Scouts: Prof isn’t available today, she was recruited by music loving time travelers to play a Glass Harmonica for a band which would help to unite all humanity in the year 2051 in a galaxy far far away. Meanwhile, she wanted to send her congratulations to the teams that moved on to the next round of the 2020 playoffs. She also said to say something about Anthrax rules or something. I dunno, I wasn’t really paying attention.
Reds 0, Braves 5 – Scouts: Ian Anderson and the Braves bullpen eliminated the Reds in style, throwing a 2 hit shutout. The game was actually really close most of the way until the Braves busted out with 4 runs in the 8th thanks to homers by Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall.
Cardinals 9, Padres 11 – Scouts: The Padres, down four runs early, and facing elimination never panicked. They slowly but surely mounted a comeback and eventually flipped the script. (See what I did there?) Yes, yes Fernando Tatis homered twice and threw in a pretty special bat flip for good measure. Wil Myers also homered twice and Manny Machado threw in a solo shot to boot. Tonight, we will decide who moves on and who goes home.
Brewers 0, Dodgers 3 – Scouts: The Brewers never really had a chance. They struggled to even make the playoffs, and after losing Game 1, and staring Clayton Kershaw on the mound, well it just wasn’t even fair. Kershaw allowed 3 hits and 1 walk over 8 innings while striking out 13. After the game Kershaw gave the most “well duh” answer to any question ever saying “This was a fun night for me.”
White Sox 4, Athletics 6 – Scouts: After the White Sox had their little melt down and started throwing at people for bat flips, I personally was moved solidly from the “Don’t really care about them” camp to the “I can’t wait to watch them get bounced from the playoffs” camp. And today is that day. Oakland moves on and Chicago gets to go home and think about what the hell happened over the last two or so weeks of the year. Chicago actually jumped to an early 3-0 lead, but in what’s become the norm for them, they completely collapsed. it started with a Sean Murphy solo homer in the 4th, that opened up a 4 run inning. Two more runs thanks to a Chad Pinder single in the 5th, and the Sox were D-O-N-E, done.
Marlines, Cubs – PPD due to rain. The game is scheduled to play Friday.
Fan Interference 
1) The Reds are maybe the most “three true outcomes” team ever. Over 59% of their runs came via homers. They had 239 walks and 221 singles—no team has ever had a season in which they collectively had more walks than singles before. They also batted .212 as a team. As a result, they also showed the inherent flaw in over reliance on three true outcomes. Basically, prevent them from hitting long balls, and they can’t manufacture runs at all.
2) Kershaw definitely had his curve going last night. When he does, good luck to any team trying to hit him.
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I had to listen to Paper go on about Tatis Sr. hitting 2 GS in 1 inning during the game last night. I can’t root for Hosmer, so I stayed neutral on the game. For domestic contentment, I do hope the Cards win tonight. I should wash my shirt so I can wear it…
RE: ALCentral representation — I’m disappointed the Twinkies and Indians fared badly, but anything can happen in a short series. The Twins were definitely better than us this season and we beat them twice in a row, so that’s the unfortunate thing about this playoff structure.
That said, I was happy that the ChiSox lost. I don’t know that I have a horse for the AL now, which is sad. I hope I don’t have to root Yanks in the end.
RE: game announcers — I feel like we could post reviews of their poor performance (excepting AJ) and repost that every year. I really wish we could just have park noises. Is that so much to ask in this America????
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I’m all about the Rays right now. Not that I really have a good dog in this race, but I suppose they are the lesser of all possible options. Oakland’s fine and all, but kinda meh to me. And I’m def anti New York and Houston.
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The second Tatis HR didn’t make it out by that big of a margin. Why do I get the feeling this guy is someday going to do a bat flip only to have someone jump at the wall and pull the ball back making him look like a total DB?
Meanwhile, I found this. Hope Prof stays safe.
https://bibliolore.org/2012/08/30/glass-harmonica-horrors/
“In the 18th century music was regarded by some as a form of nervous stimulation that could cause a range of maladies, and the glass harmonica was considered especially dangerous.
The glass harmonica player and composer Karl Leopold Röllig stated that the instrument could “make women faint, send a dog into convulsions, make a sleeping girl wake screaming through a chord of the diminished seventh, and even cause the death of one very young”, and physicians warned of possible ill effects including muscle tremors, prolonged shaking of the nerves, fainting, cramps, swelling, paralysis, and seeing ghosts.”
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I had the same thought when I saw that Tatis homer. One day he’s gonna be wrong and it’s gonna look really really bad as he’s thrown out at first because he’s too busy starting at his own dugout.
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