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Good or bad?
Morse 3 run tater
He just hit another monster shot to centerfield. Gosh we're going to miss him.
Plus, using the excuses leveled against Dunn seems appropriate.
Morse with four
Adam Dunn just stole a base. The catcher didn't even attempt a throw.
John Lannan has a no-hitter through 4.
Morse and Dunn both had HRs today
Astros left-hander Xavier Cedeño had a problem last Friday against the A's. He entered with one out in the fifth inning and his team trailing, 1-0. Twenty-eight pitches later, he departed with one out and his team trailing, 6-0. As if that wasn't enough, the man he left on first base later came around to score. An error by Marwin “No Perfecto for Yu” González didn't help, but still... the most Astros named pitcher ever may have just had the most Astros 2013 pitching performance ever. Cedeño's final line is a thing of horrific beauty: 0 IP, 1 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 0 HR, 3 BB, 0 K.(much historical perspective skipped)Having established the hysterical context of Cedeño's accomplishment, let's turn to how he did it. Houston starter Brad Peacock entered the fifth down 1-0. He started that frame by retiring his eighth straight batter, getting Nate Freiman to pop out to shortstop. Coco Crisp, who led off the game with a homer that had accounted for the only run to that point, followed with a double down the right-field line. While the A's broadcast kept showing replays of Crisp's double (complete with squeals of delight from a very loud woman near one of the field mics), Astros manager Bo Porter came out and yanked his starter after 89 pitches. The A's broadcasters expressed some surprise: Glen Kuiper: So we thought maybe Bo Porter was going to come out and give Brad Peacock a little pep talk, say, “Hey, you're pitching well, get yourself out of this inning, 89 pitches.” But instead, he took him out. Scott Hatteberg: Hooked him. He was starting to figure some things out, too. On the Astros feed, you could see that Castro came out to chat with Peacock before trotting back behind home plate. Then Porter came out to yank his starter. Also, you could hear that woman. The Houston announcers, for their part, didn't seem surprised to see Peacock leave. Cedeño entered and did this: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/u/images/cedenofail.pngWhich probably isn't what Porter had in mind. Cedeño walked Jed Lowrie on four pitches that missed down and in, and weren't even close. He then walked Josh Reddick on five pitches, including a 1-1 breaking ball in the dirt that doesn't appear in that chart up there. Cedeño may have been distracted by Crisp, who was dancing around off second base during the Reddick at-bat. (Crisp was 14-for-15 on attempts to steal third in 2012 and 39-for-41 going back to 2008 before being caught on Sunday.) Then again, given the previous walk to Lowrie, maybe not. Hatteberg, bringing the insight: “I don't think this is playing out the way they were hoping. You got the lefty versus Céspedes with the bases loaded.” Silence. Yoenis Céspedes followed with a hot smash (video) that handcuffed shortstop González. As Porter said after the game, “That's a tough error. That ball was hit pretty hard, but if he fields that ball cleanly it's definitely a double play because of the speed the ball is hit.” Two runs scored on the play and the inning stayed alive, bringing up John Jaso, who dropped down a bunt in front of home plate (video) on the first pitch. Catcher Jason Castro pounced out to field the ball, leaving a clear path for Reddick, who slid behind a scrambling Castro to make the score 4-0. Hatteberg, on Castro being caught in no-man's land, unable to tag Reddick: “That's a hollow feeling right there, seeing the beard drift away from you.” The Astros feed includes a replay from an angle that shows Castro could have thrown to first and gotten Jaso by, oh, 30 feet. But that's easy for me to say. Chris Young followed with a 10-pitch walk. This was Cedeño's best effort, with half of his 12 strikes coming here. Even then, he got help, as Young fouled off a 3-1 slider that was well off the plate inside. After that, Young kept battling until he saw a pitch low enough to let pass. With the bases reloaded, right-handed-hitting Josh Donaldson stepped to the plate. Rhiner Cruz was warming up in the Houston bullpen, which the A's broadcasters noted: Kuiper: Cruz has been warming up for a while, and he is a right-hander, and he certainly looks to be ready to go... but it doesn't look like Bo Porter's going to bring him in. Hatteberg: Well, I hate to second-guess guys, but I think I might have gone ahead and made a change here. Donaldson whacked Cedeño's first pitch to right, driving home two. Jaso ran through Mike Gallego's stop sign, but first baseman Brett Wallace cut off Rick Ankiel's throw (video), so the play at the plate never materialized. Said Astros color commentator Alan Ashby, a former big-league catcher: “That was a mistake right there, in my estimation, to have this ball cut. If that ball comes in from Rick Ankiel, they get an out and rather handily at the plate.” Cedeño then plunked Eric Sogard with a 2-2 fastball to the back. Kuiper: “Could be time to come get Xavier Cedeño.” Which Porter did, to sarcastic applause from the home crowd. Kuiper: “Not a terribly good outing.” Cruz took over and allowed two more runs to score before the inning drew to a close after nearly 45 minutes.
