An Outfield Double Play

My first post to this blog contains some interesting nuggets of information from last night's box scores. Initially, I wondered how best to present what I wanted to say and I think the best way to do that is to break things up into categories of Hitting, Fielding, and Pitching.

It should be noted that all thoughts posted have been gleaned from the box scores and not any outside sources. Thus, events MAY have happened differently than how I have envisioned them from the box score. Such is the nature of box scores.

So, without any further ado, here are last night's Box Score Nuggets.

HITTING
I was going to use Travis Hafner's grand slam in the 8th inning of the CLE/BAL game, since it made up for the four men he left on base earlier on the game, but I decided to go with an interesting line from the SEA/NYY game:

                        AB  R   H  RBI  BB  K  LOB
W. Bloomquist pr-dh     0   1   0   0   0   0   0

That's Willie Bloomquist scoring a run in a game in which he did not get a hit, get a walk, get hit by a pitch, or otherwise reach base. His method of reaching base was substituting Jose Vidro, who hit a single, as a pinch runner.

FIELDING
The fielding nugget of the night has to come from the previously mentioned CLE/BAL game. Not only was Nick Markakis credited with an Outfield Assist, he was also credited with a Double Play on the same play:

Outfield assists - N Markakis (T Hafner at Home)
DP - 1 (N Markakis-P Bako)

This means that Travis Hafner was on third when the ball was hit to Markakis in right field. Markakis caught the ball and Hafner tagged up and ran for home. Since Hafner is a DH, it's no surprise that he's a bit slow and that likely helped Markakis complete the double play with his throw to Paul Bako, the catcher, at home.

PITCHING
Highlighting Brad Penny's 14-strikeout performance in the LAD/FLA game would have been a bit obvious. Instead, I chose a nugget from the WAS/MIL game:

              IP    H   R   ER  BB  K   HR
S. Rivera     1.0   1   0   0   0   1   0

Pitches-strikes - S Rivera 9-9

That's Saul Rivera of the Nationals throwing nine pitches in one inning with all nine pitches being strikes. It would have been a more stellar performance if he had three K's, but it's impressive none the less.

And with that, I've completed the first batch of Box Score Nuggets. Things may evolve as I continue writing here on a regular basis, so be patient.