Improbable Wins and A Predictable Loss

The Washington Nationals beat the Yankees at the new stadium yesterday by the score of 3 to 0. Craig Stammen, the winning pitcher, posted his first major league victory and now has all of 34 innings under his big league belt. I had the pleasure of flipping between this and the Mets – Orioles game which also resulted in a loss for the New York team. This one was a come from behind win by a team which never comes from behind against one of the games best, certainly most expensive, closers, Francisco Rodriguez.

So two of baseball’s worst teams swept series from two of baseball’s richest teams in interleague play.

Now for the predictable loss. Once again, I tuned to WGN to watch the Cubs and White Sox play at Wrigley. It was bound to be a more enjoyable experience than the previous day’s game because the game was being called by the Cubs announcers instead of the dreaded Hawk of the Sox broadcast team.

The game proved two things. You don’t leave a game after seven innings and, unless you are Ozzie Guillen, you don’t pull your starter after seven strong innings and expect to win. But Ozzie indeed pulled Gavin Floyd after seven, turned the game over to the bullpen and watched a 5 to 1 yawner turn into a 6 to 5 loss. Look, folks, there is a reason that some pitchers are assigned to the bullpen and it’s not because they are better than the starters.