We didn’t get another eight-plus inning no-hitter attempt on Saturday, but we did get some good games in MLB and coupling that with Chelsea’s penalty shoot-out victory in the Champions League Final, sports fans were royally entertained yesterday evening.
I’m not normally a strong supporter of English teams in European competitions because more often than not their Englishness doesn’t stray far beyond the team’s geographic location, give or take an English player or two. Much as Man City’s Premier League title is more a triumph for Abu Dhabi than the east of Manchester, Chelsea’s victory can be seen as a Russian success story more than one for West London.
However, Spurs fans aside, I’m sure I was far from the only fence-sitting Englishman whose allegiance was firmly swayed by Manuel Neuer’s penalty shoot-out arrogant antics and the sight of Bastian Schweinsteiger striding up to take – and then miss – the decisive final penalty. It did suddenly turn into England versus Germany and we’ve had too many heartbreaking moments in that situation not to enjoy this rare winning occasion.
It’s difficult for regular season games in May to live up to a Champions League Final, but Sunday’s early MLB games do offer plenty of exciting pitching match-ups that should make for a great way to bring the weekend to a close. All times are in BST.
01.00 St. Louis at LA Dodgers (Lohse – Billingsley) *ESPN America
It’s taken Josh Johnson a few starts to get into the groove, but his last two outings suggest that he is finding some form and the Marlins will need him to be on his game against Cleveland today as Derek Lowe has had a strong start to the season.
The Reds-Yankees series is tied at 1-1 heading into the rubber match today. Johnny Cueto and CC Sabathia come into the game in a similar position, having pitched brilliantly of late but not quite having their best stuff last time out.
Josh Beckett did impress in his most recent performance after being booed off the Fenway mound in his previous outing; however his seven shut-out innings came against a less-than fearsome Mariners offence so Red Sox fans will want him to follow that up against the Phillies today before declaring that their ace is back to being an ace again. He will match up against Cliff Lee, who saw his ten strike-out performance against the Astros on Tuesday count for nothing thanks to a Phillies bullpen blow-up.
Everyone keeps waiting for the Baltimore Orioles to come back down to earth, but they continue to have the best record in the American League and are on a five-game winning streak. Stephen Strasburg will pose a serious threat to the Orioles’ chances of extending that to six games, so long as his Nationals teammates keep away from the Hot Stuff ointment, that is.
Tim Hudson and David Price are the scheduled starting pitchers for the series decider between the Braves and Rays, while Jake Peavy will be on the mound for the White Sox trying to lead his team to a series sweep over the Cubs.
In the sole late game on the schedule, the L.A. Dodgers will look to inflict the fourth straight loss on the St. Louis Cardinals, who are also dealing with the bad news of Lance Berkman potentially being headed to the Disabled List again after he came out of  Saturday’s game with an injury to his right knee.
All of these games are available to watch live via the MLB.TV subscription at MLB.com. ESPN America is showing the Red Sox-Phillies game from 18.30 and the Cardinals-Dodgers game from 1 a.m. The full schedule for today’s games can be found on MLB.com.
