OK, so it wasn’t a sweep for a change, but the Giants will be happy with 2 out of 3 from here on out…
So the Astros are now up to 16 road wins and 44 overall; just need 2 road wins to avoid making history. Also won a series on the road against Cincinatti, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was their first road series win all year.
While the Nats were losing 2 of 3 to the Marlins at home, the Braves went to NY and swept 3 from the Mets, picking up 2 games. They’re now 5.5 back. It’s getting late, but it’s not so late that the Nats can start phoning it in.
Yeah, the Nats really had a lack of hustle this weekend. They’d cut to shots of Werth and Morse yukking it up and I was like “uh guys? the score is 6-0.”
Orioles are again behind the Yankees, and are only 1 game up on the Rays. This week’s Baltimore/Tampa series is big for both teams, and i’ll be rooting for Boston to rein in the Yankees.
Can’t terribly blame them - it’s a long season, and you can’t hustle all the time. When you’re down 6-0 in a game when you’ve got a 6.5-game lead is about as good a time as any to chill out as you’re going to get.
At any rate, they beat the Mets tonight behind another excellent outing by Gio, and the Braves just lost to the Brewers, so we’re up by 6.5 again.
I don’t think so. With tonight’s win, they’ve won something like 16 out of their last 21, which is a pretty decent hot streak. The problem is, they’d need to win 16 out of their next 21 as well to get to 86-76. And even with the way nobody’s exactly stepping up and trying to grab that second wildcard slot, I think they’ll need 86-87 wins to have a decent shot. Maybe an outside chance with 85 wins.
The Phillies, who’ve had a similar resurrection from ~10 games under in the past few weeks, are in the same situation, same record even.
How great is Suzuki? He’s just fun to watch.
Who?
Kurt Suzuki Kurt Suzuki - Wikipedia
RTFirefly-I VEHEMENTLY disagree about hustling! While it’s obviously unrealistic to go 162-0, players have an OBLIGATION to try! Hustling is the ONLY thing that doesn’t “slump”.
It’s a freaking game. They aren’t allowed to joke and laugh just because they’re losing? Is there some evidence that enjoying yourself is antithetical to trying to win?
Hustling all the time is a good way of getting hurt.
This is clearly not true. The fact that some players seem to lose a bit of energy and “hustle” over the course of a very long and tiring season suggests that hustle can, in fact, slump. And you’re messing up your cliches; it’s speed that doesn’t slump.
Also, as Acsenray suggested, the fact that they’re joking around a bit between plays, and enjoying themselves, doesn’t mean that they aren’t trying.
How do you hustle when you’re in the dugout anyway?
And if the losing team doesn’t enjoy playing, then what’s the point of a game?
Acsenray is right about 1 thing: They don’t say,“Work ball!”
I could probably put up with something i didn’t enjoy very much if someone were willing to pay me the MLB average salary to do it. Hell, i’d do something i didn’t like for MLB minimum. 
My point was just that the Nats seemed to cave pretty early on Sunday. Somehow they just can’t beat the Marlins.
Baseball’s tricky that way. You’ve got to be ready, but you’ve got to be relaxed. No way you can be a good hitter in the majors if you’re also the kind of guy who can’t joke when his team’s behind 6-0. Stay mentally focused, but stay loose.
Well, the Marlins killed their pitching all weekend, and on Sunday the Marlins pitcher seemed to have their number. What can you do? Some days are going to be like that.
FWIW, they’re 9-9 against the Marlins for the season. They can beat 'em, just not nearly as often as they should, given that the Nats are 24 games ahead of the Marlins.
But that also happens - generally no matter how good a team is, there will be some team, or some pitcher, that seemingly has its number. Just as well that that team isn’t one we’ll see in the playoffs.