YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Mark Townsend

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    Mark Townsend is the Big League Stew's weekend editor.

    • When you’re the best hitter on the planet and you're coming off the first Triple Crown season in MLB since 1967, you really don't need too much luck in your favor or assistance from your opponents.

      Of course that doesn't mean you won't take a little of either when you get it, and that's exactly why Miguel Cabrera was happy to take both on Wednesday night when his warning track fly ball bounced off the glove of Cleveland Indians center fielder Michael Bourn and ended up dropping in the first row of seats for his 13th home run of the season.

      Honestly, it wasn't nearly as hilarious as Jose Canseco assisting a home run with his noggin back at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium (or Lakefront Stadium), but it's a rare enough event that it will always be funny regardless of time, place or circumstance.

      In this case, Cabrera's gift home run came in the eighth inning of a wild affair that saw starting pitchers Justin Verlander and Ubaldo Jimenez get bounced around early and often. There was also a 62-minute rain delay in the middle of the fifth inning, which Verlander surprisingly returned after to qualify for his fifth win, and then another long delay a couple innings later.

      Read More »from Miguel Cabrera hits ‘lucky’ home run with a big assist from Indians outfielder Michael Bourn
    • Angel Hernandez and crew review call that doesn’t seem to fit replay criteria

      Walt Weiss talks to Dana DeMuth while Dexter Fowler listens in. (AP)

      In a head-scratching moment during the Colorado Rockies 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon, the umpiring crew that includes Angel Hernandez took time to huddle up and then review a fair-foul ruling that would NOT have resulted in a home run regardless of their determination, was not interfered with, and never came close to leaving the field of play.

      Those are the three big criteria a call needs to be reviewed.

      Of course we all remember Angel Hernandez from several bizarre incidents and rulings over the years, but the freshest in our minds is the botched home run review in Cleveland two weeks ago. These were entirely different circumstances that played out at Coors Field. The game was in no way decided by what happened, but it was no less weird, and the men in blue won't come off looking much better.

      It happened during the sixth inning with Dexter Fowler at the plate. Fowler hit a towering fly ball down the right field line that was pushed into the corner by a pretty strong crosswind. The result was a ball striking high upon the wall, where only a white line separates fair from foul, before dropping back into play.

      Though it hit high on the wall, at no point did it appear to be a home run or anything reviewable. In fact, Fowler and D-Backs' right fielder Gerardo Parra went through the motions as if the ball were live and in play, only stopping when first base umpire Doug Eddings' foul ball ruling had become clear. That was the correct call, by the way, as several replays confirmed Fowler missed a likely double by mere inches.

      Read More »from Angel Hernandez and crew review call that doesn’t seem to fit replay criteria
    • (AP)The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more.

      Chris Davis’ hot-hitting season continued with four more hits, including his American League leading 14th home run, as the Orioles locked up an important division series with a 6-3 win over the New York Yankees. Davis’ two-run blast in the first inning capped a three-run rally against Hiroki Kuroda. Nick Markakis also homered in the inning. Matt Wieters later added a three-run homer that proved to be the difference.

      All important hits in a big game, but it was Davis who kept the line moving with productive at-bat after productive at-bat. And as he noted after the game, the series was of utmost importance to the Orioles. And not just because it was their biggest competition within the division. David Ginsburg of the Associated Press tells us more:

      In the opener Monday night, Baltimore closer Jim Johnson blew a ninth-inning lead and Baltimore absorbed its sixth straight loss. The Orioles rebounded to win in 10 innings on Tuesday night before coasting in the finale.

      ''Anytime a division rival comes in, you want to try to win the series especially when you're at home,'' Davis said. ''We avoided the snowball effect to some degree and were able to get back on track.''

      The Yankees have also avoided the snowball effect this season despite numerous injuries. They added another on Wednesday night as Kuroda was forced to leave in the third inning after being struck on the calf by a Manny Machado line drive. At this time it's not believed to be a serious concern, but one could understand if Yankees fans held their breath a few hours longer.

      Zack Cozart solves Matt Harvey: I think that officially makes Zack Cozart a baseball genius. Sure, a player here or a player there has put together a solid offensive game against Mets phenom Matt Harvey, but nothing nearly as complete as Cozart's four hit effort. Among the hits were two singles and two doubles. He also scored twice, but the game itself wasn't decided until the bullpens got involved. In the ninth, it was Cincinnati who broke through for three runs against Bobby Parnell to take home the 7-4 victory.

      Another day, yet another walk...: Hold on, not so far there, San Francisco. Despite another late inning Giants rally to tie a game at home, the Washington Nationals emerged with the 2-1

      Read More »from The Juice: Chris Davis’ league-leading 14th home run helps Orioles take rubber match from Yankees
    • Casual and calm Giants fan snatches foul ball while holding baby (Video)

      This isn't just the year of great fan catches, this is the year of the fan making a miraculous catch while dangerously cradling a baby.

      First, we had a fan in Houston making a sweet lunging catch with his cap while leaning over a row of seats with a baby in his left arm. Now, we have a daring fan in San Francisco, who on Wednesday afternoon was standing in an aisle along the third base side at AT&T Park when the left-handed swinging Brandon Crawford sliced a foul ball in his direction.

      With the young child sort of sitting on his left arm like you might see on a shopping cart, the fan reaches out and casually snags the ball in a backhanded fashion not unlike what we often see from Crawford when fielding a ball in the hole at shortstop. In other words, it was a slick play. Then, in one swift motion, he holds the ball up for all to see as the crowd around him gives a nice ovation.

      Read More »from Casual and calm Giants fan snatches foul ball while holding baby (Video)
    • If you thought homering off Roy Halladay in his major league debut — while his father was being interviewed on the television broadcast, no less — would be the highlight of Evan Gattis' rookie season, you were mistaken. The improbable rise of the 26-year-old catcher hasn't been slowed down since, and many more highlights have followed.

      The past week, especially, has been remarkable for Gattis. On Saturday, his two-run pitch-hit home run in the eighth inning helped the Braves rally past for the Dodgers for a 3-1 win. On Tuesday night, Gattis did it again, hitting a two-out, pinch-hit homer in the ninth to tie the game. Atlanta then won 5-4 in 10 on Freddie Freeman's walkoff single.

      How could he possibly top either of those big moments while starting for Brian McCann on Wednesday afternoon? Simple. He connected for his first career grand slam — 10th homer overall — to break the game open as the Braves completed their three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins with an 8-3 win.

      That's about as good a five game stretch as a now part-time rookie can have. Unfortunately, though, it won't go down as a perfect stretch. He did commit one relatively large, but easily corrected mental blunder on Wednesday.

      Read More »from Evan Gattis inadvertently tosses Cory Rasmus’ first career strikeout ball into stands
    • Ironically, it was less than 24 hours earlier that we rehashed Tim Lincecum's accusatory comments on the Coors Field mound in September 2010 that had everyone (myself included) turning into expert lip-readers.

      Of course that became temporarily significant again because of the interesting exchange between Troy Tulowitzki and Madison Bumgarner on Friday night after a baseball was taken out of play at Tulowitzki's request as he was running the bases. Rather than a continuation of bad blood, though, it turned out to be nothing more than an honest request and a miscommunication. Everyone went about their merry way heading into Saturday night's game in Denver. But maybe the mere mention of that incident stirred up some spirits at Coors Field.

      Well, that, or maybe Tim Lincecum just can't catch a break these days, because the struggling former Cy Young Award winner ended up taking an embarrassing tumble on that same mound in the fourth inning of Colorado's 10-2 victory.

      It happened right in the middle of his 1-1 delivery to Charlie Blackmon when his plant leg slipped right off the rubber. He's actually pretty lucky he didn't suffer a sprained ankle or even a knee injury considering the torque and pressure put on his lower leg, but he bounced up and carried on with the only downside to the mishap being a balk that awarded the runner second base.

      Read More »from Revenge of the Coors Field mound: Tim Lincecum takes mid-delivery spill during ugly outing
    • Cubs fan showcases tremendous hands while reeling in dangerous foul ball (Video)

      No beers were sacrificed in the attempt to catch this foul ball, but that's not to say there were no substantial risks involved. In fact, I would confidently say the Cubs fan seated front row in the upper deck at Wrigley Field on Saturday afternoon was willing to put a whole lot more than a beverage on the line to reel in a souvenir.

      Fortunately for him, he had two big things working in his favor as he leaned precariously over the railing with Ike Davis' foul ball slicing in his direction.

      The first would be his tremendous balance, as he managed to keep himself steady while extending his arms as far as they would go.

      The second are his exceptional hands.

      Seriously. That was all about the hands. Even Keith Hernandez, a Gold Glove first baseman in his day who knows how important soft hands are in fielding a baseball, was impressed by how easily the fan was able to snatch the baseball and secure it from that position. And Keith doesn't impress easy, folks, so that's a pretty solid endorsement.

      Read More »from Cubs fan showcases tremendous hands while reeling in dangerous foul ball (Video)
    • Jason Heyward tips his helmet to Matt Kemp after home run-robbing grab (Video)

      Though he remains stuck on one home run through the Dodgers' first 40 games, at least Matt Kemp can say he's taken the same number away from their opponents.

      The Gold Glove center fielder turned in one of the finest defensive plays we've seen in the first seven weeks on Saturday night, gliding into position, timing his jump, and then hanging in the air just long enough to bring back a Jason Heyward fly ball that wasn't quite ticketed for the bleachers, but definitely had enough juice to clear the wall.

      The play happened in the first inning with the game still scoreless. Heyward, who just returned to Atlanta's lineup on Friday after missing 23 games following an emergency appendectomy in Colorado, was making a bid for his third home run of the year. Another foot, maybe 2, he has it, but instead all he could do was tip his helmet to Kemp out of respect for the play he'd just made.

      As the game continued, it looked like Kemp's robbery would hold up as the most important play in the game. The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth behind an excellent outing by Chris Capuano, before manager Don Mattingly turned to his set-up man, Kenley Jansen. That's where things went south quickly, as Evan Gattis (two-run shot) and Andrelton Simmons parked back-to-back big flys in places Kemp couldn't reach to make it 3-1.

      Read More »from Jason Heyward tips his helmet to Matt Kemp after home run-robbing grab (Video)
    • Home runs leading off baseball games aren't all that rare an occurrence in Major League Baseball. However, the one hit by Gerardo Parra on Saturday night is rare for a couple different reasons that just so happened to come together on the same night.

      1. It came on the very first pitch of the game from Tom Koehler.

      Again, in and of itself, not all that unusual, but wait for part two.

      2. It held up as the only run scored in the entire baseball game.

      That means the Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins played a complete nine-inning game, and all of the offense came on the first of 236 pitches. According to Elias (via ESPN Stats), the last time a baseball game followed that exact script was all the back on Sept. 2, 1963.

      The hitter that day? None other than Pete Rose, as the Cincinnati Reds knocked off the Mets 1-0 in Game 2 of a doubleheader.

      That's pretty remarkable when you think about it, but if you're to believe Parra, that may have been the way hitting coach Don Baylor had it drawn up all afternoon.

      [Related: Rays snap Orioles' leading-after-seven streak at 109 games]

      Read More »from Gerardo Parra’s home run leading off D-backs 1-0 win was first of its kind in 50 years
    • The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more.

      The Baltimore Orioles have been basically untouchable when leading after seven innings over the past couple of seasons, but that all came to a stunning and screeching halt on Saturday. With a 6-4 lead entering the ninth, closer Jim Johnson, whose consecutive save streak ended at 35 on Tuesday, allowed a home run to Kelly Johnson, two walks, a single, before wrapping up his outing on Matt Joyce’s go-ahead, two-run double.

      Sidearmer Darren O’Day took over from there and allowed both of Johnson’s inherited runners to score and then one of his own. All in all, it was a six-run rally for the Rays that turned Baltimore‘s lead into a 10-6 defeat, ending their remarkable 109-game winning streak in games they led after the seventh inning in the process.

      I suppose they knew it was coming eventually, but one has to believe there were a few shocked people in Baltimore's clubhouse after it got away to that extent. Meanwhile, Evan Longoria and the Rays couldn't have been more thrilled they were the team to finally end the late inning dominance.

      ''Their track record after seven innings has spoken for itself,'' Longoria said. ''They've been really good late in the game. And Jim Johnson has been as good as they come. To be able to get to him and then tack a couple more on and be able to win a game like that, especially here in this hostile environment, is really big.''

      The Rays will hope to make it three really big wins on Sunday as they go for the series sweep.

      Read More »from The Juice: Rays rally in ninth inning, end Orioles 109-game win streak when leading after seven

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