Saturday, June 13, 2009

Rick Porcello Wins Game With Arm AND Bat in MLB Hitting Debut

Not all was bad out of Detroit yesterday for sports. While the Wings were choking away the Stanley Cup, we also got to see something I doubt many of us have ever seen.

It is a sad state of affairs for the Detroit Tigers offense when the MVP at the plate for a game is a starting pitcher. Not just any starting pitcher either. Rick Porcello, a rookie, taking his first ever major league at bats.

Rick Porcello, the rookie phenom pitcher, did his thing on the mound and shut the Pittsburgh Pirates down for 7 innings last night allowing just 1 earned run. That wasn't his most impressive feat of the day, however.

In Porcello's first career MLB at bat, he got himself a hit and an RBI to give himself a 1-0 lead.

He didn't stop there though. His next AB he worked the count to 3-1. He got hosed by the umpire then unfortunately, and had a strike called that was clearly out of the zone and should have resulted in a walk. He struck out.

Of course that was his only mistake at the plate. Trusting that the umpire would call it straight. Instead of waiting on a bail out, in his 3rd AB he laced another hit down the line and got himself his 2nd RBI of the night. Guess what the score was. 2-0. Both on Porcello RBIs.

So in his MLB hitting debut the rookie pitcher went 2-3 with 2 RBIs. Should have been 2-2 with a walk, but 2-3 is just fine.

Porcello finally surrendered a run in the 6th, and then left after 7 innings with a 2-1 lead. The Tigers bullpen was able to hold onto the lead for him and he ended up with a win of his own making 3-1. Brandon Inge homered to give them a little breathing room in the 8th.

Going to be a great memory for the kid. It also let us at least give Pittsburgh one loss yesterday, albeit one that matters little compared to the pitiful loss by the Red Wings for the Championship.

Red Wings Choke Away Repeat Stanley Cup

Well...the confidence, that could be read as cockiness, from the New York Yankees of the NHL, Detroit Red Wings was destroyed last night. The Pittsburgh Penguins took it to the Wings from the drop of the puck to win the Stanley Cup in a rematch from last year's finals by outplaying the Wings in every facet of the game.

The Red Wings took a 2-0 series lead and looked almost a guarantee to win their 2nd straight Cup against the Penguins. The Penguins then went on to win 4 of 5 and embarrassed the Wings on their home ice.

It wasn't like the Wings put up much of a fight either. After handing out a 5-0 drubbing in Game 5, the Wings looked outmatched in every way during the final 2 games of the series. The Penguins got to every puck, made every play, and took advantage of the MANY turnovers the Wings coughed up in their own zone.

It was pathetic. The Penguins deserved the win. They outplayed the Wings when it mattered, and it wasn't even close even if the score would indicate it.

So now...we get to hear about Crosby 24 hours a day for winning a cup and being the best player in the league. Of course he had little to do with them winning the cup in the series as the Wings practically shut him out, but he's the NHL poster boy so he will get the credit for what the rest of his team did. Crosby got injured in the 2nd period of Game 7 and only played 1 shift the rest of the way. I hope he fails a test for taking too many top rated diet pills next season and gets banned.