Wow. Yours truly just happened to catch the beginning of the Tigers/Angels game and witnessed something extraordinary. The Angels lit up Tiger starting pitcher Rick Porcello for 9 runs, all earned, during just two thirds of their first inning.
I'm not sure what that does to Porcello's ERA, but the stat monsters might have to call upon the spirit of the late Carl Sagan to compute it. Something about billions and billions. Already down 5-zip, and with the bases loaded, Porcello hung a breaking ball over the middle of the plate that Angels' slugger Mike Trout deposited about 450 feet away to dead centerfield for a grand slam.
While he certainly appeared to be a "wild thing" himself during his short outing, making catcher Alex Avila flop around like an NHL goalie facing a 5 on 3 man disadvantage trying to make saves, Porcello obviously didn't heed the age-old wisdom that was offered to pitchers such as himself in the movie "Major League".
When confronted with such a tense situation, there's only one thing to do.
Give him the heater, Ricky.
That hanging breaking ball will get you in trouble every time.
Jnkkk
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