Baseball Before Bedtime: Crazy Rhythms

Here's what happened in baseball last night when it was time to sacrifice: Phillies 2, Mets 0: A month ago, if I had told you that Joe Blanton would outduel Johan Santana in a low-scoring summertime affair at Citizens Bank Pank, you'd have been in your rights to punch me square in the face and spit on my lifeless body sprawled out on the ground. Because making crazy predictions is grounds for assault in seventeen states. That prediction turned out to be true, thanks to the Mets weak lineup that gives Santana fewer than three runs of support on average, and Jimmy Rollins' 30th career leadoff tater tot. Marlins 5, Pirates 0: Ricky Nolasco will do anything in his power to stay out of New Orleans. The gumbo-phobe was sent to the Big Sleazy in May after amassing a bloated 9.07 ERA in nine starts; since returning from the bayou, Ricky's won four of six starts with a tidy 1.53 ERA. I guess surviving gator attacks and booze-soused bead hounds will do a lot to a man's s...