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The Juice: Cliff Lee throws eight shutout innings in reunion with Rangers
22 May 2011, 2:51 pm
 Nine innings, nine items to get you going. Ladies and gentleman of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.
1. The Tao of Cliff: Facing his former team for the first time since last year's postseason, Cliff Lee pitched eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts as the Phillies beat the Rangers, 2-0. Lee also walked just two batters, just after issuing a career-high six walks in his last start. With the victory, Lee ended a six-game winless streak. Pitching against Texas must have sharpened his focus or something like that, right? "It's a little different when you pitch against a team you just played with," Lee said. "It wasn't off-the-charts different."
Well, okay — as long as he admits it wasn't just another game. Lee also notched his first career stolen base in the victory, perhaps thinking that he needed to do all he could to help the Phillies' lineup generate some offense for him. (The Phillies had scored one or fewer runs in four of Lee's last five starts.) 2. Pineda loves Petco: Michael Pineda continued his strong Rookie of the Year campaign, holding the Padres to two hits over seven shutout innings in the Mariners' 4-0 win. He also notched nine strikeouts, matching his highest total of the season. In fairness to the Padres, they are very good at getting shut out. This was their ninth scoreless effort of the season. 3. So that's why they're the Bronx Bombers: The Yankees hit four home runs off Chris Capuano in a 7-3 beatdown of the Mets. It was the highest total of Capuano's career, leaving him feeling a bit punch-drunk. Curtis Granderson hit his 15th homer of the season, drawing him to within three of the major league lead. 4. I'll have what he's having: Jose Bautista increased the gap between he and Granderson with two home runs in the Blue Jays' 7-5 win over the Astros. It was Bautista's third multi-home run game of the year. His 18 homers are already the second-highest total of his career and put him well ahead of last year's pace, when he had 13 at this point of the season. 
5. The full Timmy: Tim Lincecum allowed no runs for the third time in his last four outings, pitching a complete game shutout in the Giants' 3-0 win over the Athletics. The 133-pitch effort was the second-highest of his career, but Lincecum was proud of going nine full innings. "Any chance you get to (complete a game), I think that's something every starter wants to do," Lincecum said. "You see Roy Halladay do it all the time, and he's looked at as a workhorse."
Late afternoon shadows may have played a factor in Lincecum's dominance over the A's lineup. But he was also throwing 96 mph in the ninth inning, so clearer vision might not have helped much. 6. Comeback chop: The Braves rallied from a 4-0 deficit with a four-run seventh inning, and eventually beat the Angels in 12 innings, 5-4. Joe Mather fueled the revival with a three-run homer, and later added a RBI double in the 12th that became the game-winning hit. Batting ninth in the Atlanta lineup, Mather went 4-for-6 with four RBIs. 7. Fielding follies at Fenway: The Cubs scored eight runs in the eighth inning and were aided generously by three Red Sox errors that deserved a "Yakety Sax" soundtrack. It had manager Terry Francona thinking the rapture had arrived. Jed Lowrie dropped a fly ball by Alfonso Soriano, allowing one run to score. Four batters later, Kevin Youkilis missed a throw by Jason Varitek during a rundown between home and third base, botching what would've been the third out of the inning. Carl Crawford then fielded the misplay and skipped a throw wide of home plate. Two runs scored during the sequence, giving the Cubs an 8-3 lead that held up for the win. 8. Grand Slam Kelly: The Red Sox weren't the only team throwing the ball all around the field on Saturday. The Diamondbacks committed three errors in the eighth — and five for the game — yet managed a 9-6 win over the Twins, thanks to a six-run outburst in the bottom of the inning. Kelly Johnson (batting .189) struck the big blow, hitting a grand slam off a pitch right down the middle of the plate by Matt Capps. 9. Snore of the Tigers: Kevin Correia had given up 10 runs over his last two starts, but the Detroit Tigers could only score twice against the Pirates' pitcher in a 6-2 loss. Despite allowing only three runs, Max Scherzer lost his first game of the season, preventing him from becoming the majors' first seven-game winner. The streaky Tigers have lost five in a row after compiling a seven-game winning streak. Follow Ian on Twitter — @iancass — and engage The Stew on Facebook | 
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