2010 MLB Season

[papsrus]

Phillies are looking tough in the stretch, J.H.... I'm starting to think they're going to rack up NL championship #3 in a row. The NL postseason is going to be really interesting this year.

Papsrus, does this feel like a playoff series or what? And we play each other five more times before the playoffs even start! Another incredible game tonight... I really don't think NY could've taken another epic loss on this road trip from hell. After Nova's meltdown in the 5th (not sure why Joe G left him in so long, unless he was trying to let Nova go 5 for the decision...damn near cost us the game, though!), the bullpen really came through (save for Logan's giving up the HR to Aybar, of course), aided by those incredible plays by Granderson and Golson in the 9th and 10th.

Man, you should've seen the thread at Pinstripe Alley in the bottom of the 5th, though. Talk about misery! At least we've avoided a sweep, and Pettitte's back on Sunday to face Baltimore. In the meantime, tomorrow night should be a hell of a rubber match, unless you guys knock Phil Hughes around (a distinct possibility, unfortunately--from my POV, of course ).

EDIT: not the rubber match tonight...I forgot that NY's playing TB again tomorrow night as well.

Yeah, another frenzied finish. And Granderson's catch in CF. Wow!

Garza got knocked around pretty good for the second straight game. Shields hasn't exactly been lights out lately either, I don't think.

It's funny when you look at these series and size up the pitching match-ups you figure, CC's probably going to win the opener, Garza will give the Rays a good chance going against Nova. ... Doesn't always quite work out.

[ghost of miles]

I goofed--it is indeed the rubber match tonight. (Then NY & TB go at it again 4 times next week in NY.) Listening on the radio, I had the proverbial panic attack when Longoria hit that one to deep center off Mo in the bottom of the 10th...sounded for a moment like it might be yet another walkoff loss. Batters have been hitting Mo pretty well his last couple of times out. I think the Rays still have the edge in the season matchup so far, 7-6, which could end up mattering if there's a tie in the overall W-L category. Though some Yankee fans at Pinstripe Alley are now saying they wouldn't mind the wild-card, because NY would face Minnesota in the first round instead of a 5-game series with Texas (and Cliff Lee twice in 5 games).

Edited September 15, 2010 by ghost of miles

[Chalupa]

Nice win for the Yanks tonight as they finally break the eight-day-long tie with the Rays for first (longest such tie this late in the season ever, according to Elias Sports Bureau); however, another mediocre start from Phil Hughes. Despite his impressive 16-6 W-L record, he's becoming a real point of vulnerability in the rotation. Second night in a row that we had very shaky starters and very good long relief... will Javy be given a start again? He seems to have regained some of his zip in his last two bullpen outings; I suppose a lot rides on how A.J. and Moseley do in their next respective turns. Hell of a time for NY to still be sussing out their starting staff, though. Evidently the Yanks won a waiver claim on Ted Lilly, but the Dodgers then pulled Lilly back.

On another note regarding thwarted Yankee acquisitions, what is going on with Cliff Lee? Another bad start tonight for Texas; he went into the game 2-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 outings for the Rangers, and proceeded to give up 10 hits and 4 ER in 4 2/3 IP. He'll probably regain his form just in time for the playoffs and NY, but man, quite a rough stretch he's had since coming to Arlington.

I seem to remember him doing something similar last season with the Phillies. I think he won his first 3 or 4 games then lost 4 in a row. He won the last 2 or 3 regular season games and was un-hittable in the post season. Not time to hit the panic button yet.

Check it out...

Cliff Lee from Aug. 1 to Aug. 31, '10: 7 GS, 45.1 IP, 6.35 ERA;

Cliff Lee from Aug. 29 to Oct. 1, '09: 7 GS, 39.2 IP, 6.13 ERA

And we all know how he did after 10/01/09 ....

[Chalupa]

And the Braves lost today falling 2.5 behind the Phillies. The Fightin's are down in Miami w/ Halladay on the mound tonight. Doc has been a little shaky, relatively speaking, his last couple of starts so it would be nice to see him get back on track.

[Chalupa]

Well Doc pitched 6 innings tonight and allowed 3 runs on 10 hits(1 HR). On the plus side he had 9 strike outs and no walks. Hmm...

[Chalupa]

Halladay has a 4.41 ERA in his last five starts. Double Hmm...

Edited September 16, 2010 by J.H. Deeley

[ghost of miles]

Well, Papsrus, congratulations on taking 2 of 3 from NY in an epic series--fitting that it ended with Soriano against A-Rod. Frankly it would've been a tainted win for NY tonight if they had pulled it out, given that bad call on the Jeter HBP. I just don't get Phil Hughes...even when he pitches really well, as he did tonight, he seems to make one or two huge mistakes that negate the rest of his performance--and why throw the same pitch in the same spot to Johnson, who'd taken him deep just two innings before? The Yankees continue their RISP misery as well--ridiculous that we scored only 1 run off Shields, given all the hits we got off him. Again I have to think this just may be TB's year. In any event, those were three great games of baseball... I hope we can get you back next week at the Stadium.

[Chalupa]

Lidge in the 9th tonight - single, walk, K, walk, walk. Cholly yanks him. Now on to Contreras.

K. One more out to go...

GO to end the game. Phew

[BERIGAN]

And the Braves lost today falling 2.5 behind the Phillies. The Fightin's are down in Miami w/ Halladay on the mound tonight. Doc has been a little shaky, relatively speaking, his last couple of starts so it would be nice to see him get back on track.

I would take a little shaky from most of our starters right now...Lowe pitched the best game his 2 years with Atlanta,(with a bone chip lodged in his elbow joint!) only to be followed by the second bad start from Jair Jurrjens and Mike Minor gave up a grand slam to some Nats outfielder with a .132 ba before the hit...was ok other than that, but no offense. DLee seems more or less washed up. We don't have a steady left fielder, or center fielder. Kinda hard to win anything with 3 question marks ...and I would argue the braves have the best bullpen in baseball, and its not likely to matter.....

[papsrus]

Well, Papsrus, congratulations on taking 2 of 3 from NY in an epic series--fitting that it ended with Soriano against A-Rod. Frankly it would've been a tainted win for NY tonight if they had pulled it out, given that bad call on the Jeter HBP. I just don't get Phil Hughes...even when he pitches really well, as he did tonight, he seems to make one or two huge mistakes that negate the rest of his performance--and why throw the same pitch in the same spot to Johnson, who'd taken him deep just two innings before? The Yankees continue their RISP misery as well--ridiculous that we scored only 1 run off Shields, given all the hits we got off him. Again I have to think this just may be TB's year. In any event, those were three great games of baseball... I hope we can get you back next week at the Stadium.

Man, three great games. I'm sure New York will be wild next week.

On the HBP thing: Maddon said after the game he didn't have a problem with Jeter selling it. What he said he did have a problem with is that none of the umpires could tell him they saw the ball hit Jeter, and all of them told him they knew it hit the bat, but they wouldn't reverse the call. In the end, I guess Jeter just made the umps look bad.

It's fun to watch two teams that are so different in many ways compete so closely one game after another.

[ghost of miles]

The Jeter HPB situation was certainly one that would've been tailor-made for a replay challenge--but Selig won't countenance it, all of his "re-examine" talk after the blown perfect game was just that. Again, I know teams catch good and bad breaks, but it would've been an uneasy win from my POV if we'd gotten it on the basis of that and Grandy's following HR. And again, it shouldn't have mattered...we've been absolutely terrible with RISP lately. Swisher and Gardner are back on Friday night and Pettitte starts against the Orioles on Sunday; hopefully they can help revive the team, which is 2-8 in its last 10 games, and those two wins coming on on the basis of heroic feats (Swisher's walkoff against the O's and Golson's walkoff throw last night).

TB's definitely in the driver's seat now, what with the rest of their schedule vs. New York's and their 8-6 season series advantage. NY will have to take 3 of 4 from the Rays next week just to end up tied in that column with TB...and even then, chances are that our hashing it out with the Orioles and Bosox will put some hurt on our AL East W-L record, the second tiebreaker after the head-to-head record. (All of this matters, of course, only if the Rays and Yanks end up tied.)

Edited September 16, 2010 by ghost of miles

[Chalupa]

Hey JETman - the Mets are accepting applications for all positions Edited September 16, 2010 by J.H. Deeley

[MartyJazz]

The Jeter HPB situation was certainly one that would've been tailor-made for a replay challenge--but Selig won't countenance it, all of his "re-examine" talk after the blown perfect game was just that. Again, I know teams catch good and bad breaks, but it would've been an uneasy win from my POV if we'd gotten it on the basis of that and Grandy's following HR. And again, it shouldn't have mattered...we've been absolutely terrible with RISP lately. Swisher and Gardner are back on Friday night and Pettitte starts against the Orioles on Sunday; hopefully they can help revive the team, which is 2-8 in its last 10 games, and those two wins coming on on the basis of heroic feats (Swisher's walkoff against the O's and Golson's walkoff throw last night).

TB's definitely in the driver's seat now, what with the rest of their schedule vs. New York's and their 8-6 season series advantage. NY will have to take 3 of 4 from the Rays next week just to end up tied in that column with TB...and even then, chances are that our hashing it out with the Orioles and Bosox will put some hurt on our AL East W-L record, the second tiebreaker after the head-to-head record. (All of this matters, of course, only if the Rays and Yanks end up tied.)

About the RISP situation, if I see Austin Kearns come up in that context again, I just might turn off the set. He looks at legit strikes, swings futilely at balls out of the strike zone and never gets pinch hit for. And how often does he attempt to check his swing and fail to do so? Just awful. Hopefully, he'll be gone next year.

[ghost of miles]

Kearns struck out 7 times in the past two games against the Rays. His K in the top of the 4th with runners on first and third and only one out was particularly galling, a very bad AB that failed (as the Yanks have done so often lately) to get a runner in by making some sort of contact. Without Swisher and Gardner, though, Joe Girardi's OF options have been very limited lately.

I do think I'd have to bet on the Rays winning the division now--our schedule being what it is, I'd hoped we'd come out of the Texas and Tampa series holding a two-game lead over the Rays, but we have no wiggle room left now. Earlier in the year the games with the Orioles looked like they'd give us a breather, but no more, now that they've morphed into the Fightin' Showalters.

[Dan Gould]

Yankees losing the division they led on September 1st for the first time in history: Maybe not priceless but would be pretty darn pleasing.

Y'all know what final outcome I regard as priceless.

[Neal Pomea]

The Nats' Nyjer Morgan charges the mound.

He's MLB's next Milton Bradley. Two weeks ago here in Philly some fans were heckling him and he got so pissed off he turned around and fired a ball right into the stands. It hit a fan, who by all accounts had not been one of the hecklers, in the head. Lucky for Morgan the fan declined to press charges. What an ass.

No, that turned out to be bogus. MLB gives him no suspension at all for the "incident" with the fan, if you can even call it that.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2010/09/nyjer_morgan_suspended_eight_g_1.html?hpid=artslot

But he IS suspended 8 games for the brawl when the Florida pitcher first hit him and then threw at him again because he stole bases. Wonder what the Florida pitcher gets. That was just terrible and I agreed wholeheartedly with the Nationals manager when he said that the Marlins do not dictate to us when we run and don't run.

[Chalupa]

Yankees Caps Are Popular Among Criminals

[Chalupa]

The Nats' Nyjer Morgan charges the mound.

He's MLB's next Milton Bradley. Two weeks ago here in Philly some fans were heckling him and he got so pissed off he turned around and fired a ball right into the stands. It hit a fan, who by all accounts had not been one of the hecklers, in the head. Lucky for Morgan the fan declined to press charges. What an ass.

No, that turned out to be bogus. MLB gives him no suspension at all for the "incident" with the fan, if you can even call it that.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2010/09/nyjer_morgan_suspended_eight_g_1.html?hpid=artslot

But he IS suspended 8 games for the brawl when the Florida pitcher first hit him and then threw at him again because he stole bases. Wonder what the Florida pitcher gets. That was just terrible and I agreed wholeheartedly with the Nationals manager when he said that the Marlins do not dictate to us when we run and don't run.

I'm not sure that because MLB threw out his 7 game suspension that it necessarily follows that the incident was bogus. It has been reported that MLB received numerous complaints from fans as well as reports from Phillies security personnel who witnessed the incident. I think if the fan had decided to press charges instead of taking a stance of "just wanting it to go away" then the outcome would have been different.

Edited September 16, 2010 by J.H. Deeley

[BERIGAN]

Hey JETman - the Mets are accepting applications for all positions

[ghost of miles]

ESPN polled 24 MLB managers and found heavy support for expanded replay--18 wanted it, two didn't, and four didn't want to comment.

[JETman]

Hey JETman - the Mets are accepting applications for all positions

Thanks for the heads up! I'm keeping all of my options open.

[Quincy]

ESPN polled 24 MLB managers and found heavy support for expanded replay--18 wanted it, two didn't, and four didn't want to comment.

Instant replay sure worked great at the Bears-Lions game last Sunday.

I still think there are many instances where it won't do a darn bit of good, such as was the ball trapped or caught in the OF, and the base running that happens following the outcome. I see no "justice" in the NFL limited chances to toss a red flag. Far better to have a system that uses common sense, which failed last Sunday for the NFL. A more elegant solution for some HBP situations would be to make players wear shoes that require polish again.

[Chalupa]

Hey JETman - the Mets are accepting applications for all positions

Thanks for the heads up! I'm keeping all of my options open.

LOL!!

Well with any luck the Wilpons will fire M & M this off season. I think the Mets are closer to contending then their record indicates. I think their starting pitching, assuming Santana can get healthy, is really solid. I'm impressed by the infield of Wright, Reyes, and Davis - those guys are going to be good for a long time to come. The question marks are the BP, catcher, and, to a lesser extent, the outfield. Big holes but ones that can be addressed in FA market.

[Chalupa]

ESPN polled 24 MLB managers and found heavy support for expanded replay--18 wanted it, two didn't, and four didn't want to comment.

Instant replay sure worked great at the Bears-Lions game last Sunday.

I still think there are many instances where it won't do a darn bit of good, such as was the ball trapped or caught in the OF, and the base running that happens following the outcome. I see no "justice" in the NFL limited chances to toss a red flag. Far better to have a system that uses common sense, which failed last Sunday for the NFL. A more elegant solution for some HBP situations would be to make players wear shoes that require polish again.

You've got it all wrong friend - it wasn't instant replay that failed the Lions; it was the stupid ass NFL rule book. The refs made the correct call. If anything instant replay confirmed that, according to the rules, it wasn't a touchdown. Keep replay; change the rule.

If the LLWS can have instant replay and make it work why can't MLB?

[Chalupa]

http://www.mlbmagicnumbers.com/