Prof: My apologies. This weekend kinda kicked my butt, then the whammy of the HBT news, being exhausted from what occurred this weekend with me, and being worried about the tropical storm heading right towards where I live didn’t help. Sorry for being MIA. But just like the Prodigal Son, I’ve returned.
Asterisks 8, D-backs 2 – Scouts: Just about the entire lineup got a hit, including homers by jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. George Springer pitched in with 3 RBI’s. Madison Bumgarner is now 0-2 with a 7.04 ERA after allowing 7 earned in 4.1 innings.
Pirates 3, Twins 7 – Scouts: Nelson Cruz continues his hot streak, taking the MLB league in RBI’s after a very fine 3-4 performance. The Twins jumped out to a 9-2 start and at the moment look like they can’t be beat.
Spiders 4, Reds 2 – Prof: Shane Bieber had a rare misstep in allowing two solo dingers against Cincinnati, but he got back on the horse and kept on riding into the eighth inning. Despite the two dingers, the Biebs still has an ERA of 0.83. Nasty.
Red Sox 1, Rays 5 – Prof: CHARLIE F’N MORTON gets the win and the Rays keep on keepin’ on. Austin Meadows had Covid. Did y’all know that? I had no idea. Boston, frankly, stinks. They can’t hit the broad side of a barn these days.
Mets 3, Nationals 5 – Prof: Our colleague SomeGuyinVA has a lot to say about Carter Kieboom, and I think he’s brought some much needed mojo to the Nats. Kieboom, not SomeGuy, although I’m sure that SG would also bring mojo to his beloved team. They lit up Steven Matz like he was the Fourth of July, five runs in three innings, including a solo home run from Howie Kendrick Lamar. On the flip side, my favorite Met Michael Conforto hit a two run homer.
Rangers 1, A’s 5 – Scouts: Oakland walked it off in the best way possible. With a grand slam in the bottom of the 9th by Stephen Piscotty. Man the digital fans must have been going nuts for that one!
Dodgers 5, Padres 2 – Scouts: Things weren’t looking great for the Dodgers, until AJ Pollock came off the bench in the 7th, doubled in the tie-breaking run, and then homered a bonus run in the 9th. One thing is for sure. San Diego is no joke no more.
Angels 5, Mariners 3 – Scouts: Alby Pujols is now just a single homer shy of Willie May’s career total of 660 after a two-run homer in the first. For the moment, Willie Mays is 5th in the all time list with Alex Rodriguez in 4th with 696. So now all we can do is wait.
Blue Jays 1, Braves 10 – Prof: Monday I hunkered down to pay attention to what would have been a sainted matchup between two goats, but then Mike Soroka went down with a season ending injury and also, I felt like dying. Yesterday was the Maple Maddux’s birthday, and his rotation partner and Braves BFF Max Fried took the mound. Longtime readers of this blog know that I am not only the driver of the Max Fried Bandwagon but I am the person who built the dang thing. This male model who moonlights as a pitcher went out there and did the damn thing, giving hope to saddened Atlanta fans, heart to his teammates, and a big fat W to the Braves’ record. Losing Soroka is tough, but having Fried in your back pocket helps lighten the load. Oh, and Austin Riley hit a three run dinger. Let the kids play, indeed.
White Sox 3, Brewers 2 – Scouts: Lucas Giolito went 6 strong 2 run innings, Eloy Jimenez homered to tie the game, and Jose Abreu singled in the winning run. All in all a pretty by the books game for the Sox.
Royals 4, Cubs 5 – Scouts: The Cubbies were hitting them all over the place, with homers by Jason Heyward, Jason Kipnis, and Wilson Contreras. Chi-town is now 9-2, with a commanding 4 game lead over the Reds for the division.
Marlins 4, Orioles 0 – Prof: Y’all, I jinxed Baltimore. I had said how impressed I was that they were being relatively fruitful and now they are being beaten by literally the scraps of major league baseball. Name a Marlin right now. In fact the ones I know are former Orioles and Brewers, and Francisco Cervelli, who started the rally with a solo homer. If you put a gun to my head and said “NAME A MARLIN RIGHT NOW” I wouldn’t have been able to do it. But they beat an equally depleted Oriole team, so I don’t know if we can really throw a parade in their honor.
Giants 2, Rockies 5 – Scouts: German Marquez pitched a masterful performance, locking down the San Francisco bats for 7.1 innings allowing just 2 runs. He faced former Baltimore Oriole can’t-miss-kid Kevin Gausman who allowed his usual 4 runs over 5.1 innings.
Phillies, Yankees – PPD – Covid-19
Cardinals, Tigers – PPD – Covid-19
Phillies, Marlins – PPD-Covid-19
Fan Interference 
All I’ve said about young Mr. Kieboom is that when he plays, the Nats win, and when he doesn’t, they don’t.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=kieboca01&t=b&year=2020#batting_gamelogs::none
Recently signed Josh Harrison hit a home run last night, thus throwing his hat in the ring to be this year’s inspirational leader the way Gerardo Parra was last year, minus the Baby Shark walk-up music.
Future Nats closer Tanner Rainey deserves credit for a save last night, entering in the 7th with the Nats up 5-3, two on and no one out; he struck out Pete Alonso, and got Wilson Ramos and Michael Conforto to fly out.
Nats sit at 4-4, haven’t played a game away from DC yet, and Juan Soto and Stephen Strasburg have yet to appear in a game, although Soto is active now, and might play tonight.
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Hey all! It’s been a while. I just wanted to jump on to tell everyone I hope they are staying safe. A little tidbit on the Kieboom’s…their Father is the President of one of our largest vendor partners. By all accounts, a genuinely humble guy who seems to be very nice. I am including a link to an article from a few years ago for those that may not have seen it. I am going to try to get back on here more often. As you are aware, HBT was teetering on a cliff when you guy’s jumped ship. They have since taken a swan dive.
Everyone stay safe! https://www.talknats.com/2016/12/14/kieboom-family-groom-boom/
The artist formerly known as Stlouis1Baseball
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Welcome aboard.
FYI – I included a link and invitation to our little community in a comment on the most recent AP story NBC regurgitated on the old site. Maybe some more familiar names will join us soon.
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Thanks Man. Yeah…I saw it. I bet it has been two years since I have been on here. Anyone heard from Gator or Inda? They still around? Saw Philiac on HBT a couple of times over the last few days.
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It’s all fun and games until someone starts posting as Halliday’sBiceps.
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Gator claimed he was dropping out due to the NL using the DH this year, but he did pop in once or twice afterward. Indaburg’s been MIA for a long time.
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Hey!!!! Wow, it’s good to see you!!! Welcome back, we’ve missed ya!
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BREAKING NEWS: Due the Cardinals failing to remain COVID free, causing the 4 game series against the Tiggers to be canceled, their 1934 and 2006 World Series wins over Detroit have been reversed. OK, not really, but this could be incentive for other MLB teams to be a little more cautious in their COVID behavior.
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I think that teams who allow a large outbreak causing the cancellation of games should be ruled to have forfeited those games. No scheduling problems in an already tight schedule. No chance for a team making the playoffs with higher winning percentage vs a team which completed more games. And as much incentive as possible to avoid this to begin with.
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Not a bad idea. At a minimum it should be a series win for the healthy team, 2 W / 1 L in a 3 game series, 3 W / 1 L in a 4 game series.
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…and we fall in the standings by NOT playing. What. The. Fork!!!!???
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YAAAAAAASSSSS!!!
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Agreed
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The game itself no longer interests me but Francisco Cervelli put up a very good cooking blog called “Behind the Plate” on the Feesh homepage while Tony Clark and Rob Spittoon were trying to find a way out of the plague. I collected his recipes for Focaccia de Barese (which has now become a staple in our house) and his simple, succulent arroz con pollo, which I’ve elaborated into both a pork paella and a seafood paella. I’m happy to hear he doinked one.
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