Keeping Things Interesting: April 28, 2009

Yesterday's Most Interesting
The matchup between Pineiro and Jurrjens went pretty well for the first 6 innings. Pineiro, who actually lasted 6.2 innings, struck out one and walked none while giving up 7 hits. When he left the game, the Cards had the lead 3-2. Jurrjens walked two and struck out two in 6 innings, and left the game when it was only 2-1. There's still a lot to be learned and proven by the young Brave, but at least yesterday wasn't a setback.

More From Yesterday
After securing a 11-7 lead in the eighth inning yesterday, the Nationals did everything they could to lose the game, giving up six in the bottom half of the inning. The Phils went on to win 13-11. The Boston-Cleveland game was scoreless after another strong performance from Tim Wakefield going into the ninth before Jason Bay took one deep off of closer Kerry Wood. The Red Sox went on to win it, 3-1. The Marlins lost to the Mets for the seventh consecutive defeat after giving up six runs, including a grand slam, in the bottom of the first.

In Arizona, the Diamondbacks finally put up some runs to support Dan Haren's terrific performance. Haren struck out 10 Cubs in his complete game victory, walking none and giving up only 3 hits (two of which were solo home runs). The D-backs won the game, 7-2. The Giants-Dodgers match up in San Francisco proved to be a good game. Zito hung in strong for the Giants before giving up 3 runs in the 7th. The Giants were able to pull it out, though, and beat the Dodgers 5-4. Finally, the Brewers entered the 8th inning with a two-run lead. After Carlos Villanueva gave up the lead, the Brewers came back in the bottom of the inning with a 5-spot to go up 10-5. Trevor Hoffman then came in to secure the victory. It wasn't a save opportunity, but it was important for everyone to get that first appearance out of the way. Milwaukee held on to the 10-5 win.

Today's Games
The Phillies take on the Nationals for the second day in a row. The Nats hope to prove that they can move past yesterday's ugly loss. In Kansas City, the Royals will pitch Gil Meche against Toronto's Scott Richmond. Now that the Jays are percentage points behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East, you can expect some strong play as they try to make that ground up. The Brewers host the Pirates for the second game of their series this week. The Pirates have now lost 14 in a row against the Brewers (and 16 in a row in Milwaukee), so they'll be trying to kill a pretty dubious record. It will be Dave Bush vs Paul Maholm squaring off. Finally, the White Sox will attempt to host a double-header versus the Mariners today, assuming the weather clears up. The second game of the day between the two will feature Felix Hernandez and John Danks. That should be quite the game to watch.

Today's Most Interesting
The most interesting game of the day, though, is the matchup between the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians. Two weeks ago, the Red Sox were 2-6 and everyone was freaking out about the makeup of the team. As we enter tonight's game, the Sox now sit at 13-6 and will be going for the 12th win in a row. Brad Penny will be the one respsonsible for keeping the streak alive. He sits at 2-0 on the season right now, but he does sport a 7.80 ERA. Anthony Reyes will try to halt the skid for the Indians, who have routinely disappointed their fans so far this season. They certainly hope that that will stop tonight.