This is the second time that Santana has struggled early, escaped, and gone on to pitch a pretty decent game. Maybe he's taking instructions from Washburn. One thing it tells me is that the kid has pretty good poise. That's a hell of a lot more than you could ever say for Ramon Ortiz. You have to admire the way he battled.
If Kennedy isn't the favorite to win the gold glove, especially with bat flip among the ranks of the released, there's something wrong. He's even got the offense to go with it this season, or at least a gaudy batting average. Boy, what a play he made in what I think was the fourth. Can't remember. But it was a great play.
It's easy to laugh about these things now, but Bengie Molina, despite the home run, and Maicer Izturis have a lot of explaining to do. Maicer I'll let slide this time, since he's been playing excellent defense, but geez, what an awful drop in the ninth. Bengie, on the other hand, just really sucks behind the plate. I've touched on this before, but he's just gotten lazy. I realize that he took a few foul balls tonight, so I'm not going to harp on it, but seriously. Block the ball, Bengie. You don't need to pick every ball cleanly.
More great work from Shields, although I was sure that Gregg was going to blow it. Nice to see him recover and pitch well. I think Lecroy should have been booted after striking out and arguing vociferously on what was admittedly a pretty bad call. The fact that it was a crappy call didn't keep Kennedy from getting run last night. Of course, running Lecroy would have been just as meaningless as ejecting Kennedy was last night.
Back up by 7.5 after Texas' loss tonight. I would be very comfortable with this lead at the all-star break. I'd be more comfortable if it was bigger. I don't think I'll ever be completely comfortable until all is decided, though.
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