Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

M's lose 5th straight 11-0 to the Twins. Boston eclipsed
an 84 year old record on Thursday by scoring 12 runs
in an inning before making an out in a game with Cleveland.
A very productive 6th inning at Boston. Bosox go on to win 13-3.
A-Rod homers on first pitch for a 3-run blast on his 2009 season
debut. The word "slump" is likely to be said many times in the
baseball world in the next few weeks.

The Tribe stinks

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05/17/09 8:40 PM ET

Mixup forces Rays to bat Sonnanstine
Longoria sits after two third basemen listed in lineup
By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays had a lineup card mixup in the first inning of Sunday's game that cost the team its designated hitter, but at least not the game.
The Rays beat the Indians, 7-5, but not before losing Evan Longoria from the starting lineup.

Immediately after the Indians batted in the first inning, Tribe manager Eric Wedge called the Rays' lineup card into question since Ben Zobrist and Longoria were each listed at third base. Both players had a "5" next to their name, only Longoria's "5" was circled, apparently in an attempt to show he was the designated hitter. Zobrist took the field as the third baseman in the top of the first inning.

"I wanted to make sure Zobrist was in the game playing third, and then I pointed it out to the umpires after the top half of the first," Wedge said. "That's why I waited."

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon smelled trouble brewing when he saw the umpires huddle.

"When they all gathered at first base, my immediate thought was, 'Take your card out of your back pocket,' and I did," Maddon said.

What stared back at Maddon from the scorecard was not a pleasant sight.

"Two fives, five there and five there," said Maddon, pointing to the mistake on the scorecard. "And I said, 'Oh no.' My only concern at that point was that Longo stayed in the game. ... This was unacceptable. I [made a mistake]."

After conferring with Wedge, the umpires walked over to the home dugout and talked to Maddon. Thirteen minutes passed before the decision came down that the Rays had burned their use of the DH, which dictated that starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine would hit third in the order. Longoria had not officially entered the game yet and was available to come off the bench.

"Wedge brought it to the attention of the plate umpire," crew chief Tim McClelland said. "Designated [hitter] has to be designated on the lineup cards, and he wasn't. ... That was just a mis-write, so to speak. ... That's how we interpreted it."

Sonnanstine, like many pitchers, relished the opportunity to wield the bat.

"Bottom of the first, I saw them all meeting, the umpires meeting," Sonnanstine said. "I knew something was up. I didn't know what was going to happen. [Pitching coach Jim Hickey] came down and told me I was going to have to hit, and I corrected him and told him I get to hit.

"I was just excited about it. I was mentally prepared. [Scott Kazmir] brought a helmet and [batting] gloves down to me. So, I just took it as an opportunity. I think Carlos Pena said it best when he said [pitchers] get excited about the possibility of getting a hit."

Sonnastine, who entered the game as a career .400 hitter, attempted a sacrifice bunt in his first at-bat, but the Indians threw to second base for a fielder's-choice forceout. After striking out in his second at-bat, Sonnanstine doubled over left fielder Ryan Garko's head to drive home Michel Hernandez for the Rays' seventh run.

"I thought I caught it square," Sonnanstine said. "I just wasn't sure if it was going to be fair or foul. I was just running as hard as I could."

Sonnanstine left via a double-switch in the sixth inning. Longoria was inserted at third base and walked in his only plate appearance.

Longoria had been initially penciled in as the DH to give him a day off his feet while keeping his bat in the lineup.

"It's obviously not what we wanted the lineup to look like after that happened," Longoria said. "But for [Sonnastine] to come through in that situation ... and like I said, the win is the biggest thing. But he definitely did his job. He got the bunt down, just bunted a little too hard in the first and then the big hit in the fourth."

Despite Sonnanstine's success in the third spot, Longoria, the Major League's RBI leader, said he felt safe about continuing to hit in the third spot "for now."

The Indians were involved the last time such a thing happened, albeit on the other side.

Charles Nagy was forced to bat in the seventh spot against the Jays on July 23, 1999, thanks to a mistake by manager Mike Hargrove.

Manny Ramirez had been listed at designated hitter, with rookie Alex Ramirez playing right field. When Manny Ramirez ran out to play right field following the top of the first, Toronto manager Jim Fregosi pointed out the error and the Indians lost their DH.

Tribe still stinks.....blew a seven run lead over the weekend. Bullpen sucks ass.

The Mariners use 4 pitchers to shutout the Angels 1-0...rare
Bosox Ellsbury sets a record by making 12 putouts by a centerfielder
in a 9 inning game...rare
Texas turns a triple play against Detroit...rare
Yankees go back to back to back with HR's against the O's...rare
Orlando Magic Dwight Howard makes a massive hard dunk and the
24 second clock above the backboard collapses. They have to roll out
a mobile 24 second clock to place on the floor...rare
Cleveland Cavs Mo Williams hits a 3/4 court shot at the half time
buzzer...rare
The unbelievable finish to the Cavs/Magic game as Richard Lewis
sinks a 3 ball with seconds remaining to win the game for the Magic.

The Magic/Cavs game. It was a busy sports night on the tube
and I had to do a lot of flip-flopping back in forth between events
with my handy dandy remote. The World of Outlaws sprintcar
race at the dirt track a Lowe's, Magic/Cavs game, and the M's
hosting the SF Giants with "The Big Unit" pitching. Thankfuly the
sprintcar race ended first and it was between the Cavs/Magic game
and the M's. The Magic were behind all game and it didn't look too
promising. The M's gave up a leadoff HR to SF Giant Rowland and a
1-0 score for a long time. Flip to the Cavs/Magic game and it was now
a nailbiter. Flip back to the M's and watching the "Big Unit" dish out
those "Mr Snappy's" that all the Seattle fans had come to love over
the years. Flip to the basketball game and the Magic and see Turkalou
sink a running jumper with 1 second left and take the lead. Figured
it was a done deal and flip back to the M's game. Watched an inning
and flip back to the basketball game just to make sure. Fuck oh dear
Lebron sunk a 3-pointer in the last second to win the game...MIR.
The M's and Giants go 12 innings with the M's finally getting the win.
I got veklempt when "The Big Unit" left the game after a 1-1 tie
in the 6th and took off his hat and waved to the crowd of nearly 40,000
to a standing ovation. Randy Johnson has come a long way. He's a
sure 1st ballot Hall of Famer when the time comes. Will be clapping when
he gets win number 300.