TWiB Notes -- Sept 5 thru 12

[Frayed Knot]

The other HR 'race' to watch as this season winds down (in addition to the one where Judge chases down whichever mark one chooses to, well ... judge, as

the legit single season mark, is that of Sir Albert of Pujols.



He hit career #695 on Sunday tying him with Alex Rodriguez for 4th overall and giving him a legit shot at 700. Neither mark seem plausible as this swan

song season began. And now he's got four weeks to go after hitting five in just the last two weeks.

And while it's tempting to say that he's just picking his spots and swinging for HRs at this point, he's also hitting .272 (highest since 2012) with a .348 OBA

(best since 2011) which translates to a 149 OPS+. All those marks are higher than he had in any single season with LAA.

Angels fans must be venting, 'So NOW you turn back into that guy?!?!'

[Frayed Knot]

14 games on this Labor Day (seven of them day games) which means four teams are off, the Braves and Phillies among them.

Braves are spending the holiday winging their way to the west coast so all their results will be coming in late for the next week and a half.

They'll play two in Oakland starting on Tuesday; three in Seattle over the weekend; then Mon thru Wed in San Fran.

[duan]

sounds like the perfect time for a 2-6 swoon.

[Frayed Knot]

Well Seattle is hot, at least for the moment anyway.

Who knows if that'll still be the case come Friday.

The two Bay Area teams not so much. Odd that those

are the first and last series rather than consecutive.

[Frayed Knot]

54 for Judge

4-2 Yanx over the Twins, end of six

[Frayed Knot]

Well it's not just us: Nats thump the red hot Cards 6-0

[Fman99]

Frayed Knot wrote: He hit career #695 on Sunday tying him with Alex Rodriguez for 4th overall and giving him a legit shot at 700.

I believe #695 actually puts him one behind A-Roid on the all time list.

[Frayed Knot]

Oooh, you're right, I mis-counted.

So it's one to catch ARod, five for the round number.

[Willets Point]

More importantly, Judge's 211 career homers ties him with Kevin McReynolds!

[Frayed Knot]

Brutal loss for the Brewers in Colorado last night (the one positive outcome for the Mets on Tuesday).



Up 6-1, they gave up 5 in the 8th (capped by a Randal Grichuk solo HR w/2 outs). Then, after scoring once in top 10 w/the clown car rules, they lost the lead

on a solo run then lost the game on a 3R HR by ... Randal Grichuk.

10 - 7 was the final.



Not going well for the Brews in the post-Josh Hader era ... but then it's not going well for Hader in SD either.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Guest

[MFS62]

Minnesota has a 2-0 lead on the MFYs in the 3rd inning.

This is significant only because the Twins haven't led them at any point in a game since 1987.



Later

[Edgy MD]

Oakland Oaks up 2-0 on the Atlanta Crackers as .17something-hitter Stephen Vogt doubles home two in the first.

[Frayed Knot]

That's a Spencer Strider game for the Braves

The Voit dubble was the only hit he allowed but he also walked three and threw a ton of pitches.

[Frayed Knot]

=MFS62 post_id=106603 time=1662580358 user_id=60]
Minnesota has a 2-0 lead on the MFYs in the 3rd inning.

[MFS62]

I wonder how well that upcoming free agent would do in a major league ballpark.

Like Citi field.



OE: Darn! 3-3 now.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

=MFS62 post_id=106610 time=1662583680 user_id=60]
I wonder how well that upcoming free agent would do in a major league ballpark.

[Edgy MD]

Let's not spend our Septembers coveting Yankees for next Spring.

[duan]

Frayed Knot wrote: That's a Spencer Strider game for the Braves The Voit dubble was the only hit he allowed but he also walked three and threw a ton of pitches.

FWIW braves now up 7-2 and pretty much home and hosed for the W

[Frayed Knot]

Twins & Yanx both went scoreless in the 10th & 11th

Twinkies finally pushed one across in top 12

Yanx then pushed across two.



5 - 4

[Frayed Knot]

Wainwright and Molina get their tie of the record for most starts pitcher/catcher combo (w/Lolich & Freehan) and Molina HR'd twice in honor of the occasion (his first HRs in months).

But it didn't help enough as the Nats thumped StL 11-6 to get a split of the four game series.



How 'bout those woeful Nats suddenly having a say in the NL pennant race?

[Frayed Knot]

The Rays are in the Bronx this weekend after taking two of three last week at home. But, at 4.5 games down, they NEED to win this series and almost

need to sweep it. The biggest thing working in the Yanx' favor is that the Rays & the Jays, the next pursuer at 6.0 games out, have NINE games

remaining against each other!!! So the anti-NYY forces really have to pick and champion among those two and ride that horse til it drops.

Rays also have five games against the Astros between now and the end of the season.







Braves face the only winning team they're going to see on their current west coast trip as they'll be in Seattle for three. This would be a real good time

for the NYM bats to NOT disappear like they did at the beginning of this so-called 'easy' stretch of games.

[Frayed Knot]

Braves went the entire top of the 1st without hitting a HR tonight in Seattle (they hit four on Friday) or even without scoring any runs.

Mariners batting bottom 1st as they're just getting underway out there tonight.

[Edgy MD]

Ex-Met Sam Haggerty is all over the place.

[Edgy MD]

I'm not comfortable seeing all these fans in Seattle wearing Braves gear.

[Edgy MD]

SHAZAM HAGGERTY PUTS THE MARINERS ON TOP!!

[Edgy MD]

Eugenio makes it 2-0!

[Edgy MD]

Braves cut it to 2-1 in the top of the seventh with the help of a J.P. Crawford error.



Mariners in the pen.

[Edgy MD]

Two-out RBI double! M's lead, 3-1!

[Edgy MD]

Another terrific catch by Haggerty ends the eighth for the Braves.



Three more outs!

[Edgy MD]

Sewald in to finish for Seattle



Acuña out. The #2 and #3 hitters — Swanson and Riley — scheduled tot follow.