Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
The names Hal McCoy and Ernie Harwell.
Both were honored at ballparks on Wednesday, and their absence from the game will be felt by fans in Cincinnati and Detroit.
Harwell, the long-time Tigers radio announcer, has inoperable, terminal cancer. So the team chose Wednesday night to honor him at Comerica Park, and after a video tribute in the third inning, he thanked the fans:
"In my almost 92 years on this earth, the good Lord has blessed me with a great journey, and the blessed part of that journey is it's going to end here in the great state of Michigan.About 250 miles southwest, at Great American Ball Park, it was Hal McCoy Night.
"I deeply appreciate the great people of Michigan. I love their grit. I love the way they face life. I love the family values they have. And you Tiger fans are the greatest fans of all. No question about that.
"And I certainly want to thank you from the depth of my heart, for your devotion, your support, your loyalty and your love. Thank you very much and God bless you."
Like Harwell, McCoy is in a wing of the Hall of Fame -- writers' instead of broadcasters'. McCoy has been the Reds beat writer for the Dayton Daily News for 37 years, but he is retiring after the season, another victim of the newspaper industry's short-sighted cutbacks.
In a nice touch, the Reds arranged for the Astros' Aaron Boone to catch McCoy's ceremonial first pitch. It was Boone, who when he was with the Reds, talked McCoy out of retiring after a stroke in his left eye damaged his vision.
McCoy stuck with it, and his writing and reporting didn't miss a beat.
There are no men in baseball classier than Hal McCoy and Ernie Harwell. So they will be missed.
From the Trainer's Room ... Chan Ho Park, who has a 2.52 ERA in his 38 relief appearances for the Phillies, might be out for a while. Park left Wednesday's game with a strained left hamstring and said afterward he felt it "pop." It's another blow to the scrambled Philadelphia bullpen.
Numbers Game ...
The Rangers, who got just one hit Wednesday, have been shut out in three of their past four games -- scoring a grand total of one run. That's the franchise's worst four-game output since it moved from Washington to Texas. The last time any team scored one run over four games was in June 2007, when the Braves were shut in out three straight games, managed a run and then got shut out again.
In Their Own Words ...
"There's that feeling you can always do it because we've done it so many times. When guys have confidence, they are different players. When you have success in situations, you learn how to relax in those situations." -- Yankees manager Joe Girardi, whose team got its 14th walk-off win of the year, the franchise's most since 1943
Advance Scouting ...
Zack Greinke could use a win for his Cy Young Award campaign (not that wins are the be-all and end-all, but they certainly help). Edwin Jackson needs to get on track by the time the playoffs start. The two right-handers square off today in Detroit (1:05 PM ET). Greinke leads the AL in ERA, WHIP, shutouts and fewest homers per nine innings, but in three of his past six starts he has allowed zero or one earned run and gotten a no decision. Jackson, meanwhile, has a 5.31 ERA over his past seven starts after starting out 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA.
