After walking the Sultan Of Surly — who took third on a Ryan Klesko single — Roger Clemens allowed a single to noted Yankee killer Nate Shierholtz, extending the Giants’ lead to 4-1 (they’re about to end proceedings at the former PacBell, with SF holding a 7-2 advantage in the 9th). But there you have it folks, the Rocket was summoned to relieve between starts due to the toll placed on the Yankee bullpen in yesterday’s 13 inning loss, and said appearance illustrates exactly why allowing anyone on the 25 man roster to pick and choose which games to attend is a lousy idea. And to Clemens’ credit, he wasn’t playing golf in Texas.
The Giants stole 5 bases off Mike Mussina and Wil Nieves today. Had Metal Mike Piazza caught for the A’s this afternoon, I suspect Jose Reyes and Carlos Gomez could’ve swiped at least six. As it turns out, the speedy Mets duo were a mere two for 3 against Jason Kendall in New York’s 10-2 rout at Shea. Jack Cust really has a way of making the highlight reels against New York teams.
I’d love to tell you about Josh Beckett outdueling Jake Peavy today, but after hearing the Padres’ radio and TV dudes repeatedly dump all over Doug Mirabelli last night, I really needed a break from their annoying voices. And it needs to be said : Dougie was wrong. San Diego fans are deeply passionate about their team. Especially the fans masquerading as play by play announcers.
Dan Shaughnessy’s report from San Diego this morning included references to both Brian Wilson and Sean Penn (neither of whom, I suspect are part of the Red Sox Traveling Support). This wasn’t nearly as weird as Bob Ley namechecking Avon Barksdale on this morning’s “SportsCenter” (during a CFL highlight, no less), but the Schiling bashing from CHB was as predictable as it was gratuitious (“When the media asked if he’d speak about his shoulder. Schilling declined, saying he had a “million things to do.” Never saw a guy so busy while spending time on the disabled list. Perhaps he’ll share on his blog or his radio show.”)