Ubaldo Jimenez fires no-hitter

In Atlanta, the Braves were treated to history as Colorado Rockies hurler Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a no-hitter, the first in Rockies history. Despite walking six, Jimenez struck out seven and was electric the entire outing. His last pitch of the game was to Brian McCann at 97 mph. Jimenez threw 128 pitches in the 4-0 win and got some great defense, especially from centerfielder Dexter Fowler in the seventh inning.

In St. Louis, the Cardinals and NY Mets battled all afternoon and into the night. For the second straight game, they were locked in a pitcher’s duel. Mets ace Johan Santana matched up with Cardinals rookie Jaime Garcia (who was making his third career start), who did not give up a hit until the sixth inning. The Mets did not collect their second hit until the 12^th inning with the game tied at 0-0. New Met first baseman Alex Cora (who just came into the game and had only played 3 games there in his career) kept the score tied at 0-0 in the 10^th when he jumped into the first row of seats with two outs and the bases loaded to keep Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday from getting a new life. The Cardinals threatened with the bases loaded three times (with the pitcher batting) and had men on base in just about every inning but could not score.

Felipe Lopez pitches in 18th

The Cardinals ran out of pitchers so third baseman Felipe Lopez (who started at shortstop) moved to the mound in the 18^th and sent the Mets down in order (after Mets pitcher Raul Valdes was thrown out at second base after an infield single). Joe Mather, who moved from the outfield to third base, came in to pitch the 19^th. The Mets scored on a sacrifice fly in the 19^th (with the deep fly ball by Jeff Francoeur going to new left fielder Kyle Lohse, who is a starting pitcher for the Cardinals). The Mets saved closer Francisco Rodriguez for a save situation and the Cardinals got to him. Albert Pujols ripped a one out double and went to third base on a ground out by Lohse. K-Rod chose to pitch to Yadier Molina instead of rookie Allen Craig and Molina ripped a game-tying RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. Into the 20^th they went, with Mather again taking the mound. Mather struggled with throwing strikes and the Mets again scored on a sacrifice fly. Though the Cardinals had their chances in the bottom of the 20^th, starter Mike Pelfrey collected the save. The Mets 2-1 win took 6 hours and 53 minutes to complete. If the Mets had lost to the Cardinals (who were using position players to pitch), manager Jerry Manuel may have gotten fired. He will hold onto his job for now.

Tim Lincecum hits

Reigning National League CY Young award winner Tim Lincecum of the SF Giants has so far showed that he is still the best pitcher in the NL. Against the LA Dodgers, Lincecum went six scoreless innings to improve to 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA. He struck out seven and gave up four hits. Lincecum also starred at the plate in the 9-0 victory as he went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs.

Bullpen problems continue for the Baltimore Orioles as newly named closer Jim Johnson came in with a 3-2 lead in Oakland. The A’s loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and Ryan Sweeney delivered a walk-off two-run single to improve the A’s record to 9-4. The O’s dropped to 1-11 (the worst team in baseball).

In Cleveland, the Indians Jake Westbrook battled the Chicago White Sox Jake Peavy. With the White Sox ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera blasted a solo homerun off of Peavy to tie the game and end his night. In came hard-throwing Matt Thornton and Indians right fielder Shin-Soo Choo delivered an RBI double to win it as closer Chris Perez used 15 pitches to get the White Sox 1-2-3 for his third save.

The grounds crew in NY

Rain played a major part in games played Friday night. In New York, the Yankees and Texas Rangers completed just six innings when the game was finally called. The Yankees won 5-1 as CC Sabathia dominated in the complete game win. CJ Wilson of the Rangers was hurt by poor defense and infield hits (four of the Yankees seven hits did not leave the infield) in his complete game loss.

The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays played to a 1-1 tie at Fenway Park, as rained halted the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Play will resume prior to their start tonight. The Red Sox Josh Beckett and the Rays rookie Wade Davis were involved in a great pitcher’s duel, despite the rain, though the Rays stole four bases off of catcher Jason Varitek (who hit a solo homerun).

In Pittsburgh, rookie Mike Leake of the Cincinnati Reds matched up against the Pirates Zack Duke. Though Leake was not stellar (he walked five and gave up seven hits in seven innings), he limited the damage by allowing just three runs. Duke on the other hand was outstanding. He gave up six hits and one run in seven innings. However the Pirates bullpen gave away the lead by allowing three runs (one of which was Duke’s as he started the eighth inning) in two innings. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, centerfielder Andrew McCutchen collected a single. He immediately stole second base and scored on left fielder Lastings Milledge’s RBI single to center to send the Pirates home happy.

Felipe Lopez greeted by teammates after grand slam

In St. Louis, the Cardinals were dominated all night by NY Mets starter Oliver Perez (even though Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter was just as dominant by striking out 10 in 6.1 innings). In the seventh, Mets manager Jerry Manuel pulled Perez after he allowed an infield single and a sacrifice bunt. Reliever Fernando Nieve came in and hit pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker and walked pinch-hitter Matt Holliday to load the bases. In came Raul Valdes to face Cardinals infielder Felipe Lopez, who deposited a 2-1 hanging curveball over the left field wall for a grand slam (which gave the Cardinals a 4-1 lead). Though the Cardinals bullpen almost blew the lead, they held on for a 4-3 win.

In Philadelphia, the Florida Marlins Jorge Cantu extended his hitting streak to 11 games but could not collect an RBI. He came up in the ninth inning after the Marlins had already scored four runs off of the Phillies bullpen with two men on base, but closer Ryan Madson induced a ground ball to end the rainy and cold game (8-6). The Marlins were dominated all night by Phillies new ace Roy Halladay, as he allowed two runs on eight hits in eight innings.

In Minnesota, the Twins seemed to have the bases loaded every inning against the KC Royals ace Zach Greinke and the Royals bullpen as they won 10-3. Greinke, last year’s CY Young award winner, did not have his usual command as he walked five in his five innings of work while allowing four runs (though only two were earned). The Twins on the other hand, received solid pitching from Scott Baker, who went seven innings while striking out six.

Andre Ethier greeted by teammates after grand slam

In LA, the Dodgers jumped all over SF Giants starter Todd Wellemeyer in the first two innings as he allowed seven runs, capped by Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier’s back-to-back homeruns in the first inning and  Ethier’s grand slam in the second. There was a scary moment for the Giants in the fifth as Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla hit Aaron Rowand in the face, causing a cheek injury and a concussion. The Giants stormed back against the Dodgers bullpen as they scored five runs in the ninth, but could not overcome the lead (they lost 10-8).

In Toronto, the LA Angels almost wasted a gem thrown by starter Jered Weaver, as the Blue Jays scored four times in the eighth inning to cut the Angels lead to 7-5. However new Angels closer Fernando Rodney came in and quickly shut the door on the Blue Jays, as he threw just 9 pitches to pick up his second save of the season. Weaver went into the eighth inning (he was pulled after allowing a Randy Ruiz solo homerun) and gave up just two runs on five hits while striking out eight (he did not walk a batter).

NY Yankees honor Jackie Robinson

The biggest celebration came in NY at Yankee Stadium as Robinson’s wife and daughter were in attendance for the pre-game festivities and his grandson threw out the first pitch. Phil Hughes made his first start of the season for the Yankees and was backed by three homeruns off of LA Angels Scott Kazmir, who was also making his first start.

The LA Dodgers always request to play home on Jackie Robinson day so that they can honor their former player. On Thursday, Tommy Lasorda, Frank Robinson, and Don Newcombe (among others) were on hand for the pre-game festivities. The Dodgers came back for the second straight day against Arizona Diamondbacks closer Chad Qualls, but this time won the game in the bottom of the tenth on Andre Ethier’s walk-off hit (his 10^th walk-off hit of his career).

The Cleveland Indians (in the bottom of the American League Central) received great starting pitching from David Huff, who threw a complete game four-hitter in the Indians 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers. He threw just 104 pitches and his only blemish was the two-run homerun he allowed to Michael Young in the fourth inning. Shin-Soo Choo took Huff off of the hard luck loss by blasting a three-run homerun in the bottom of the eighth inning (the homerun was preceded by two men reaching base on errors).

Phillies NL champions ring

In Philadelphia on Thursday was also the ring ceremony for the 2009 National League Champions. Even though Phillies pitcher JA Happ struggled into the sixth inning (he walked six), they held a 4-1 lead. However the Phillies bullpen, which has been stellar so far this season, gave up six runs in relief of Happ (three runs by Danys Baez and two more by closer Ryan Madson). Washington Nationals Ryan Zimmerman delivered a pinch-hit go-ahead two-run homerun in the eighth inning off of Baez to seal the win for the Nationals. Zimmerman had not played since Saturday due to an injured hamstring.

The Houston Astros finally won a game in the 2010 season. They beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 with a three-run eighth inning. The top of the order for the Astros (Michael Bourn and Jeff Keppinger) combined to go 4-for-8 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Astros starter Bud Norris went five innings allowing one unearned run on four hits while striking out nine.

Minnesota Twins honor Jackie Robinson

In Minnesota, Twins starter Francisco Liriano dominated the visiting Boston Red Sox with seven shutout innings. He allowed just four hits and struck out 8. The Twins offense battered Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield through five innings (he allowed 10 hits and five earned runs).

Ben Sheets, an expensive signee this offseason for the Oakland A’s, won his first game since 2008 as he dominated the now 1-9 visiting Baltimore Orioles. Sheets went six shutout innings and allowed five hits. He walked three and struck out four. The A’s improved to 7-4 on the season.

Chris Iannetta's walk-off homerun

There were two more extra inning games on Wednesday. At Coors Field in Denver, the NY Mets scored an unearned run in the ninth inning off of Rockies closer Franklin Morales (his first blown save as a closer) to tie the game and send it into extra innings. However in the bottom of the tenth, Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta (who contributed to the Mets unearned run in the ninth) led off the inning with a walk-off solo homerun off of Mets rookie reliever Jenrry Mejia.

The other was in Los Angeles, as the Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks battled back and forth for nearly five hours with the Dodgers scoring a run in the bottom of the ninth off of Diamondbacks closer Chad Qualls to send the game into extra innings. In the top of the 11^th, the Diamondbacks scored two runs off of Dodgers reliever Ramon Ortiz to win the game 9-7. Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Young delivered an RBI single to left field and infielder Augie Ojeda contributed a sacrifice fly in the 11^th. The Diamondbacks overcame a 19-hit attack from the Dodgers.

One day after almost being no-hit by Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Ricky Romero, the Chicago White Sox jumped all over starter Brandon Morrow, which was capped by two four-run innings (the fifth and sixth). Andruw Jones and Carlos Quentin both homered off of Morrow, with Quentin hitting a grand slam. White Sox starter John Danks was dominant, while allowing just two hits and a run in seven innings.

Astros starter Brett Myers

In St. Louis, the Cardinals and the visiting Houston Astros were battling in a classic pitchers’ duel with the Cardinals Brad Penny facing off against new Astros hurler Brett Myers. After unearned runs scoring in the first inning to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead, the score remained the same. Both starters went seven innings with Penny allowing just three hits while striking out four and Myers allowing four hits while striking out seven. However the Astros could not capitalize on chances, like with the bases loaded in the eighth. The Astros dropped to 0-8 on the season.

In Florida, Marlins third baseman Jorge Cantu set a Major League record by collecting at least one hit and an RBI in each of the Marlins first eight games. He hit a solo homerun in the fifth inning off of Reds starter Homer Bailey. The Marlins held onto the win 5-3 over the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

In Baltimore, Tampa Bay Rays left-hander David Price dominated the Orioles through seven innings. Price allowed a run (a homerun by Miguel Tejada) on four hits while striking out seven. Orioles starter Brad Bergesen struggled into the fourth inning, allowing eight runs (five earned) on seven hits. Carlos Pena continued his hot-hitting against the O’s as he connected on another three-run homerun in the first inning in helping the Rays improve to 6-3. The O’s dropped to 1-8 on the season and put closer Mike Gonzalez on the DL prior to the game. On the bright side for the O’s, converted reliever Jason Berken threw five innings while allowing just one run (he struck out five).

Joey Votto's RBI single

The Cincinnati Reds and Florida Marlins went into extra innings for the second straight night and the Reds won it again. The game went back and forth all night with the Reds scoring two in the top of the eighth and the Marlins countering with three in the bottom half to tie the score. The game went to the 11^th where Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips hit back-to-back RBI singles with two outs. Francisco Cordero worked a perfect 11^th to earn the save and win it for reliever Micah Owings who worked two scoreless innings. The Reds have won five of their last six and all five wins have come in their final at-bat. Jorge Cantu of the Marlins became the first player since 1921 to have a hit and RBI in his first 8 games.

Tampa Bay and Baltimore also went into extra innings. After the Rays were dominated for seven innings by rookie left-hander Brian Matusz, they finally got to him and the O’s bullpen in the eighth, scoring five runs. The resilient Orioles scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game up. It stayed tied until the tenth when Rays slugger Carlos Pena blasted a three-run homerun off of Matt Albers to take an 8-5 lead. The O’s did score a run off of Rays closer Rafael Soriano (a solo homerun by Ty Wiggington) but could do no more damage. The hopeful Orioles dropped to 1-7 on the season and attendance is dropping quickly (they had just a little over 13,000 for Tuesday night and just 9,000 on Monday).

Resilient is the best way to describe the 2010 Detroit Tigers (at least early on). On Sunday, ace Justin Verlander was battered by the Cleveland Indians, but the Tigers stormed back to win the game in their final at-bat. On Tuesday, it was more of the same but this time the KC Royals did the battering to Dontrelle Willis. The Royals held a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, but the Tigers scored six runs in the inning, finally chased starter Brian Bannister (who gave up just three singles through six innings), and again ripped the Royals bullpen (just as they did during the first series of the season as it took three relievers to get out of the inning). It was the Tigers fifth comeback of the season.

Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox had the best defensive play on Opening Day (most likely one of the best of the season). On Tuesday night in San Francisco, Pittsburgh Pirates starter Paul Maholm made a play to rival Buehrle’s. On a ball hit by the Giants’ Aubrey Huff, Maholm dove to stop the ball as it was rolling by him, rolled over, and flipped the ball over his head (from inside his glove) to first base for the out. Check out this site to see the play in real time (http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7432519). The Pirates also held on in a nail-biter, 6-5.

Ricky Romero

In Toronto, the Blue Jays had another no-hitter watch, this time from second year left-hander Ricky Romero (they also had one from Double-A New Hampshire prospect Luis Perez at the same time and last week Shaun Marcum had one). Romero went into the 8^th inning while no-hitting the White Sox, but he hit AJ Pierzynski and former Blue Jay Alex Rios sent a 2-1 changeup into the left field seats for a two-run homerun. Romero finished the inning with three straight ground outs and he struck out 12 on the night as the Blue Jays won 4-2. “We were just in awe,” Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells told reporters after the game. “It was one of the most dominant performances I’ve seen as a Blue Jay. It was fun to be a part of.”

NY Yankees ring

The NY Yankees began the second season at new Yankee Stadium with the ultimate pre-game festivities: the unveiling of the World Series champion’s banner and the ring ceremony. Yankee greats Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford were on hand to present the Yankees with their World Series champion rings. Former Yankee Bernie Williams threw out the first pitch. The Yankees received stellar starting pitching from veteran Andy Pettitte (6 innings of shutout baseball), though the LA Angels came back against reliever Dave Robertson to make the game close (the Yankees won 7-5).