Fan Interference

Prof: In an addendum to yesterday’s post, a baseball wives and girlfriends group called “Our Baseball Life” has a fundraiser for the Bivens family to help pay for funeral expenses and probably other bereavement issues that Rays minor leaguer Blake Bivens will have to face in the upcoming days and months after the senseless murder of his family.

A silver lining I have been able to find in all of this is that it indeed proves that baseball is a family. In addition to people who knew the family, and regular people like you and me, I was able to find donations from the following baseball players and their families:

• Mike Foltynewicz
• Brandon Crawford
• Brandon Lowe
• Sergio Romo
• Adam Plutko
• Chad Wallach
• Josh Hader
• Trevor Williams
• Blake Swihart
• Chris Davis (Orioles)
• Patrick Weigel
• Pete Alonso
• Christian Walker
• Brian Duensing
• Corey Knebel

I’m sure there are many, many more that I have missed, but looking at this list of names and seeing people from the Braves, Mets, Diamondbacks, Orioles, Brewers, Giants, Cleveland, and many more warms my heart. It might be a small amount for some of these families and players, but for Blake Bivens and his family, this is more than just a cash donation. This is support and love being sent to him by his brotherhood, and that is probably more important to him right now. I just wanted to share this and give the FI Fam the option of donating if you so desire. If I could right now, I would.

 

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Yankees 7, Mariners 3 – Prof: All Rise for Aaron Judge’s 101st home run. And it wasn’t just the huge Yankees outfielder who dropped bombs; Gary Sanchez, DJ LeMahieu, and Mike Ford all went yard (and Kyle Seager hit one, too, for Seattle).

Cardinals 1, Brewers 4 – Prof: Well, it’s about time. The Brewers finally put a stop to the St. Louis six game winning streak behind the strength of Jordan Lyles and Keston Hiura. Lyles went 5.1 innings and struck out nine, while Hiura went 2-4 including a solo dinger.

Orioles 4, Nationals 8 – Prof: The Nationals let Baltimore have their fun the other day, but yanked the carrot out from under their beak. Even though Chance Sisco and Chris Davis (Chris Davis!?!?!) both hit home runs, the Nats outclassed them in every way, with catcher Kurt Suzuki’s RBI totals matching the entire Baltimore team’s output. Oh, and starting pitcher Max Scherzer joined the immortal Tom Seaver in compiling 200+ strikeouts in eight or more consecutive seasons. That’s it. That’s the list.

 

Braves 9, Blue Jays 4 – Scouts: Freddie Freeman and Matt Joyce had themselves a day, both homering, both tallying a pair of RBI’s on a multi-hit day.  The win helped Atlanta avoid their first losing streak in a while.  In fact now Atlanta has won 9 of their last 11.

Spiders 4, Tigers 2 – Prof: Jason Kipnis hit two home runs, delicious Francisco Lindor truffle hit a dinger as well, and the Magical Land of Cleve continues to beat Detroit.

Reds 5, Marlins 0 – Prof: A barreled three run homer from Aristides Aquino set the tone and Cincinnati kept rolling. A brisk 2 hours 41 minutes down in Miami. I’m guessing that Joey Votto and the boys wanted to get some Cuban food before it got too late.

 

Twins 8, White Sox 2 – Scouts: Speaking of heating up, Jonathan Schoop is finally starting to wake up, hitting his 5th homer in his last 7 games.  He’s already matched last years total, but still has a little way to go to meet his career high.  It’s come at a time where Minnesota desperately needs the offensive boost as they enter the final leg of the playoff chase.

Rays 6, Astros 8 – Scouts: The Astros have won 6 in a row, and Garrit Cole struck out 10+ batters for the 15th time this season.  But don’t try to ask Cole about it, all he cares about is the wins.

 

Cubs 10, Mets 7 – Prof: Thor got hammered. /rimshot But seriously, folks, the Cubs had six runs off Syndergaard in the first inning alone – starting with a fielder’s choice RBI, then an RBI double, a two run single, ending with a two run homer. There were so many home runs in this game – Ian Happ, Baby Babe Ruth, Nicholas Castellanos, Jeff McNeil, and JD Davis (1-877-RUNS-NOW) all went yard.

Athletics 4, Royals 6 – Scouts: Oakland was unable to hold onto an early lead, twice blowing the lead, and eventually the game.  Hunter Dozier drove in the final steak, on a single in the 7th to give KC the lead that would carry them out the rest of the way.

 

Red Sox 7, Rockies 4 – Scouts: Boston really seems to love playing in Colorado, the office has really come alive during their tenure there.  Xander Bogaerts homered twice, and J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers pitched in to help with homers of their own.

Pirates 3, Phillies 12 – Prof: JT Realmuto , Cesar Hernandez, Jean Segura, Rhys Hoskins, and Bryce Harper had great days at the plate, with Hernandez going 3-5 with 3 RBI and the rest getting their own knocks in. Vince Velasquez gets the win in this demolition derby.

Dodgers 6, Padres 4 F/10 – Scouts: Sometimes it seems like LA is just toying with their opponents.  So often they are pushed to the brink of a loss, and then just decide, no, not today.  Not today.  After giving up a tying run in the 9th, LA responded by immediately pushing two runs across the plate in the 10th to dash any hopes San Diego had of getting a win.

Rangers 3, Angels 0 – Scouts: Brian Goodwin launched a shot into center field in the 3rd inning that went over the wall.  The thing was Delino DeShields decided to bring it back.  Little did anyone know that would be the closest that LA would come to scoring in the game after Texas used 4 pitchers to combine into a 3 hit shutout.