Article:Home Runs of April 24, 2008

{|!Batter!Team (B)!Inning!Pitcher!Team (P)!Situation |- |Curtis Granderson (1) |Tigers |1st |Jason Jennings (6) |Rangers |0 on, 0 out, 0-1 |- |Magglio Ordonez (4) |Tigers |3rd |Jason Jennings (7) |Rangers |0 on, 2 out, 1-1 |- |Magglio Ordonez (5) |Tigers |5th |Jason Jennings (8) |Rangers |2 on, 2 out, 2-2 |- |Brandon Inge (3) |Tigers |6th |Kazuo Fukumori (1) |Rangers |0 on, 2 out, 5-2 |- |Ryan Raburn (1) |Tigers |6th |Kazuo Fukumori (2) |Rangers |0 on, 2 out, 6-2 |- |Michael Young (3) |Rangers |1st |Jeremy Bonderman (4) |Tigers |0 on, 1 out, 0-0 |- |Mike Napoli (5) |Angels |5th |Justin Masterson (1) |Red Sox |0 on, 0 out, 0-3 |- |David Ortiz (4) |Red Sox |9th |Scot Shields (1) |Angels |1 on, 2 out, 3-7 |- |Chris Iannetta (1) |Rockies |7th |Jason Marquis (3) |Cubs |0 on, 0 out, 1-1 |- |Carlos Gomez (1) |Twins |1st |Greg Smith (3) |Athletics |0 on, 0 out, 0-0 |- |Donnie Murphy (1) |Athletics |5th |Brian Bass (4) |Twins |0 on, 0 out, 8-2 |- |Donnie Murphy (2) |Athletics |6th |Jesse Crain (2) |Twins |0 on, 2 out, 10-2 |- |Grady Sizemore (2) |Indians |5th |Yasuhiko Yabuta (2) |Royals |0 on, 2 out, 7-2 |- |David DeJesus (1) |Royals |3rd |Fausto Carmona (1) |Indians |0 on, 0 out, 1-7 |- |Miguel Olivo (3) |Royals |7th |Rafael Perez (2) |Indians |1 on, 2 out, 4-9 |- |David Dellucci (3) |Indians |7th |Brian Bannister (1) |Royals |0 on, 0 out, 0-0 |- |Carlos Beltran (2) |Mets |7th |Saul Rivera (2) |Nationals |0 on, 2 out, 3-7 |- |Marlon Anderson (1) |Mets |9th (PH) |Jon Rauch (2) |Nationals |0 on, 0 out, 4-10 |- |Felipe Lopez (1) |Nationals |6th |Aaron Heilman (4) |Mets |3 on, 2 out, 3-3 |- |Josh Willingham (6) |Marlins |5th |Chuck James (3) |Braves |1 on, 1 out, 2-6 |- |Chipper Jones (7) |Braves |2nd |Burke Badenhop (3) |Marlins |0 on, 2 out, 5-1 |- |Melky Cabrera (4) |Yankees |6th |Gavin Floyd (3) |White Sox |1 on, 2 out, 3-6 |- |Jim Thome (6) |White Sox |5th |LaTroy Hawkins (2) |Yankees |0 on, 1 out, 5-3 |- |Rich Aurilia (1) |Giants |7th |Chris Young (4) |Padres |0 on, 1 out, 0-0 |- |Jeff Salazar (2) |Diamondbacks |2nd |Chad Billingsley (2) |Dodgers |1 on, 0 out, 1-1 |- |Jay Payton (2) |Orioles |4th |Jarrod Washburn (4) |Mariners |0 on, 1 out, 0-5 |- |Brian Roberts (2) |Orioles |8th |Sean Green (1) |Mariners |0 on, 0 out, 7-7 |- |Adrian Beltre (4) |Mariners |2nd |Adam Loewen (5) |Orioles |0 on, 0 out, 0-0 |- |Ichiro Suzuki (2) |Mariners |7th |Jamie Walker (3) |Orioles |1 on, 0 out, 5-7 |}

''For the people who have not been introduced to the "Home Runs of the Day" yet, let me just clarify a couple of things: * The "situation part" (the part that states the score) is the score BEFORE the home run is it. ** And, on a second note, the first part of the score is the score of the home run hitter's team. The second number represents the opponent's team.''

Baltimore Come Back from 5 Run Deficit, Come Back in the Standings
The Baltimore Orioles have definitely proved that they don't need Erik Bedard or Miguel Tejada... at least this month. As of April 24th, they are 13-9 (second place in the AL East), and only one game behind the Boston Red Sox for first place. Erik Bedard actually got to see what they can do first hand, as the Orioles defeated the Seattle Mariners, 8-7. Down 5-0 in the top of the 4th, Jay Payton got things started for the Baltimore offense with a solo jack. In the fifth and sixth innings, the O's scored a run each. In the 7th, they took the lead (7-5) after an Aubrey Huff double scoring two. In the bottom of the 7th, Seattle retaliated, scoring two with a clutch two run home run by Ichiro Suzuki. Both teams were running out of outs, as there were only 2 innings left to play. With Jamie Walker on the mound, Brian Roberts pulled a 1-0 fastball over the wall to secure the victory for the Orioles, as they won 8-7.

Ain't it GRAND to Have him Back?
No wonder why the Detroit Tigers have been slumping: they didn't have their leadoff hitter (or starting centerfielder, whatever you want to call him) in the lineup. After a 19-6 blowout yesterday against the Texas Rangers, Detroit figured that they wouldn't give them any mercy, as they needed everything in their favor in order to improve in the standings. After a Michael Young home run in the top of the first, the Tigers were reminded that they had to do a lot offensively in order to win games. That's exactly what happened. In the bottom half of the first, Curtis Granderson (the man who the Tigers have missed for about 3 weeks) hit a homer for the first at-bat for the Tigers, tying the game at 1. The Tigers eventually added 7 more runs to help out their pitching, winning the game 8-2; out of the 8 runs scored by the Tigers, 6 of the runs were from home runs. Besides the Granderson homer, Magglio Ordonez was able to hit a couple of homers of his own, giving him a total of 5 so far this season. Brandon Inge and Ryan Raburn also hit solo homers, which eventually sent the Rangers a message that their pitching needs some work... especially against the Tigers.

On a side note, Jason Jennings of the Texas Rangers surrendered 3 of the 5 home runs hit by the Tigers, giving him a total of 8 so far this season. The second home run hit by Magglio Ordonez signified that he was tied with Brett Myers (Philadelphia Phillies) for the most home runs surrendered by a pitcher this season. His 8 homers are almost 1/3 of the Rangers' 24 homers surrendered. It's not really looking good JJ right now.

Donnie Murphy Makes Minnesota Remember his Name
Does anyone know who Donnie Murphy is? I'm sure the Minnesota Twins do, at least for now. In case you are wondering, Murphy is a third baseman/utility infielder for the Oakland Athletics, who also hit his first multihomer game against the Twins on April 24th. He was never really recognized while playing for the Kansas City Royals from 2004-2005. He hit 7 homers in the first 80 games he played in the Major Leagues, but was able to hit 2 during his 11th game of the 2008 season. He was the key contributor for the Athletics that night, going 3-5 with 3 runs scored, 2 homers, and 4 RBIs. It was truly a great night for Murphy, and I'm sure that people are hoping to see more of him as the season progresses.

''Remember, you can always have the privilage to cast a vote for the "Homer of the Day" in the comments section down below. Feel free to discuss who should win today or who should've won yesterday, or what I could've done to make the article better.''

Homer of the Day (April 23, 2008)
And the Homer of the Day for April 23, 2008, goes to...



I'm surprised to see that I didn't even recognize this guy in my last article. He was the main reason why the Milwaukee Brewers actually won against the Philadelphia Phillies on the 23rd of April. He hit 2 home runs that day, which is 1 more than his total before the game. After hitting his 2nd homer of the 2008 season in the 1st inning, he came up in a clutch situation in the 8th, hitting a two run homer with no outs and the count being 1-2. After fouling off 4 pitches, he was bound to put one in play. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Fielder ripped the changeup by pitcher Cole Hamels (who had already pitched 120 before surrendering that home run). After surrendering a double to Ryan Braun, I wouldn't see why Charlie Manuel wouldn't take out Hamels, and putting in someone from the bullpen. I mean, Fielder already hit a home run off him, and think about all the work that Hamels went through that day; pitching 120 pitches is not a piece of cake, you know. Thank God Eric Gone-YAY got the night off. He probably would've surrendered another homer with the Brewers winning it in extras again.

Oh, and speaking of "sealing the deal" in the ninth, here's a shocker: Derrick Turnbow replaced Gagne, and surprisingly, he needed only 4 batters to get through the ninth inning (So Taguchi walked, but couldn't advance from first base), AND he didn't let any runs score. He also did this in only 24 pitches! Aren't we all so very proud of him?

On Another Matter:
'''I haven't been getting any feedback on this (I've gotten 1 or 2 comments about this) what do you guys think if I put the players in alphabetical order? What about inning by inning? Or do you guys like it just the way it is? I'd appreciate it if you guys could give me feedback on what I should do. Thanks in advance.'''