MLB: September 2021

Already a week into September and I forgot to start a new thread.

Some interesting playoff battles along with a bunch of teams playing out the season after trading away everyone.

Keeping my eye on the NL West and the Yankees are 2-8?

If you’d asked me a week ago if the Blue Jays still had any chance I’d have said “Yeah right, as if. Only if they sweep the A’s AND the Yankees.”

Well, they did. How about that.

We’re watching football at my local sports bar but the bartender had a tv on the Jays/Yanks. We can’t believe it either

Its awesome that the Jays might be the ones to knock the Yankees out of the playoffs. The Yanks are far too one dimensional and they dont look likely to change.

Well, the Yankees have an excellent chance to rebound since they’re playing the Mets.

Just score a couple of runs a game and you’ve got an excellent chance for a sweep of the series.

Right now five teams are within 3 games of each other in the AL wild-card chase. Three from the East and two from the West. There will be some epic games in the next 3 weeks.

Given New York’s inherent hitting talent I keep expecting them to stop sucking at hitting. This roster shouldn’t be bottom third in the league in offense, and yet they are.

the blue Jays have a weak schedule, but the Yankees schedule isn’t exact;y a trip through hell either; they get to play Baltimore three times, the horrific Rangers thrice, effectively offsetting Toronto’s seven games against Baltimore.

Boston’s schedule is weak, too. They play the Orioles six times - God, the Orioles may miss 50 wins again - and also have a season ending set against Washington.

Toronto’s winning streak ended at 8 games tonight. They lost to the Orioles.

Go figure, huh?

In fact, the Orioles were the only AL East team that won last last.

And Seattle and Oakland both won last night. They are tied with each other, a half-game behind Toronto, a game behind the Yanks for the second WC, and 2 games behind Boston for the first WC.

Meanwhile, the NL East, which I thought would be fun, has turned out to be a snooze. Guess the Braves will win it, because someone has to, but I don’t see them doing anything in the playoffs.

In the four-game series against the Yankees, the Blue Jays did something that hasn’t been done to them since 1924: They denied the Yankees a lead at any point in any game in a four-game series.

The Brewers’ Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader combined to throw a no-hitter against the Indians tonight – it’s the 9th no-hitter of the season, breaking the previous record, which was set in 1884.

It was only the second no-hitter in Brewers history; the other was thrown by Juan Nieves in 1987. Plus, it was the third time this season that the Indians have been no-hit, which is also a new record.

Combined no-hitters shouldn’t count as anything. Pitchers toss scoreless innings all the time. So what? The only ‘stat’ with less meaning are streaks.

Not to mention the Indians were also no-hit in a 7 inning game as part of a double header. That one doesn’t count as a no-hitter.

Burnes threw eight innings and was sailing. Pulling him was bullshit.

Well, the Blue Jays had a hell of a day yesterday. In the doubleheader against Baltimore:

GAME 1: The Orioles just blew Hyun-Jin Ryu out of there are were leading 10-5. Every time they got a lead Toronto would score a few to get back in it and then Baltimore would score more. It looked very over, and then in the seventh inning the Jays played two runs to make it 10-9, got down to two outs, and George Springer hit a two run homer to make it 11-10, which was the final score.

GAME 2: Orioles rookie Keegan Akin was absolutely smoking them, a no hitter through six and the O’s led 1-0. And then in the top of the seventh:

Guerrero: Single
Bichette: Home run (23rd) 2-1 Toronto
Hernandez: Single
Kirk: Home run (8th) 4-1 Toronto
Gurriel: Single
(Dyson runs for Gurriel)
Grichuk: Single, Dyson to third
Valera: Sac fly, Dyson scores, 5-1 Toronto
Springer: Single, Grichuk to third
Semien: Home run (39th) 8-1 Toronto
Guerrero: Single
Bichette Single, Guerrero to second
Hernandez: Home run (26th) 11-1 Toronto

Yeesh.

Toronto hit four homers in both games, the first time since 1979 a team had hit four or more homers in each game of a doubleheader. It was also (to my surprise) the first time in MLB history a team hit a go ahead homer in the last inning of both games of a doubleheader.

Max Scherzer gets his 3000th strikeout and is working on a perfect game through 6 against the Padres. This guy is good!

1130 PM and the Yankees/Mets are only in the 7th. They must have milked the 9/11 tributes for every last cent.

The older I get, the less performative virtuousness impresses me.

I’d crow about the Jays scoring 22 today but honestly nothing done against Baltimore is exactly against MLB opposition. I think the Orioles got all their pitchers from Four Seasons Total Baseball.

wow 22-7 … by that point every one including the bat boy and ball girl gets a hit eh?