All of a sudden Oakland’s only one game out of first, too.
The playoff race is VERY close; in the NL there are seven teams, at least, fighting for two wild cards, and the Western Division is up for grabs.
A little drama tonight as Acuna is hit on the first pitch and leaves the game the next inning.
http://mlb.com/r/article?ymd=20180815&content_id=290497832&vkey=news_atl&c_id=atl
Last night Brock Holt pinch hit a homer on his first pitch, then left the game. That has to tie the single-game record for hitting efficiency, as measured by total bases per pitch seen.
Now, I’ve seen everything. ESPN just has a spilt screen with the Phillies/Boston game and the Little League Softball World Series!!
A-effing-men!
And not agreeing just because I’m a Cubs fan.
Urena deserves a lengthy suspension and fine.
Hitting Acuna was no accident, and on the elbow to boot - that could’ve put him out for the rest of the season. Jerk move.
Read one commentary today. He was saying that Urena should be suspended for the rest of the season.
Might be rather drastic. But, a message needs to be sent.
Baseball must not tolerate this type of behavior.
I would like to see a lengthy suspension and a huge fine.
This cheap shot should no longer be a part of baseball.
Imagine if it was a career ending injury. How tragic.
Urena should be suspended, but you can’t hand out a suspension completely out of line with precedent and the requirements of the Basic Agreement.
Don Mattingly, however, should be tossed for a month.
Suspended? For hitting a batter? I have no dog in this fight and I don’t know if there’s any history between these guys or these teams, but from I’ve read it looks like people think Urena hit Acuna just because he’s swinging a hot bat. To which I say, if there’s ever a valid reason to throw one high and tight, that’s it. Acuna’s a good, young hitter. I don’t take issue with backing him off the plate and if he gets hit, well that happens in baseball sometimes. I don’t think Urena was trying to hurt Acuna. He probably wanted to get one on the meat of his arm or in the back or maybe the hip, but it just happened to get him on the elbow.
You don’t typically throw a fastball with extra mustard on it though as a brushback pitch.
And, of course, there’s this guy who is manager of the Marlins who happens to be tied for the consecutive game home run streak.
And Urena gets a whopping six-game suspension, which might add up to missing one start. Plus an “undisclosed fine”.
Meantime, the Mets just stomped the Phillies 24-4, just days after getting walloped 25-4 by the Nationals. That combination has to be some sort of first.
Plus, Roman Quinn is an even lousier pitcher than Jose Reyes.
So hey, you guys with the pitchforks, we’re supposed to believe that Mattingly ordered Urena to go out and hit Acuna? Not buying it. Does Mattingly have any history of that? No. Get a grip.
It isn’t an Alex Jones Infowars stretch to think that one of the coholders of the consecutive game HR record may have suggested that it’s time to take Acuna down a notch.
At least. He either called it or condoned it.
To the first point, yes you do. It’s a pitch with meaning. When else would you throw your hardest fastball? To the second point, I didn’t realize that was a factor. But looks like Acuna was still 3 games away from tying Mattingly’s streak.
You appear to be under the misapprehension that this was just a “high and tight” fastball that got a little too high and tight. Bullshit. It was aimed intentionally to hit the batter. In general, that’s not done with your fastest heat, precisely because of the potential to injure.
In other news, the Texas Rangers accomplished something not done for over 100 years: A triple play that did not get the batter out!!
see: http://theweek.com/speedreads/790834/watch-texas-rangers-execute-incredibly-rare-triple-play
Why did they need to tag the final runner out? Was the 2nd base ump under the misapprehension that it was a caught fly rather than a ground ball?
It’s absurd. Was the plan to drill him every time he came up in order to preserve a record Mattingly already shares with two other guys?
As a Yankees fan I’ll admit I’m biased towards Donny Baseball, but he’s been managing for quite awhile and he has no history of inciting punitive beanballs.
So you think Urena’s goal was to injure Acuna? I don’t buy that. Maybe he meant to hit him. Maybe. But the elbow is not something you aim for. That pitch, if intentionally thrown that far inside, was meant for Acuna’s backside. And for me, my HBP fastball and my brushback fastball are the same speed. Granted, I never got it up to 97, but the point of the pitch is “don’t get too comfortable up there.”