Cubs swept Milwaukee in both games of a doubleheader to move within 7 of the Brewers.
Astros were in Detroit, score was 0-0, bottom of the 10th. Bases loaded, 2 outs.
And they walk the batter.
Yankees are on a bit of a roll. Tonight after a 2 hour rain delay they hit 9 home runs. Ten in a game is the record.
No team has ever hit nine home runs in a game twice, and the Yankees have now done it twice this season. Every year baseball has some oddball statistical quirk. The biggest surprise is Caballero hitting two of them (he now has 17 for his career.)
Yanks are still 5 games behind the Jays in the East, but they now lead the crowded AL wild-card race. They are a game ahead of the BoSox and the Mariners, who are tied for the 2nd and 3rd wild card spots.
Based off of current winning percentages the Yankees have the easiest schedule in the AL to close out the season. I heard two NL teams have it easier but I don’t know who they are. It’s still wide open in most divisions.
Where did you get this info? It’s close, but not quite what I just discovered.
According to this site, the Yanks remaining SOS is .480, as is that of the Astros.
There are 3 NL teams with easier SOS: Padres at .463, Cubs at .467, and the Dodgers at .471.
It was mentioned on the broadcast last night. Yesterday’s results may have changed things.
You are undoubtedly correct, as that website appears to be up-to-the-minute.
Yankees easy SOS is massively bolstered by the fact that they still play 7 games against the White Sox. 7 out of the remaining 37.
The White Sox are impressively improved from last year. In fact, if they can play .500 ball for the rest of the year, they will avoid 100 losses. That will be an improvement of at least 21 games over last season. Considering that they went 5-21 in April of this year, they’ve played much better to get where they are at the present. The fact that they blew a 10-4 lead last night, however, shows that there are holes that need to be filled.
So it turns out that the Cubs Kyle Tucker has been playing with a hairline fracture in his right hand. He was diagnosed in June, and there’s no doubt that it’s been at least partially responsible for his slump (he’s hitting .189 with 4 extra base hits since July, with an alarming 54% groundball rate since then).
Weird Yankee/Rays game tonight. 5 more home runs for the Yankees. Rookie Cam Schlittler throws 6 perfect innings. The Yankees closing woes continue with Bernar blowing the save and the Rays tying it up in the 9th. Stanton hits a pinch hit home run in the top of the 10th and Wells goes back to back. Then Williams comes in to get the save and give Yankee fans a heart attack. The ghost runner gets knocked in and there were runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. He then struck out the next three.
Now comes a very important series with the Red Sox. It always seems to come down to an important series with the Red Sox
Devin Williams exists to ensure I lose my goddamn mind watching this team. A single and then a double, second and third, nobody out. A mere single ties the game. Unngghh.
To make matters worse, Bednar came within a couple of feet of giving up a walk-off homer.
Schlittler looked great, though. He has the tools to stick around in the rotation for a long time. Physically, he reminds me of Tyler Glasnow.
To someone hitting .148! He only has 14 games in the majors but has been in the minors for 7 years. 0 major league home runs and only 55 in 7 years of the minors at all levels. And that’s the guy you let hit one off the wall with 2 outs in the 9th.
And the first team statistically eliminated from the playoffs are……..
the Colorado Rockies. I’m sure everyone is as shocked as I am. /s
In an effort to cure their bullpen woes, the Astros have signed Craig Kimbrel to a major league deal. Kimbrel will be pitching for the 9th team in his career.
Side note: I may have to start using him as much as I do Bartolo Colon in Immaculate Grid.
I am willing to bet this is the first time a game has started this way:
Tonight’s Nats-Phils game. First Nats hitter reaches first and the pitcher tries to pick him off. Runner called safe, but the call is overturned, and he’s out.
Second Nats hitter reaches first and the pitcher tries to pick him off. Runner called out, but the call is overturned, and he’s safe.
Interesting footnote to the Dodgers/Padres game tonight. Yu Darvish, who used to pitch for the Dodgers, is starting for the Padres. Blake Snell, who used to pitch for the Padres, is starting for the Dodgers. I’m guessing that has happened numerous times before, but it’s still notable.
Gotta give the guy credit. He’s been doing his thing in AAA for Texas the past few months, hoping for a call-up that never came. When you’ve grossed $136 million in MLB, you surely aren’t doing it for the money.
So far so good.