Baseball Report: September 20, 2008

I apologize for the unoriginal title, but for right now, that was all I can come up with. And I apologize for this being [kind of] late, but it's better than nothing. I'm still trying to get used to this. Anyway, moving on to what this is all about: the first, the inaugural, Daily Sports Report!

Warning: This isn't the best I could do. I just didn't have enough time to write my best blog. Plus, I'm new at this, so bare with me.

Baseball

Turning Things Around in Turner Field

The New York Mets recently lost their [first place] lead recently to the Philadelphia Phillies, but the Mets were determined to regain that spot once again, as they were facing the Atlanta Braves in Turner Field. Prior to this game, Atlanta won all six contests against New York this season. That winning streak was stopped yesterday thanks to a rookie named Daniel Murphy. The former Jacksonville alumnus hit a two-run double in the 8th inning, which broke a 5-5 tie. Jose Reyes, who hit a leadoff home run on the fourth pitch of the game (his 14th career leadoff home run to start off a game) would eventually drive him in. A couple of defensive difficulties also sparked the eighth inning. A missed catch by Kelly Johnson and a rundown gone wrong led to thee unearned runs scoring.

Phillies Fall out of First

With the Mets winning, the Phillies needed to end the Florida Marlins' eight-game winning streak in order to keep their [5 day] first place lead. However, that was not the case, as the Phils dropped back into second place after losing to the Fish in a 14-8 slugfest. Ryan Howard added one more home run to his Major League leading total, as did Gregg Dobbs (9) and Shane Victorino (13). Brett Myers surrendered his 29th long ball to Dan Uggla, who has now tied his career best season total of home runs with 31. Alfredo Amezaga also hit a three run shot in the contest for his third of the year, and Jorge Cantu hit a solo shot in the 8th inning for his 29th of the year.

*Cameron Maybin has been RED HOT! He reached base in 10 consecutive at-bats until he popped out to Ryan Howard in the eighth.

Rays Make History... Close to Making More History

Can you say "AMAZING"? The Rays are closing in on history,and you probably know why. After crushing the Twins in an 11-1 landslide, including a three-run shot by Carlos Pena that was reversed from a two-run double to become the first call reversed in baseball's replay era, Tampa Bay needs only one more victory to clinch the first playoff berth in franchise history. Edwin Jackson threw 7 2/3 innings and only surrendered the solitary run that the Twins were able to score last night. If they win that one game, they'll become the first team to ever end up with the worst record one year, and make the playoffs the next.

Curt Schilling Rips Manny

Curt Schilling apparantly can't shut up, nor can he stay out of the headlines. Although Schilling hasn't thrown one pitch in the 2008 season, he is still on the news for what he does off the field. In a recent interview on Boston's radio station "WEEI", Schilling said, "Manny's level of disrespect to teammates and people was unfathomable."

Expect More Roger Clemens News Soon

Remember Brian McNamee? Yes, he is the former trainer of Roger Clemens who is trying to get Roger Clemens to drop his defamation lawsuit. There is going to be a ruling pretty soon. If the Clemens vs. McNamee case moves on, things are going to get ugly fast, as both parties threatened to take depositions from people who know intimate knowledge about the two men. What a way to focus on something other than the postseason, huh?

Thanks for reading, everyone. I look forward to writing more blogs soon. Hopefully, they'll be a little more creative, organized, and more diverse; maybe next time, I'll talk about something otehr than baseball.