Prof: How are you guys holding up with things? It’s a weird place we’re in, where we can’t see baseball in person but MLB does their level best to keep us from seeing it, period. Why do we still have blackouts? We literally can’t go to the stadiums this year. MLB.tv is still $60 on the year and while I suppose that’s cheap, all things considered, it’s still such a weird experience that we have to jump through hoops to catch a game. I’m trying to introduce someone to Braves baseball and we can’t watch a game here in Maryland unless we have the app. I can’t afford to buy it, and they are just learning the game, so why should they buy it? It’s frustrating. It’s stuff like this that shoots this sport in the foot.
Cardinals 3, Cubs 1 F/7 (Game 1) – Scouts: More exciting 7 inning action! Isn’t it suuuuuper exciting how St. Louis needed 4 pitchers to get through a game 1 7 inning affair. And they were rewarded with a win! While the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks dominated through 6, but it was the 7th that did him in allowing a two run double to Brad Miller to drop the first game in the set.
Cubs 5, Cardinals 4 F/7 (Game 2) – Scouts: Chicago has NOT been playing very well and it was safe to say they learned their lesson about allowing a pitcher to go more than 2 innings, because they sure didn’t repeat that mistake. The Cubs and Cardinals used a combined 12 forking pitchers to get through 7 innings. And it’s not like most of them even had high pitch counts or pitched poorly. No, this is just how it is in 2020. Is this the real life or just some video game?
Blue Jays 7, Orioles 2 – Prof: It was the Grichuk and Biggio Show in Baltimore. Randal Grichuk launched a three run homer and an RBI single. The Baby Biggio also had an RBI single and a two run homer. Hyun Jin Ryu gets the W.
Red Sox 3, Yankees 6 – Scouts: Man it must be a really tough job being an announcer for the 6-17 Boston Red Sox, huh Dennis? Yup, I’m going to beat this dead horse all the way to the end of the season. Luke Voit homered twice, Thario Estrada and Aaron Hicks also homered and Boston was simply outclassed.
Nationals 6, Braves 7 – Scouts: Washington lead the entire game. That is until Adam Duvall and Dansby Swanson homered to walk it off in the 9th. Daniel Hudson’s final line: .2 IP, 3 H, 4ER, 2 HR. 7.88 ERA. Woof.
Mets 11, Marlins 4 – Prof: The NL East is a weird animal. Case in point, this game. The Mets couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn lately but was a regular launching pad against Miami. Robinson Cano hit two two-run homers, Pete Alonso hit two solo shots.
Tigers 2, White Sox 7 – Scouts: Chicago just can’t stop slugging dingers these days. First Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada went back to back to kick off the game, and then Luis Robert and Danny Mendick went back to back in the 6th. Oh, and Tim Anderson also homered in the second while Luis Robert picked up his second homer in the 8th.
Padres 14, Rangers 4 – Scouts: When a team scores 14 runs it can often be hard to know where to start. This isn’t one of those times. Let’s talk about Fernando Tatis Jr who on two swings of the bat racked up 7, yes 7 RBI’s. The game was already well out of hand before Tatis hit his first homer, but that didn’t stop him for going for the juggular.
Rockies 1, Asterisks 2 – Scouts: The Asterisks picked up their 5th straight win thanks to a pair of runs in the first off a Carlos Correa double and then Brandon Bielak putting in into cruse control for six innings. His only mistake was a solo homer by Trevor Story, but the bullpen was able to come in and hold it at that.
Mariners 9, Dodgers 11 – Scouts: It took a pair of 5 run innings, but the Dodgers were able to eek out a victory that was honestly a lot closer than it should have been. Let’s just not even look at the pitching stats of a game that saw 20 runs and not a single pitcher last longer than 3 innings. Mookie Betts and Corey Seager homered. That’s cool. So did Kyle Lewis and Kyle Seager. That’s also cool. So two Kyles and two Seagers homered. Weird.
A’s 3, D-backs 4 – Scouts: David Peralta had himself a party, first getting things started with a homer in the 3rd, and then singling in the winning runs in the 9th.
Giants 6, Angels 7 – Prof: Mike Trout hit a solo shot, but the game was ultimately decided by Tommy LaStella, whose sac fly in the second set up a run, and a two run blast in the ninth.
Royals 1, Twins 4 – Prof: The 15-8 Twins are making their case for NL Central supremacy. Nelson Cruz continues to pad his resume for Cooperstown with a pair of solo home runs.
Fan Interference 
In the Tiger/Pale Sox game, Tigger tosser Matthew Boyd was almost the poster child of 3 true outcomes pitching. He faced 19 batters in 4 innings with 14 of the ABs resulting in 9 Ks, 3 HRs, and 2 walks. The 3 earned runs in 4 innings actually lowered his season ERA.
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Remember when a pitcher’s start lasted 5+ innings? Good times.
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Maybe Skubal or Mize will show them how to do it.
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Daniel Hudson, the reluctant closer (seriously, he told Davey Martinez last year that he doesn’t enjoy the role) didn’t have it last night, and so he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I’m of the opinion that, in keeping with the “Let the Kids Play” theme that’s emerging this year, it’s time to give the closer’s job to Tanner Rainey, who’s got the stuff and appears to have the makeup. Can’t hurt.
Speaking of kids, there was a weird moment for Juan Soto last night. In the top of the ninth, he hit his third homer in the past week that was estimated to have traveled at least 440 feet, this one off Will Smith, but he stared down Smith after he hit it:
As he ran to first, cameras caught Smith accusing Soto of having an Oedipus complex, if my lip-reading skills are to be trusted.
The two never faced each other before, and the home run came on the first pitch of the at-bat, so not sure what that was about. Other than his mocking Alex Bregman during the World Series last year by carrying his bat to first base on a home run after Bregman had done the same, this was a bit out of character for Childish Bambino. Armchair baseball philosophers across Twitter are predicting that Soto will likely be plunked in retribution at some point, perhaps even tonight, so we’ll see how things proceed.
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Admittedly…I am not fortunate enough to catch a lot of Nationals games. I would really like to watch them play more as they are an exciting young team. These things in mind, I thought this was his character as opposed to a bit out of character. I mean…hasn’t he pimped everything (crotch grabbing included), since he was called up in 2018?
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Since I’m a Nats fan, I’m likely guilty of seeing his antics as more innocent than perhaps a fan of an opposing team might, but to me there’s always been a sense of joy or mirth in much of what Soto does. He’s usually smiling when he’s shuffling in the batter’s box or whatever, and it always feels to this fan like he’s saying to his opponent, “Isn’t this fun?”
The bit with Smith last night differed in that there was no smile on Soto’s face. He was pissed about something, and he had lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes.
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No doubt VA. To be clear…as a fan of an opposing team I see nothing innocent about it. Lol! Full disclosure: In your first paragraph replace “Soto” with “Molina” and I am guilty as charged.
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I know what it is to root for a player that the rest of the world thinks is an asshole; Bryce Harper played here for seven years, don’t forget.
Harper wasn’t as bad as other fans made him out to be, and I spilled a lot of electrons defending him here and over at Hardball Talk, but he carried himself differently than Soto does, in my opinion. Harper projected an edge that I don’t see in Soto, but again, bias.
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Supposedly Tatis missed a “take” sign with a 3-0 count and the Padres up 10-3 when he hit his grand slam. Some Rangers were apparently annoyed about “running up the score.” There was a pitching change right after Tatis’ slam, and the new pitcher immediately threw behind Machado’s back. I hate both unwritten rules and the childish enforcement of them. How about telling the pitcher to not toss up a meatball on the 3-0 count? You throw a ball that’s asking to get crushed, then the hitter should crush it.
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Yeah, apparently Rangers manager Chris Woodward was crying about it after the game. It’s such a bad look to cry over someone hitting a granny on you. Especially when his salary is on the line. How about you suck less?
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Just saw there was an unwritten rule complaint in the Nats/Braves game, too, to whit: the Braves pitcher got mad at Juan Soto for admiring his homer in the 9th and cursed at him. There were two perfect responses: (1) Soto slowed his home run trot further. (2) Nats manager Dave Martinez suggested the pitcher make better pitches. Exactly.
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