He Said, She Said – Scores and Highlights for 8/21/18

Author by professormaddog31Posted in Baseball

Scouts: Sorry for the late post today folks.  I got a late start today and well, everything has sort of dominoed.

 

Phillies 4, Nationals 10 – Scouts: I suppose the Nats can at least play the role of spoilers.  They are pretty much done on the season, but will have a lot of games against a lot of quality teams that are going to be neck and neck.  Andrew Stevenson was recalled from Syracuse before the game, but the team was unable to get him a flight.  So he drove.  6 hours.  In the rain.  Trust me it was an absolutely horrible drive, I know.  Anyways, he survived all this and ended up making it into the game, and in the 6th inning hit his first career homer, a two-run shot to tie the game.  Pretty cool story.

Yankees 2, Marlins 1 F/12 – Scouts: Like my Mom used to say, a win is a win is a win.  This one went extras and the Yanks really should have whooped up on the Marlins, but at least they got there eventually.  Aroldis Chapman left the game after 6 pitches with left knee tendinitis.

Reds 9, Brewers 7 – Scouts: Prof’s love child Scooter Gennett won it with a go-ahead homer in the 9th, a two-run shot that bailed out the bullpen that blew it just the inning prior.

 

Twins 5, White Sox 2 – Scouts: Boy, Minnesota sure does look good now that they have basically no chance in hell of making the post-season.  A three run rally in the 9th was the difference maker here, spoiling a pretty good debut by prospect Michael Kopech.

Padres 4, Rockies 3 – Prof: The Rockies are in a weird slide. Doing just enough to be decent but not enough to win. This isn’t good in the NL West, where the Dodgers and the Gritty Snakes are basically doing the same thing. These teams need to step it up! It was a solo home run from Austin Hedges in the sixth that put San Diego over the top.

Angels 4, Diamondbacks 5 – Scouts: The Gatorade it did flow, as the D-Backs walked off due to an error in the 9th.  The Angels basically gave the game away.  Jon Jay led the game off getting plunked, then advanced to second on a bunt that wasn’t fielded quickly, and then advanced to third on another bunt attempt.  Cam Bedrosian at that point attempted to throw Jay out at third, but instead threw the ball away, and whelp, we have a game lost without even giving up a legitimate hit.  (The first bunt was scored a hit, but we all know it was an error.)

 

Cardinals 5, Dodgers 2 – Scouts: LA needs to get out of this funk, and fast, time is running out quickly.  Yadier Molina and Marcell Ozuna both hit two-run homers, and rookie Daniel Poncedeleon held the Dodgers down on 8 strikeouts.

 

Rangers 0, Athletics 6 – Scouts: Oakland just keeps on rolling.  This their second consecutive shutout, this time behind Brett Anderson’s 7 strong innings of 1 hit ball.

Astros 3, Mariners 2 – Scouts: Houston hit into 6 double-plays, yet still manged to win this one.  That’s really saying something about something.  Houston also survived losing their starter after 1.2 innings pitch, calling in lefty Framber Valdez, who had just been called up after throwing just 2 games in AAA.  Valdez gave the Astros 4.1 innings of much needed relief, which not only gave them the chance to win, but saved the rest of the bullpen in the process.

Orioles 2, Blue Jays 8 – Prof: Someone please save Dylan Bundy. This young man is drowning in his failures. I don’t know what happened, but it’s obvious that he’s just done. For Toronto, four solo dingers made the difference here.

 

Braves 6, Pirates 1 – Prof: Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Kevin Gausman went eight super strong innings giving up no runs and striking out five. Talk about a change. It felt like yesterday when we were wondering what was wrong with Gausman. I can’t help but think that if Dylan Bundy were to be traded somewhere he’d find a career rebirth, too. Anyway, Dansby Swanson – international hair model extraordinaire – hit two homers and had four RBI for the evening.

Spiders 6, Red Sox 3 – Prof: Red Sox out here just summerin’ I guess. The Magical Rookie of Cleve, Shane Bieber, had a shutout working until the seventh inning, when he gave up all of Boston’s three runs. But that didn’t faze the Spiders, who were already up five-nil by that time. Yan Gomes hit the insurance dinger in the eighth.

 

Cubs 1, Tigers 2 – Prof: Victor Martinez might very well be hanging it up at the end of the season but at least he can say that his team is performing well against the NL Central juggernaut Cubs. Kyle Hendricks was rocked early, having given up two runs in the first inning. While he calmed down a little after that, it was too late. Chicago wasn’t able to score until the sixth inning – an Anthony Rizzo solo shot – and that was all she wrote. But good news for the denizens of the Friendly Confines – they picked up Daniel Murphy on waivers from the Nationals, and he mashes in Wrigley towards the end of the season.

 

Giants 3, Mets 6 – Prof: Guys, I’m sure Corey Oswalt is a decent human being, but I see that name and get nostalgic for my ol’ boy Roy Oswalt. It just isn’t right, and I don’t like it. Anway, Not Roy is the winner of record after three shutout innings – the Mets, being the Mets, bookended their win with runs given up to San Francisco. On a positive note, rookie Jeff McNeil went 4-4 and drove in a run as well.

Royals 1, Rays 4 – Prof: Blake Snell keeps doing the Lord’s work down in Tampa Bay. As far as the offense, second verse same as the first; Joey Wendle and Willy Adames continues to perform much like Monday.

 

21 thoughts on “He Said, She Said – Scores and Highlights for 8/21/18”

  1. At the risk of repeating myself, the Nats should compete in 2019, even if Harper leaves. They’ll have to sign a second baseman in free agency (lots of them potentially available), figure out what to do about their catching situation, add rotation and bullpen depth, and get a left-handed first baseman type, but they will have tons of money to spend to do all this, especially if they don’t re-sign Harper. If they do manage to re-sign Harper, then they’ll have an outfield surplus that they can flip in trade to fill some of the spots listed above.

    Not sure who might be running the show in the dugout, but this is a team that should still be good going forward.

    Like

    Reply

        1. That Davey Martinez Celery is going to be the appetizer for someone else’s paycheck seems to be a foregone conclusion. Can even the Lerners afford to hire another callow candidate to manage the team? I guess it may depend on whether Harper stays in DC at some insane salary or goes someplace else for an insane salary.

          Like

    3. What’s your opinion on Harper? If I were a Nationals fan, I’d keep him – an HOF career start to finish is a rarity these days. I hate the frequently asked question, “which cap will (name of inductee) be enshrined in?”

      Costly today, I get that, but if he’s a career Nat he’ll get trotted out for every publicity opportunity for his entire post-player life span. (I don’t see Harper as a candidate for field management so he’d never have another team to favor.)

      Like

      Reply

      1. I love Harper as a player, but the main thing with him is that it’s mostly unfulfilled promise, rather than results, due to a series of injuries. He’s not the kind of guy that’s ever going to be a clubhouse leader, but he’s a generational talent, in theory, and it’ll suck if the Nats lose him and he realizes his full potential with a string of 6+ WAR seasons through his mid to late 20s and early 30s.

        That said, the production he’s delivered so far because of the injuries he’s suffered and the horrid slump he was in this season is, for the most part, easily replaced, I think. Juan Soto’s having a better year than Harper this year, and Victor Robles should be ready to start in CF next year. If Harper played a position where offense was scarce, like catcher or middle infield, I’d be much more in favor of spending whatever it took to keep him; as it is, I think the Nats should put in a good effort to sign him, but if he walks, he walks.

        Like

        Reply

        1. With Soto and Robles the Gnats can lose Harper and use that money to land themselves some more pitching as <i<>well as some needed orfensive spark. Let him go to the Angels, where Arte Moreno probably still hasn’t learned doodly squat about how to build a balanced team. The very idea of Harper, Trout and Pujols in the heart of the same third-place team’s batting order ought to release a little more tension on the San Andreas without causing major shaking in the rest of the division.

          Like

  2. Not much to say about the Feesh loss to the Borg except that (a) the Iron Giant received a standing ovation when he stepped to the plate in the first, another couple of ovations when he singled twice , and (b) it was the biggest crowd at Macondo Banana Massacre Field in months. There’ll be another big one today but tomorrow we’ll be back to four or five thousand, and (c) the loss of Aroldis Chapman to knee tendinitis after six pitches in the twelfth pretty much nails shut the lid on the Borg’s chances of toughing past the Beanbags or Native Americans in October.

    One more thing: the Cardinals are making up for lost time in a big way. That team used to live and die with late season surges and it sure looks like they’re at it again. Don’t write them orf.

    Like

    Reply

      1. Astros’ situation similar to NY right now. Multiple injuries and the bats have gone to sleep. I think that we all may have underestimated the number of Astros who put together career years last year. Regression to mean performance is a bitch.

        My worst nightmare involves a one game Houston-NYY playdate for the Wild Card.

        Like

        Reply

        1. I think that WS had an effect also. All the extra innings of a long Series, and the adrenaline surge after adrenaline surge nature of that series. Houston recovered better than LAD (at this point) but both show some effects.

          Like

      2. Yeah, the Borg offense snoozed through tonight’s game too. And here come the Barves, just in time for Urethra to drop the appeal to his suspension. He’s a regular Saint Sebastian, innee?

        Like

        Reply

Join in on the conversation!

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s