TWiB Notes -- July 31 thru Aug 6

[Frayed Knot]

A bit of a late start this week ... but we were busy with other stuff the last few days.





-- Brave stumped the Angels this afternoon 12 - 5

Austin Riley and Matt Olson with back-to-back HRs. It's the 13th B-t-B for Atlanta this year and the 6th of the season for the duo of Riley & Olson (in one order or the other).

I'm thinking that the Mets have done this as a team, what, maybe twice this year?





-- TJ surgery for Liam Hendricks.

And this was supposed to be his comeback year and in a lot of ways it certainly was ... but this is rough news.

[Frayed Knot]

Craig Kimbrel, trying to close out a 2R lead for Philly in the bottom 10th in Miami, intentionally balked the ghost runner to 3rd by dropping the ball (to prevent sign stealing???).

Marlins scored the run on an out so it's tying run at the plate either way.



And the Marlins put the next two on and tie the game anyway.

[Frayed Knot]

Marlins win in the 12th.

So the Kimbrel IB (Intentional Balk) had nothing to do with the outcome but it's still a baffling 'strategy'.

[Edgy MD]

Diamondbacks rookie Slade Cecconi is pitching to Lamonte Wade, Jr., and appears to hit him in the hand with a 3-2 pitch. The batter runs to first, but the Diamondbacks challenge, and video evidence reveals that Wade wasn't hit at all, the pitch having actually careened off the knob of his bat.



Well, we've seen that play. It's a foul ball and we'll do it all over again. But wait ... there's more coming over the wire from Chelsea! After hitting the knob of the bat, the ball deflected into the crotch of catcher José Herrera, and there it nestled. This was treated as a clean catch by Herrera, and therefore the pitch was ruled a foul tip that was caught.



I'm not sure this is a correct interpretation of the rule, but it was the interpretation the umpires made, and thus Slade Cecconi recorded his first MLB strikeout.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: I'm not sure this is a correct interpretation of the rule, but it was the interpretation the umpires made, and thus Slade Cecconi recorded his first MLB strikeout.

Sounds right to me. It's no different than if the catcher caught it barehanded and then put the ball in his mitt. And if he's allowed to catch the ball barehanded to record the out, it should make no difference if, instead, the ball struck the catcher's bare hand and from there, ricocheted into his mitt. And if the ball is allowed to ricochet into the catcher's mitt from his hand, it should blah blah blah from his crotch, too.



It's not a strike only when the batted ball comes into contact with anything that isn't a part of the catcher's body before the catcher can control the baseball.

[The Hot Corner]

It's not a strike only when the batted ball comes into contact with anything that isn't a part of the catcher's body before the catcher can control the baseball.

That sound about right to me.

[batmagadanleadoff]

The Hot Corner wrote: It's not a strike only when the batted ball comes into contact with anything that isn't a part of the catcher's body before the catcher can control the baseball. That sound about right to me.

That sentence should read: "It's not a third strike only when the batted ball comes into contact with anything that isn't a part of the catcher's body before the catcher can control the baseball."

[ashie62]

Francisco Alvarez is named to the MLB all July team

[Frayed Knot]

Verlander, facing the Yanx for his second time in his last three starts, takes an 'L' in his first start back with the Astros.

Not a bad outing: 2 R, 7 hits over 7 innings, but HOU got only an Altuve solo HR and lost 3-1

[The Hot Corner]

Pitching for the Mets this season, Verlander was accustomed to anemic offensive support. The Astros offense went AWOL. I guess they wanted to make him feel at home.

[nymr83]

Tim Anderson is a punk, overrated, and LOL Jose Ramirez dropped him like Mike Tyson hitting a punching bag

[Chad ochoseis]

=nymr83 post_id=134161 time=1691290463 user_id=54]
Tim Anderson is a punk, overrated, and LOL Jose Ramirez dropped him like Mike Tyson hitting a punching bag

[metirish]

https://twitter.com/Lal0_14/status/1687994058244005888

The Anderson incident, everyone has a plan until they get a punch in the face , Mike Tyson

[Edgy MD]

Syndergaard should have just yelled and banged a bat on the ground and everybody would have fallen down.