Interleague play begins with Rivalry Weekend, Giambi kind of apologizes for something, and the Rocket makes his Yankees debut... the Tampa Yankees, that is.
Here we are again, as
the controversial Interleague season began today with some marquis AL meets NL match-ups in the cards. Speaking of Cards,
St. Louis met up with Detroit in a World Series rematch that would see the Tigers get a bit of retribution for their loss to the Cardinals last year. Tigers rookie (2006 sixth round draft pick) Andrew Miller made his debut start in place of ailing Jeremy Bonderman (blister) and owned the Cardinals offense, hurling six scoreless innings and allowing just four hits in Detroit's 14-4 victory. In New York, the Subway Series was renewed as the
Mets beat the Yankees in a close game (3-2) behind a 7 2/3 inning gem by Oliver Perez. The Freeway Series
began with a
9-1 Angels rout over cross-town rivals the Dodgers. Struggling Ervin Santana out-dueled Dodgers ace Brad Penny, allowing just the one run and six hits over six innings. New San Francisco ace
Barry Zito crumbled against his old team, the Oakland Athletics. The Giants' $126 Million Man allowed gave up seven runs and matched his career high of seven walks over four innings, while his ERA increased nearly a run from 4.29 to 5.13.
There's little doubt in most minds that Jason Giambi was one of many ball players guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs around the turn of the century, and now those die-hard fans who just couldn't drop their "say it ain't so" mentalities have met the final straw. Said
Giambi to USA Today: "I was wrong for doing that stuff. What we should have done a long time ago was stand up — players, ownership, everybody — and said: 'We made a mistake.'" He went on to say "That stuff didn't help me hit home runs. I don't care what people say, nothing is going to give you that gift of hitting a baseball." Right... I suppose that's an apology, of sorts. That is, if you don't believe that increased muscle mass, vision, and recovery rate don't allow you to hit more balls further. Thumbs up Giambino, we just might be hearing more from you here in The Baseball Beat a little later in the week.
Roger Clemens made his much anticipated debut for the Yankees today, only it was the single-A Tampa Yankees. A league-record
10,257 fans packed into Legends Stadium to see the Rocket face off against... well I venture to guess that most of those fans didn't give a lick who he was facing. In case you do care, it was the Fort Myers Miracle (of the Minnesota Twins organization), and Clemens held them to one run on three hits over his four innings of work. Showing great command for a pitcher who hadn't competed since October, Roger threw 42 of his 58 pitches for strikes. The one run came off a solo homer in the first by the Miracle's Erik Lis, giving the 2005 ninth round draft pick something to call home about tonight.
Here we are again, as the controversial Interleague season began today with some marquis AL meets NL match-ups in the cards. Speaking of Cards, St. Louis met up with Detroit in a World Series rematch that would see the Tigers get a bit of retribution for their loss to the Cardinals last year. Tigers rookie (2006 sixth round draft pick) Andrew Miller made his debut start in place of ailing Jeremy Bonderman (blister) and owned the Cardinals offense, hurling six scoreless innings and allowing just four hits in Detroit's 14-4 victory. In New York, the Subway Series was renewed as the Mets beat the Yankees in a close game (3-2) behind a 7 2/3 inning gem by Oliver Perez. The Freeway Series began with a 9-1 Angels rout over cross-town rivals the Dodgers. Struggling Ervin Santana out-dueled Dodgers ace Brad Penny, allowing just the one run and six hits over six innings. New San Francisco ace Barry Zito crumbled against his old team, the Oakland Athletics. The Giants' $126 Million Man allowed gave up seven runs and matched his career high of seven walks over four innings, while his ERA increased nearly a run from 4.29 to 5.13. There's little doubt in most minds that Jason Giambi was one of many ball players guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs around the turn of the century, and now those die-hard fans who just couldn't drop their "say it ain't so" mentalities have met the final straw. Said Giambi to USA Today: "I was wrong for doing that stuff. What we should have done a long time ago was stand up — players, ownership, everybody — and said: 'We made a mistake.'" He went on to say "That stuff didn't help me hit home runs. I don't care what people say, nothing is going to give you that gift of hitting a baseball." Right... I suppose that's an apology, of sorts. That is, if you don't believe that increased muscle mass, vision, and recovery rate don't allow you to hit more balls further. Thumbs up Giambino, we just might be hearing more from you here in The Baseball Beat a little later in the week. 
Roger Clemens made his much anticipated debut for the Yankees today, only it was the single-A Tampa Yankees. A league-record 10,257 fans packed into Legends Stadium to see the Rocket face off against... well I venture to guess that most of those fans didn't give a lick who he was facing. In case you do care, it was the Fort Myers Miracle (of the Minnesota Twins organization), and Clemens held them to one run on three hits over his four innings of work. Showing great command for a pitcher who hadn't competed since October, Roger threw 42 of his 58 pitches for strikes. The one run came off a solo homer in the first by the Miracle's Erik Lis, giving the 2005 ninth round draft pick something to call home about tonight.
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