Apr 16, 2008

Wednesday news: the good, the bad and the ugly

Plenty of Australian MLB action today. As you can see from earlier today, Chris Snelling had an outstanding day, sparking the Phillies to a 4-run 9th inning with his lead off home run. This is the good part of the day. It was a triumphant display from Snelling, who had not had an extra-base hit in his 9 games at Lehigh Valley this April. Yet, in his second at bat for the Phillies, after earning what could only be described as a lucky call up, he smacks a line drive home run to right field on the first pitch he faced!

Snelling asked skipper Charlie Manuel before his pinch hit appearance: 'Are we taking a strike?', and Manuel told him 'You're swinging away'. Good advice Chuck.

The fact this homer seemingly inspired the Phillies to go on and finish a remarkable comeback (or at least shattered the confidence of Astros pitcher Jose Valverde), adds to the size of the achievement. So today is a bloody good day for Chris Snelling I reckon. Congratulations Snello, and hopefully there will be plenty more where that homer came from.

The bad news for the day comes courtesy of the Atlanta Braves. Aussie reliever Peter Moylan has been placed on the 15 day DL. Moylan was placed on the DL with 'elbow strain', however, it seems there may be more serious problems present. MLB.com is reporting that there is fluid built up in his elbow. He had an MRI on Monday, but the Braves have asked him to get a second opinion from 'noted surgeon' Dr James Andrews. The Braves hope to have more advice about the injury on Thursday.

And for the ugly, we turn to Seattle, where Ryan Rowland-Smith was roughed up today against the Royals. The Mariners pretty much had the game in the bag when Rowland-Smith came on to pitch the 6th inning. He faced 7 hitters, giving up 3 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs. Things started out ok, with Rowland-Smith getting Alex Gordon out on the first pitch with a flyball to centrefield. He then drew a groundout from Ross Gload, to take it to two down. He then walked John Buck, before giving up a double to Tony Pena Jr, a single to David DeJesus, and another single to Mark Grudzielanek. After a visit to the mound, he then drew a groundout from Mark Teahen to get out of the inning. At the end of the day, the Mariners got the win, and it was good for RRS to get some work in, hopefully he will bounce back in his next appearance

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