You were saying something about a sweep? 
Three games; they were 72-63, the Mets were 75-60.
Note from today:
- The Rays lost a game they were practically gift wrapped, with Toronto blowing a 3-0 lead in the ninth and then giving them a run in extras, only to have Troy Percival absolutely implode and lose the game on a grand slam. The Rays are still in good position to make the playoffs but boy, they don’t wanna slump now.
Toronto still playing about .600 ball since Cito Gaston was named manager after being sub-.500 under John “I Pick Fights With My Own Players” Gibbons. Not a coincidence, although obviously Gaston wasn’t the one who hit the grand slam.
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Manny. 11th home run in his 34th game as a Dodger. He’s batting over .400 in blue. Wow. Also it’s his 521st homer, tying him with Ted Williams and Willie McCovey.
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Only five day games were scheduled today. Why do they schedule so many night games on a Saturday?
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I forgot to post this, but after winning 2 out of 3 at Yankee Stadium last week the Jays will finish their history at old Yankee Stadium with a .446 winning percentage (100-124, IIRC.) That doesn’t sound great but, believe it or not, that is the HIGHEST winning percentage by any visiting franchise in that stadium. I dunno if that says much about the Blue Jays but it sure says a lot about the Yankees.
I’ll be honest. The Diamondbacks were horrible the past two games.
We need to take the Sunday game and get on a winning streak.
Today was horrible. I didn’t even go to the D-backs bar today since we sucked from the first pitch.
Feed me the crow. We sucked and we deserved to lose.
We will still win the NL West and march on to the World Series.
I thought Boston was locked into the wildcard just a week or two ago - they were 6 back, had a bunch of injuries, but still the Yankees were worse.
Now things are looking up. The Rays appear to be feeling the pressure, Boston’s injured players are returning (and rested), the lead is down to 1.5, and the schedule favors the Sox.
Six games head to head will decide it. And yes, I am still feeling deeply disoriented over the concept of Tampa Bay not being buried in last place. If only their fan base cared.
It was sweet seeing Lowell get an HR in his first at bat back. But Beckett’s pitching was even sweeter. I’ve been resigned to the Wild Card but now I’m thinking that we’ll take the AL East.
My favorite moment of today’s Tigers/Twins game:
*Joe Mauer fouls off a fastball
Announcer: He’s playing with fire throwing right down the middle on Mauer.
Announcer2: Joe Mauer doesn’t miss that pitch once, let alone twice!
*Mauer strikes out on next pitch fastball
That Brandon Morrow almost no-no against the much despised Yankees was about the highlight of the season for this Mariners’ fan.
No need to wait. The Dodgers have taken the first two and are now in first place.
Then you should also know of a team that was 6 1/2 out – and in last place – on August 30th and still ended up in the World Series.
Meh, I think it says more about the stadium and visiting players freezing up because they’re standing on “holy ground”. And umpires making all the close calls in the Yankees’ favor in that stadium (the first time I noticed this was when the Yankees played the Braves in the WS, and that vaunted Braves pitching staff suddenly couldn’t throw strikes - or rather, they couldn’t get a strike called unless they put it right down the middle of the plate).
Now that is truly looking with Yankee hating goggles on. Those Braves pitchers were the beneficiaries of the widest strike zone in the majors at the time. I think this is a well acknowledged fact.
Ah, but I originally made the observation when I was still a relatively new baseball fan (I didn’t start following baseball until 1992), well before I started “hating” the Yankees. But in the years since, I’ve seen too many games against the Yankees where the strike zone has been fairly consistent through the entire game for both teams, and then the bottom of the 9th inning rolls around with the Yanks down by 2-3 runs. Their opponent’s normally-reliable, “Mr. Automatic”, strike-throwing closer enters the game and proceeds to walk as many Yankees hitters as it takes to get Jeter (and always Jeter, it seemed) to the plate to clear the bases. It was exactly that kind of thing that led to me “hating” the Yankees. I had no dog in the fight going into the Yankees/Braves WS, and in fact I was rooting for the Yankees simply because they were the AL team. I’d never seen the Atlanta pitchers in action before that WS, but I’d heard about how great they were. But watching them pitch in Yankee Stadium, I would have thought they were terrible if I’d never heard about them before and I was just going on what the umps were calling.
However, I’m not claiming deliberate favoritism or “cheating” on the part of the umpires. I’m talking about that “aura of mystique” (aka “hype” - the announcers for my own team are as guilty as anybody, with their constant remarks about “you never know what’s gonna happen in this stadium!” etc.) surrounding Yankee Stadium having a subtle, unconscious influence on both umpires and visiting players.
I call it “Ted Williams Syndrome”. There’s an old story about a rookie pitcher facing Williams and, and after “Ball 3” he got pissy with the umpire and asked what he had to do to get a strike called. The umpire replied, “When you throw a strike, Mr. Williams will let you know.” I just seemed to see the same thing an awful lot in the late '90s when it came to Yankees hitters in Yankee Stadium - if the pitch had been a strike the hitter would have swung at it, so it gets called a ball.
I know the Braves pitchers (and I’m definitely not a Braves fan) benefited from a wider strike zone; at the same time it was also widely acknowledged that the AL umpires called a ridiculously tight strike zone compared to their NL counterparts. I think that Yankees/Braves World Series may have highlighted the disparity and been a major factor in finally doing away with different umpires for each league and Selig’s demands for umpires to call the strike zone defined in the rules.
Nah. There’s way too much season left to get cocky right now. I may make a little noise if we get the sweep tomorrow, but it ain’t over tomorrow no matter what happens. And the Rockies are still making me nervous.
This, however, I have no problem pointing and laughing at.
I know it is probably to late, but at least the Red Sox got spanked today and the Yanks won this one in Seattle. I hate these late games!
That is one reason I’m so glad I live in Arizona. No late games. I get great weather and all games are over by 10ish my time!
Well, I’ve been quiet lately because the Cubs appeared to find their touch at losing titles that should already be won. But thankfully, they won yesterday (though they allowed 7 runs in the last two innings to make it interesting, which doesn’t say much about the depth of the bullpen), so maybe the tailspin is over. If we win in Cincy today, then I’ll feel like the ship is righted and sailing again. 
Three weeks to go, and the Dodgers sit atop the NL West riding an eight-game winning streak and having outscored their opponents 52-18 during the same stretch.
Oh, and only three of our remaining 18 games are against teams anywhere near .500. It’s a good day to be a Dodger fan.
I’m rooting for the Dodgers, if only to see Manny’s return to Fenway in the Series.
I’m going to the Jays series in Fenway this next weekend, but I’ve been lazy (distracted, swamped with work, etc.) and haven’t followd baseball much these last few weeks–can some AL East mavens fill me in on what I can expect? “Who’s hot, who not?” sort of thing? Major injuries? Sudden developments? New acquisitions? I’m researching it a bit on my own before I settle into my (damn good) seats, but I figured you guys might have some special insights. Thanks.
Beckett and Lowell just came of IR, and both did very well in their first games back. Pedroia is on fire, and Varitek seems to be picking up again. Drew is still out with a bad back. Jon Lester and Dice-K are pitching well for the Sox.