It was a full slate of games Sunday, just as it is every Sunday. This one was special, though, with it being the 65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier and all players wearing his No. 42. And don't forget to look ahead to Monday, either, when we'll see many aces on the hill.
Saturday's full scoreboard, with recaps and box scores for all 15 games
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Hanley Ramirez, Marlins. Both Ramirez and the Marlins were struggling heading into Sunday, and his big day helped propel the Marlins to victory. The third baseman went 4-for-5 with a prodigious home run to dead center. That came in the eighth inning to tie the game, 4-4. More importantly, Ramirez also came through with a walk-off "single" -- he could have had at least a double had the game not stopped immediately when Brett Hayes crossed home plate -- in the 11th inning. We'll see if Ramirez and the Marlins can build on this.
Chipper Jones, Braves. A knee issue kept Jones out of the lineup from April 11 until Sunday, but he wasted no time getting back into the swing of things. Jones hit a three-run homer to break a 1-1 tie in the third inning, in a game the Braves would eventually win 7-4. And don't look now, but after an 0-4 start, the Braves are 5-4.
Trevor Cahill, Diamondbacks. His D-Backs debut could have gone better, as Cahill walked six Padres in six innings. A better offensive team could have done a lot more damage against him than two hits and one earned run. So Sunday had to make the D-Backs feel a lot better about their new starter. He was brilliant in 7 1/3 innings in the thin air of Colorado, allowing only four hits, two walks and one earned run. He also struck out six in Arizona's 5-2 victory.
Also: Matt Kemp and Rick Porcello were covered in individual posts.
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Paul Maholm, Cubs. This isn't the way to endear yourself to the Wrigleyville faithful. Maholm was shelled in his first outing as a Cub and Sunday wasn't any better. The left hander allowed six earned runs on six hits in just four innings. He's now 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in two starts. And this one led to a 10-3 loss to the Cardinals.
Drew Pomeranz, Rockies. The heavily-hyped youngster made his first start of the 2012 season Sunday and he was knocked around the yard by Arizona. Pomeranz allowed nine hits, five earned runs and two walks in just 4 1/3 innings. That would prove to be all the D-Backs needed, too, as the Rockies lost 5-2.
The Kansas City Royals. Taking two of three from the Angels to open the season is a distant memory. The Royals were swept Sunday by the Indians. The 13-7 loss meant the Royals were outscored 32-19 in the three-game series and they've now lost five of six, which includes an 0-3 start at home.
Doc vs. Freak. Three of the last four NL Cy Youngs went to this duo. This season, though, Roy Halladay of the Phillies and Tim Lincecum of the Giants have started in completely opposite fashion. Halladay is 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in two starts while Lincecum is 0-1 with a 12.91 ERA. They'll square off at 10:15 p.m. ET/7:15 p.m. PT Monday night.
Strasmas. It's only a 10-game sample, but only the Dodgers have a better record in all of baseball than the Nationals (the Cardinals are 7-3, just like the Nats) and they should move to 8-3 Monday, if things go as planned. That's because ace Stephen Strasburg (1-0, 0.69 ERA in two starts) takes the hill against the Astros. 7:05 p.m. ET/6:05 p.m. CT.
Shooting for the W. Wins are not even close to the best way to judge a starting pitcher. Justin Verlander certainly knows it after two starts. After going 24-5 last season -- including 12-0 in 13 starts after July 15 -- Verlander has opened 2012 0-1, despite having a 2.20 ERA and 0.55 WHIP. Still, most starting pitchers still view the win as an important stat and Verlander surely knows he doesn't have one yet. He'll be shooting for it against the struggling Royals. 8:10 p.m. ET/7:10 p.m. CT.
Those aren't the only aces on the hill, either, as Tommy Hanson, James Shields and Jered Weaver -- among others -- also get the ball Monday.
Monday's full schedule -- note the game in Boston starts at 11:05 a.m. ET
• I got your back. Former Dodger Ralph Branca is most famous for throwing the pitch that Bobby Thomson made into "the shot heard 'round the world," but he told reporters a great story about his former teammate Jackie Robinson Sunday. Apparently Branca had a perfect game going when Enos Slaughter blatantly cleated Robinson's calf. Take it away, Ralph:
“I said, “I’ll get that SOB for you in the next at-bat,’ ” Branca said (Boston.com). “Jackie said, ‘No, no, no, you keep pitching like you are.’ He understood my pitching was more important.”
Kudos to both Robinson and Branca.
• Too much. Two high school pitchers in New Orleans combined to throw 347 pitches in one game. Most egregious was Emerson Gibbs, who is headed to Tulane on a scholarship, throwing 193 pitches in 15 innings. His counterpart, LSU-bound Mitch Seward, threw 154 pitches in 10 innings (Rivals.com). Just because someone can throw that many pitches in a game doesn't mean they should, especially at that age. The coaches here should be ashamed to risk two kids' promising futures just to win one high school game.
• Hard luck Bucs. Things just never seem to go right for the Pirates anymore. With many other teams set to cash in with up to 10-figure TV rights deals, the Pirates are locked in with Root Sports for a mere $18 million this season on a contract that runs to 2020. The Reds just committed almost $300 to Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. The Padres are eyeing a possible billion-dollar deal while the Mariners, Astros and others are reportedly nearing the big bucks. And the Pirates are locked into a relatively low-paying deal for the entire decade. Wow. (Pittsburghlive.com)
• Ah, minor league baseball. On the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking -- which was Sunday -- the Potomac Nationals admitted women and children first. The men could enter the ballpark 15 minutes later. (via Marc Carig)
• Hot bats. The aforementioned 32 runs the Indians scored in the Kansas City series was the most the Tribe scored in a three-game series since April 7-9, 2000 against the then-Devil Rays. (Official Indians Twitter feed)
• ED opens up. Former Red Eric Davis has "bittersweet memories" of his time in Cincinnati, due to very legitimate issues he had with then-owner Marge Schott. First of all, Schott called him (and Dave Parker) her "million-dollar [insert horrible racial slur]."
“I got calls from the NAACP” and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, said Davis (Cincinnati.com), “but as a 22-year-old, what was I going to do? I put that under my hat, and used that as my motivation, that if I’m going to be a million-dollar ... , then she’s going to have to keep paying me well over $1 million, because I’m going to prove my worth to her.”
Then Davis had a serious kidney injury that one doctor told him needed 14-18 months to heal and the Reds first put him on the disabled list for being "chronically tired" and then later traded Davis to the Dodgers.
“They wanted to sugarcoat it. I was hurt – and that’s why they traded me the next season,” he said (Cincinnati.com).
It's pretty hard to blame Davis for having lingering bad feelings about those two occasions.
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