Have no clue what else it COULD be.
I guess with all the football on, people aren’t paying as much attention to the baseball today.
The Orioles dropped the first two games of the series to the Rays, and looked like they might get swept. Down 4-2 going into the ninth, they scored three to take the lead. The Rays tied it in the bottom of the ninth, but Nelson Cruz hit a two-run homer to put the Birds back in front in the 11th, and Miller got the save.
Cruz, who has been awesome for Baltimore this year, had a huge day. He went 4-5 with two home runs, and batted in all seven Baltimore runs.
The game ended in a rather funny way. The Rays had a man on and the tying run at the plate. There was a two-strike count, and the batter swung at the next pitch, which got away from catcher Hundley and went to the backstop. Batter ran for first base, and Hundley, instead of chasing the ball, began arguing with the home-plate umpire. While all this was happening the other runner came all the way around from second to score.
It looked like it was going to be a 7-6 scoreline, with a runner on base, but the umpires conferred and ruled that the pitch hit the batter. Because he had swung at the pitch, they called it strike three and dead ball, and the game was over.
The Rangers stated that it was not:
So maybe alcohol-related? Or a mental illness, depression maybe? The team has been pretty bad.
That would be a little too cute, denying it being drug related if it was alcohol.
Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go with depression then.
Adrian Gonzalez had a very good day against the D-backs today at home. Cahill was pitching a no-hitter into the 6th inning and then let it go spectacularly, letting men get aboard, then leaving a ball out in the sweet spot for Gonzalez to take out of the park. Then Agon did it again in the 7th, picking up 6 RBIs for the day. Kemp homered as well, and both Mattingly and Kershaw of all people got tossed after Ethier got hit by a pitch and the idiot behind the plate warned both benches.
Here’s wishing the D-backs the best of luck for the rest of the season. I hope they win every game they have left!
And with a win over the A’s, the Astros guarantee that they won’t lose 100 games this year. Baby steps.
I was hoping that the A’s would win the West this year, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.’
I always think it’s interesting, as we get towards the end of the regular season, to see which teams have benefited from luck in terms of their win count versus their win expectancy (based on runs scored and conceded).
And in this category, the Athletics are the big losers in the AL this year. Given the number of runs they’ve scored and conceded, they should be at 88-54 (8 full games over their current record), and should be leading the division by about 4 games. Seattle has also fallen short of their pythagorean expectation, and should be about 6 games better than their current record. The Angels, on the other hand, are about 3 games ahead of where they should be. Based on all of these performances, the Wild Card race should be over, with both WCs coming from the West. That could still happen, of course, but Detroit is still well in the race, and Cleveland, the Yankees, and even the Blue Jays have a shot.
Those three AL West teams are also the only teams in the American League with a +/- of more than 100 runs (+104 for Seattle; +124 for Anaheim; and a whopping +153 for Oakland). The Nationals are the only NL team in this category, with a run differential of +106, and should be leading the East by even more than their current 7 games.
In the NL, the Cardinals have been luckiest in their pythagorean record. They sit about 7 games over expectations, which more than accounts for their division lead. The division is incredibly close, and even the Reds, who are 12 wins behind the Cards, have only scored 16 fewer runs than St. Louis, and have conceded 3 fewer.
The Royals are about 5 games over expectations in the AL Central, and should probably be just behind the Tigers, but there’s not too much in it anyway.
None of the other divisions have been too dramatically affected by this. Baltimore has comfortably the best +/- in the AL East, and even though the Orioles are a bit ahead of expectations, they would still have about a 7-game lead after adjustment. Really interesting is the NL West, where the Dodgers and Giants are almost identical in their runs records. The Giants have scored 6 more runs than LA, and have given up 5 more. The Dodgers are currently 2.5 up.
And you believe him WHY exactly?
Because I’m not a crackhead?
It could be anything. Perhaps his marriage is falling apart and all the traveling required in his job is making it worse. Maybe he has a child diagnosed with a terminal illness. He might have woken up one morning and realized that if he had to watch Colby Lewis blow one more lead he might just kill himself. Who knows?
If it’s drugs, then it’s Washington’s secret. There is no way the Ranger front office is going to call a press conference and lie for him.
Nats are 7 games up on the Braves and start a three game homestand against Atlanta tonight. The Nats have a chance to close the door on the Braves, but they have to get over their weird baggage with Atlanta. I’m going tonight and on Wednesday.
My first Dodger game in almost two months — I picked a good one. The way the Dodger offense has been flagging, I expected they were going to get no-hit after the 5th. Glad to be proven wrong.
The Mattingly/Kershaw ejections were bizzare. I like seeing Kershaw fired up, though.
They didn’t give a reason. So they didn’t lie. If Washington didn’t have a history of cocaine use, I’d agree with you. Except, well, Washington DOES have a history of drug use.
Nonsense. Why are you completely ignoring the fact that the Rangers’ official statement explicitly denied that it was not drug use? If it was a relapse, they absolutely would be lying. What twist of logic are you using that it wouldn’t be?
Add to it: they are taking Washington’s word for it! What wou possesses them to believe a word that comes out of his mouth WRT whether he’s a drug user?!
The fact they hired him knowing he’s a known recovering addict? And that that particular known recovering addict took them to two consecutive World Series? I think that’s certainly earned him a tiny amount of respect within the organization, don’t you?
What would the Rangers possibly have to loss if it was a relapse? Hell, what would *Washington *have to *gain *by lying about it?
What does Washington have to gain? Seriously! He’s a MLB manager! He doesn’t want to burn bridges.
Logical explanation: The Rangers know why Washington felt he had to step down. They respected his wishes and kept the reason private. The Ranger front office knew that if they weren’t specific, the media would speculate that Washington had either failed a drug test and/or had voluntarily admitted a relapse. With that in mind, they asked Washington’s permission to specifically exclude a relapse being the reason, and he granted it.
So Washington gave them permission to lie on his behalf? Sorry, it’s a drug relapse until proven otherwise. Washington lost the benefit of the doubt when admitting prior drug use.