Resumed game is over. No more homers. Pirates win, 8-7

Tanaka, a 24-year-old ace for the first-place Eagles, has won 22 straight decisions dating back to Aug. 19, 2012. He’s already broken the record for consecutive wins in Nippon Professional Baseball and is closing in on the major league mark of 24 straight wins held by Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants spanning the 1936 and 1937 seasons.

Tanaka was 1-0 coming into the game with the Cubs today. He beat the Cubs and struck out ten batters in the process. He's now 2-0. I think he just tied Carl Hubbell's major league record.

Tanaka has racked up 28 strikeouts through his first three starts, shattering a club record held by Al Leiter, who had 25 through his first three outings in 1987, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Tanaka also became the first Yanks starter to toss at least eight scoreless innings while striking out at least 10 batters and allowing two or fewer hits since Randy Johnson, who did it on July 26, 2005, against the Red Sox.

I guess he has at least one of his pitches working so far.

I watched this game today. Great performance by a pitcher on my fantasy team.

Johnny Cueto throws 3rd shutout, strikes out career-high 12



CINCINNATI -- That playoff loss in Pittsburgh last year? Johnny Cueto never thought about it much. So getting a chance to shut out the Pirates in a rematch wasn't any more special.

Not to him, anyway.

Cueto pitched his third career shutout against the team that beat him in the NL wild card game, and Joey Votto hit a two-run homer that led the Cincinnati Reds over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 Wednesday for their first winning series this season.

Cueto (1-2) had his way with the lineup that beat him 6-2 at PNC Park in the playoffs. He limited the Pirates to three hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out a career-high 12 during his first shutout since 2011.


Any extra satisfaction given what happened the last time he faced them?

"I never think too much about those things," Cueto said, with assistant trainer Tomas Vera interpreting. "That was 2013."

And Cueto is starting to look more like a vintage ace.

He started only 11 games last season because of strained muscles by his pitching shoulder. The right-hander has been solid this season but hasn't gotten much help from an offense that scored only one run while he was on the mound during his first three starts.

Cueto didn't need much help on Wednesday, putting the Pirates away with 107 pitches.

"Welcome back, Johnny Cueto," manager Bryan Price said. "He's been great his first three starts, and he was dominant today. It was nice to win our first series. Pittsburgh is a handful."

Several Pirates questioned called third strikes by Quinn Wolcott, a Triple-A umpire called up to the majors. Eight of Cueto's strikeouts were called.

Maybe it didn't mean anything extra to Cueto, but his teammates got some satisfaction from beating the Pirates.

"For us to come together the way we have, especially against the team that beat us in the playoffs, it's a lot of fun," third baseman Todd Frazier said.

After the NL Central rivals combined for 13 homers while splitting the first two games, Votto supplied the one that broke open the deciding game.

Left-hander Francisco Liriano (0-3) opened the game by walking Billy Hamilton, who stole second base and came around on two wild pitches. That was it for scoring until the seventh inning, when Cueto singled and Votto hit his fourth homer in six games. Brayan Pena doubled home a run in the eighth.

Liriano and Cueto also were matched in the wild card game last season. Liriano got the better of that one, going seven innings for the victory while Cueto failed to make it through the fourth.

Liriano had trouble at the outset on Wednesday. Ten of his first 13 pitches were balls. He walked Hamilton and Votto opening the inning, then threw the two wild pitches that let in the run.

The Ohio River rivals had a bruising series last season, with 28 batters hit overall -- the most for any series in the majors. It's been mostly pain-free so far, with only two batters hit during the series.

Pirates left fielder Jose Tabata left the game in the fifth inning with what appeared to be a mild concussion after he slammed into the outfield wall while catching Pena's fly ball. Tabata fell, held up his glove to show he'd caught the ball and sat on the warning track for several minutes.

A trainer examined Tabata's neck, jaw and head, and he was helped off the field.

"You talk about laying out and making a catch and hitting the wall hard," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "I was just glad he was able to walk off. We'll see how it feels tomorrow."

I know. I've been watching him daily. He's struggling, no doubt. Right now, he's my favorite player for 2014. I pick one player each year. Previously it was Cespedes, last year Puig, this year Abreu.

Yankees turn first triple play of the season against Rays (GIF)
Last updated April 17, 2014 9:04 PM EDT
Troy Machir Sporting News


The Yankees are going to be an interesting team to watch this season.

They probably won't make the playoffs, but they have the most intriguing pitcher in professional baseball and a load of talented-but-aging players. It's also Derek Jeter's final season in New York.

But still, they will be interesting to watch. Take Thursday night in Tampa Bay for example, when they turned the first triple play of the 2014 season.

Yup, just your standard Yangervis Solarte to Brian Roberts to Scott Sizemore triple-play. The Yankees have turned three triple plays since 1969 and CC Sabathia has been on the mound for all three. For Scott Rodriguez, this is the second time in his career he has hit into a triple play.

Wednesday night Oakland dropped on extra innings to the Angels. Pomeranz the loser, Joe Smith the winner.

Yasiel Puig....No One Walks Off The Island

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_ ... urney-cuba

You can buy great PR guys in LA. Really do not want to hear anything more about that guy.

Aaron Harang is pitching well for ATL again today. Announcers are wondering how the Indians could let him go.

Nelson Cruz just pick up homers #5 and #6, has 21 rbi's, and is batting over (.300). Gotta wonder why no one including the Indians wanted him. We could sure use him now.

TFIR wrote:
Jose Abreu - 1B - White Sox

Jose Abreu went 0-for-6 and grounded into a double play in the 14-inning loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday.
Since hitting his third and fourth homers Thursday, Abreu has gone 1-for-20 in his last five games, though he does have four walks in that span.

I'm thinking he made up for it tonight!

(also cost me 14 points on my fantasy team! )

Don't feel bad JR. Abreu is the best hitter to ever come out of Cuba. The money the sox paid is a bargain. The 9 homers is a rookie record for April. He already has 27 rbi's. Our top four guys --- Bourn, Swisher, Kipnis, and Santana have a combined rbi total of 25. Only weakness right now is his strikeout numbers.

Brantley has 19 rbi's, more than Bourn, Swisher, and Santana combined. I think Tito should flip flop Swisher and Brantley.

J.R. wrote:Aaron Harang is pitching well for ATL again today. Announcers are wondering how the Indians could let him go.

The magic is missing for him tonight. I may have to drop him from my fantasy team.

How about Tanaka? 4-0 this year. 32-0 consecutive.

Carl Hubbell, New York Giants, major league record 24 consecutive wins

July 18, 1936 through May 27, 1937 (record set over two seasons)