TWiB Notes -- May 18 thru 24

[Frayed Knot]

So at least in the two NL divisions where the 1st place team isn't lapping the field (Braves currently with an 8.5 G lead) there's an important series going on to start the week.

- the Cubs, with a 1/5 G lead over Milwaukee, will host the Brewers for three starting Monday

- and in the west the Dodgers, with a slim 0.5 G lead, will be in San Diego on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx went right back to the well with Bednar following his 3 R / 3 H / 23 pitch nightmare ninth on Sunday, bringing him on in the 9th to protect a 2R lead vs Toronto. Pitchforks were likely being sharpened in Yanqui-land as he started the inning BB - RBI 2B, but he eventually survived K-ing Springer then getting Vladdy Jr to GO with two on for the save and a 7-6 Yanx win.  Too bad. A second consecutive BS/loss would have been so sweet.

 

In the big NL battles the Brewers chopped the Cubs' lead down to just a half game in the Central with a 9-3 win, while the Padres made a 1st inning Miguel Andujar HR stand up as they blanked the now 2nd place Dodgers 1-0

[seawolf17]

The Angels last night! Scoreless going to the ninth, Angels being no-hit by the Insert Your City Here A's and our former farmhand JT Ginn. A's pick up one in the top of the ninth to take the lead, then in the bottom half:

leadoff single
walkoff homer

Boom.

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx/Jays in a similar position as yesterday: Yanx up by two (5-3), top 9th and the Jays get the first two on with Springer then Vladdy up. But tonight it's Camilio Doval in for the save.

G Springer lines if off the pitcher's glove but is thrown out at 1st (now 2nd & 3rd) one out.

Vladdy: a long Sac Fly gets a run in but now the Jays are down to their final out

lefty swinging Daulton Varsho to the plate: and an infield single makes it 1st & 3rd as Doval is late covering

[Frayed Knot]

3B Kaz Okamoto to the plate: strike one, strike two,  ball one [SB so now 2nd & 3rd], 

Grounds out to 3rd and the Yanx win

[whippoorwill]

The Cardinals have this super annoying group of shirtless guys, 500 strong that stand there throughout the game yelling shit. 
 

and it’s all okay with the owner, he paid their  way! 
 

We had to listen to them the during the Pirates game last night and apparently they’ll be there all week 

[seawolf17]

lolmfys

0-3 vs Tampa, 0-3 vs Milwaukee. Everyone else they've played is under .500.

[Frayed Knot]

That's pretty funny. Of course the Mets have all of four wins [PIT x 2, NYY x 2] vs .500+ clubs but we're near the bottom of the standings while the Yanx are 4th best.

 

 

The Marlins are finishing up their series with Atlanta tonight with the game just starting (2-0 Braves after two batters) so the Mets will likely be in their Miami hotel before the Marlin players get to their homes. A Marlin loss would vault the Mets ahead of them in the standings (We're Number Four!!!) as the just completed game in DC put those two in a dead heat.  

... and now it's 3-Zip/Top-2 as Sandy Alcantara serves up his second tater.

[Frayed Knot]

In the two big NL matchup series this week, the Dodgers took 2 of 3 vs SD after the Pads win 1-0 in Game one.  In Game three the Friars got 'Ohtani'd': First pitch of game HR, then tacked on five shutout/3 hit innings from the mound. Dodgers started the series in 2nd place but now lead West by 1.5

 

And in the Central the Brew Crew just steamrolled the Cubs sweeping the series 3-0 by a combined score of 19-5. Been a bad overall week for Cubs CF PC-A starting with vulgar arguments with a female White Sox fan over the weekend and finished with two brutal errors including turning a single into a Little League 3R HR

Brewers now lead the Central by 1.5 over Both the Cubs and, surprisingly, the Cardinals.

[Frayed Knot]

Gerritt Cole makes his 2026 debut tonight in the Bronx vs 1st place Tampa.  And not just the first game of the year but the first one since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series where, with a 5-0 lead, he (and his defense) fell apart in the 5th inning and gave back the entire lead. Cole's defense was part of that inning when he crucially failed to cover 1st on an infield grounder.

He came back to pitch a clean 6th and, when the Yanx scored a run in bottom 6 he was in line to be the winning pitcher. But the Dodgers tallied twice in the 8th to win both the game and the WS, so that night was Cole's final ML pitch until tonight as he was diagnosed as needing UCL surgery during spring training of '25

So far: 2 innings, 0 runs, 2 BB, 1 hit

[Frayed Knot]

So that above graphic still holds as the Yanx still don't have a win vs a +.500 team. Cole threw five shutout innings but the final score was Rays 4 - Yanx 2 as Judge, representing the tying run, flew out to the warning track w/two outs in the 9th to end the game.

[whippoorwill]

Did you guys see the Jeff McNeil play?

[Frayed Knot]

Well the Yanx finally have a win vs a team over .500 

That series was also tied 0-0 between a NYC vs Florida team until the bottom 9 went BB - Judge 2R HR (1st pitch)

Rays won on Friday and Saturday's game was rained out (made up later in the season) so a 1-1 split there.

[whippoorwill]

This has been a weird week because of the weather. If summer ever arrives (and stays for more than two days) I hope the rainouts and such start to alleviate and we can get down to a real baseball season!