Dback acquire Heilman

Aaron Heilman the 31 year old right hander was acquired by the dbacks exchange for the cubs for left-handed pitcher Scott Maine and infielder Ryne White. Heilman went 4-4 with a 4.11 era in 70 games for the Cubs.  His career numbers are 26-37 4.22 era 10 sv between the Mets and Cubs.  He is a ground ball pitcher which should help at Chase Field. “Aaron has been a successful, durable reliever who will add experience and stability to our bullpen,” said Byrnes in the official press release. link Heilman is an arbitration-eligible player he made 1.625 million last year and may get a little bump this year. I asked Matt Clapp of TheFriendlyBlogfines a Cubs blogger/twitter about Heilman here is what he said Inconsistent, seemed to allow a lot of inherited runners to score. Seems like a headcase too. But good sinker, gets groundballs He shows flashes at times and is capable of being very effective. Maybe he just needs the right pitching coach, situation, etc you can find his blog here and twitter here Scott Main who is a left hander that spent time among Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno last year.  He was in 6th round pick in the 2007 draft. White a 4th round pick in 2008 spent the year in Class A Visalia.  He hit .266 with six homers and 52 RBIs. The bullpen needed being one of the worst in baseball.  The dbacks did not give up much to get him so this a low risk move.

Quick Sharapova update

Maria will play in 2 exhibition matches in South America December 2nd in Chile and December 5th in Brazil.  The two matches both will be against Gisela Dulko.

Maria will kick off her 2010 season in Hong Kong on January 6-9.

She has also entered Cellular South Cup in Memphis, TN on February 14-20.

Maria has also entered Family Circle in Charleston, SC  onApril 10-18.  I’m also sure she will play all slams if healthy.

There is also the Sasha Vujacic but I really don’t want to get into that.

NBA picks

Atlantic

Boston (1)

Toronto (5)

Philly

New Jersey

New York

Central

Cleveland (2)

Detroit (6)

Chicago (7)

Indiana

Milwaukee

Southeast

Orlando (3)

Washington (4)

Atlanta (8)

Miami

Charlotte

Eastern Conference finals Boston over Cleveland

Northwest

Denver (3)

Portland (5)

Utah (8)

Oklahoma City

Minnesota

Pacific

LA Lakers (1)

Phoenix (7)

LA Clippers

Golden State

Sacramento

Southwest

San Antonio (2)

Dallas (4)

New Orleans (6)

Houston

Memphis

Western finals LA Lakers over San Antonio

NBA finals Boston over LA

MVP Lebron James

ROY Tyreke Evans

COY Scott Brooks

6th Man Lamar Odom

DPOY Ron Artest

Most Improved Anthony Randolph

2009 NFL Picks

AFC East

New England

Miami

New York Jets

Buffalo

AFC North

Pittsburgh

Baltimore

Cleveland

Cincinnati

AFC Sout

Tennessee

Indianapolis

Houston

Jacksonville

AFC West

San Diego

Kansas City

Denver

Oakland

wild cards Indianapolis and Baltimore

AFC championship Tennessee over San Diego

NFC East

New York Giants

Philadelphia

Dallas

Washingto

NFC North

Chicago

Minnesota

Green Bay

Detroit

NFC South

Atlanta

New Orleans

Carolina

Tampa Bay

NFC West

Seattle

Arizona

San Francisco

St Louis

wild cards Philadelphia and New Orleans

NFC championship New Orleans over New York Giants

Super Bowl Tennessee over New Orleans

MVP Drew Brees

DPOY Mario Williams

OROY Matthew Stafford

DROY Aaron Curry

Sharapova out of the US Open

Maria Sharapova lost to Melanie Oudin 6-3 4-6 5-7 in the 3rd round of the US Open.  The match lasted 2 hours and 58 minutes.

Sharapova started the match by winning the first two games.  Oudin came back to win the next 2.  The 2006 champ then took the next 3.  Oudin won the next game to stay in the set.  The #29 then won the next game to take the set.

Sharapova held serve to open the 2nd set but the 17 year old went on to win the next 5 games.  Sharapova won the next 3 to stay in the set.  Oudin then got the game to force a 3rd set.

Oudin won the first 2 games of the final set.  The next games were on serve.   Sharapova called for the trainer at 2-3 and then got a break to even the set.  The next 5 games were all breaks.  Oudin then held serve to win the set and match.

Sharapova easy again

Sharapova had another easy match in round two.  She beat Christina McHale 6-2 6-1.  
 
The first set started with two breaks but McHale then held her serve.  The 3 time grand slam winner went on to win the rest of the games in the set. 
 
The second set was on serve until the 3rd game where Sharapova got a break and never looked back.  The #29 seed took the set 6-1 to end the match. 
 
The third round will brings Melanie Oudin.  Oudin beat Elena Dementiva to reach round 3.

Sharapova easy round 1

 

Maria Sharapova returned to the US Open after missing last year due to injury with a 6-3 6-0 win over Tsvetana Pironkova.  The match lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes. 
 
The first set was on serve until the 5 game where Sharapova got a break.  The 2006 US Open champion then went on to win the next two game for a 5-2 lead.  Pironkova got a break to stay in the set but Sharapova broke back to take the set. 
 
The second set the #29 seed Sharapova did not drop a game winning it at love. 
 

The second round Sharapova will play Christina McHale  the two had never played before.

Some College Football Picks

Here is my BCS conference picks

ACC Georgia Tech
Big East Rutgers
Big 10 Penn St
Big 12 Texas
Pac 10 USC
SEC LSU

BCS Championship game Texas over LSU

Heisman winner Colt McCoy

Oswalt to much for the dbacks

Roy Oswalt goes 7 innings and 5 hits for a 6-4 win over the diamondbacks.

Two astros hitters got milestone tonight also Miguel Tejada his 2,000 hit with a rbi single in the 4th. Then Lance Berkman hit his 300 homer also in the 4th for a 3-1 lead.  Carlos Lee left the game in the 4th due to injury.  Those were the only runs Jon Garland would give up going 7 innings.

Juan Gutiérre comes in the 8th and allows 3 runs to make the score 6-1.

The dbacks got back the 3 runs in the 8th of the astros bullpen.

Scott Schoeneweis made his first appearance on the mound since the untimely passing of his wife. He got both men out he faced.

The diamondbacks tired to rally in the 9th but a double play by Justin Upton all but killed the rally. LaTroy Hawkins struck out Stephen Drew to end the game.

The loss drops the dbacks to 27-36.

Houston
	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
M. Bourn cf	4	1	2	0	0	1	0	1	0	.289
D. Erstad rf	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	.119
M. Tejada ss	5	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.341
C. Lee lf	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.313
J. Michaels lf	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.184
L. Berkman 1b	3	2	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	.255
I. Rodriguez c	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	.251
M. Kata 2b	3	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.231
E. Maysonet 3b	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	.340
R. Oswalt p	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.115
R. Ortiz ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.267
C. Sampson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
T. Byrdak p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
A. Arias p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Valverde p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
L. Hawkins p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	34	6	9	6	1	2	3	1	10

Batting 2B – M Kata (1, J Garland); J Michaels (7, J Gutierrez). 3B – M Bourn (4, J Garland). HR – L Berkman (12, 6th inning off J Garland 1 on, 2 Out). S – R Oswalt. SF – E Maysonet. RBI – M Tejada (34), L Berkman 2 (35), I Rodriguez (25), M Kata (1), E Maysonet (7). 2-out RBI – L Berkman 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – R Oswalt 1, D Erstad 1, C Lee 1. Team LOB – 6.

Base Running SB – M Bourn (20, 2nd base off J Garland/M Montero). Fielding E – C Lee (2, bobble). DP – 1 (M Kata-M Tejada-L Berkman).

Arizona
	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
F. Lopez 2b	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	.306
G. Parra lf	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	.296
J. Upton rf	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	.310
S. Drew ss	5	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.255
M. Reynolds 3b	3	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	2	.278
M. Montero c	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	4	.228
C. Young cf	4	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	3	.192
J. Whitesell 1b	3	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	.224
J. Garland p	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	.038
A. Ojeda ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.237
J. Gutierrez p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
E. Byrnes ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.213
S. Schoeneweis p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Rauch p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	35	4	9	4	1	4	7	0	17

Batting 2B – S Drew (12, R Oswalt); M Reynolds (14, C Sampson); J Whitesell (6, A Arias). HR – C Young (6, 4th inning off R Oswalt 0 on, 0 Out). RBI – C Young (17), M Reynolds 2 (44), J Whitesell (8). 2-out RBI – J Whitesell. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – J Garland 2, E Byrnes 1, S Drew 1, M Montero 2, M Reynolds 1. GIDP – J Upton. Team LOB – 9.

Houston
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
R. Oswalt (W, 3-3)	7.0	5	1	1	2	5	1	1.34	4.37
C. Sampson	0.0	2	3	3	1	0	0	1.24	2.37
T. Byrdak (H, 4)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.32	3.57
A. Arias (H, 5)	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1.27	3.00
J. Valverde (H, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.20	5.40
L. Hawkins (S, 9)	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1.27	2.60
Arizona
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
J. Garland (L, 4-7)	7.0	6	3	3	1	2	1	1.59	5.45
J. Gutierrez	1.0	3	3	3	1	1	0	1.42	4.45
S. Schoeneweis	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.32	2.38
J. Rauch	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.50	4.82

IBB – M Bourn (by J Garland), L Berkman (by J Gutierrez).

HBP – M Kata (by J Garland); M Reynolds (by R Oswalt).

Pitches-strikes – R Oswalt 119-79; C Sampson 11-5; T Byrdak 5-3; A Arias 16-10; J Valverde 4-3; L Hawkins 18-9; J Garland 98-66; J Gutierrez 24-15; S Schoeneweis 7-6; J Rauch 3-2.

Ground balls-fly balls – R Oswalt 8-8; C Sampson 0-0; T Byrdak 0-0; A Arias 0-1; J Valverde 0-1; L Hawkins 2-0; J Garland 12-7; J Gutierrez 1-1; S Schoeneweis 0-2; J Rauch 1-0.

Batters faced – R Oswalt 29; C Sampson 3; T Byrdak 1; A Arias 2; J Valverde 1; L Hawkins 4; J Garland 29; J Gutierrez 7; S Schoeneweis 2; J Rauch 1.

Game Details

Umpires: HP–Dana Demuth. 1B–Doug Eddings. 2B–Jim Reynolds. 3B–Brian Knight. Time: 3:10. Attendance: 29,206. Weather: INDOORS

Game Notes

HOUSTON LEFT FIELDER CARLOS LEE LEFT THE GAME IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH INNING WITH AN UNDISCLOSED INJURY.

HOUSTON LEFT FIELDER CARLOS LEE LEFT THE GAME IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH INNING DUE TO CRAMPING IN HIS LEFT LEG.

HOUSTON PITCHER CHRIS SAMPSON LEFT THE GAME IN THE BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH INNING DUE TO RIGHT ARM FATIGUE.

Sharapova out of AEGON Classic

Maria Sharapova lost to #4 seed Na Li 6-4 6-4 in the semis of the AEGON Classic. The match lasted 1 hour and 29 minutes.

The match started with 5 games on serve. Maria was broken to go down 2-4. Na held serve for a 5-2 lead. Sharapova won the next 2 games, but then was broken to drop the set 6-4.

Sharapova won the first 2 games of the second set, but Li came back to win the next 4. The next 4 games they traded breaks resulting in a 6-4 win for Li. The win for Li was the first over Sharapova in 6 matches.

Maria will next play in Wimbledon.