Baseball in the Daytime: 6-18-08

Morning, kids. June 18 brings us a couple of coal-plant-power-free contests on the diamond, and we're going to take a look at them, just after we re-cap some action from last evening. There was a gaggle of interleague games yesterday, and I always try to look for a theme, a reason why two particular clubs are pitted against one another. It's easy when they do the cross-state-rivals weekend of interleague, not so much in a situation like this, where a few regional rivals butt heads, and the rest are, well...left for interpretation, which is always a safe bet. Right?

In Philadelphia, the Phils dropped a snoozer to Los Medio Rojos del Boston. I've never understood this Spanish translation, by the way. White=Blanco. Red=Rojo. Sock=Calcetin. So wouldn't they be Los Calcetines Blancos and Los Calcetines Rojos? Nope. They call 'em the Half Whites, and the Half Reds. Here's one of those times where I throw that out there, only to discover that the other 5,999,999,999 people on the globe know the answer. Anyway, Los Medio Rojos blanked Philly 3-0, dropping Lester a win, Papelbon a save, and Moyer the loss. Reason for the matchup? East coast, red and white unis.

Los Atleticos de Oakland swung through the desert and pounded the snot out of Arizona, 15-1. What's happened to that club? Duscherer notched the W, Senor Webb the L, and rest assured they played one another because Oakland is gay, and Rustoleum -- also gay -- lives in Arizona. See how easy this is?

Seattle visited Florida, and snuck out with a 5-4 win. Olsen took the loss, Hernandez the win, and they likely played because the spelling of their mascots is practically identical. Colorado whooped up on the Tribe, 10-2 (loss for Byrd, win for Reynolds) because everyone knows it was the mountains, not the white folks, that killed off the Indians. The Twins scraped by with a win in Washington, loss for Lannan, another Hernandez with a win, and a save for Nathan. This contest was scheduled so that fans could watch one team that baseball almost expunged battle another team that it did. Milwaukee blanked the Jays 7-0. McGowan took the loss, and Parra the win in this one, and it happened because hey -- Milwaukee's still an American League team at heart. The similarities are endless: blue and white uniforms, Brew Crew vs. Canadia (which is Spanish for drunkard), etc.

The Orioles beat the Astros 6-5 giving Johnson a win, Brocail a loss, and Sherrill a save. I understand it was Nolan Ryan/Cal Ripken Duo Memorial Night at Camden Yards. Or I might have just made that up. Out in L.A., Los Angeles handled Los Mets 6-1, a loss for Santana, a win for Lackey, and a save for Shields. This match attempted to rival the NBA contest taking place between L.A. and Boston, but it didn't. 'Cause the Mets are kind of lame. But then again, so are the Lakers. Speaking of lame, the Yankees shutout the Padres, 8-0. No stats or explanations there because nobody cares. The Rays handled the Cubs 3-2, a win for Balfour, a loss for Cotts, and a save for Percival. The schedulers thought to tag this one "Here're two teams we bet you didn't think would be good." Texas beat the Braves 7-5, a loss for Hudson, a win for Padilla, and a save for Wilson. The theme of the match was "Two southern cities with zero hospitality duke it out." Los Medio Blancos de Chicago clobbered Pittsburgh 16-5, giving Snell a loss, Vazquez a win, and everyone else a nice nap.

In St. Louis, the Royals squeaked by with a 2-1 win, giving Cardinal fans more reasons to complain about the I-70 rivalry. Villone took the loss, Davies the victory, and Soria netted another save. And finally, for reasons unbeknownst to this long-winded author, the Dodgers and Reds thought they'd tell everyone else to fuck off, while they played a regular old game of stick ball, L.A. getting the win, 3-1. Billingsley took the win, Cueto the loss, and Saito the save.

Today, at 12:05 Central, Boston and Philly square off again. These two clubs lead their respective divisions of eastern orientation, and your hurlers are Justin Masterson for the Medio Rojos, and Kyle Kendrick for the Phillies. A couple hours later, around 2:45, the Detroit Tigers take on the San Francisco Giants. On the mound in this matchup are the woeful Barry Zito (2-10), and Armando Galarraga (6-2). In baseball news of the p.m. variety, the Dodgers and the Reds continue doing their own thing at 6:10 tonight, when Derek Lowe takes on Bronson Arroyo in a dual to see who, if anyone, can get victory number five first. That's it for today. Now get out there, and kick plenty of dirt on the pants legs of your bosses.