Fan Interference

Prof: How was everyone’s weekend? Trades and rumors of trades abound; I’m sure more will go down in the next few hours. I’m curious as to where some major pieces will end up. Guys like Noah Syndergaard, Will Smith, maybe even Ken Giles or Zack Wheeler. Marcus Stroman, Sergio Romo, and Eric Sogard have already changed their shirts. Who is next?

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Yankees 9, Red Sox 6 – Scouts: The Yankees picked up a pretty decisive win against Chris Sale and the Red Sox as Domingo Germain increased his W/L to 13-2 despite having a 4.08 ERA.  Chris Sale on the other hand falls to 5-10 with a 4.26, and it’s starting to look more and more like the Sox will be sellers at this deadline.

Braves 4, Phillies 9 – Scouts: Philly keeps saying they are still in it, and are just one good run away from being back in the think of the chase, and despite being 6.5 out of the division, they are only 1 out of the Wild Card chase in an incredibly crowded field.  Atlanta’s not doing themselves any favors by no putting away Philly when they have the chance.  Kevin Gausman who’s still pitching, I assume because Atlanta can’t find any interns laying around with a live arm, gave up 6 runs in 6 innings raising his ERA to 5.97.

Rays 10, Blue Jays 9 – Prof: Ouch, this is the worst way to lose, in my opinion. Toronto had this one in hand, up by seven runs by the sixth inning…and then the Rays bounced back. Bang! Two run homer in the seventh. Pow! Two run homer in the eighth. Biff! Another solo home run in the eighth. In the end, tied up in the ninth inning, Tampa’s Joey Wendle drove in the winning run.

Pirates 7, Mets 8 – Prof: Funny that the Mets’ update is immediately after the Blue Jays, considering that Toronto just sent Marcus Stroman to New York for a pair of pitching prospects. The Mets started out super hot, getting six runs in the first inning alone (including a two run homer from Michael Conforto). Pittsburgh clawed their way back, slowly; cutting the deficit in half by the fifth inning, only to be felled by an error that led to a run being scored. Then Super Rookie Pete Alonso grounded into a fielder’s choice for another run. That was all the Mets needed to secure the win.

 

Diamondbacks 1, Marlins 5 – Scouts: Arizona’s not doing themselves any favors lately, losing to the Brewers, the Orioles, and now the Marlins.  Robbie Ray gave up 3 runs in 6 innings, and despite racking up 11 strikeouts, it wasn’t enough to stop the Marlins who suddenly look better than they have in a while.

Rockies 2, Reds 3 – Scouts: Alex Wood, who’s been dealing with lower back spasms all season long made his long awaited season debut with the Reds.  Woods looked pretty good, holding Colorado to a pair of runs across 4.2 innings.

Dodgers 4, Nationals 11 – Prof: Big mood in Washington as Stephen Strasburg and the Curly Dubs had to flex on Walker Buehler and the Dodgers. Stras went seven innings and struck out nine, only giving up one run. Buehler, on the other hand, went five and 1/3, had 6 Ks, but four earned runs. The Nats ace also drove in a run in the sixth inning, further helping his cause. Anthony Rendon continues to be the best player in baseball that is still an afterthought – 3-4 with three RBI.

Cubs 11, Brewers 4 – Prof: The second half of the season has not been kind to Milwaukee. Pitchers are dropping like flies (Brandon Woodruff, Gio Gonzalez, among others) and while Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, and Ryan Braun are performing well, the rest of the team’s hurting for hits. This has caused the former runaway NL Central favorites to fall further and further behind. The Cubs have taken over as your NL Central overlords and it has a lot to do with the heavy lumber being swung by the Baby Babe Ruth, Kyle Schwarber. The Schwarbs had a heck of a grand slam in the second inning (473 feet!), then followed that tasty bit up with a three run homer in the fourth. It’s hard to come back from that.

 

Twins 11, White Sox 1 – Scouts: Are the Twins done, or are they just napping?  A team that at one point looked unstoppable, then started to show some crack, really needed a big win, and a big win they got.  The Twins took Chicago pitching deep 4 times, absolutely destroying the ball, and with any luck, any suggestion that they may not be who we thought they were.

 

Spiders 6, Royals 9 – Prof: Let’s talk about grown men playing a child’s game. Or, rather, one supposed grown man who acted like a child. The Noted Drone Enthusiast had himself a hell of a tantrum last night. Let’s set the scene: Bauer had been having a crap outing anyway; in the last four innings he had coughed up three runs and was well on his way to giving up even more in the fifth. In fact, he gave up a two run single with only one out recorded. Terry Francona came out to give him the ol’ Vaudeville hook, and then suddenly Bauer spun around like a madman and recklessly threw the ball over the center field wall, like a damned child. Wah, you giant baby. Of course, the N.D.E. apologized after the game, but he needs to apologize to his teammates and especially his manager. I don’t care how mad you are that things aren’t going your way. Don’t do that crap, man. You’re an embarrassment.

 

Astros 6, Cardinals 2 – Scouts: Houston’s on a roll again, looking like a team that can do some damage come playoff time. George Springer, Yordan Alvarez, and Jose Altuve provided the fireworks while Wade Miley kept the Cardinals to 5 hits over 5 shutout innings.

Orioles 4, Angels 5 – Prof: The Orioles nearly won. I mean, they kept up pretty decently with Los Angeles of Anaheim of Southern California, and it took a walk-off to keep the Halos from getting swept at home by one of the worst teams in baseball. Player of the game was Matt Thaiss (who?), who hit two homers including the winning run. Special shout-out to Albert Pujols, who hit home run number 650.

 

Rangers 5, Athletics 6 – Prof: Earlier, I thought that the worst way to lose was to wet the proverbial bed against a team and let them bounce back after what should have been a decisive victory. However, I reserve the right to change my mind and now I think the worst way to lose is on a walk-off walk. That’s right; your bullpen is so corrosive that they walked in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. How sad is that? How much does that suck? Well, that’s what happened here; Marcus Semien homered earlier in the game and then was the recipient of the walk-off walk.

Giants 7, Padres 6 – Prof: MadBum gets the win after going seven innings with six strikeouts (but four earned runs). Will Smith gets his 26th save of the season. Little Yaz, Mike, had four hits and 2 RBI. MadBum and Smith are two of the biggest pieces of dangling trade bait out there, but who knows if San Francisco would ever get rid of Bumgarner.

Tigers 2, Mariners 3 F/10 – Scouts: Man, Detroit is sure making a play for that number 1 draft pick aren’t they?  The Tigers haven’t won in precisely 3,528 days, and managed to allow a J.P. Crawford walk-off single to lose their 6,398th consecutive game.