TWiB Notes -- Sept 15 - 21

[Frayed Knot]

We'll kick off the penultimate TWiB Notes thread with FMan's post to wrap up last week's:


=Fman99 post_id=204519 time=1757931084 user_id=86]
This little recap is helpful to me, I will try to keep posting it as it changes. Reds and Giants both lost yesterday, D-Bags won.

While the Mets are off today, all of these teams play (Giants at Arizona, Reds at STL).



+ 1.5 on SF (Mets have tiebreaker)

+ 2.0 on ARZ (tiebreaker TBD)

+ 2.5 on CIN (CIN has tiebreaker)

[Centerfield]

Cardinals take a 4-3. End of 6.

[Centerfield]

And then give 3 right back. 6-4 Reds.

[Edgy MD]

If the Giants or Cardinals qualify for the playoffs, Rogers and/or Helsley will have earned a full playoff share.

[Centerfield]

If the Cardinals beat out the Mets Helsley might earn two shares.

[Centerfield]

St Louis reminds us that Helsley was their best reliever. Cincy now 2 back.

[Fman99]

Mets 77-73, with 12 games left to play. The other teams:



+ 1.5 on ARZ, 76-75, 11 to play (tiebreaker TBD)

+ 2.0 on SF, 75-75, 12 to play (Mets have tiebreaker)

+ 2.0 on CIN, 75-75, 11 to play (CIN has tiebreaker)

[Fman99]

Mets 78-73 with 11 games left to play. The other teams:



+ 1.5 on ARZ, 77-75, 11 to play (tiebreaker TBD)

+ 3.0 on SF, 75-76, 11 to play (Mets have tiebreaker)

+ 3.0 on CIN, 75-76, 11 to play (CIN has tiebreaker)



I think now we want to see a Mets win combined with a Giants win over Arizona, to help push that separation open a bit more.



Matchups are the same today - Mets host Padres, Diamondbacks at Giants, Reds at Cards.

[Frayed Knot]

Arizona's win* not only keeps their deficit at just 1.5 G but also improves their intra-division record which in turn makes their end-of-season tie-breaker edge over the Mets more likely.





* Giants scored 4 in Top-1 but couldn't hold. Snakes won 6-5 on a 9th inning walk-off: Single - Walk - E-4 - IF Single

[Frayed Knot]

Elsewhere:



- Just in case you still thought Ohtani might be human, he started last night (v PHI) and threw five no-hit (1 BB) innings. He also hit his 50th HR!

The Dodger pen then quickly coughed up six in the 6th to prevent him from getting the win in a game the Phils eventually won 9-6



- Cal Raleigh hit his 55th & 56th HRs, so he now owns the switch-hit HR record outright. Seattle (which has won ten straight) has 11 games left for him to shoot for 60.

And in the spirit of Garrett Morris and his closed caption service for the hard of hearing: HE'S A CATCHER ON THE VERGE OF 60 HOME RUNS!!!!

[MFS62]

And Raleigh plays his home games in a place where the park factor, 95, favors pitchers. (over 100 favors hitters)

C'mere, Cal, and pee into this bottle.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

All our immediate competitors have day games today. So the script flips we'll be the ones with results or partial results prior to first pitch.

CIN @ StL: 1:15

SFG @ ARZ: 3:40 (and a Giant win here would really be a giant win)

[Frayed Knot]

- Cubs clinched at least one of the WC slots with a win v Pitt this afternoon.

- Reds just downed the Cards, taking two of three in that series and bringing them up to .500 (76-76)

- SFG/ARZ scoreless, bottom 2nd

[Benjamin Grimm]

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/be/a7/85/bea785cf2f69b961a95959284d9893f0.jpg>

[Benjamin Grimm]

Giants and Arizona still scoreless through four.

[Frayed Knot]

DBacks batting, bottom 9th, Still Scoreless, but a Corbin Carroll out-out triple has him on 3rd. Now a walk makes it 1st & 3rd. And now a HBP loads 'em.

[Frayed Knot]

SF Giants closer Ryan Walker pitching: K - 1-3 !!!!

And so they're on to the clown car rules.

[Frayed Knot]

Top-10.

Devers - Adames - Chapman (clearly their best three hitters) in the 10th for SFG vs lefty Brandyn (really?) Garcia



Devers: FO-9, but speedster/PR moves over to 3rd, 1 out.

Adames: K

Chapman: K



This isn't looking good.

[Frayed Knot]

Bottom 10

Tawa - McCarthy - Perdomo (8 - 9 - 1) up for Diamondbacks. Righty Joel Pegeuro in to pitch.



Tawa: sac bunt 1-3 gets the runner to 3rd ... so we're right back where we were an inning ago

McCarthy (with the infield in): GO to 1st unassisted, no advance even though Devers briefly muffed it (because of course he did)

Perdomo: 4-3



On to the 11th. Giants have just one hit thru 10. DBacks have four.









And, yes, I realize I'm talking here to mo one but myself and the bots, but it helps me to get thru the inning(s). I tuned in just after the Carroll triple)

[Benjamin Grimm]

Giants have scored three in the 11th,still nobody out

[Frayed Knot]

Top-11

Bryce Eldridge (4th ML AB. Still looking for his first hit): runner to 3rd, and now a walk. 1st & 3rd, pinch runner to 1st

Jerar Encarnación: Single, one run in, 1st & 2nd

Patrick Bailey: Pop-up just behind 3rd ... but it falls in!! Bases loaded.

Christian Koss (announcers: He likes the first pitch): Two Run Double ... on the first pitch



3-0 Giants. Still no outs.

Pitching change: John Curtiss out (the second S is for Suck it Dude!) Juan Morillo in (with pink shoes!)

[Frayed Knot]

Drew Gilbert (x-NYM prospect): K

Grant McCray: Sac Fly - 7, Two outs, runner on 2nd

Rafael Devers: RBI Single, runner on 1st

Wily Adames: K



But it's 5-0 SFG, heading for bottom 11

Even with the ghost runner rule this is looking pretty good.

[Frayed Knot]

Bottom 11: Perguero still pitching for SF



Ketel Marte: 4 - 3, one out, runner moves to 3rd

Corbin Carroll: Line-out LF/Sac Fly. 5-1, Two Outs, Bases Empty. Great Diving Catch!! (though stupid play if that gets behind him)

Gabriel Moreno: BB

Blaze Alexander (Alexander Blaze would be cooler!): K



AND THAT'S THE BALLGAME!!



This one was big.

Drops the Diamondbacks (temporarily) back to 2.0 full games behind and worsens their intra-division record by a smidge.

Giants climb a half-game closer (3.0 to 2.5) but 2.5 is really 3.0 w/the NYM/SFG tie-breaker in our favor and the Giants are staring at a four game series @LAD starting Thursday

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: (Alexander Blaze would be cooler!)

Not if you're a stripper.



Maybe the plan all along with the Rogers trade was to send Butto, Tidwell, and Gilbert to San Francisco with the hopes that one or two of them might help stave off Arizona.

[Fman99]

Mets 78-74 with 10 games left to play. The other teams:



+ 1.5 on ARZ, 77-76, 9 to play (tiebreaker TBD)

+ 2.0 on SF, 76-76, 10 to play (Mets have tiebreaker)

+ 2.0 on CIN, 76-76, 10 to play (CIN has tiebreaker)

[MFS62]

Clayton Kershaw announced he will retire at the end of this season.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

After all the stops and starts due to injuries he's had over the last half dozen seasons* the only surprising part is his choice to announce it in season.

But he's going out on a pretty good note and will see another post-season, one he might even pitch in for a change.





* 22, 22, 24, 7, and 20 (to date) starts since 2021, and just two post-season games/5.1 IP in total during those same seasons despite LAD making the tourney every year.

[Gwreck]

Was poking around the other games tonight and saw something I've never seen before in the Cubs/Reds tilt: a 3-8-6 force play at second base.



With a runner on first, Crow-Armstrong smokes a line drive that tips off the first baseman's glove and hits the runner, DH Moises Ballesteros, pretty squarely on the helmet. Ball ricochets into the outfield. Ballesteros is dazed - but still runs to second, where he is forced out to end the top of the fifth inning.



If not for Ballesteros' head getting in the way, it would have been the first hit of the game for the Cubs. Hunter Greene has now completed 6 hitless. Ballesteros appears to be ok in the dugout.

[Gwreck]

Greene lost the no-hitter but completed the shutout, a 1-0 victory for Cincinnati.

[Fman99]

Mets 79-74, with 9 games left to play. The other teams:



+ 2.0 on ARZ, 77-76, 9 to play (tiebreaker TBD)

+ 2.0 on CIN, 77-76, 9 to play (Cin has tiebreaker)

+ 3.0 on SF, 76-77, 9 to play (Mets have tiebreaker)



Reds move past Gints in the pecking order here. Hopefully the Mets can stay ahead of these guys for another week and a half. Today's slate - Mets host the Nationals, Diamondbacks host Philly, Reds continue their series at home vs the Cubs and Giants continue their series in LA