Boxscore

Zach Duke pitched very well last night, striking out 6 in 7 innings and allowing only 2 runs. Although it was among the best starts Duke’s provided this year, it wasn’t good enough. The Pirates managed only one measly run. The lone RBI was Doug Mientkiewicz’s, thanks to a hit in the 9th.

Of course, it’s not exactly an indictment of the Pirates that they scored only one run off of Brandon Webb, who has an ERA on the year of 2.93. Yeah, he doesn’t allow too many runs. Webb pitched the complete game for his 16th victory on the year, while Duke received his 10th loss.

Boxscore

Chris Carpenter started his second game for the Cardinals since returning from the disabled list. Both starts have been good, although short. In his first outing, he lasted only 4 innings, but yesterday, he pitched 5. Carpenter probably would have gone longer had it not been for a rain delay.

All in all, Carpenter’s allowed 1 run in 9 innings, and that one run was in his first start. If he can increase his stamina, stay effective, and stay healthy, Carpenter might just give the Cardinals the shot in the arm they need.

He didn’t last night because St. Louis’ bullpen is having issues. With the team leading 4-0 in the 9th, things looked rosy. That is until Ron Villone faced the first batter of the inning, Andruw Jones, who homered. LaRussa immediately changed pitchers and brought in Jason Isringhausen. But this is still not the Izzy of old, as he allowed the game to be tied and sent it to extra innings.

So Carpenter remains winless since 2006, but the Cardinals did eventually win the game, thanks to a 2-run home run from Ryan Ludwick.

At 5’11”, 270 lbs, and 24 years old, Milwaukee Brewers’ first baseman Prince Fielder has a basal metabolic rate (BMR) of 2486.6 calories per day. That means that he needs almost 2500 calories per day just to maintain his weight after the effort of using his lungs for breathing, heart of circulating, and other metabolic processes.

To add in the fact that he’s a professional athlete and presumably very active most days of the week, you multiple his BMR by 1.725, according to the Harris Benedict Equation to determine the calories he needs to maintain his weight given his lifestyle. That brings his total 4289.385.

To put this in perspective, a cup of fresh, raw spinach contains 7 calories. A tomato has about 40. A serving of tofu has about 100 calories. Even an avocado, the unsaturated fattiest of the veggies, has only about 300, and you have to eat the whole thing.

None of that may seem relevant, until you think about how, after reading the book Skinny Bitch in the off season, Prince Fielder became a vegetarian. And it would take over 14 avocados, 10 blocks of tofu, 100 tomatoes, or 613 cups of fresh spinach per day to keep that guy at high fighting weight.

Hope no one else wanted to hit the salad bar.

Boxscore

The Astros beat off both the Cubs and the rain yesterday, as 4 pitchers combined to blank Chicago.

That bizarre trade for Latrell Hawkins is looking golden now. He pitched one-third of an inning for the save! One-third! That’s a whole out.

The game had two different rain delays. The first one lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes right after the 5th inning was completed. The second delay was in the bottom of the eighth and lasted only 39 minutes before the game was called.

The Astros have now won 4 in a row, while the Cubs modest 2-game winning streak was broken.

Boxscore

If Cincinnati were Chicago, a W flag would have flown above the ballpark after last night’s game. It might have confused folks into thinking it was an ad for the upcoming Oliver Stone movie, which would seem especially strange coming from close personal Bush friend Bob Castellini. Like I said confusing, which is kind of what the game was.

Here the Reds are, coming off a sweep from the Nationals–a terrible, crappy team if ever there was one. I mean, their GM is Jim Bowden, a guy who wasn’t good enough for Cincinnati. And into town comes the Milwaukee Brewers, a team battling for first place in the division and the wild card spot.

So naturally the Reds win.

Bronson Arroyo had his better half show up, as he pitched 6 innings and allowed only 1 run while doubling in a couple for his side. The bullpen was adequate, as Magic Man and Stormy both gave up runs, but the lead still held for Francisco Cordero to get the “easy” save.

The Reds have shown serious motivation issues, beating good teams and getting spanked by sucky ones. If only there were a way to fix that, but obviously, that’s nothing management has anything to do with.

As for the Brewers, they missed a great opportunity to beat a bad team and gain a game on the losing Cubs. But Manny Parra imploded in the 5th, allowing 4 runs and leading to a shoving match with Prince Fielder. (Note to Parra: Run away. You won’t win.)

We’ll see if that fighting helps them going forward.