Fan Interference

Scouts: I hope everyone had a good long and restful weekend. Typically Labor day signals the return to school for most around the country, however 2020 is a strange year indeed where nothing happens as it should. Many are preparing to return remotely, while some are returning in person. Many parents are facing incredibly difficult decisions with not many options. For those of us with children, how are you planning to handle the fall school year?

We did have one pretty notable baseball occurrence over the weekend. Joe West decided not enough people have been paying him attention recently and decided to do Joe West things. During a game between the Nationals and Braves, Joe West apparently heard Mike Rizzo who was in the upper deck say horrible, mean, cruel things like “you’re brutal”. Joe the everlasting snowflake couldn’t handle such commentary on his performance and stopped the game, threw Rizzo out, and demanded that security come and escort Rizzo out of the ballpark. Oh yea, and he complained that Rizzo wasn’t wearing a mask, which is technically against the rules, despite that no one was anywhere near Rizzo, him being alone in a skybox and all, and that Joe West couldn’t manage to get his make to actually cover his mashpotato face. Anyways, this is your 2020 reminder that Joe West continues to be the largest ego maniac in all of professional baseball and needs to find another line of work.

Umpire Joe West called security to apparently eject Nationals GM Mike Rizzo for not wearing a mask. pic.twitter.com/9fCYJOWJaI

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 7, 2020

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Marlins 5, Braves 4 F/10 – Scouts: Jose Urena looked pretty rusty in his 2020 debut. Urena gave up three runs in the first two innings, and also picked up a warning for a sinker that plunked Ronald Acuna Jr in the 4th. However, the Braves were unable to capitalize on the shaky start, since their starter had a shaky start of his own. Ian Anderson gave up a pair of runs in just three innings, and his relief, Robbie Erlin wasn’t much relief at all, giving up two more of his own. Adam Duvall homered in the 9th to send the game into extras, but the Braves bullpen was unable to hold the lead allowing Miguel Rojas to double in Garrett Cooper for the win.

Rockies 0, Padres 1 – Scouts: Not a whole lot of action in this one as both teams were shut out until the bottom of the ninth when Jurickson Profar doubled in the winning run to walk it off. Dinelson Lament struck out 11 over 7.2 strong innings, and sadly didn’t pick up the win.

Phillies 9, Mets 8 F/10 – Prof: When I tell you that the Phillies bullpen is bad, I mean it’s abysmal. If the Phillies bullpen was a horse, you’d shoot it to end it’s suffering. The Mets were down by six going into the fifth inning when the bullpen happened. Suddenly, there wasn’t a ball New York couldn’t get a knock against. It was up to Jean Segura to come up big in extras with probably the best game of his life. His two run homer gets the win for Philly.

Asterisks 0, Athletics 6 – Scouts: Oakland has lost their title as best team in the AL, falling behind the Rays, Spiders, and White Sox, but they are still a team that should be feared, especially if Chris Bassitt pitches more games like he did yesterday. Bassit kicked off a key division series by shutting out the Astros over 7 very strong innings.

Tigers 2, Twins 6 – Scouts: Every win for the Twins is a big win as we have a very tight three team race for the division. Minnesota is a game out of first and they really needed the shot in the arm that Michael Pineda has provided. Pineda locked it down over 7 innings giving the bullpen a much needed day off. Eddie Rosario did most of the damage on offense racking up three RBI’s on a pair of hits.

Cardinals 1, Cubs 5 – Prof: One of the biggest, most hatred rivalries in all of professional sports continued yesterday when Chicago and St. Louis matched up in the Friendly Confines. True to form, it got hopping early, with Anthony Rizzo providing the means to the ends, grounding into a double play that brought Ian Happ home. Rizzo also drove in a run in the third. Meanwhile, on the bump, Kyle Hendricks pitched a stellar eight innings. Clean and elegant as always, our Professor.

Rangers 4, Mariners 8 – Prof: Texas was swept by Seattle, who has now won six straight. In fact, tge Rangers have just plain stunk since they cried about Tatis Jr hitting that grand slam against them. Them’s the breaks, kids. Dylan Moore went 2-5 with 4 RBI.

Rays 1, Nationals 6 – Prof: This was all Washington. Kurt Suzuki went 3-4, and Max Scherzer was his usual, brilliant self – seven innings, eight Ks. It was a SomeGuy special as Kieboom played. I think you’re onto something, pal!

Royals 2, Spiders 5 – Scouts: Cleveland took advantage of Chicago’s day off and slid into a tie for first place with a win over Kansas City. Zach Plesac kept them in the game by tossing 7 innings of 1 run ball.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 12 – Scouts: New York is struggling hard lately. After losing 3 of 4 vs the Orioles, they got smacked around by the Blue Jays and are now 6.5 games out of first and are now just a game over .500. Of course if the season ended today they would still be in the playoffs, because this is 2020 and why the heck not? Toronto scored 10 in the 6th as the Yankee bullpen had an absolute meltdown that was capped off by a Grand Slam by Danny Jansen.

Diamondbacks 2, Giants 4 – Prof: Kevin Gausman continues to streak hot and cold in San Francisco, but this time he was hot. Gausman stuck out nine and gained the victory. The sixth inning was all the Giants needed, including a bases loaded walk issued to Brandon Belt, which won the game.