Washington National starter John Lannan got ejected during his major league debut after hitting Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in consecutive at-bats in the fifth inning. Phillie fans probably think he got off easy. Utley suffered a broken hand when Lannan's pitch connected and will miss up to a month at a time when the Phillies need him to help them stay in the playoff race. They lost a chance to gain a game on the Mets when Jesus Flores hit a three-run home run in the eighth. The Nats took the lead and held on for a 7-6 win despite a shaky ninth inning from Chad Cordero. How odd is it to get thrown out of your first major league game? The DC Sports Bog reports two other instances in the past 14 years. Aaron Boone was tossed from his debut in 1997 when he threw his helmet after getting called out on a play at the plate. The other ejection had eerily similar circumstances to yesterday. Andy Carter came in as a reliever for the Phillies on May 3, 1994 and hit two of the three batters he faced before getting sent to the showers. Like Lannan, Carter threw lefty and the game also took place in Philadelphia. And I'm sure you're all familiar with what happened in Rick Vaughn's first big league appearance.
- I hope that Bud Selig at least had a chance to visit Alcatraz, take a ferry to Sausalito and sample some dim sum in Chinatown because the reason for his visit to San Francisco has been a bust otherwise. Barry Bonds was back in the lineup yesterday but didn't send any balls out of the park, a double was his only hit in four ABs, and if he does homer over the weekend Selig will have to hear about it secondhand. The commish heads East to the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies although he will be in L.A. Tuesday if need be. He did get to watch the fourth straight win for Giant rookie Tim Lincecum as the Giants held off the Braves 4-2.
- Manny Ramirez crushed a ball that would have exited any park in the country, including Yellowstone, and the Red Sox took the final game of their four-game set in Cleveland. After dueling 1-0 games on Tuesday and Wednesday, the bats finally reappeared. The Red Sox picked up 17 hits, including a second Manny longball, in the 14-9 win. The Indians only had six hits and four walks, clearly they maximized their ROI on that handful but didn't find a diverse enough revenue stream to overcome the Red Sox.
- Dodgers pitchers aren't having the best week. Derek Lowe left Wednesday's game with a groin injury and last night Brad Penny, forced to run out an infield single, came up with an abdominal cramp. He also left the proceedings but not before he'd done enough to earn his 13th win of the season. The 5-4 win in Colorado keeps the Dodgers a game and a half up on Arizona. The red-hot Diamonbacks have won six straight so it would behoove L.A. to keep their pitchers on the mound and out of the trainer's room.
- Poor Chris Duncan. He spends his whole childhood getting picked on by his Slothish brother, Shelley, but finally breaks out of his shadow by making it to the big leagues first. He helps his father's team win the World Series with a powerful stroke but big brother gets called up to the Show and suddenly it's all about him again. Shelley Duncan this, Shelley Duncan that, he's saving the Yankees, blah blah blah, three home runs in his first weekend as a major leaguer. Woo freakin hoo. It's enough to make a man dry hump anything in sight. That, or hit a grand slam to help avoid a sweep at the hands of your hated rivals from Chicago in an 11-1 romp. Take that Shelley!
(Yong Kim / DAILY NEWS)
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