‘Cause two out of three ain’t bad.
Hey, what a duel last night between young right-hander Kevin Gausman and Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka. They went at it for eight scoreless innings and then the O’s won it 1-0 in the bottom of the 10th when Hyun Soo Kim got things started with an old-school Baltimore chop. The best part? Gausman’s dominating performance enabled us to take two out of three in the season-opening series from the Bronx Bombers. And like Meatloaf sang in 1977, that’s not bad. In fact, Gausman looked like he was channeling Jim Palmer circa 1977 last night. Maybe Earl, err Buck, is right about this kid.
Ravens draft first Navy QB since Roger Staubach.
Last week was pretty good for Keenan Reynolds. First, he and his teammates were at the White House getting presented with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy (which goes annually to the top military academy team) by President Obama, and then Saturday, he was drafted by the Ravens. Reynolds is the first Annapolis quarterback drafted since Staubach in 1965—not bad company—but he’ll get his shot at a pro career at wide receiver. It looks like he also has the Secretary of the Navy’s approval to play.
Mel Kiper gives the Ravens draft an “A.”
Kiper is a Baltimore native so maybe he’s got a hometown bias. But we don’t care because he’s also the original Draft Day swami. Basically, it looks like the Ravens filled a lot of holes, picking Notre Dame left tackle Ronnie Stanley in the first round and then grabbing a couple of pass rushers. Lot of folks, including Kiper, seem to think the Ravens may get lucky with fourth-round selection Kenneth Dixon, a speedy running back from Louisiana Tech, who posted huge numbers in college and could eventually takeover from Justin Forsett.
Everything in the college lacrosse world is happening right now.
The third-ranked Maryland Terrapins won the Big Ten regular season title after besting Johns Hopkins at Homewood April 30. They have since advanced to the Big Ten tourney championship—also at Homewood—this Saturday at 6 p.m. where they’ll face Rutgers. No. 11 ranked Towson, meanwhile, will take on Fairfield at Johnny Unitas Stadium, also Saturday, at 1 p.m.—setting up a great potential doubleheader for local lax fans. And, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Loyola has already won the Patriot League title, earning a bid to the NCAA tourney. One more thing, UMBC men’s coach Don Zimmerman announced he was stepping down after 23 years at the helm there. Kudos to Zimmerman on a great career—he entered the season 8th among active coaches in wins and 17th in all-time winning percentage.
