What’s the buzz from the world of sports? Here are some items that will have people talking:
1
The Seattle Mariners simply own the National League.
Sunday marked the 11th straight season the Mariners have swept an NL team in a three-game series.
Most of those sweeps have come against the Padres, and of course you might be asking yourself, “Well, what good is that? The Mariners haven’t made the playoffs since 2001.”
True that. However, it might be noted that in the 116-win 2001 season, the Mariners did not sweep any of the NL series they played.
2
Known for his rocket arm, Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg did OK with his bat on Sunday, too.
“Shocking, that’s for sure,” Strasburg said of his first major-league home run. “I feel like in (batting practice) I have to swing a lot harder to hit it out. I just somehow ran into one.”
He was almost embarrassed about his trip around the bases and subsequent climb up the dugout steps.
”I’m not big for going out there and showboating,” Strasburg said. “It was great, but I know my place. I’m not a real hitter out there so I’m not going to go out there and act like I do it all the time.”
The hard-throwing Strasburg had five hits in 40 big-league at-bats before Sunday. He singled and scored in the third inning, then hit his homer in the fourth.
“I didn’t expect Stras to hit a breaking ball,” manager Davey Johnson said. “He doesn’t usually see breaking balls. (Third base coach) Bo Porter came in after and said we found a left fielder.”
3
Tweet of the day from ESPN’s Jenn Brown while outside Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday:
“Pretty sure I just had a 6 year old Kings fan walk by and say “Call me” Gotta love the confidence of our youth these days :) “
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