Bit of trivia: I forgot my girlfriend actually knows Mike Shildt. She told me back when he was an interim manager…and only recalled yesterday when we were talking about his shit talking the Braves (Also…her team). I asked her to text him right there and then, and ask him “What his ****ing problem is and why he’s trying to get Dexter Fowler beaned with the first pitch next May 18th.”
She declined.
Wow. Quite a catch by Zimmerman to preserve the no-hitter, and also save a probable double.
I always felt that Kershaw’s post-season narrative was kind of blown out of proportion. Clearly not as effective in post-season as during the regular, but that’s true of some hall of fame players. Kershaw has pitched well in some big postseason games, but people will always remember his failures because he’s usually been the guy who’s been asked to go out and save their season.
All of that being said, his game 5 meltdown is going to be hard to live down. Not just one homer, but two. Back to back. Two consecutive swings. I admire his ability to stand up and face the inevitable questions with integrity. And who knows, he may get another chance at some point. Hope so.
As a long-time Cards fan, I don’t know why, but I just have this weird feeling that the Nats are going to own us this time around and there’s not gonna be any 10th-inning magic to spare us.
I just get the sense that it’s their time. The Nats have had actually a solid organization for the past 6 or 7 years now; they’ve just for whatever reason been unable to achieve a breakthrough. But Sanchez was on last night. Scherzer’s a stud. Strass is also a stud, and kudos to the Nats for finding a way to keep him with their organization for as long as they have and not giving him away, which might have been tempting when he was struggling with injuries.
Both the Kershaw narrative and the narrative that you don’t give Joe Kelly any rope beyond a single baserunner was already real…and Roberts got burnt on both
Insane
The Nats are real.
Insane.
Yeah, I’m a long time Nats fan and I’m embarrassed to admit that I bailed on them early in the season because I’ve had my heart broke so many times. But they are playing no-doubter, we belong in the World Series baseball. They’re bullpen is still wobbly, but my god the starting pitching is insane. And how great is it to see Ryan Zimmerman contributing in what may be his last days as a Nat?
The Nats to me represent the epitome of addition by subtraction. They got rid of the (no doubt really good hitter, above average fielder but total clubhouse poison) Harper and suddenly they’re rock solid in the playoffs - while the Phillies sit home watching it on tv.
Tanaka was brilliant tonight, should have gotten a chance at the complete game. Thanks baseball gods for making the Sunday start at 7, that means I should be able to stay up and watch it. Maybe if they played the World Series at an earlier hour, school kids might be able to stay up for it and grow up to be baseball fans.
I don’t know if Harp was necessarily clubhouse poison, but it’s clear that he was too much personality for one team, and there’s no way he’s worth the money he wanted to be paid. The lesson for baseball teams going forward is, take a look at Harper’s contract, take a look at Pujols’ contract: what have those teams gotten in return for that “investment.” Nothing. Hell the Angels have since added arguably the best baseball player alive, and they still can’t make it to the playoffs.
MLB is listing tonight’s games as 8:08pm EDT on FS1. Not sure where you saw 7pm. Different time zone maybe?
Tanaka looked great. He easily could have started the 7th, but no need. The bullpen just had 4 days off. That is baseball today.
Yanks had to beat Greinke as beating Verlander on normal rest at home is going to be very tough. Of course if the Yanks steal tonight’s game, goodbye Astros.
Last night got Tanaka down to a 1.32 ERA in 7 postseason games and 41 innings. He has been so much better postseason than regular season.
Time to cue up a revival of Damn Yankees? Calling Mr. Applegate…
Can’t remember what the Astros gave up to get Greinke but I hope it wasn’t much…
July 31, 2019: Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks with cash to the Houston Astros for Seth Beer (minors),J.B. Bukauskas (minors), Corbin Martin and Josh Rojas.
So do you think he was worth it?
Probably too soon to tell but I know I didn’t want the Yanks to give up much for Greinke if they traded for him. I wanted a post-season pitcher not just a good innings eater.
Myself I was hoping to get a pitcher that would be good for the post season AND the next year. You know, like Verlander or Cole. Well hey, a girl can dream, no? Anyway we got Greinke and it looks to me so far that he’s good for nothing.
Crap. You’re right. I don’t know where I got the 7pm, but I’m in the ETZ and it’s 8pm for me. Why can’t baseball learn from the NFL and play its postseason games when first shift ET workers and schoolkids can watch it? Way to not entice the fans of tomorrow into loving the sport.
Yeah the bullpen probably needed some work, so I don’t mind that much that Tanaka was deprived of a shutout opportunity, but still. Managers are compulsive overmanagers in today’s game, particularly in the postseason.
Tampa forced Greinke into being the game one starter, but it doesn’t mean much. If the series goes seven games, Verlander and Cole can both pitch twice on regular rest. Advantage: Houston.
Yanks need to beat either Verlander or Cole (or more likely the bullpen late in the game) once and win everything else. It is quite possible. Beating Greinke at Houston was a great start to this.