Monday, 16 April 2012

The Juice: Wieters and O’s hold grand rally in Chicago, Halladay wins as Lincecum struggles again

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.

Baltimore stages grand finish: Though they trailed the game by three entering the eighth inning, the Orioles rode four late homers to manage a 10-4 win over the White Sox in 10 innings on Monday. Catcher Matt Wieters (right) was responsible for two of the blasts — including a grand slam in the 10th — while Nolan Reimold and Adam Jones sent the game into extra innings with solo shots off Hector Santiago in the ninth.

It was the first grand slam of Wieters' career and his move to four home runs on the season is a promising sign for those who believe the 25-year-old backstop will eventually fulfill the big power that was predicted for him. Wieters hit a career-high 22 homers in 2011 after hitting just 11 the year before.

Roy Halladay easily beats Tim Lincecum: Monday's battle of the aces never really materialized as the Phillies hit the Giants' ace early in a 5-2 victory at AT&T Park. Lincecum surrendered four runs in the first inning on a two-RBI double by Laynce Nix and a pair of RBI singles to Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino. He's now given up nine first-inning runs in 2012, one more than he surrendered in all of 2011.

Halladay, meanwhile, was his usual self, allowing only two runs over eight innings of work. If you want to take another stab at a two-sided pitching duel, Cliff Lee and Matt Cain are expected to close this series on Wednesday night.

Carl Pavano wins in the Bronx: Could we make something like that up? Fans at Yankee Stadium booed the Minnesota Twins pitcher relentlessly and for good reason. Pavano won only four games at the old Yankee Stadium between 2005 and 2008 while making big money for the pinstripes. Give credit to Pavano for being stubborn, though. Despite allowing back-to-back home runs to Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson in the first inning, Pavano settled down to earn the win in a 7-3 victory over the Yankees. The big righthander went seven innings, allowing three runs and one walk while striking out six.

''For him to come out in a hostile environment then go out and pitch the way he did, I was real proud of him,'' Twins catcher Ryan Doumit said.

If you're looking for a fact that's too wild to not be true, here's one:  The Twins are 6-28 in the Bronx during the regular season since Ron Gardenhire became the team's manager in 2002.

Kendrys Morales returns to the homer column: The Angels designated hitter homered for the first time since celebrating a walkoff grand slam on May 29, 2010, lifting the Halos to a 6-0 victory over Oakland in Anaheim. Jered Weaver, meanwhile, struck out six in just over six innings of work to pass the 1,000th career strikeout mark.

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Quotes of the Day: "I'll text him later. It won't be pleasant." — Atlanta's Jack Wilson after New York's Jason Bay robbed him of a home run at the fence in the Mets' 6-1 victory. The two were teammates in Pittsburgh.

"Robbing homers isn't a huge part of my game." — Jason Bay

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Photo of the Day: Mitt's day at the ballpark

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Three Facts For the Water Cooler

• Stephen Strasburg has yet to allow a home run in the 43 innings he's pitched since returning from Tommy John surgery. His overall streak is 50 1/3 innings with Dan Uggla being the last batter to tag him on Aug. 10, 2010.

• The Rays are 3-0 in Patriots' Day games in Boston after Monday's 1-0 win.

•  Derek Jeter's leadoff home run on Monday was his third of the season. He didn't hit his third of the year in 2011 until July 9. (You might remember it as his 3,000th hit.)

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