A Bloop and a Blast

Ryan Braun had a pinch hit bloop double the other night against the Pirates. Tonight, he hit his 2nd career grand slam off Bronson Arroyo. He had a monster of a game at the Great American Ball Park; he was 3-6 with the granny, 2 runs scored, and 6 RBIs.
Braun is hitting .320 on the year so far. He's also walking a whole lot more than he has in the past. In 2007, he walked 29 times. Last year, he walked 42 times. This year, he's already drawn 15 BBs. Coming into tonight, his OBP was .427.

Ian Kinsler was 2-4 tonight against the A's. He's hitting .328. But the real story was Scott Feldman, who was dealing for the Rangers. He went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits, 2 BBs, and 3 Ks.

Craig Breslow gave up 1 run in 2 innings against the Orioles.

And finally, Josh Whitesell got the call! He was just called up by the Diamondbacks to replace Tony Clark, who's on the 15-day DL with a sore wrist. That's the good news. The bad news is he had to face Jake Peavy in his first game. The young first baseman had a so-so night. He was 0-2 with 2 BBs. Here's hoping Whitesell can play himself into the lineup on a permanent basis. If there's a team right now that needs instant offense, it's the D-Backs. And maybe Whitesell will be just what the doctor ordered.