Albert Pujols and Joey Votto are having monster seasons. Not only are the sluggers leading their teams in the playoff hunt – the Cardinals are 1.5 games back in the Wild Card race while the Reds lead the NL Central – but Pujols (.321, 34 HR, 93 RBI) and Votto (.326, 31 HR, 90 RBI) are the top two National Leaguers in each of the Triple Crown categories. Both have strong cases for the MVP award, but if either one wins the first Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, it would be awfully hard for the voters not to choose him as the league’s Most Valuable Player.
How ‘bout that?
How about Billy Wagner? The 39-year-old anchor of the Atlanta bullpen has saved 30 games, holds a 1.68 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP, and did not give up a run in the entire month of June (11.1 innings, six hits, five walks, 17 strikeouts). Wagner plans to retire at season’s end, and with the Braves currently leading the NL East, he’s looking for his first crack at the World Series and the opportunity to go out on top.
How about Carlos Gonzalez? The Venezuelan outfielder is enjoying a fine year in his first full season as a big leaguer, hitting .320 with 26 homers, 84 RBI’s, and 20 stolen bases. His batting average, .569 slugging percentage, and .922 OPS put him behind only Pujols and Votto in the National League. Rockies fans can look forward to many years of watching Gonzalez display his talents at Coors Field. At 24, he has a very promising career ahead of him.
How about the Twins? Despite almost getting no-hit and losing three of four to the Rangers earlier this week, the Twinkies are 27-13 since the All-Star break, and hold a three-and-a-half game lead over the White Sox in the AL Central. After losing cleanup man Justin Morneau to injury the week before the All-Star break, several Minnesota players have stepped up to the plate. Since the break, birthday boy Jim Thome (now 40) is slugging .651, Delmon Young and Jason Kubel have driven in 33 and 32 runs, respectively, in 39 games, and Joe Mauer has raked to a line of .399/.476/.594 with 32 RBI’s in 36 games.
Comebacks are good for ball
Down 10-1 on Wednesday afternoon, the Rockies and Giants both broke out the bats to stage huge rallies. Colorado took an 12-10 lead in the bottom of the eighth and hung on to beat visiting Atlanta while San Francisco, who went ahead 11-10 in the eighth, could not hold on to the one-run lead and eventually lost to Cincinnati, 12-11 in 12 innings. Big comebacks are exciting to watch and make for terrific confidence-builders for one side, but demoralizing for the team that blows the lead that seemed insurmountable. The Giants, however, who committed five errors in the loss, might feel even worse. After scoring six runs in the bottom of the eighth, San Francisco gave up an unearned run in the ninth to allow the Reds to force extra innings, and did not score again. Crushing or invigorating, at the end of the day, comebacks are good for ball.
Keywords: AL Central, Albert Pujols, All-Star break, Atlanta Braves, Billy Wagner, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlos Gonzalez, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, comebacks, Coors Field, Delmon Young, good for ball, Jason Kubel, Jim Thome, Joe Mauer, Joey Votto, Minnesota Twins, Most Valuable Player, NL Central, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Triple Crown, Wild Card, World Series
