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biofunmy · 5 years

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The Inevitable Cardinals Meet the Suddenly Clutch Nationals

ST. LOUIS — His team’s hometown is a hotbed of espionage, but even by Washington standards, this is a bold surveillance operation. While the Nationals face the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series, one of their top scouts will be staying at the home of the manager of a potential World Series opponent.

The scout is Bob Boone, and the manager is his son, Aaron, who guided the Yankees to the American League Championship Series. Bob Boone, a vice president and senior adviser for the Nationals, will track the Yankees’ games against the Houston Astros in the A.L.C.S. He will do it by commuting to the games in New York from Aaron’s home in Connecticut.

“I’ll ride in with him; I won’t even need a car,” Bob Boone said in Los Angeles late Wednesday night, after the Nationals had roared back to win Game 5 of their division series at Dodger Stadium. “But he never talks too much about baseball, anyway. And he’s on the stat-side, big-time — and that just starts an argument with me.”

The Nationals took a first step to the World Series on Friday, humbling the Cardinals, 2-0, in Game 1 of the N.L.C.S. at Busch Stadium. Anibal Sanchez held the Cardinals hitless until Jose Martinez’s pinch-hit single with two outs in the eighth. He left the game after that, but Sean Doolittle preserved the one-hitter.

For the first game, at least, the Nationals looked as comfortable in a new setting as Boone might have expected. Boone is 71, and a memorable series from his playing career has particular relevance to his current team.

Boone was the catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, who won the best-of-five N.L.C.S. in 1980 after losing that series in 1976, 1977 and 1978. The victory, a five-game thriller with the Astros, unburdened a roster that had come to be defined by October futility. The Phillies went on to beat Kansas City for their first World Series title.

The Nationals also seek their first championship, and the opportunity was hard-earned. They lost the best-of-five division series four times before their triumph over the Dodgers.

“It’s kind of the same thing, blowing a bunch of them,” Boone said. “We had lost three playoffs, and that Houston series was ridiculous. When we got past that, we knew we were going to beat them. We just relaxed, and we knew we’d beat these guys. We were a clutch team, just like these guys.”

The Nationals? Clutch? Until this month, they had the opposite reputation. But then came their comebacks in the wild-card game against Milwaukee and the N.L.D.S. clincher in Los Angeles. Both times, the Nationals trailed by two runs in the eighth inning while facing an All-Star left-hander. Both times, they rallied to win.

“Keep fighting,” said Anthony Rendon, the Nationals’ star third baseman. “I think that’s the story of, maybe, this organization. We have always either done really, really well and then came up short, or we had been plagued with injuries and had to continue to fight out of a hole that we dug ourselves in the beginning of the year. So we just wanted to keep believing in ourselves and not worry about what people outside of our locker room were saying.”

Rendon scored the go-ahead run off the Brewers’ Josh Hader in the wild card game, after right fielder Trent Grisham misplayed Juan Soto’s two-run single. On Wednesday, Rendon homered off Clayton Kershaw to pull the Nationals within a run, and Soto homered on the next pitch to tie it.

With one on in the 10th inning, Rendon doubled off Joe Kelly, who walked Soto intentionally before serving up the most seismic hit in Nationals’ history: Howie Kendrick’s go-ahead grand slam. Kendrick stayed hot in Game 1, doubling and scoring the Nationals’ first run, and driving in their second run with a single.

But it was fitting that Rendon and Soto helped set up Wednesday’s big blast. They were the only set of qualified teammates in the majors who both had a .400 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage in the regular season. They combined to hit .343 in the division series, and the rest of the Nationals hit .198.

“They’re tough — and they’re tough because they’re plate-disciplined more than anything,” said Matt Wieters, the Cardinals’ backup catcher and a former National, referring to Rendon and Soto. “They’re not going to help you out.”

The Cardinals’ two sluggers, Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna, were also at their best in their five-game division series with the Atlanta Braves, both hitting .429 with two homers. Catcher Yadier Molina, the Cardinals’ emotional leader and pitching whisperer, forced the finale with tour de force in Game 4, tying it with a single in the eighth and winning it with a sacrifice fly in the 10th.

The Cardinals are playing in their 10th N.L.C.S. in the last 20 seasons, and Molina has been there for the last eight. He is seeking his fifth trip to the World Series.

“You know you have someone back there who has probably seen just about any situation you can imagine in a baseball game unfold,” said the Cardinals starter for Game 1, Miles Mikolas. “He’s been there, he’s seen it and he’s seen it from the catcher’s viewpoint, which is probably the best one to have. The whole team feeds off that.”

The Nationals did not attempt a stolen base against the Dodgers, but they tied with the Cardinals for the N.L. lead in steals in the regular season, so Molina’s arm could be an important weapon. He will work with starters Adam Wainwright in Game 2, Jack Flaherty in Game 3 and Dakota Hudson in Game 4.

The Nationals have not announced their rotation beyond Sanchez and Max Scherzer in Game 2, but they will surely lean heavily on Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, who with Scherzer have worked 36 of the team’s 54 innings this postseason. All three have also appeared in relief.

“They have three of the best starting pitchers in baseball,” said Walker Buehler, who started for the Dodgers on Wednesday. “Any time you can throw those three guys out there, you’ve got a chance.”

The Nationals have had many other chances to get to this round. They squandered all of them, but now they have broken through. With four more victories, they might be able to put a certain scout’s reconnaissance to use.

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hammeraction07-blog · 5 years

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The best wins of 2018 for all 30 teams

When we look back at the 2018 season, we see countless memorable moments from an exciting MLB campaign. But each club had one signature victory, in many cases embodying its season. With the help of each MLB.com beat writer, here is each club's best win of '18.

Angels: 13-9 win vs. OAK (April 6) Trailing by six runs in the second inning, the Angels' revamped offense came alive to fuel the team's biggest comeback win of the season. Shohei Ohtani sparked the uprising by homering in his third consecutive game, and Justin Upton's three-run shot capped a five-run seventh that put the Angels over the top. Full recap >

Astros: 10-5 win vs. LAA (Sept. 22) After giving up five runs in the eighth inning to spoil a superb 11-strikeout start across six scoreless innings by Justin Verlander and falling behind, the Astros rallied for their biggest inning of the season, scoring nine times in the bottom of the eighth to win, 10-5. Full recap >

Athletics: 13-10 win (10 innings) vs. TEX (July 24) The A's struck for 11 unanswered runs in the final four innings of a wild 10-inning affair in Arlington, pulling out a 13-10 victory over the Rangers. Stephen Piscotty provided the game-tying home run in the ninth, and Khris Davis delivered the final blow with a three-run homer in the 10th. Full recap >

Blue Jays: 9-8 win vs. TB (Sept. 20) Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Justin Smoak hit back-to-back homers in the ninth inning as the Blue Jays rallied from six runs down to stun the Rays with a 9-8 victory at Rogers Centre. The six-run turnaround was tied for the largest ninth-inning comeback in franchise history as Toronto sent nine batters to the plate; the win put a serious damper on the Rays' aspirations for the postseason. Full recap >

Video: TB@TOR: Smoak caps comeback with walk-off HR in 9th

Braves: 10-9 win vs. MIA (May 20) Facing a 9-4 deficit entering the bottom of the ninth against the Marlins, the Braves staged a six-run rally that was capped by Dansby Swanson's two-out, two-run, walk-off single. After Ronald Acuna Jr.'s one-out sacrifice fly accounted for Atlanta's first run of the frame, five straight Braves reached safely ahead of Swanson, who fouled off consecutive 99-mph pitches before lacing his game-winning hit to left. Full recap >

Brewers: 13-12 win (10 innings) vs. CIN (Aug. 29) There was the postseason clincher in St. Louis and the division clincher in Chicago, but the Brewers' wildest win of the year was Aug. 29 in Cincinnati, a 10-inning thriller that featured four ties and five lead changes, defensive gems and disputed calls aplenty, plus the first of Christian Yelich's two cycles in the span of three weeks. Full recap >

Video: MIL@CIN: Yelich records cycle with 6 hits, shows arm

Cardinals: 7-6 win vs. WSH (Aug. 13) The signature victory during the Cardinals' eight-game winning streak came on Aug. 13, when they delivered a blow to Washington's playoff hopes while resuscitating their own. After Matt Carpenter put the Cards in front with a three-run, eighth-inning blast, Paul DeJong sealed the win with his first career walk-off homer. Full recap >

Cubs: 4-3 win vs. WSH (Aug. 12) It was the kind of blast that kids dream about in their backyards -- two outs, bases loaded, trailing by three in the bottom of the ninth. On Aug. 12, David Bote lived it. The Cubs' rookie delivered a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam against Nationals reliever Ryan Madson, setting off pure bedlam at Wrigley Field. It was the 25th ultimate slam on record and the first by the Cubs since Aug. 31, 1963 (Ellis Burton). Full recap >

Video: Must C Comeback: Bote's grand slam completes comeback

D-backs: 8-7 win (15 innings) vs. LAD (April 2) The D-backs trailed the Dodgers, 6-3, with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the ninth with dominant closer Kenley Jansen on the mound. After a pair of two-out walks, Chris Owings hit a three-run homer to tie the game. After the Dodgers took a 7-6 lead in the top of the 15th, the D-backs wound up tying the game on a Nick Ahmed double, before a single by catcher Jeff Mathis in the bottom half of the frame won it. Full recap >

Dodgers: 5-1 win vs. MIL (Oct. 20, NLCS Game 7) Rookie Walker Buehler started, series MVP Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig launched crowd-silencing homers at Miller Park, Chris Taylor pulled off a miracle catch in left field and Clayton Kershaw pitched the ninth inning as the Dodgers eliminated the Brewers in Game 7 of the NLCS, 5-1, advancing to their second consecutive World Series. Full recap >

Video: NLCS Gm7: Buehler, 2 HRs lead Dodgers to World Series

Giants: 7-5 win (14 innings) vs. LAD (April 7) Andrew McCutchen's three-run homer in the 14th inning gave the Giants a satisfying victory over their archrivals. It was McCutchen's sixth hit of the game, making him only the second player since 1900 to have six hits in a game with one of them resulting in a walk-off victory. Full recap >

Indians: 10-9 win (14 innings) vs. HOU (May 27) Down by five runs to the Astros in the bottom of the ninth, the Indians forced extra innings on five RBI singles. In the 13th, Yonder Alonso answered Evan Gattis' solo shot with one of his own, before Greg Allen delivered his first career walk-off homer in the 14th frame. Full recap >

Mariners: 4-3 win (10 innings) vs. HOU (Aug. 12) After saving three straight games over the Astros, Edwin Diaz was supposed to have the day off in the Aug. 12 series finale in Houston. But when Ryon Healy homered with two outs in the ninth to tie the game following Houston's three-run rally in the eighth, Diaz called to the dugout and said he wanted to pitch. Mitch Haniger's RBI double gave Seattle a 4-3 lead in the 10th, Diaz came on for yet another one-run save and Seattle notched an impressive four-game sweep to pull within four games of the American League West lead. Full recap >

Marlins: 2-1 win (17 innings) vs. CHC (March 30) Nothing came easy for the young Marlins in 2018, including their first victory of the season. In game No. 2, Miguel Rojas' walk-off single off Brandon Morrow scored Brian Anderson, capping a 5-hour, 18-minute affair, the longest game in Marlins Park history. Odrisamer Despaigne, who started the next day, threw a scoreless 17th for the win. Full recap >

Mets: 6-5 win (12 innings) vs. WSH (April 8) Shortly after Yoenis Cespedes flared a 12th-inning, go-ahead hit into center field early on the morning of April 9, the Mets closed out a 6-5 win in Washington to match their 1985 and 2006 predecessors for the best start in team history. They went on to open the season a franchise-best 11-1. Full recap >

Nationals: 14-12 win vs. MIA (July 5) One day after the Nationals held a team meeting, they had their defining win of the season on July 5. After falling behind, 9-0, against the Marlins at Nationals Park, the Nats stormed back for the largest comeback in club history, an improbable 14-12 win led by Trea Turner's career-high eight RBIs. Full recap >

Video: Must C Clutch: Turner gets 8 RBIs, hits go-ahead HR

Orioles: 6-5 win vs. NYY (July 10) This back-and-forth affair provided Orioles fans final, lasting memories of Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop. Three weeks before they'd be traded, Machado twice brought the O's back with game-tying home runs, and Schoop socked a walk-off single to lead Baltimore to a 6-5 win over the Yankees at Camden Yards. Full recap >

Padres: 7-6 win vs. ARI (Aug. 18) The Padres unveiled a nine-foot-tall bronze statue of newly enshrined Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman before the game. Then they honored the legacy of the legendary closer in the best way possible: by winning in the ninth inning. Christian Villanueva's two-out bloop single into left field sealed the victory, setting off a celebration that included Hoffman himself partying in the Padres' clubhouse. Full recap >

Phillies: 7-4 win (16 innings) vs. LAD (July 24) Trevor Plouffe had a short stint with the Phillies, but he hit a three-run homer against Dodgers infielder Enrique Hernandez in a 16-inning walk-off victory on July 24. The Phillies' bullpen finished the game with 10 consecutive scoreless innings, with starter Vince Velasquez pitching the 16th. Full recap >

Pirates: 7-6 win (10 innings) vs. MIL (July 15) A week after general manager Neal Huntington foreshadowed a potential Trade Deadline sell-off, Josh Bell's walk-off double in the 10th inning capped a five-game sweep of the Brewers with a rain-soaked, 7-6 win at PNC Park. The Pirates' winning streak reached 11 games on the other side of the All-Star break, and they wound up buying at the Deadline. Full recap >

Rangers: 3-1 win (10 innings) vs. HOU (April 15) Bartolo Colon took a perfect game and a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning against the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Colon lost the perfect game in the eighth and gave up the tying run. But the Rangers came back and won it in the 10th on a two-run double by Robinson Chirinos. Full recap >

Rays: 6-4 win vs. BOS (March 29) The Rays trailed the Red Sox, 4-0, on Opening Day when they came to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning. That's when they sent 10 men to the plate against two Boston relievers, drew four walks and took the lead for good on Denard Span's three-run triple to complete a six-run rally. Full recap >

Red Sox: 9-6 win vs. LAD (Oct. 27, World Series Game 4) The Dodgers looked primed to tie the World Series at 2-2 when Yasiel Puig belted a three-run homer to make it 4-0 in the sixth. But after Red Sox ace Chris Sale lit into the dugout for sub-par at-bats, the Sox came storming back for an epic comeback. The big blow was a three-run, pinch-hit homer by Mitch Moreland in the seventh to put his team within a run. Eventual World Series MVP Steve Pearce tied it with a homer in the eighth, and the Sox erupted for a five-spot in the ninth for a stunning 9-6 win. Full recap >

Video: Must C Comeback: Sox score nine late to win Game 4

Reds: 9-7 win (12 innings) vs. ATL (April 24) In a game where rookie starter Tyler Mahle had a no-hitter through six innings, it became a bullpen battle and a 9-7 walk-off win in 12. Scooter Gennett hit two homers, including the game-winner, and had a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze bunt in what became a nail-biter of a game. It was the first time in 2018 that Cincinnati earned back-to-back wins. Full recap >

Rockies: 2-1 win (13 innings) vs. CHC (Oct. 2, NL Wild Card Game) If any game embodied the pitching-oriented 2018 Rockies, it was the 2-1, 13-inning victory over the Cubs in the NL Wild Card Game. Kyle Freeland shut down a tough lineup for 6 2/3 innings, and the bullpen held on until Tony Wolters -- who had a .170 regular-season batting average -- delivered the winning RBI single. Full recap >

Video: Arenado on advancing to the NLDS after win over Cubs

Royals: 5-4 win vs. CLE (Aug. 24) The Royals stunned the Indians at Kauffman Stadium, 5-4, on Aug. 24 when two rookies, Ryan O'Hearn and Hunter Dozier, delivered home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning off closer Cody Allen to walk-off the Tribe in perhaps the most thrilling Royals win of the season. Earlier that night, a water pipe broke near the Royals' bullpen in right field, which flooded the warning track and created a 30-minute delay. Full recap >

Tigers: 3-2 win (12 innings) vs. TB (May 2) What began as a pitchers duel between Michael Fulmer and Blake Snell ended in the 12th inning with a walk-off squeeze bunt from backup catcher John Hicks, scoring JaCoby Jones as Matt Andriese and Brad Miller collided chasing the ball for a 3-2 win over the Rays. Full recap >

Twins: 7-5 win vs. CLE (June 3) Twins left fielder Eddie Rosario almost single-handedly carried Minnesota to a win over the Indians, as he hit three homers, including a walk-off two-run shot off Cleveland's closer, Cody Allen. To make it even better, Rosario's family from Puerto Rico was in attendance at Target Field. Full recap >

White Sox: 14-7 win vs. KC (March 29) The season opener at Kauffman Stadium didn't exactly start well, with the Royals scoring four runs in the first inning off James Shields. But the White Sox scored the next 14 runs on the strength of six homers, with three from Matt Davidson and two from Tim Anderson for an eventual 14-7 victory. Full recap >

Yankees: 7-5 win vs. SEA (June 20) Gary Sanchez completed the comeback from a five-run deficit with a mammoth game-tying blast in the eighth inning and Giancarlo Stanton celebrated his first signature moment in pinstripes with a walk-off shot in the ninth, enveloped by his teammates at home plate as they celebrated a memorable 7-5 victory over the Mariners at Yankee Stadium. Full recap >

Video: SEA@NYY: Stanton's walk-off HR caps 5-run comeback

Source: https://www.mlb.com/news/each-mlb-teams-best-win-of-the-2018-season/c-302151326

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thegloober · 6 years

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Yankeemetrics: Getting late early in the Bronx (Sept. 14-16)

Fan Confidence Poll: September 17th, 2018

(Newsday)

#TanakaTime is Terrific Back in the Bronx for the first time in nearly two weeks, the Yankees kicked off their final homestand of the season with a stress-free rout of the Blue Jays. The 11-0 score was their largest shutout win since a 15-0 whitewashing of the Mets on June 14, 2009. This was the 630th game in the Yankees-Blue Jays rivalry, and the only other time they posted a larger shutout win was September 25, 1977 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

The Yankees enjoyed an early offensive eruption, scoring five runs in the first and had an 8-0 lead after three innings. This was their fourth game putting up a five-spot (or more) in the first inning; only the Diamondbacks (7) have done that more times this season.

Andrew McCutchen had a huge game, going 3-for-3 with two walks and a solo homer in the fifth inning, his first career home run at Yankee Stadium. It was his fourth game in 2018 reaching base at least five times, including a home run — that’s the most such games in MLB this season.

Masahiro Tanaka tossed another gem, bolstering his candidacy to be the Wild Card Game starter in October. He threw six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and extended his current scoreless streak to 20 innings, the second-longest of his career behind a 21 1/3 inning stretch earlier this season in July and August.

Masahiro Tanaka Last 20 IP:

74 Batters Faced 0 Runs 11 Hits 23 K 3 BB

— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) September 15, 2018

According to STATS, Tanaka is the first Yankee pitcher with multiple scoreless streaks of 20-plus innings within a season since Ron Guidry in 1983.

Tanaka is now 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA and 24-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in three September starts, but his consistent brilliance actually extends back further to mid-July. In 10 games since the All-Star break, Tanaka has a 2.09 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 64 2/3 innings. That’s the third lowest ERA among AL pitchers with at least 40 innings, trailing Blake Snell (1.40) and David Price (1.56).

(Getty)

Seven not enough It was too little, too late on Saturday as the Yankees late-inning comeback bid fell just short in a 8-7 loss. Down 8-1 entering the bottom of the seventh, they scored six runs in the frame but ultimately the hole they dug themselves into was too too deep. This was the third time in the last two seasons that the Yankees put up a six-spot (or more) in a single inning and lost the game. Coincidentally or not, the Yankee starter in each of the three games was CC Sabathia.

They also somehow managed to lose the game despite hitting a quartet of homers, giving them an 11-3 record this season when going deep four times in a game. The good? The 14 games with at least four longballs is easily the most in MLB this year (no other team is in double digits). The bad? The .786 win percentage in those games is the second-worst in MLB this season (min. 5 games), behind the Phillies (6-2, .750), and the three losses are more than any other team.

When you add in the fact that they had 17 baserunners and still lost … the only other time in the last 10 seasons they managed to lose a game like that (at least 4 homers and 17 baserunners) was a 10-8 loss to the Angels on July 15, 2012.

Two of the four dingers were hit by Didi Gregorius, his 25th and 26th of the season, breaking his own single-season home run franchise record for shortstops that he set last year. Didi and Francisco Lindor are the only MLB shortstops with 25 or more homers in both 2017 and 2018.

Yankees SS Most HR in a Season:

Didi Gregorius 26 (2018) Didi Gregorius 25 (2017) Derek Jeter 24 (1999)

— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) September 15, 2018

It was also Gregorius’ fifth multi-homer game of the season, the most on the Yankees. The list of Yankee left-handed batters with five or more multi-homer games in a season is a fun one:

Didi Gregorius (2018)

Jason Giambi (2005)

Tino Martinez (1997)

Matt Nokes (1991)

Roger Maris (1960, ‘61)

Yogi Berra (1952)

Lou Gehrig (4 times)

Babe Ruth (8 times)

Miguel Andujar did his best to deliver an improbable win with a seventh-inning grand slam that made it a one-run game, his second grand slam this season (his other one also came against the Jays on June 5). Andujar is the fifth rookie in franchise history to hit multiple grand slams in a season, joining Russ Derry (1945), Yogi Berra (1947), Shane Spencer (1998) and Hideki Matsui (2003).

And, at 23 years old, #MiggyMantle is the youngest Yankee with a pair of grand slams in a season since … a 20-year-old Mickey Mantle hit two in 1952.

(AP)

Bad Betances It was reverse-deja-vu for the Yankees on Sunday: this time they raced out to an early lead, but an eighth-inning Dellin Betances meltdown gave them the same end-game result as Saturday — a dismal and disappointing loss to a mediocre Blue Jays team.

Following his two-run, four-hit disaster outing, Betances has now allowed six runs in his last seven appearances. In his previous 39 appearances dating back to mid-May, Betances gave up three runs over 38 2/3 innings.

Dellin Betances Since May 12 IP Runs ERA Hits Opp BA Last 7 Games 7 6 7.71 9 .310 Previous 39 Games 38.2 3 0.70 13 .103

Entering the day, the Yankees were 70-3 when leading at the start of the eighth inning; only the A’s (65-0) had a better record or fewer losses. The only other time this season the Yankees lost at home when taking a lead into the eighth was August 30 against the Tigers.

The Yankees are now 6-8 (.429) in September. That would be their worst regular-season September/October win percentage since … 2000, when they went 13-18 (.419). Fortunately, they had a slightly better record in October in the postseason that year.

Fan Confidence Poll: September 17th, 2018

The post Yankeemetrics: Getting late early in the Bronx (Sept. 14-16) was shared from BlogHyped.com.

Source: https://bloghyped.com/yankeemetrics-getting-late-early-in-the-bronx-sept-14-16/

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todaynewsstories · 6 years

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MLB roundup: Red Sox clinch playoff spot

The Red Sox became the first team to clinch a postseason berth this season, with pinch hitter Brock Holt’s three-run home run in the seventh inning sending Boston to a 7-2 win over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.

Sep 11, 2018; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox pinch hitter Brock Holt (12) hits a three run home run during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

This is third consecutive trip to the playoffs for the Red Sox, which ties the longest streak in franchise history.

Holt, batting for Sandy Leon in the seventh, hit his fourth homer of the season. He has hit both of Boston’s pinch-hit homers on the year.

Chris Sale started the game for Boston, allowing one hit and hitting a batter while striking out two in one inning. The short stint was planned for his first start since Aug. 12. He went on the disabled list six days later with mild inflammation in his left shoulder.

Braves 4, Giants 1

Mike Foltynewicz became just the seventh major-leaguer this season to throw two complete games, limiting host San Francisco to six hits in Atlanta’s win.

Charlie Culberson hit a two-run home run in the fifth, helping the Braves extend their lead in the National League East to a season-best 6 1/2 games over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Foltynewicz (11-9) came within one out of becoming the first pitcher to throw two shutouts this season. Foltynewicz, who shut out Washington on June 1, walked one and struck out seven Tuesday. Atlanta posted its fourth consecutive win while San Francisco lost its 10th in a row.

Cubs 3, Brewers 0

Jose Quintana fanned seven batters in 6 2/3 scoreless innings, and host Chicago held on for a shutout of Milwaukee.

Chicago increased its lead to two games over Milwaukee in the NL Central with less than three weeks remaining in the regular season. The St. Louis Cardinals also are in the mix as they remained 3 1/2 games behind the Cubs.

Quintana (13-9), who gave up three hits and walked two, matched his single-season high for victories. The left-hander won his third straight decision and allowed two runs or fewer for the fifth outing in a row.

Cardinals 11, Pirates 5

Tyler O’Neill hit a three-run homer and Marcell Ozuna had three RBIs in St. Louis’ blowout win over visiting Pittsburgh.

St. Louis won its third straight, moving to within 1 1/2 games of Milwaukee for the top NL wild-card spot. Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (15-4) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings.

Pittsburgh starter Joe Musgrove (6-9) struck out eight and at one point retired 14 in a row, but he allowed four runs on four hits and two walks in six innings. Corey Dickerson drove in two with a single and a double for Pittsburgh, which lost its second in a row.

Twins 10, Yankees 5

Joe Mauer capped a six-run fifth inning with a grand slam, and Minnesota roughed up New York in Minneapolis.

Mauer’s grand slam, the fifth of his career, gave the Twins a 10-1 lead and helped the Twins beat the Yankees for the first time in the last nine meetings, including last season’s American League wild-card game.

Didi Gregorius also hit a grand slam in the sixth and tripled as the Yankees fell to 4-4 on a nine-game road trip. The Yankees saw their lead in the race for the first Al wild card trimmed to two games over the Oakland A’s.

Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 3

Sep 11, 2018; San Francisco, CA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz (26) pitches the ball against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Ketel Marte drove in four runs, Zack Greinke pitched effectively into the seventh inning, and Arizona beat Colorado in Denver.

David Peralta homered for the third-place Diamondbacks, who moved within 2 1/2 games of first-place Colorado in the NL West. The Rockies maintained a 1 1/2-game lead on the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers.

Greinke (14-9) allowed three runs on six hits and no walks while striking out five in 6 2/3 innings. Yoshihisa Hirano got the last three outs for his first save.

Indians 2, Rays 0

Edwin Encarnacion and Yan Gomes homered, and rookie Shane Bieber picked up his 10th win as Cleveland snapped Tampa Bay’s franchise-record, 12-game home winning streak.

Bieber (10-3) struck out a career-high 11 batters while allowing just three hits and three walks over 6 2/3 innings. He improved to 6-0 in 10 career road starts.

Encarnacion and Gomes each had two hits for Cleveland, which sliced its magic number to three to clinch the AL Central title. Encarnacion’s 30th homer of the season in the sixth extended his streak of seasons with 30 or more home runs and 90 or more RBIs (96) to seven, the longest active stretch in the majors.

Astros 5, Indians 4

Tony Kemp and Tyler White hit two-run homers, Jose Altuve supplied a solo blast, and visiting Houston edged Detroit.

Kemp, Altuve and Yuli Gurriel each had two hits for the Astros, and Josh Reddick scored twice. First-place Houston maintained its three-game lead on the A’s in the AL West.

JaCoby Jones hit a three-run homer for the Tigers, who have lost the first two games of the three-game series. Jordan Zimmermann (7-7) gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits in five innings.

A’s 3, Orioles 2

Matt Chapman, Khris Davis and Stephen Piscotty each drove in a run as Oakland defeated host Baltimore in the opener of a three-game series.

The A’s have won five consecutive games. The Orioles have dropped five games in a row.

The Orioles could not do much against Mike Fiers, who went six innings and allowed one run on four hits. Fiers (12-6) struck out seven with just one walk. The right-hander improved to 5-0 in seven starts since the A’s acquired him in an August trade with the Detroit Tigers.

Reds 3, Dodgers 1

Brandon Dixon and Scott Schebler hit home runs against their former organization, and Luis Castillo pitched 6 1/3 strong innings as Cincinnati continued its winning streak against visiting Los Angeles.

The Reds, in last place in the NL Central, are now 6-0 against the Dodgers this season. They won all four games at Dodger Stadium in the first half and have won the first two games of the current three-game series. The Reds can make it a perfect 7-for-7 with a victory in the series finale Wednesday.

Dixon and Schebler were former Dodgers prospects until a trade before the 2016 season sent them to Cincinnati. Dixon’s home run in the second inning was his fifth of the season, while Schebler hit his 16th one inning later. Castillo (9-12) gave up one run on four hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.

Marlins 5, Mets 3

Jacob deGrom continued to go unrewarded during a record-breaking season when the New York ace took the loss despite allowing just two runs over seven innings as the Mets fell to visiting Miami.

The Marlins, who hadn’t played since Saturday due to back-to-back rainouts, won for just the fourth time in 12 games. The Mets have won six of nine.

Slideshow (7 Images)

DeGrom (8-9) allowed three runs or fewer for the 26th straight start — the longest single-season streak in baseball history. Leslie “King” Cole had a string of 25 such starts for the Chicago Cubs in 1910. DeGrom gave up just three hits and two walks while striking out nine as his major-league-leading ERA rose from 1.68 to 1.71.

Nationals 3, Phillies 1 (Game 1)

Spencer Kieboom hit his first major league home run on the first pitch after losing a tooth, and batterymate Erick Fedde threw 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball, lifting Washington to a victory over host Philadelphia in the first game of a doubleheader.

Phillies right-hander Nick Pivetta (7-12) took a one-hit shutout into the fifth inning of a scoreless game before Kieboom walked to the plate with one out and spit out a tooth that had become dislodged shortly before entering the batter’s box. The catcher then belted the first pitch he saw for his first homer in 117 plate appearances.

Fedde (2-3) turned a 2-0 lead over to the Washington bullpen after limiting the Phillies to two hits in his 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out a career-high nine. The win was his first since June 29.

Nationals 7, Phillies 6 (Game 2, 10 innings)

Juan Soto produced a crushing blow to Philadelphia’s playoff hopes, smacking a solo home run in the top of the 10th inning that gave visiting Washington a sweep of the teams’ doubleheader.

Soto’s heroics came after each team had rallied from three-run deficits to produce a 6-6 tie, with the Nationals getting three in the top of the ninth to extend the game.

Soto, who walked and scored as part of the ninth-inning rally, homered twice, scored three times, had three hits and drove in four runs.

Angels 1, Rangers 0

Eight pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout in Los Angeles’ victory over Texas in Anaheim, Calif.

Jose Fernandez hit his first career major league homer in the second inning, providing the Angels all the offense they would need.

After the Angels’ first six pitchers threw seven hitless innings with three walks allowed, Blake Parker began the eighth inning and retired the first batter before Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined a 91 mph fastball into right field for the Rangers’ first hit of the night.

Padres 2, Mariners 1

Wil Myers doubled home the go-ahead run off Edwin Diaz with one out in the top of the ninth inning as visiting San Diego defeated Seattle.

The Padres have won all three games they’ve played against the Mariners in 2018 and will go for a season sweep Wednesday afternoon.

Hunter Renfroe led off the ninth with a line-drive single off Diaz (0-4) on an 0-2 pitch. Eric Hosmer then lined a single to left, sending Renfroe to second. After Diaz struck out Franmil Reyes, Myers doubled down the left field line, scoring pinch runner Travis Jankowski.

Royals 6, White Sox 3

Rookie Brad Keller gave up just one run in seven innings, and Hunter Dozier drove in two runs as host Kansas City knocked off Chicago.

Keller (8-6) allowed four hits and two walks while striking out six. He retired 13 of the final 14 batters to face him in winning for the fourth time in his past five decisions.

Whit Merrifield collected two hits, two runs and two stolen bases for Kansas City.

—Field Level Media

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WASHINGTON | Disappointing Nats trade Murphy to Cubs, Adams to Cards

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WASHINGTON | Disappointing Nats trade Murphy to Cubs, Adams to Cards

WASHINGTON — Essentially throwing in the towel on a disappointing season, the Washington Nationals traded second baseman Daniel Murphy to the Chicago Cubs and first baseman Matt Adams to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.

Despite a roster that boasts such stars as Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper, Washington went into a three-game series at home against Philadelphia with a losing record of 62-63, 7½ games behind the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves.

General manager Mike Rizzo and ownership gambled at the July trade deadline, standing pat and expressing faith in the roster as constituted. The Nationals trounced the New York Mets 25-4 that night, but are 9-10 since, including a 2-5 road trip through Chicago and St. Louis that featured a 4-3 loss at Wrigley Field on a two-out, walk-off grand slam.

“We felt that coming off that road trip and into this most recent homestand was a time that was a litmus test for us … and we felt that the timing was right to make the vital decisions that we had to make,” Rizzo said.

The deals came three weeks after the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, and the Nationals aren’t getting much in return.

For Murphy, who was hitting .300 since his return from knee surgery, the Cubs are swapping Class A infielder Andruw Monasterio and a player to be named or cash. For Adams, the Cardinals are sending $50,000 to Washington.

“These are tough decisions, to trade a ultimate professionals like Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams is never easy,” Rizzo said. “We felt this was the best way to facilitate what we are trying to do not only in 2018 but beyond.”

The 33-year-old Murphy was a big hitter during his time in Washington. A postseason star in 2015 with the Mets, he signed with the Nationals that winter and was an All-Star the next two years. Murphy missed the first 64 games this season but hit in 11 straight before being stymied by Miami’s Jose Urena on Sunday.

“My thoughts are it’s really bittersweet,” Murphy said. “I sat at this podium probably 2 1/2 years ago. The Washington Nationals were the only offer I had. They took a chance on me three years ago and I feel very disappointed in myself that it kind of came to this point, I guess would be the easiest way to describe it.”

Asked how close the team came to including Harper — a free agent after the season — in the Tuesday deals, Rizzo said: “You have to get a deal that makes sense to trade one of the elite players in the game.”

Harper, who struggled for much of the first half, won the Home Run Derby during the All-Star festivities at Nationals Park. Since the break he is hitting .350 with seven home runs, 25 RBIs and 21 runs scored in 28 games.

“I’ve been part of this organization for seven years and I look forward to coming in and doing my job every single day and I had no fear of being traded or let go on waivers or anything like that,” Harper said.

The Nationals were coming off two consecutive division titles under manager Dusty Baker, who was fired after last season and replaced by rookie skipper Dave Martinez.

Murphy expressed support for Martinez, without even being asked about him.

“Right man for the job here in DC,” Murphy said. The Nationals’ high-water mark came on May 30 when they defeated the Orioles for their sixth straight win to improve to 33-22. They haven’t won more than three straight games since.

“We’re definitely not in an ideal spot,” veteran first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “We had a chance a couple of times to gain some ground and couldn’t really string together many wins in a row.”

Given the moves, Martinez was asked how he convinces his team that the three games against the contending Phillies are still big.

“What’s funny is that I’ve had guys already come in the office and I don’t think I need to convince them,” he said. “They know what we are playing for and they’re all in.”

To fill the spots created by the departure of Murphy and Adams, the Nationals recalled infielder Adrian Sanchez and outfielder Andrew Stevenson from Triple-A Syracuse.

By Associated Press

#baseman daniel murphy #bittersweet #boasts #cardinals #cards washington #Daniel Murphy #disappointing nats trade murphy #july trade deadline #leading atlanta braves #makes sense #murphy missed #Philadelphia #recent homestand #TodayNews #Tuesday #washington nationals traded

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Athletics and Cardinals cheap cowboys jerseys

Wily Peralta (11-15) gave up five hits and walked five in five-plus innings for the Brewers. The Cardinals put the go-ahead run at the plate with two outs in the ninth, but closer Jim Henderson got slugger Matt Adams to strike out to end the game and earn his 26th save.Oakland's Coco Crisp hit a three-run homer, and Daric Barton and Jed Lowrie each had solo shots as the Athletics overpowered the Minnesota Twins 11-7. cheap authentic soccer jerseys The Athletics, who had MLB's fourth-lowest, opening day payroll at about $65 million, clinched their 16th division crown and 25th postseason appearance when Texas lost 4-0 at Kansas City earlier.

Sonny Gray (4-3) gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings, while Oswaldo Arcia homered and drove in six runs for Minnesota. The 22-year-old left-hander allowed one hit and four walks in 4 2-3 shutout innings. Brandon Gomes (3-1) followed and struck out Manny Machado with a runner on second.

The Kansas City Royals blanked the Texas Rangers 4-0 after Justin Maxwell hit a two-out grand slam in the 10th off former Royals All-Star closer Joakim Soria. Eric Hosmer hit a two-strike double leading off the 10th against Neal Cotts (5-3). Soria intentionally walked Billy Butler, and an infield single by Salvador Perez loaded the bases.At New York, after honoring Mariano Rivera in a pregame ceremony and celebrating Andy Pettitte's last regular-season home start, cheap custom football jerseys the Yankees saw their AL wild-card hopes dim in a 2-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

In other AL games, the Cleveland Indians downed the Houston Astros 9-2, the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3, the Seattle Mariners edged the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2.In the NL, the Cincinnati Reds trounced the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-3, the New York Mets edged the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3, authentic nfl jerseys cheap the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the San Diego Padres 1-0 and the Arizona Diamondbacks were 13-9 winners over the Colorado Rockies.

I love the idea that the Yankees, who for decades were run by an owner who was suspended by baseball not once but twice, whose current GM tells his players publicly to "shut the fuck up" are seen as this classy organization, but I suppose that's another conversation.Back to business - what's left of baseball purists will likely believe that the best way to keep opponents from celebrating in your pool is not to have one in your stadium in the first place.

This is just the latest case of baseball players proving themselves to be the world's most sensitive athletes - is it me or does it seem like every week brings about another unwritten baseball rule controversy? Now the Dodgers are supposedly "classless" because they jumped in a pool (didn't you know, that's in the book also?). cheap soccer jerseys from china I suppose that the D'Backs consider the pool to be some sort of sacred ground, but I still have to disagree with the reaction from Bloomquist.

The Dodgers completed one of the more dramatic turnarounds in baseball history, going from the basement in late June to a division title, and that is certainly an achievement worthy of a celebratory dip.After toweling off, manager Don Mattingly and his band of $200m stars will attempt to find the balance between getting some rest while staying sharp. Mattingly would be wise to keep his regulars on the field for most of the remaining season, baseball being a sport of timing and repetition that can only be honed by playing in real games, even if they mean little in the standings.

The Texas Rangers are in the midst of their second consecutive late season collapse. cheap soccer jerseys for sale However, unlike a season ago, this current Rangers slide could see them out of the playoffs altogether. With just 10 games to go, With just 10 games to go, Texas are fighting for their postseason existence, mired in a muck of soul destroying baseball. On August 31st, Texas were in the thick of a race for the American League West division title, up a pair of games on their rivals, the Oakland A's, and seemingly in control. They had just finished off their best month of the campaign, winning 20 games, despite the loss of slugger Nelson Cruz to a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. In fact, their offense had not slowed down a bit - even without one of their key cogs in a lineup that averaged close to six runs per game in August. Meanwhile, the pitching staff put up their best numbers of the season during the month, and so the team was cruising - coolstandings.com put their chances at October baseball at 97.1%.

Then, suddenly, as the calendar flipped over, their bats died, slumbering to under 3.5 runs per game while a handful of their pitchers completely forgot how to throw. Next thing you know the division race was virtually over and the panic was back in Arlington, where they recently dropped six games in a row. Altogether, cheap stitched nfl jerseys they are 4-13 in September, now battling a pack of six AL teams trying to shoehorn themselves into two playoff spots, 6.5 games behind Oakland - that's a swing of more than eight games in 19 days, during which their chances of reaching the postseason has plummeted by more than 30%.

This is a different story to 2012, when the Rangers coughed up a five game AL West lead in the blink of an eye. On September 24th, with just nine games to go, cheap cruises from new jersey they had a 95% chance of winning the division, only for their season to fall apart at a blistering pace. The freefall made the A's unlikely division winners - the consolation prize was a one game wildcard game at home to Baltimore. They lost 5-1. Just like that, a season in which a third straight World Series appearance was well within in reach, was over.

This time around the agony seems destined to be spread across an entire month rather than 10 grim days. When the Rangers went out and acquired Matt Garza to bolster their pitching staff, cheap nike jerseys they couldn't have thought they would be getting a pitcher that would allow more than eight runs per nine innings in September. Derek Holland is another rotation stalwart who has just killed Texas down the stretch - his ERA is approaching eight this month. Ian Kinsler and Adrian Beltre, two major pieces that just couldn't slump with Cruz out, have been abysmal. All manager Ron Washington can do is go out there and play his best team, while deflecting speculation that the swoon will cost him his job. Washington told ESPN radio in Dallas:

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Houston Astros want a commencing pitcher, Dodgers may well never ever drop again - SweetSpot

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Houston Astros want a commencing pitcher, Dodgers may well never ever drop again - SweetSpot

Sunday was really a working day: There was Adrian Beltre‘s three,000th strike Corridor of Fame induction ceremonies in Cooperstown for Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez (as well as John Schuerholz and Bud Selig) trades and trade rumors and a complete slate of games, including a single doubleheader.

On the heels of Monday’s trade deadline, nonetheless, my big takeaway from the day’s action is this: Do the Houston Astros want a commencing pitcher?

All-Star Lance McCullers Jr. had his fourth straight very poor start out in a 13-one loss to the Tigers, lasting five-as well as innings and allowing 8 hits, 4 walks, two wild pitches, two strike batters and five runs. It was hideous. Seriously, he was blessed to have presented up only the five runs with that numerous baserunners crowding the bases. He has a nine.64 Era in these 4 July begins, including 32 hits and 11 walks in eighteen&frac23 innings pitched. His strikeout amount of 29.one % entering the thirty day period has plummeted to fifteen % and batters have hammered him for a .386 ordinary.

This is what the Astros have to determine amongst now and four p.m. ET on Monday: Is this just a very little slump for McCullers, a little something he’ll take care of above the upcoming two months? Is it a basic non permanent loss of fastball command? Or is it a indication of a young pitcher hitting the wall at a hundred innings following throwing just 81 last year? To make that conclusion even additional problematic, employees ace Dallas Keuchel just returned from a prolonged DL stint and pitched 3 shaky innings in his first start out again.

Even with Mike Fiers pitching so properly following a shaky start out — he has a 2.seventy four Era above his previous 13 begins — basic manager Jeff Luhnow has to be involved about his rotation considering the fact that he does not know for absolutely sure what to be expecting from his one-2 punch the rest of the time and in the postseason. The starters had a three.forty nine Era in April and May possibly, but that is jumped to four.seventy five in June and July.

I imagine anxiety of the unknown suggests Luhnow would make a deal for a starter. He does not have to play in the Sonny Gray recreation considering the fact that the A’s are probably to desire outfield prospect Kyle Tucker, but he could for a rental like Yu Darvish or Lance Lynn to give a potent different for Oct. Moreover Tucker, the Astros had 3 other potential customers in Keith Law’s midseason best 50, as well as you will find hard-throwing Francis Martes, now in the majors, but a best-40 prospect entering the time. You will find plenty of talent for the Astros to make a trade and continue to keep the talent pipeline flowing. What deal will Luhnow make?

Kyle Farmer will often keep in mind his first at-bat. This is the form of time the Dodgers are getting. They trail the Giants one- in the base of the ninth. They tie it up, with help from Chase Utley‘s stolen base. The Giants just take the guide in the 11th. Up ways pinch-hitter Farmer for his major league debut with runners on first and second and a single out in the base of the 11th and he lines a double off the chalk in suitable area for the wander-off strike.

When the rookie results in being the HERO. 👌

Welcome to the 2017 #Dodgers, @kFarm17! #WALKOFF | #LetsGoDodgers pic.twitter.com/Mc4UQs1c6B

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 31, 2017

Farmer received a curtain get in touch with as the Dodgers, who are a brain-blowing 39-6 in their previous forty five games, celebrated their eighth acquire in a row as they improved to seventy four-31. This epic operate has them on rate for 114 wins, which would shatter the Nationwide League history in the 162-recreation era. No subject who manager Dave Roberts inserts in the lineup, a little something exclusive happens.

Farmer is a excellent story, a senior drafted out of Ga in 2013 who turns 27 in a pair of weeks. At Double-A Tulsa and then Triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis, he played catcher and 3rd base (and even begun two games at shortstop), hitting .326 with nine residence runs amongst the two stops. He’s the form of organizational depth that successful groups have sitting down down in the minors, and he supplied Dodger supporters with another memorable moment in this time of magic.

Essentially, perhaps they never want to incorporate everyone tomorrow

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) July 31, 2017

Adrian Beltre results in being 31st participant with three,000 occupation hits. Receiving to three,000 hits is a testomony to greatness, excellent wellbeing and a ton of line drives. I wrote before that Beltre did it his own way, and absolutely has made baseball enjoyment all through his occupation.

This is the strike, Beltre swinging on a three- pitch from Wade Miley:

Observe Adrian grow to be the 31st participant to join the three,000 occupation strike club. #Beltre3k pic.twitter.com/4rUTmeXb2H

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) July 30, 2017

And this is former teammate Michael Young, now in the Rangers’ front office, seemingly predicting Beltre will play ten additional many years:

Congrats, AB… Are unable to wait to be in the crowd for your 1st ballot induction to the HOF in about fifteen many years.

— Michael Young (@MikeyY626) July 30, 2017

Your pitcher of the thirty day period is James Paxton. The Mariners are hanging on the fringes of the AL wild-card race of late generally thanks to Massive Maple, their Canadian lefty who is quietly getting a dominant time. The Mariners rank 23rd in the majors in runs for every recreation in July, but with 6 shutout innings on Sunday in a nine-one victory above the Mets, Paxton concluded July 6- with a one.37 Era, the first pitcher to go 6- in a thirty day period with a sub-one.50 Era considering the fact that the late Jose Fernandez last May possibly and the first to do it in July considering the fact that Steve Carlton in 1972. That was the time the Corridor of Fame lefty went 27-ten on a Phillies crew that concluded fifty nine-97.

Paxton is now 11-three with a 2.sixty eight Era, including a hundred twenty five strikeouts in 107&frac13 innings and just five residence runs authorized. If he hadn’t skipped virtually a thirty day period with a forearm pressure, he may well be suitable guiding Chris Sale in the Cy Young race. He even has that sub-three.00 Era even with submitting a seven.20 Era in June. Paxton has seven begins with zero runs authorized, tied with Alex Wooden and Ervin Santana for most in the majors.

The Mariners have essential Paxton to do this, not just due to the fact of all the injuries to the rotation, but due to the fact the big 3 of Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager have not been as excellent as in 2016. Cano, in particular, has really struggled of late and is hitting just .211 in July. He’s on rate for fifty seven extra-base hits following drilling seventy four last time. Seager’s OPS is down 80 points even as offense has increased across the league. Cruz does guide the American League in RBIs, even though his slugging proportion is down fifty nine points.

Last year, these 3 accounted for eighteen.nine WAR by way of Baseball-Reference.com. This time, entering Sunday they had merged for five.6 WAR by a hundred and five games — a rate of 8.6 above 162 games. That the Mariners are .500 with the injuries and decline from these 3 is actually a testomony to the further roster basic manager Jerry Dipoto has designed. It also suggests the Mariners’ very best odds of achieving that wild-card recreation is just not creating a trade on Monday, but Cano, Cruz and Seager actively playing superior the remaining two months — specifically thinking of their brutal August plan that features a brutal 12-recreation highway trip to Tampa, Atlanta, New York and Baltimore.

So Steve Pearce did this and it was brilliant. Two wander-off grand slams in a single week? Are you kidding?

if you dig it, do it. If you dig it a ton, do it 2 times. #Walkoff 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/P9wnN5Eeok

— Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 31, 2017

Pearce joins Jim Presley of the 1986 Mariners and Cy Williams of the 1926 Phillies as the only gamers with two wander-off slams in a time. Baseball is brilliant.

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Rivera and five great nfl cheap jerseys

Wily Peralta (11-15) gave up five hits and walked five in five-plus innings for the Brewers. The Cardinals put the go-ahead run at the plate with two outs in the ninth, but closer Jim Henderson got slugger Matt Adams to strike out to end the game and earn his 26th save.Oakland's Coco Crisp hit a three-run homer, and Daric Barton and Jed Lowrie each had solo shots as the Athletics overpowered the Minnesota Twins 11-7. The Athletics, cheap nfl jerseys free shipping who had MLB's fourth-lowest, opening day payroll at about $65 million, clinched their 16th division crown and 25th postseason appearance when Texas lost 4-0 at Kansas City earlier.

The Kansas City Royals blanked the Texas Rangers 4-0 after Justin Maxwell hit a two-out grand slam in the 10th off former Royals All-Star closer Joakim Soria. cheap softball jerseys Eric Hosmer hit a two-strike double leading off the 10th against Neal Cotts (5-3). Soria intentionally walked Billy Butler, and an infield single by Salvador Perez loaded the bases.At New York, after honoring Mariano Rivera in a pregame ceremony and celebrating Andy Pettitte's last regular-season home start, the Yankees saw their AL wild-card hopes dim in a 2-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

In other AL games, the Cleveland Indians downed the Houston Astros 9-2, the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3, the Seattle Mariners edged the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2.In the NL, the Cincinnati Reds trounced the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-3, the New York Mets edged the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3, eagles jersey cheap the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the San Diego Padres 1-0 and the Arizona Diamondbacks were 13-9 winners over the Colorado Rockies.

This is just the latest case of baseball players proving themselves to be the world's most sensitive athletes - is it me or does it seem like every week brings about another unwritten baseball rule controversy? cheap steelers jerseys Now the Dodgers are supposedly "classless" because they jumped in a pool (didn't you know, that's in the book also?). I suppose that the D'Backs consider the pool to be some sort of sacred ground, but I still have to disagree with the reaction from Bloomquist.

The Dodgers completed one of the more dramatic turnarounds in baseball history, going from the basement in late June to a division title, and that is certainly an achievement worthy of a celebratory dip.After toweling off, baseball jerseys for cheap manager Don Mattingly and his band of $200m stars will attempt to find the balance between getting some rest while staying sharp. Mattingly would be wise to keep his regulars on the field for most of the remaining season, baseball being a sport of timing and repetition that can only be honed by playing in real games, even if they mean little in the standings.

The Texas Rangers are in the midst of their second consecutive late season collapse. However, unlike a season ago, this current Rangers slide could see them out of the playoffs altogether. With just 10 games to go, With just 10 games to go, Texas are fighting for their postseason existence, mired in a muck of soul destroying baseball. On August 31st, Texas were in the thick of a race for the American League West division title, up a pair of games on their rivals, the Oakland A's, and seemingly in control. They had just finished off their best month of the campaign, winning 20 games, despite the loss of slugger Nelson Cruz to a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. In fact, their offense had not slowed down a bit - even without one of their key cogs in a lineup that averaged close to six runs per game in August. Meanwhile, cheap eagles jerseys the pitching staff put up their best numbers of the season during the month, and so the team was cruising - coolstandings.com put their chances at October baseball at 97.1%.

Then, suddenly, as the calendar flipped over, their bats died, slumbering to under 3.5 runs per game while a handful of their pitchers completely forgot how to throw. Next thing you know the division race was virtually over and the panic was back in Arlington, where they recently dropped six games in a row. Altogether, they are 4-13 in September, now battling a pack of six AL teams trying to shoehorn themselves into two playoff spots, sports jerseys cheap 6.5 games behind Oakland - that's a swing of more than eight games in 19 days, during which their chances of reaching the postseason has plummeted by more than 30%.

This is a different story to 2012, when the Rangers coughed up a five game AL West lead in the blink of an eye. On September 24th, with just nine games to go, they had a 95% chance of winning the division, only for their season to fall apart at a blistering pace. cheap jersey websites The freefall made the A's unlikely division winners - the consolation prize was a one game wildcard game at home to Baltimore. They lost 5-1. Just like that, a season in which a third straight World Series appearance was well within in reach, was over.

This time around the agony seems destined to be spread across an entire month rather than 10 grim days. broncos jersey cheap When the Rangers went out and acquired Matt Garza to bolster their pitching staff, they couldn't have thought they would be getting a pitcher that would allow more than eight runs per nine innings in September. Derek Holland is another rotation stalwart who has just killed Texas down the stretch - his ERA is approaching eight this month. Ian Kinsler and Adrian Beltre, two major pieces that just couldn't slump with Cruz out, have been abysmal. All manager Ron Washington can do is go out there and play his best team, while deflecting speculation that the swoon will cost him his job. Washington told ESPN radio in Dallas:

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suaasgn-blog · 7 years

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Texas Rangers - as it happened cheap knicks jerseys

Considering how things played out for the team two Septembers ago, one could forgive the Boston Red Sox for wanting to wrap up as early as possible. cheap kobe jerseys Just a night after quietly clinching a postseason appearance with a 3-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox officially clinched the American League East with a 6-3 victory at home in Fenway Park over the Toronto Blue Jays. Fittingly enough, Koji Uehara, literally unhittable for much of of his tenure as Boston's closer, came out of to bullpen to cap off the unlikely turnaround, guaranteeing that the team, which finished dead last a year ago, would end this year as division leaders.

The Red Sox refrained from celebrating after merely clinching a playoffs berth Thursday night, preferring to celebrate the true accomplishment of winning the division. Beyond avoiding one of the two Wild Card slots and the crapshoot that is the one-game playoffs, cheap laker jerseys winning the AL East was simply much more important for Boston, especially given the team's recent struggles. For most of the 21st century, after all, "Red Sox clinch postseason appearance" wasn't really much of a headline. Between 2003 and 2009 the Red Sox missed the postseason only once, and they won two World Series championships during that span (including their first since 1918, which helped eliminate the infamous "curse" that one used to hear far too much about).

After failing to win a single postseason game in 2009, however, the Red Sox have not returned to the playoffs since, most notably after being eliminated from postseason play in 2011 by blowing a nine-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays. This collapse cost manager Terry Francona his job and paved the way for general manager Theo Epstein's decision that he would have better luck running the Chicago Cubs – possibly the second most depressing sentence one could say about a baseball franchise.

The single most depressing thing one could say about a baseball franchise, cheap lightning jerseys of course, would be that they hired Bobby Valentine as their new manager, which is just what the Red Sox said after the worst September collapse in their history. In replacing Francona with Valentine before the 2012 season, Red Sox management replaced the greatest manager in franchise history with a former Mets manager who spent most of the previous decade in Japan and somehow managing to be an even worse commentator than Joe Morgan on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

To nearly nobody's surprise, after a year during which Valentine helped sink the Red Sox to the bottom of the standings, cheap liverpool jerseys kicked local hero Kevin Youkilis out of town (and eventually onto the Yankees roster), and threatened to fight local radio hosts, the Red Sox mercifully fired him at the end of his first season. At the time this writer wondered if this were part of some sort of master plan:

If this wasn't the plan, they might as well pretend that it was, because President Larry Lucchino and General Manager Ben Cherington started a turnaround of the ages this season. Although it's not nearly as surprising as the Pittsburgh Pirates fighting toward the playoffs after 20 years of losing seasons, or the Kansas City Royals playing meaningful, September baseball for the first time in over a decade, but since stealing manager John Farrell away from the Toronto Blue Jays, cheap nba jerseys 4xl the Red Sox have established themselves as the best team in the American League despite preseason predictions dooming them to repeat as the worst.

A lot of credit should go to Cherington. After a terrible season in which the Red Sox won just 69 games, he was given an opportunity to construct the team the way that he wanted. Granted, a lot of that was because the suddenly loaded Los Angeles Dodgers were desperate to take on three of Boston's biggest contracts (Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett) in aleague altering trade, giving him a blank slate to work with this offseason. cheap nfl jerseys 17 Instead of seeking out the big ticket free agents like Josh Hamilton or Zack Greinke or looking to acquire another team's superstar, Cherington sought – and was willing to throw money at – some of the less celebrated role players on the open market.

Maybe Boston's most criticized move of the offseason was offering a three-year contract to Shane Victorino, who was mostly seen as an overrated platoon player with a skill set already in decline (a medical condition best known around the league as Philadelphia Phillies Syndrome). While nobody is suggesting that Victorino will still deserve the same contract in two years, cheap panthers jerseys he's arguably been Boston's most valuable player this season, getting clutch hits while making game-saving catches on an almost weekly basis.

Along with productive role players like Jonny "Pinch Hit Home Run" Gomes and Stephen "Stop Yelling at Me Because You Hate My Brother, Boston" Drew, he's been a big reason why this team has a knack for comeback wins. That's not even including the story of Daniel Nava who went from being a lame Disney movie storyline ("the $1 Player Who Hit A Grand Slam In The First Pitch Of His First Major League At-Bat") to a major league regular, accumulating the 5th best OBP in MLB.

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