Bobby Jenks
tied the major-league mark for most consecutive batters retired with a 1-2-3 inning, the only bright spot in
an awful effort against the Seattle Mariners today. It required another nifty play by Jenks, a man not known for his defense, and a sliding catch by Jermaine Dye as well.
Since Jenks last allowed a baserunner:
- He has lowered his ERA nearly one full run (3.89 to 2.92)
- He has lowered his WHIP from 1.19 to 0.90.
- He has lowered his OBP allowed from .299 to .245.
- Detroit had, lost, and re-gained the lead in the AL Central.
- Barry Bonds hit homers No. 752, 753, 754, 755, 756, 757 and 758
- Alex Rodriguez hit homers No. 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502 and 503.
And so on.
While he'll hold the record himself by retiring one more batter, he'll hold the record for most consecutive 1-2-3 outings by a reliever if can get the two after that. As of now, he's tied with John Franco with 13.
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I didn't want to lead with "Why is he here?" two days in a row, but the same question has to be asked of Alex Cintron.
Cintron didn't top Darin Erstad's 0-for-5, three-strikeout outing yesterday, but he came close. He went 0-for-3, struck out once and grounded into an inning-ending double play to snuff out the closest thing the Sox had to a rally all day.
Making matters worse, his inability to handle a semi-hot grounder at second base with the infield in led to a run crossing the plate, even though he recovered to get the out at first. Somehow, the scorer didn't rule it an error.
There's not a lot to like about Cintron. He has an average-at-best glove, a noodle arm (due in large part to offseason elbow surgery) and a wet newspaper for a bat. In fact, on a team of players having down years,
Cintron only tops Toby Hall on the OPS list. He has one decent asset in that he can run the bases a little, but he never gets on base to begin with.
All this, and somehow he's managed to start twice in a row. Meanwhile, Andy Gonzalez has only played two innings at shortstop all year. That's not to say he's blocking a future fixture, but as unimpressive as Gonzalez has been, his OPS is 100 points higher.
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Minor league round-up:- Durham 4, Charlotte 3
- Nick Masset allowed three runs on five hits and three walks over five innings. He struck out seven.
- Carlos Vazquez allowed a run over two innings and took the loss; it's the sixth straight outing he's been scored upon. David Aardsma fanned four over his two scoreless innings of work.
- Jason Bourgeois went 2-for-4 with a double, but also committed his eighth error of the year.
- Huntsviille 11, Birmingham 3
- Gio Gonzalez couldn't escape the third inning, during which he allowed eight of his nine runs. He gave up eight hits and four walks over 2 2/3 innings, striking out four.
- David Cook didn't homer, which is almost a more newsworthy event at this point. He went 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Potomac 6, Winston-Salem 2
- Derek Rodriguez pitched five innings, giving up five runs on eight hits. Two of them left the yard.
- Daron Roberts went 2-for-4 with a double and a homer; Javier Castillo and Rod Allen also had two hits apiece.
- Kannapolis 3, Hagerstown 2
- Michael Dubee got the start and held Hagerstown to one run on four hits over four innings. He didn't walk anybody, and struck out two.
- John Rocco worked an old-fashioned save, pitching three scoreless innings to close it out.
- Anderson Gomes went 2-for-3 with two RBI.