Fucking Fox. Thor decided to throw behind Utley and got tossed. So now the Fox announcers are all bad-mouthing Utley and whining about all the fans who paid to see Thor pitch and now aren’t going to get to. Boo-hoo, fuckers. He knew what he was doing and deserved to get tossed out on his ass, as did Collins. And this after spending the entire previous half-inning ignoring the Dodgers’ at-bats so they could blow Dwight Gooden in the booth.
Wow. Meanwhile, intentionally plunking a Blue Jay doesn’t even warrant a warning. :dubious:
Utley made them pay, big time. Two homers, one of them a slam.
Amazing comeback by the Royals against the White Sox today. They scored 7 in the bottom of the 9th to win the game 8-7.
A game can turn on incredibly small things. Early in the inning, with the bases loaded and one out, a hit comes back up the middle to the pitcher. If the pitcher fields the ball, it’s an easy double play and the game is over. If the pitcher misses the ball altogether, it’s an easy 4-6-3 double play and the game is over. Instead, the ball deflects off the pitcher’s glove and into the outfield. Two runs score, the inning continues, and the Royals go on to win the game.
Rumor has it that the ChiSox are looking at trading for James Shields of the Padres. The Mets may also be interested. But the Sox match up better, prospect-wise.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-trade-rumors-white-sox-213400328.html;_ylt=A0LEVrwvcEpXyHgA4QJEDN04
One of my favourite factoids is that MLB has been running that Beat The Streak game for years and no one has ever gotten to 56. In fact, no one has ever gotten to 50.
Think about that; thousands upon thousands of fans get to pick any hitter they want every day. You can, and most do, pick the very best hitters plying against the very most pathetic pitchers, every night. Over and over, the equivalent of thousands of man-years of hitting, choosing only batters unusually likely to get a base hit, and no one can get to 56. It make the DiMaggio streak all the more amazing.
Here’s something you don’t see every day: today’s Mariners-Twins game ends on a rundown double play.
Another ejection for intentionally throwing at the batter.
Reds pitcher Simon was at the plate when Holt attempted to score on what almost certainly would have been a successful suicide squeeze. Brewers pitcher Anderson may (or may not) have been alert enough to nail Simon in the ribs, sending the runner back to third. When Anderson came up next time, Simon went head-hunting.
One of the Reds announcers must be a poster on the SDMB: “You can connect the dots, but we don’t KNOW that it was intentional.” Yeah, right.
The Reds scored the winning run on an overturned “in the neighborhood” double play. Interesting game.
Yeah, and suddenly the hot Mariners can’t beat the lowly Twins :mad:
Doesn’t help that their SS and CF are on the 15-DL at the same time.
I agree with the terrible Gooden interview but there is no way Syndegard should have gotten tossed for throwing behind Utley. Maybe if he’d hit him but you’ll never convince me that intentionally missing someone is worth getting tossed the first time. That being said watching Utley hit three home runs in two games has been a blast and I’m sure the Mets fans hate him more now.
Throwing behind the batter is an attempt to hit him. The usual direction to move on what appears to be a very inside pitch is to move backward, right into the pitch thrown behind.
And Kershaw becomes the first pitcher to throw 100 Ks with only 5 walks.
WTF, Mariners? The Twins? The Twins?!
He’s actually at 105 K, 5 BB. I would not have thought this possible.
There is an argument to be made that Kershaw right now is pitching, in a physical sense, as well as a human being can pitch. The only way he could be a better pitcher in terms of value is if he could somehow pitch more innings. (He leads the league in innings, of course.)
I felt bad for Kershaw last night; pitch 7 2/3 and then get pulled only to have the relief lose you the decision. If he’d been allow to go his usual 8-9 he might have been able to get the W.
Had a great experience yesterday watching the Red Sox / Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre (thanks to RickJay for some gameday advice). Great stadium, great home fans and even some free baseball as the Sox won in 11. Only problem was no Big Papi! And seriously, great fans in Toronto. Sox fans make up close to half the attendees at away games but not here.
Incidentally, should Big Papi really retire? A guy like Jeter, he was done so it made sense. I’m sure Ortiz will cool off, but .339/.420/.720 is nuts! 23 doubles! Going out on top is a silly idea…play until they make you stop.
You know, last year when it took two full months for Papi to get going, I thought he might be close to done. This is his best start in a long time. I think the retirement announcement has him playing relaxed. I’m OK if he hangs 'em up.
The only person who knows when to stop is David Ortiz. Some players play until they suck, and some don’t. Maybe he’s tired of being on the road more than half the year. Maybe he wants his last season to be a great one and doesn’t want the embarrassment of playing badly. Maybe he’s just sick and tired of being sore all the time. It’s his choice.
What I’ll never understand is why Minnesota released him. They had this young guy who batted .272 with 20 homers, with a long track record of developing as a hitter, and said “well, we certainly can’t have anyone like this around.” According to the stories it was money, but it was a piddling amount even for the Twins, a raise from a million to a million and a half. They could have accepted the arbitration award and traded him the day after. It had to be one of the worst outright releases of a major league player in the history of baseball.
No shit, Sherlock.