MVN - Most Valuable Network

Wednesday’s Best - Joe Vs. the Vottocano

5. Carloose Gomez - In a 13-1 thumping of the Chicago White Sox, Carlos Gomez became the first Twin since Kirby Puckett 22 years ago to hit for the cycle.  Similarly, I became the first White Sox fan to punch themselves in the ear in frustration since me one game earlier when Joe Mauer ruined a perfectly good no-hitter.  But this isn’t about me, it’s about Carlos Gomez, who was the centerpiece of the blockbuster Johan Santana deal.  Gomez has had an up and down season so far, but has definitely shown Twins fans flashes of his potential.  Meanwhile in Flushing, Johan has not once hit for the cycle, making this trade a clear win for Minnesota.  It’ll be interesting to see if Gomez can build off this game and become a more consistent threat at the top of the Twins lineup.  Or if next game he follows up by hitting for the elusive bicycle.

4. Joey Votto - The Reds broke out their bats yesterday afternoon in a 9-0 waxing of the Cubs.  Cincinnati enjoyed another impressive start by Edinson Volquez who despite walking six batters, didn’t allow a run in seven innings and struck out 10.  The win wrapped a three game series in which the Reds took two games and managed to score 11 of their 14 total runs off of home runs.  This includes the nine runs scored yesterday off of seven home runs, three of which were from first basemen Joey Votto who is in the midst of his first full major league season.  Between a young core of Votto, Brandon Phillips, Edwin Encarnacion, and highly touted prospect Jay Bruce and a rotation with Volquez, Cueto, Aaron Harang, and Homer Bailey the Reds’ future actually looks pretty darn promising.  Assuming of course, Votto hits three home runs every game.

3. The Magic’s Healthy Hamstrings - In a must-win game 3 in Orlando, the Magic blasted the Pistons 111-86.  Rashard Lewis led the Magic with 33 points on 11-of-15 shooting and 5-of-6 from three and Dwight Howard chipped in 20 points and 12 rebounds and also chipped out six blocked shots.  Detroit, however, was able to overcome a 30-16 first quarter deficit and a Chauncey Billups injury four minutes into the game to close the game to four at the end of the third.  But the Magic came out of the fourth firing and used an 11-0 run out of the gate to put the game out of reach.

The story of the game will probably center around Billups’ hamstring strain and whether he’ll miss any additional time.  In his absence, Rookie Stuckey was pressed into action and though he scored 19 points he’s not yet someone who can run this team for more than a few 5-10 minute spurts.  Game 4 isn’t until Saturday, and I can’t imagine the extra rest won’t help.  Or at least help a lot more than Lindsey Hunter would.  Though, regardless of whether Billups can play, it really looks like this series is heading back to Detroit tied at two games a piece.  Unless there’s another clock malfunction and the refs decide to count the Billups three from game 2 at the end of every quarter in game 4.

2. Jazzercise - On a night where Kobe Bryant received his first MVP trophy, the Lakers beat the Jazz 120-110 to take a 2-0 series lead as before it shifts to Utah this Friday.  Interestingly, it was the first time since the year before last that the MVP trophy was awarded to a player who was still playing.  Perhaps buoyed by the honor, Kobe led the Lakers with a game-high 34 points and six assists.  Meanwhile, teammates Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom took advantage of a Utah frontcourt in foul trouble throughout the night to combine for 39 points, 21 rebounds, seven assists, and seven blocked shots.  It was a very thorough win for the Lakers who through two games look pretty strong.

However, this isn’t to say I don’t have concerns.  In two games, the Lakers have allowed 41 offensive rebounds which is a mighty high number of second chance opportunities to give up.  Also, if you’ll let me pick nits for a second, I’d be a little worried that despite big leads early the Jazz have managed to hang around late.  In game 1, with under five minutes left it was a four point game and last night, Utah only had a five point deficit with five and a half left.  I guess the Lakers could be encouraged that they eventually closed out both games, but doing so earlier would keep Utah from gaining even the slightest bit of momentum.  But like I said, maybe I’m just grasping at straws.  Either way, I’m curious to see if the Lakers can continue their play in hostile Utah or if Kobe Bryant carries his MVP trophy around with him wherever he goes.  I know I would.

1. Jet Lee - I found it interesting that in yesterday’s spate of baseball games there was a Wang-Lee pitching match up and only one of the pitchers was Asian.  It was like buying a ticket for The Forbidden Kingdom expecting Jackie Chan and Jet Li but getting Shanghai Noon only with no kung fu and a lot more pick off attempts.  Anyways, when it was all said and done, Cleveland beat the Yankees 3-0 as Cliff-Ming Lee out dueled Chien-Ming Wang.  Lee pitched seven innings, striking out seven to improve to 6-0.  In a so far inconsistent season for the Indians, Cliff Lee has been surprisingly reliable and now sports an unreal 0.81 ERA.  If he keeps this up, it’s going to get harder to tell whether we’re talking about his ERA or blood alcohol level.  Especially if he starts pitching when he’s drunk.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 4:29 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.