I smell a shutout for Duff Man, OH YEAH…

I just noticed that Nunez has hit 40 line drives this season and only 20 have fallen in for hits.  His .500 LD BABIP is third worst among all qualified hitters.

So… he’s due?

In the top of the second, the Rays hit 18 foul balls off Erik Bedard of the TWN.  Oh yeah, the Rays have grabbed a sure to be ephemeral 2-0 lead.

Another nice swing from Jeter.

Screw Duffy Danny.

I am drinking rum and power ade. It is gross.

Long range perspective wise, it has been a damn good rookie year for Nova.

Also, can he be classified yet as a ground ball pitcher, and if so, does that mitigate his strikeout to walk numbers at all?

That’s all Duff Man should need.

[7] Chien Ming Nova?

TWN just turned a triple play. Lame.

[10] So is the Cheeseburger Royales’ 2-0 lead.

Oof.

Is it time to say a novena for Nova?  If so I should not be the one to do it.

We’ve hit a couple balls hard off the Duffer.

ump totally missed strike three on R-Mart

Duffy getting squeezed. Martin should be in the dugout.

but got it right the second time

Jennings homers to give Rays 3-1 lead on TWN.

That was some unwise acrobatics on Duffy’s part; though his kick save did save a run.

This ‘Duffy’ fellow is seeming to favor the use of his left hand, yet he grips the baseball quite powerfully

18. Jennings looks like a great player. I hate the arb. games these teams can play. Kid should have been up on Opening Day.

ugh

Duff Beer for Me. Duff Beer for You. I’ll have a Duff! You have one too.

KC announcers debating the merits of Cano and Pedophilia in extremely unintelligent terms.

Vagitek lives a mile or two from me.  I’ve seen him in Starbucks and in his convertible.  When Alan Embryo was on the Sox, I saw him around a couple times too.

The KC announcers need to attend a few classes at SG University to learn a two or thing.

Game is live on SD cable TV, I’m so giddy about this I’m like a kid at the park

Old McDonald strikes out against Niemann-Marcus to end the fifth.

[27] Don’t talk to any strange older gentlemen while you’re at the park.

Duffy Danny is a little wild.

After all the mediocrity of his first half, Cano’s season is shaping up to be nearly identical to last year.

I am looking forward to Alex’s return, but I wonder what it will do to Gardner’s place in the batting order.

[29] Ahh I see what you did there

I’ve been victimized

Yay lucky hits!

Cano tomohawked that pitch.

Jesus, that pitch was over Cano’s head. What a talent.

Does anyone else hear that noise?

Patience will pay off against the youngster Duffy Danny.

[37] Please excuse me.

What the hell happened to Cano in 2008. Talk about a blip…

[40] prolly got himself some bad pussy

[26] Cano cares not for your silly strike zone.

It sounds like crickets. Coming through on the Yes telecasts. Very strange.

Fucken Dinglebury homered for the second time today. 

Yay R-Mart!

Martino!

I love seeing young players doing wild things on the field, like Duffy throwing to second there. Improv jazz.

Duff-Man has looked lousy since that silly dive.

thing i like about nova is i don’t worry that he’s going to give the lead right back. I mean, he might, but I’m not worried about it.

[48] How did you manage to achieve this state of Zen-like equanimity, Schteeve?

48. As A.J. Burnett looks up and says, “Was someone mentioning my name?”

Another line drive out for Nun-E.

Wow he would have been out at third.  Good grab, Captain.

This inning was AJed.  Thanks Schteeve.

Nova has zero command.  He’s leaving big fat pitches up and over the middle of the plate.

This peanut loving bastard is killing us this year.

I think it’s safe to say that Phil Hughes has at least earned himself another look.

I need some of Schteeve’s detachment from reality.

No ground balls, no bueno.

Nova sucks tonight.  These balls are being hit very hard.

And KC goes for the cycle in the 3rd, tripling, homering, singling and doubling.

It’s a good thing Nova isn’t just like AJ…

My word, Gardner can fly. I’m in a real appreciative mood tonight.

I hope he was bunting for a hit.

Derek Jeter is good at baseball once again. Oh happy days!

[64] Derek Jeter is good at [hitting a] baseball once again.  Oh happy days!

Cano is either amazing or insane.

To the gap Lorenz? Try the fountains.

Why is Cano killing the rally?

What a fucking AB. Cano is a monster!

suck it, KC

Also good at hitting a baseball-Robinson Cano.

Is that one strategy for getting a home run—totally exhaust the pitcher by fouling off 8 pitches?

[0] Look at that, even SG can’t predict baseball.

The HR Derby made him really tired. Now his swing is off.

So how many does Nova give up this time?

[74] Before the derby it would have only taken him 8 pitches.

What was that whole point about AJ pitching poorly enough to lose something something?  My current understanding is that AJ, Hughes, and (apparently) Nova will now all fall under the same umbrella (ella) for the foreseeable future.  Awesome.

In other news, Ahhhhh-wooooooooo

Rays up 4 as Zobrist steals 3rd and Home.

Nova’s not really going to come back out, is he?

[79] Gotta get those W’s

this is on MY9, huh? I get YES, but my MY9 equivalent (crappy local network w/ worthless sitcoms) is YNN…which means HS baseball, Syracuse Chiefs, Rochester Red Wings, etc.

The Yankees took so long in their half, the Royals got impatient and gave Nova an 8 pitch inning.

Grando has a sac, HBP and FC? He’s just a BB away from the Unusual TB/RBI Cycle.

So, 0 BB and 2 K is good for Nova, right?

In the wake of earlier events, a question: has Girardi been ejected yet this year?

I don’t have the game on TV.  According to Gameday, Balls 1,2 and 3 to Giavotella are all strikes.  True?

umps not calling low strikes

Ugh.

Did they really need to get that last 1/3 inning out of Nova? I mean, he had given up five runs on 8 hits and just walked his first batter. Maybe just call it a day and go to the pen with two outs?

If the ump would have called strikes strikes, Nova wouldn’t have walked that batter.

Besides, the Yankees don’t have a sixth inning guy.  So the starter has to go six.

Pulled him one batter too late.

That’s true, Duffy was getting squeezed on his low pitches all the time earlier too.

[91] I agree but the announcers pointed out that the double play was in order, good point

Sure, start calling low strikes now…

The Arthur Rhodes as a Cardinal era isn’t off to a very good start.

Really need to get Gardner in here.

Yay Captain.

There ya go.

I’ll keep talking to myself all night if I have to.

Really need to get Jeter and Granderson in here.

This is what happens when Mel Hall gains admin access