MLB

Mike Napoli hit his fourth double of the season on Sunday.

It should have been his second triple.

What does it say when a struggling hitter fails to do everything he can to help his team on offense? Only that it won't be his team much longer.

Down by seven runs late in a game against the Seattle Mariners, Napoli punched a ball down the left field line just out of the third baseman's reach, a universal signal for the hitter to take extra bases.

MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that the Yankees have signed 17-year-old Venezuelan catcher Rainiero Coa. The original report comes from Annelida Yoris Rivas at the Venezuelan paper Nueva Prensa . Here's a little more from MLBTR:

When Alex Rodriguez "walked on Dallas Braden's pitching mound," Mr. Braden took umbrage because A-Rod broke an unwritten rule. The mound belongs to the pitcher.

Alex responded by referring to Dallas' handful of wins.

A few days ago, Alex claimed he was not making any more comments because he didn't want to add any more time to the left-handed pitcher's 15-minutes of fame.

Alex Rodriguez will probably finish his career with more home runs than Babe Ruth and Henry Aaron, but there is only way that A-Rod can top what Dallas Braden achieved on May 9, 2009.

Joey Votto is beginning to show that he is a complete baseball player. The man has tools.

In yesterday's come-from- behind win over the Chicago Cubs, Votto sent a 439' rocket into the right field seats. It was a two out, three-run shot that gave Mike Leake his third win of the season.

The win gave the Reds the series at two games to one. It was a successful home stand as they had just finished winning a set against the New York Mets 2-1 as well.

The most impressive play, or non-play, of the Mother's Day game at Great American Ball Park came immediately after Cincinnati Reds' rookie sensation, Mike Leake allowed his first legitimate hit in the top of the seventh—a two-out double to Cubs' outfielder Marlon Byrd.

After pitching hitless baseball through the front five, Leake gave up an infield single.  If the official score keeper were a cool dude or dudette they would have ruled it an error.  In reality, the hot grounder off the bat of Starlin Castro was a single.

No matter how many consecutive sellouts the Phillies have at Citizens Bank Park (they’re up to 58, by the way), the Eagles are always a hot topic.

Especially when the topic is in any way, shape, or form connected to Donovan McNabb.

McNabb is back in the Philadelphia headlines, this time, responding to comments that former Eagle teammate DeSean Jackson made recently to the Sporting News. 

Oakland Athletics left-hander Dallas Braden joined the annals of baseball yesterday when he tossed the 19th perfect game in the history of the game. It was completely unexpected given Braden's relative obscurity.

Well Braden is obscure no more now that his feat will go alongside the likes of Don Larsen, Sandy Koufax, Jim Bunning, and others. A pitcher cannot do better than perfect, but for argument's sake, we're going to look at the varying degrees of perfect in this power ranking of the 19 perfectos thrown in baseball history.

What a way to end the week that was in baseball. Dallas Braden threw a perfect game for just the 19th time in the history of the game.

Baseball is the only sport that offers precisely this sort of drama, no other sport offers perfection as an option. NBA, NFL, and NHL have never seen the likes of this—a player that doesn't make a single mistake, miscue or hiccup.

“There’s nothing you can say,” Braden said in his television interview immediately after he became famous forever.

“I really don't want to extend his extra 15 minutes of fame.”

So said Alex Rodriguez on Friday night, when asked about Dallas Braden’s comments on the unwritten rule of baseball that A-Rod supposedly broke when he ran across Braden’s mound during an A’s vs. Yankees game.

A-Rod wasn’t alone when it came to the cheap shots.

I am going to put this next story in the “We had to blame someone, so let’s blame someone who has nothing to do with why we are struggling" category.

The Seattle Mariners fired hitting coach Alan Cockrell yesterday. Alonzo Powell was promoted from Triple-A Tacoma to replace Cockrell. Here is the reason for the firing according to GM Jack Zduriencik.