MVN - Most Valuable Network

Monday’s Best - Hornets Home Cooking

5. Rookie Pitchers - Yesterday, two of the premier young arms in the majors were on display.  The Reds’ Johnny Cueto bounced back from a dreadful outing and got his second win and first since his major league debut as Cincinnati beat the Chicago Cubes 5-3.  Cueto has now pitched at least six innings in every start except for his last which may be either a case of efficient pitching or Dusty Baker’s tendencies to overwork his young pitchers.  Either way, with a 1.12 WHIP and 5.1 K:BB ratio Cueto looks like a mainstay in the Reds often-maligned rotation.

Meanwhile in Arizona, Max Scherzer started the first game of his career after a major league debut last week where he retired all 13 batters he faced and struck out seven in relief.  This appearance didn’t go nearly as well as he labored and threw 92 pitches to record only 12 outs in an 11-4 Diamondbacks loss to the Phillies.  Scherzer allowed five runs, though only two were earned thanks to a Stephen Drew error.  Technically, those runs should count against Drew’s ERA, but that’s an argument that I’ll save for another day.  Since it makes absolutely no sense.

4. CSI: Marvin Harrison - More details concerning a shooting possibly involving Colts receiver Marvin Harrison were uncovered yesterday as police determined that six of the bullet casings found after the shooting came from the gun that Harrison owns.  Earlier, Harrison had confirmed getting into a fist fight the night of the alleged shooting but denied any involvement in the shooting itself.  At this point, I’m not really sure what to make of this story.  It’s too early in the investigation to make any definitive statements one way or the other and it’s even too early to make the obligatory joke about a Harrison to the Bengals for Chad Johnson trade scenario.  All I know is that if mild-mannered Marvin Harrison can get mixed up in this kind of trouble, what hope is there for the rest of us?  What hope is there for our fantasy football teams?

3. The Land Before Time - Last night, the Detroit Pistons used their brand of Deeee-troit Baaaaasketball to beat the Orlando Magic 100-93 and take a commanding 2-0 series lead.  The Pistons also used an additional 0.1 seconds to hit a three after the clock malfunctioned at the end of the third quarter.  After free throws by Rashard Lewis put the Magic up 76-75, the Pistons had just over five seconds to get a shot off.  The clock froze with 4.8 seconds left and Billups hit a three that replays show came after the buzzer should have sounded.  Unfortunately, rules or technology prevented the refs from reviewing the play so the basket counted and there were even another 0.5 seconds for the Magic afterwards.  A fair compromise by all accounts.

Most of the talk about game 2 will center around this single play.  I don’t think it’s ultimately the only reason the Magic lost, though I’m sure it didn’t help.  In the fourth quarter, it was only a one possession game for most of the last five minutes.  But poor execution, four turnovers, and allowing the Pistons to shoot 15 free throws sealed the Magic’s fate.  Game 3 is this Wednesday and hopefully all this controversy will be put to rest by then.  Or hopefully there will be even more controversy when the refs count all baskets made during warm ups.

2. Ervin “Magic” Santana - Last year, Ervin Santana failed to deliver on his promise and struggled mightily en route to a 7-14 record with a 5.76 ERA.  Yesterday, Santana pitched a complete game shutout over the punchless Royals, lowering his ERA to a microscopic 2.02 and his WHIP to a kaleidoscopic 0.88.  With this win, he improves to 6-0 and has become the unquestioned “Best Santana in the American League”.  More importantly, with the same win, the Angels of Anaheim are tied with Boston for the “Best Team in the American League” despite injuries to John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar and a 5.60 ERA from all non-Santana and Saunders pitchers.

1. Byron Scott’s Halftime Speeches - With a convincing 102-84 win, the New Orleans Hornets head off to San Antonio with a 2-0 series lead and more momentum than you can shake a stick at.  A 36-18 third quarter provided the Hornet’s their 18-point margin of victory.  Surprisingly, it was the second consecutive game New Orleans used a strong third quarter to turn a close game into a blowout.  Whatever coach of the year Byron Scott is telling his team during halftime it seems to be working.  I imagine his speeches are something along the lines of, “Hey, this half, let’s beat them!” or “Everyone pass the ball to Chris Paul all the time.”

Speaking of Chris Paul, the likely MVP runner-up was at it again, “it” being “incredibly effective basketball”.  He celebrated the day before his 23rd birthday with 30 points and 12 assists terrorizing a disciplined Spurs defense.  If this were any other team down 0-2 to the Hornets I’d punch their tickets to the Western Conference Finals right now.  But the Spurs are a proven veteran team and I don’t book travel for New Orleans, so I’m not writing them off quite yet.  Though if San Antoinio wants to make this a series, first and foremost they’ll have to solve the riddle that is Chris Paul.  If they don’t, expect a quick exit by the defending champs and Chris Paul to play game 4 in a green Riddler costume.

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