subject: The Rain Maker Sports: Sports Bytes - June 7, 2010 [print this page] The Rain Maker Sports: Sports Bytes - June 7, 2010
Congrats to Miguel Cotto who stopped Yuri Foreman in nine rounds on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. Foreman tried to stay out of Cotto's punching range by moving laterally, but in round seven he collapsed to the canvas after his right knee buckled. He valiantly tried to continue on one leg, but was unable to neutralize Cotto's relentless pressure. Referee Arthur Mercante, Jr waved a halt to the bout in round nine after Cotto dropped Foreman with a left hook to the body. Cotto was comfortably ahead on all three judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage: 79-73 (twice) and 78-74 . . . Foreman says he injured the right knee as a boy while riding his bike . . .
I don't expect professional boxing at Yankee Stadium to become a regular occurrence. Saturday was more of a gimmick than a reflection of what's to come . . .
The Yankees managed to salvage one game of their weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Javier Vazquez--I can't believe I am about to write this--pitched a gem yesterday, surrendering only two runs over seven innings. The Yankee bats, silent for most of the series, awoke just enough to score four runs in the eighth inning and lead NY to an eventual 4-3 victory . . . Mark Texiera's disastrous season at the plate continues. He was 1 for 14 in the series with seven strikeouts. He is back to batting (.211) below his weight (220 lbs) . . . Alex Rodriguez was removed from the game prior to the ninth inning because of a "mild groin injury" that is not expected to land him on the DL. (Anyone who has ever had a groin injury knows there's nothing "mild" about them) . . .
For the NY Mets there really is no place like home. Yesterday the boys from Flushing fell behind 5-0 before storming back to beat the Florida Marlins 7-6 and sweep the three-game series. The big blow came from Jeff Francoeur--a three-run homer in the seventh inning that tied the game at six . . . New York is 18-4 in their last 22 home games . . .
Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz is 8-3 with a 2.39 ERA. With stats like those, and with recurring injuries to Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston would be crazy to entertain trading him to the Padres for Adrian Gonzalez . . .
Rockies phenom Ubaldo Jimenez surrendered two runs in seven innings yesterday. The "thrashing" he received jumped his ERA to 0.93. Better consider sending him back down to Triple-A to work on a few pitches . . . Jimenez has 11 wins, nobody else in MLB has more than eight . . .
Recently installed Baltimore Orioles manager Juan Samuel celebrated his first win yesterday as the Orioles knocked off the Boston Red Sox 4-3 in 11 innings. I would savor that victory if I were Samuel. I don't think he'll be witnessing many of them this season . . . The Orioles are 1-9 in their last 10 games . . .
The Washington Nationals have chosen a good time to bring Stephen Strasburg to the majors. The Nationals are in last place in the NL East and are 3-7 in their last 10 games . . . Closer Matt Capps seems unaffected by the Nationals' problems. He leads the majors in saves with 18 . . .
Minnesota Twin Justin Morneau is back on top for MLB's highest batting average at .370 . . .
I'm sure this could be heard among Atlanta Braves fans in spring training: "Troy Glaus is finished. He's old and he's coming off shoulder surgery. Put him out to pasture already." Well, not only is Glaus not done, he's tied for the National League lead in RBIs with Albert Pujols (44) . . . Not bad for an old man . . .
The intense Florida heat and humidity have obviously overcome Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross as he recently predicted that his club will reach the Super Bowl this season. Somebody should apply cold compresses to his head and neck . . .
