera survived a scare in the ninth inning when he struck Yankee-life-giver-toer Aaron Hill out looking to strand Vernon Wells at third to end the game.
- Pittsburgh Pirates 4, Atlanta Braves 3 (10 innings)
- Franquelis Osoria took sole possession of the Major League lead in wins while top-ranked Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball outfielder Xavier Nady singled in the game-deciding run in the tenth inning as the Pirates claimed a share of first place in the NL Central with a dramatic come-from-behind win over the feisty Atlanta Braves. Closer Matt Capps slammed the door in the bottom of the tenth for the Buccos, picking up his first save of the year and lowering his earned-run average to 16.20.
- Oh yeah, and Mike Hampton once again outdid himself, this time by getting hurt before the game even started. He’s headed back to the DL with a chest injury he suffered in pre-game warmups.
And the O’s and Rays were rained out, for the record.
Okay, now for a little more about me! (Is there a way to track the exact point in posts where people bounce? I have a suspicion I just wrote a sentence that’d make for an interesting study in that area.)
SUPERSTAR vs. CENTRAL update:
Milwaukee Brewers (2-1) .667
Pittsburgh Pirates (2-1) .667
Cincinnati Reds (2-1) .667
St. Louis Cardinals (2-1) .667
Merrill Park Superstar (28-20) .583
Chicago Cubs (1-2) .333
Houston Astros (1-3) .250
I’ll try to spin my 4-6 record on Thursday in a positive manner by simply saying Haha! Eat my dust, Houston Astros!
Can I recover from my first sub-.500 day of the season on Friday? Or have I, in trying to bring down the teams of the NL Central, actually turned into something just as bad or worse? (Shit, wasn’t that the story of Mean Girls? Never mind.)
FRIDAY PICKS:
Chicago White Sox over Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers over San Francisco Giants
Houston Astros over Chicago Cubs
Colorado Rockies over Arizona Diamondbacks
Seattle Mariners over Baltimore Orioles
New York Yankees over Tampa Bay Rays
Philadelphia Phillies over Cincinnati Reds
Florida Marlins over Pittsburgh Pirates
Boston Red Sox over Toronto Blue Jays
New York Mets over Atlanta Braves
Kansas City Royals over Minnesota Twins
St. Louis Cardinals over Washington Nationals
Cleveland Indians over Oakland Athletics
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim over Texas Rangers
Los Angeles Dodgers over San Diego Padres
