Fan Interference

Scouts: I two have recently seen Endgame, and all I can say is it does not disappoint.  At 3 hours long, the entire movie went by in the blink of an eye.  I was able to completely avoid spoilers and even trailers for the movie, not an easy task in 2019.  It seems there’s a very large contingent of people who get their rocks off being the first in line, then spending the next week of their lives looking to run the fun for others.  I’ll never get it.  Either way, if you have any interest at all in the franchise, I hope you get a chance to catch it, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.  It’s an incredibly difficult thing living up to the hype, and it’s quite impressive when something this big delivers.

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Cardinals 3, Nationals 2 – Prof: It started out so promising for Washington, but it turned oh so quickly. Two National homers in the third inning quickly put them up, then new dad Adam Wainwright grabbed the W away from the Curly Dubs with the help of Yadi Molina and Kolten Wong. At least Washington didn’t force poor Sean Doolittle to come out and pitch, he might have very well left his rotator cuff on the mound from abuse.

Tigers 3, Phillies 1 – Scouts: Spencer Turnbull sure tried his best to hand this one over to Philly, but they just seemed completely ungrateful and unwilling to capitalize.  Turnbull had two walks, hit two batters, and threw three wild pitches, and yet he only allowed a single run.

Astros 11, Twins 0 – Prof: This was a massacre. The only Minnesota player who was effective in any way was Max Kepler, who went 2-3, but with literally no support behind him it was like spitting into the ocean. Houston, on the other hand, had a little bit of everything. Doubles! Homers! Sac flies! Bases loaded walks! Throwing error scores! You name it, the Astros probably either did it or flirted with it. The long ball provided by George Springer, Jake from State Farm, and A-Breg.

 

Reds 3, Mets 4 F/10 – Prof: New York tried so hard to give this one up, but Pete Alonso came to the rescue, proving that his super rookie status is legitimate. The Mets’ first baseman might have officially gone 0-4, but it was his extra inning sac fly that scored the winning run after a ninth inning blown save by the overworked relief corps. (Side note – feels like that’s going to be the difference maker in the NL East – whose crap bullpen is the least crappy?)

A’s 1, Red Sox 5 – Prof: Mookie Betts started the party, and Rick Porcello kept it going as Boston laid a hurting on Oakland. Porcello went eight innings and struck out eight, while Betts and Mitch Moreland both had homers.

Spiders 7, Marlins 4 – Prof: Noted Drone Enthusiast Trevor Bauer went seven innings and struck out ten in this closer than it seemed contest against the Feesh. The Magical Land of Cleve broke away in the third inning with a three run homer. God bless him, the Grandy Man tried hard to catch Miami up but it was too little, too late. Miami is now 8-21 on the year and I think it’s safe to say the Strange Attractor has high tailed it out of Florida for the moment.

Yankees 1, Diamondbacks 3 – Scouts: Zack Greinke started to look like himself shutting down the injury plagued Yankees, holding them to 1 run over 7.2 innings.  He even rudely took some of the spotlight away from CC Sebathia, who recorded his 3,000th career strikeout.

 

Padres 4, Braves 3 – Prof: I hate it. This was supposed to be a joyous day for Braves fans as Julio Teheran had his 200th start for the franchise, joining the ranks of such Atlanta legends as Phil Niekro, my forever love Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Tim Hudson, and Steve Avery. Julio has been a longtime mainstay of the Braves rotation but in later years it feels like they keep him out of loyalty and not necessarily out of a belief that he will win a game. In fact, there’s a whole meme on Braves Twitter: Julio and First Inning Home Runs – name a more iconic duo. You can’t, because he did it again last night. The night belonged to San Diego’s Franmil Reyes, who went 3-4 including two homers. Not to be outdone, Eric Hosmer hit his own bomb in the sixth.

Pirates 6, Rangers 4 F/11 – Scouts: Pittsburgh snapped a 8 game losing streak, including a 8 inning scoreless streak, and suddenly all is right with the world.  It took them a few extra to get there, tying up the game in the 9th thanks to a Josh Bell double, and then a pair of homers by Bryan Reynolds and Starling Marte in the 11th sealed the deal.

 

Rockies 3, Brewers 4 – Prof: Christian Yelich had the day off, and it looked like Ryan Braun was going to have a day off, too, but the Milwaukee veteran was subbed as a pinch hitter and to take the place of weak hitting Ben Gamel in left field. No matter; Brew City’s Best was able to out-hit the Rockies.

Dodgers 10, Giants 3 – Scouts: David Freese, Enrique Hernandez, and Justin Turner all homered for the Dodgers who absolutely lit up Drew Pomeranz and Ty Blach.

Blue Jays 3, Angels 4 – Scouts: Brian Goodwin homered in the winning run in the 8th and that’s about all that’s worth mentioning.  Vlad Jr made a nice diving stop against Pujols, and Griffin Canning picked up a no decision in his Major League debut.

 

Cubs 6, Mariners 5 – Scouts: Kyle Schwarber absolutely launched one off Brandon Brennan.  The ball landed 440 feet into the second deck in what would turn out to be the winning runs.  It was a pretty timely hit as Chicago was in a bad spot, shorthanded on relievers and needing a win.

Orioles, White Sox – PPD (rain)

Rays, Royals – PPD (rain)