Five Swings: Tired Act

1. Tired Act. The play of the night, maybe play of the year comes as Armando Galarraga of the Tigers gets denied a perfect game on a blown call at first base. Hard to see what the umpire saw, as it seems the quality of umpiring reaches an all-time low. Yes, it's not the World Series, but an epic performance gets trashed by subhuman error. We can point out Jim Joyce (the first base umpire), but the umps are lucky they have replay to bail them out on homers, because they're overruled regularly. Joyce's best shot would be a tearful apology post-game...not happening. And no, I don't have a fantasy team.

2. Curling. The Matsuzaka "ups and downs" lives on as Daisuke allows three tainted runs in the first inning, aided by Jeremy Hermida's defense, only to get the Sox into the 7th inning with a 4-3 lead. If Earl Weaver became a "two pack" a day habit because of Don Stanhouse, then Terry Francona will be "Prilosec" as Matsuzaka gives him an ulcer. A 10-hit, no walk performance isn't the usual medicine from the enigmatic right-hander.

3. David is Goliath. David "Lazarus" Ortiz, drilled his 12th homer of the season to give the Red Sox a comeback lead in the sixth inning.

4. Bard all. Has Daniel Bard put himself into contention for an All-Star berth? Bard has five holds and a save in ten scoreless innings during his last ten appearances coming into tonight. Bard is tied for second in the AL in holds and has a WHIP ratio under 1 (walks and hits per inning pitched).

5. Top ten. Who are the top ten players, regardless of position in the American League? In other words, if you could take ANY ten players, who would they be?

1. Evan Longoria, 3b, Tampa
2. Joe Mauer, C, Minnesota
3. Justin Morneau 1b, Minnesota
4. Robinson Cano, 2b, New York
5. Kevin Youkilis, 1b, Boston
6. Jon Lester, P, Boston
7. Felix Hernandez, P, Seattle
8. C.C. Sabathia, P, New York
9. John Danks, P, Chicago
10. Phil Hughes, P, New York

Yes, you can argue for or against a lot of guys (age, experience, consistency, etc.) but you'd have a great nucleus with the above.