It's not just that the AL has won more of the inter-league games these past 2 days, it's that American league teams and players are doing things beyond their normal capabilities- beyond what they normally accomplish when playing AL teams only. An article I read said to blame it on the Yankees. Because they have signed so many high priced free agents, other AL teams have felt pressure to do the same, or to at least strive harder to be at least competitive. Or maybe because of the DH, the AL pitchers have to refine their pitching talents more. For NL pitchers, you can always count on the bottom of the lineup to kill a rally or leave guys stranded on base. Whatever it is, and it's only been 2 days, which is a small sample, note this:
Seattle has held Colorado to 7 hits in 18 innings- in hitter friendly Coors Field. They never pitch that well, even in pitcher friendly Safeco. And have scored 14 runs on 22 hits. Kevin Millwood a 2 hitter, and Vargas held them scoreless for 6 innings. He's a fly ball pitcher who usually only pitches well in Safeco.
KC knocks around Ian Kennedy for 6 runs in 4 IP. His worst pitching line since early July last year. Bruce Chen holds D-Backs scoreless for 6 IP (If you know Chen, 6 IP is his expiration date). Not sure why they gave him more than one batter in the 7th.
Red Sox are slight underdogs to one of the better NL teams, and give Blanton his worst line of the year. Phils did hit Lester pretty well though.
Mets completely dominated by Morrow. Only one meaningful run in 2 games for them. And they were hitting fairly well the last 2 weeks.
Jeanmar Gomez (who?) 3 hits Marlins over 6.1 IPs. Indian BP finishes them off- no hits in last 2.3 IPs. 3 runs for MIami in 18 IPs, and they were 12-4 coming into this series.
Twinkies beat Milwaukee again on the road. Pavano has his best pitching line of the year, and 6 Ks. That's rare for him.
John Danks pitches brilliantly vs. Cubs. Danks has sucked this year, but not today. 6. 1 IPs, 3 hits, 0 ER. His best line of the year.
Now there were some other games, some won by the AL, and some by the NL, but only one game in which the NL dominated- the SF/ Oakland game, 4-0. Vogelsong shut down a pathetic A's lineup(Cespedes and Crisp out). Tyson Ross did pitch pretty well though. But in 28 inter-league games so far, that's the only convincing win I've seen. Now let's see what Sunday brings…..
YTD: 58-46-2, + 26 units
Seattle has held Colorado to 7 hits in 18 innings- in hitter friendly Coors Field. They never pitch that well, even in pitcher friendly Safeco. And have scored 14 runs on 22 hits. Kevin Millwood a 2 hitter, and Vargas held them scoreless for 6 innings. He's a fly ball pitcher who usually only pitches well in Safeco.
KC knocks around Ian Kennedy for 6 runs in 4 IP. His worst pitching line since early July last year. Bruce Chen holds D-Backs scoreless for 6 IP (If you know Chen, 6 IP is his expiration date). Not sure why they gave him more than one batter in the 7th.
Red Sox are slight underdogs to one of the better NL teams, and give Blanton his worst line of the year. Phils did hit Lester pretty well though.
Mets completely dominated by Morrow. Only one meaningful run in 2 games for them. And they were hitting fairly well the last 2 weeks.
Jeanmar Gomez (who?) 3 hits Marlins over 6.1 IPs. Indian BP finishes them off- no hits in last 2.3 IPs. 3 runs for MIami in 18 IPs, and they were 12-4 coming into this series.
Twinkies beat Milwaukee again on the road. Pavano has his best pitching line of the year, and 6 Ks. That's rare for him.
John Danks pitches brilliantly vs. Cubs. Danks has sucked this year, but not today. 6. 1 IPs, 3 hits, 0 ER. His best line of the year.
Now there were some other games, some won by the AL, and some by the NL, but only one game in which the NL dominated- the SF/ Oakland game, 4-0. Vogelsong shut down a pathetic A's lineup(Cespedes and Crisp out). Tyson Ross did pitch pretty well though. But in 28 inter-league games so far, that's the only convincing win I've seen. Now let's see what Sunday brings…..
YTD: 58-46-2, + 26 units