Weekend Wake Up: More Near Perfection, Lee Rocked, LeBron Updates

Wood’s Splintered Perfecto. Eight innings of step-up-and-sit-down pitching from Reds rookie Travis Wood, and the baseball world was buzzing about what might have been the season’s third perfect game. Then Carlos Ruiz’ leadoff double ruined Wood’s perfect game and no-hitter in one swing, and, with no offense to speak of behind him, Wood’s nine shutout innings would go for naught. Roy Halladay kept the Phillies in it by matching Wood’s zeroes in the run column, and Ruiz scored in the 11th on a Jimmy Rollins single, giving the Phillies a 1-0 win, their third straight in walk-off fashion.

Cliff’s Rocky Rangers Debut. Cliff Lee went nine innings on Saturday, too. He just gave up six runs to the lowly Orioles while doing so, and lost in his first appearance in a Rangers uniform. It’s not, however, Lee’s worst night of the season—that would be May 21, when he allowed seven earned in 6 1/3 innings to the anemic Padres—and he did manage not to walk a batter, pushing his K/BB ratio back above 15:1. He will probably be fine.

LeBronathon Nearing End. We are, as a society, racing towards a point in our existence where all citizens will be required to have an opinion on or new detail about LeBron James. Cleveland residents can tell us more about his massive mural being dismantled. Steve Nash praised the Heat’s “incredibly explosive talent” but cautioned that titles are won by “intelligent teams that play together.” Buzz Bissinger continued his week-long gambit for attention tirade. And LeBron’s now been obliquely compared to Sarah Palin. I cannot wait to hear Lindsay Lohan’s thoughts on how LeBron and Chris Bosh will run the pick and roll.

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