Article:Home Runs of May 3, 2008

{|!Batter!Team (B)!Inning!Pitcher!Team (P)!Situation |- |Johnny Damon (4) |Yankees |6th |Felix Hernandez (4) |Mariners |1 on, 0 out, 4-1 |- |Christian Guzman (3) |Nationals |1st |Paul Maholm (4) |Pirates |1 on, 0 out, 0-0 |- |Jose Bautista (4) |Pirates |4th |Matt Chico (7) |Nationals |0 on, 0 out, 1-5 |- |Marco Scutaro (1) |Blue Jays |3rd |John Danks (2) |White Sox |0 on, 0 out, 1-0 |- |Jermaine Dye (3) |White Sox |7th |Jesse Litsch (4) |Blue Jays |0 on, 2 out, 0-5 |- |Carlos Quentin (8) |White Sox |8th |Jesse Litsch (5) |Blue Jays |0 on, 0 out, 1-5 |- |Mike Fontenot (2) |Cubs |4th |Kyle Lohse (1) |Cardinals |2 on, 1 out, 3-0 |- |Yadier Molina (2) |Cardinals |5th |Ted Lilly (5) |Cubs |0 on, 0 out, 1-6 |- |Albert Pujols (6) |Cardinals |6th |Ted Lilly (6) |Cubs |0 on, 1 out, 2-6 |- |Carlos Delgado (4) |Mets |6th |Brandon Webb (2) |Diamondbacks |2 on, 2 out, 1-5 |- |Grady Sizemore (4) |Indians |5th |Luke Hochevar (1) |Royals |0 on, 1 out, 1-0 |- |Rickie Weeks (4) |Brewers |1st |Brandon Backe (6) |Astros |0 on, 0 out, 0-0 |- |Brandon Backe (1) |Astros |5th |Manny Parra, (2) |Brewers |0 on, 0 out, 1-1 |- |Michael Bourn (3) |Astros |5th |Manny Parra (3) |Brewers |0 on, 0 out, 2-1 |- |Chase Utley (13) |Phillies |4th |Matt Cain (4) |Giants |0 on, 1 out, 0-1 |- |Fred Lewis (3) |Giants |5th |Brett Myers (11) |Phillies |0 on, 1 out, 1-1 |- |Geoff Jenkins (2) |Phillies |5th |Matt Cain (5) |Giants |0 on, 0 out, 1-2 |- |Gabe Gross (1) |Rays |2nd |Josh Beckett (3) |Red Sox |0 on, 0 out, 0-3 |- |Akinori Iwamura (2) |Rays |8th |Josh Beckett (4) |Red Sox |1 on, 2 out, 3-9 |- |Craig Monroe (2) |Twins |7th |Justin Verlander (6) |Tigers |1 on, 0 out, 2-0 |- |Curtis Granderson (4) |Tigers |8th |Pat Neshek (2) |Twins |0 on, 2 out, 0-4 |- |Mike Jacobs (8) |Marlins |1st |Jake Peavy (5) |Marlins |1 on, 2 out, 0-1 |- |Adrian Gonzalez (7) |Padres |9th |Logan Kensing (1) |Padres |0 on, 1 out, 6-2 |- |Matt Holliday (5) |Rockies |3rd |Esteban Loaiza (3) |Dodgers |0 on, 0 out, 3-6 |- |Brad Hawpe (2) |Rockies |3rd |Hong-Chih Kuo (2) |Dodgers |1 on, 1 out, 4-6 |- |James Loney (3) |Dodgers |5th |Jorge De La Rosa (1) |Rockies |2 on, 0 out, 6-6 |}

''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.''

Utley & Myers Extend Their Leads


As you may know, if you followed closely to my articles, the Philadelphia Phillies currently have leaders in home runs AND home runs surrendered.Chase Utley, who won the NL Player of the Month for April, continued to extend his season total of home runs to 13. Brett Myers, who has been looking for some more velocity on his fastball since leaving from the bullpen to the starting rotation this season, currently has the lead in home runs surrendered with 11. He surrendered a solo homer to Fred Lewis on 91 mile per hour fastball, continuing his streak of consecutive games with a home run surrendered to 6.

As you may recall from the last "Homer of the Day" article, the Phillies and Giants played a phenominal and exciting game on May 2nd. Their next against each other didn't disappoint either. Myers threw a lot better than his last two outings, giving up only 2 earned runs, 6 hits, 1 HOME RUN, while striking out 10 batters (a season high) and pitching 7 innings in 121 pitches. He looked like he felt confident and redeemed himself on the mound that day. He started off inadequately, giving up a leadoff single, a sacrifice hit, two more singles, and a walk to load the bases. However, with a mound visit, he was able to calm down and strike out the next two batters to get out of the inning. He cruised right through the next 6 innings, throwing only one mistake pitch: that fastball that Lewis hit for a homer in the 4th.

After the one run in the first inning by the Giants, the solo shot by Utley off of Matt Cain, and a solo homer by Lewis off of Myers, the Giants were up 2-1 in the 5th inning. Someone we haven't heard much from since his signing with the Phils tied the game up at 2 when he hit a solo of his own off of: Geoff Jenkins. He hit his second homer of the season against Cain down the right field line tying the game up at 2. 5 innings later, Bengie Molina hit an outfield single scoring Randy Winn from second base, which eventually was the winning run for San Francisco, as they won 3-2 in 10 innings.

On a side note, Chase Utley has done really well against Matt Cain career wise. He is now 6-for-12 against him, with 3 of those hits being home runs. "Unbelievable" is all I have said about Chase Utley for the past 2 years.

Backe Involved in Back-to-Back Home Runs
For the first time since 2001, the Astros have hit back-to-back home runs in consecutive games. After Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee hit back-to-back home runs on May 2nd, two unlikely consecutive home runs were hit the next day by the Houston Astros. One was hit by Michael Bourn, the leadoff hitter, who has had a really rough season so far. On May 3rd, he passed the "Uecker Line", progressing from a .191 batting average to a .202 in one game, and also breaking an 0-for-6 hitting slump. It was his second home run of the season, the third of his career, and the second consecutive home run hit in the inning.

The preceding home run hit in the back-to-back home run sequence was even more of a treat. It was none other than the #9 hitter and the starting pitcher for the 'Stros: Brandon Backe. It was his 3rd career home run in his 7 (or 6 1/4) year MLB career.

"It wasn't a good curveball," Parra said about the pitch that Backe hit over the wall. "At the same time, credit to him for even hitting the pitch."

The score was knotted at 1 before Backe and Bourn hit their home runs. 5 runs were scored in the fifth, as Milwaukee Brewers' starter Manny Parra just started giving the Astros batting practice. He put seven consecutives batters on base. By the time he got batters out, it was too late, and the Astros walked away with the victory, 6-2, winning their second game in a row, and their fifth consecutive home game.

"I'm feeling much better about our offense," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "Everybody has been pitching in. We're getting contributions throughout the lineup."

The Astros must be surprising a bunch of people right about now. A team that was thought to be in the battling for second last place in the NL Central, as of May 3rd, is one game shy of reaching .500.

Homer of the Day (May 2, 2008)
And the Homer of the Day for May 2, 2008 goes to...

N/A (To be decided within the next 24 hours)

For the third time since I've created this series, there has been a tie. It all comes down to who you vote for. It's up to two people: Pat Burrell's 2 run walk-off in the 10th inning to win the game 6-5, and Skip Schumaker's 2 run walk-off homer in the 11th inning to win the game 5-3. Please vote here to determine the winner:



On Another Matter:
Thank you so much, fellow AGMers, for waiting so patiently for this article. My AP exams are over (finally), and I have one week of school left starting today. As always, I thank you guys for your support. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up soon.

Thanks to everyone who has been voting, especially those who have since the very beginning (you know who you are). Like I said, the more votes we have in these articles, the better. It makes it more interesting, and makes me feel better when I post these articles.