Down the Stretch They Come - AL Style 2014

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, I kinda laid that argument out there knowing it couldn't possibly hold.

Some guys (cough! dykstra COUGH!) just don't know who to sleep with to get a break. Produce in the minors, get a call-up, but somehow are given up on because they don't set the world on fire in 18 sporadic at-bats. And then they wait two years before their next bullshit non-opportunity comes.

I mean, a career .294 / .371 / .522 // .893 line in the minors... what more do you want?

Other guys come up, have the good fortune of having their hits fall in at the right time, and you can't get rid of 'em. They get a seven-year career out of a two-week hot streak.

[Edgy MD]

Oh, and MERRY CLINCHMAS, BALTIMORE!!

[Edgy MD]

Meanwhile, Chris Davis proves that PEDS aren't all bad.

[Frayed Knot]

Man, is there anything that's killed Detroit more over the last couple of years than their bullpen?
Tigers were getting shutout last night when they got a 9th inning/2-out/3R HR from JD Martinez to take a 1-run lead ... only to have Joe Nathan give up 2 in the bottom half and lose to the Twins

Fortunately for the Tiggers, the Royals also went down to a scrub team (gave up 3 in the 7th to the ChiSox) so the ALC stays at DET +1.5
A's also lose to a chump (Texas) while the Mariners whomped up on the Angels so that race gets closer (A's +2.0)

WC:
OAK +1.0
KCR ---
SEA -1.0
TOR -5.0
CLE -6.0
NYY -6.0

The Yanx--losers of 5 of their last 6 and 7 of 10--still can't manage to lose their way out of this race yet, not officially anyway.

[Frayed Knot]

This pretty much sums up how it's going for Oakland these days -- they have a 1-0 lead over Texas last night heading for the 9th, so in comes stud closer Sean Doolittle (31 saves out of 34) to protect the 1-run lead.
Rangers send 12 hitters to the plate against Doolittle and two other pitchers: get 6 hits, 2 walks, 1 HBP, and win 6-1

[HahnSolo]

Jeff Samardzia...five starts this season giving up 0 runs. His teams are 0-5 in those starts.

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx lose this afternoon, but so does every frictkin' team in front of them so, while they continue to lose time, they're not losing ground.
- Oakland got shut out by the Phils
- Seattle got swamped by the 'Stros
- KC lost again to the Tigers (in part because of a screwed up replay ruling) so Detroit's lead is now 2.5 after two straight wins
- only Cleveland, who was tied w/the Yanx coming into today, won and so they move a game ahead.


It's like nobody wants those last two spots.
OAK +0.5
KCR ---
SEA -0.5
CLE -3.5
MFY -4.5
TOR -5.5

[Frayed Knot]

A's finally get on the positive side of an outcome by just now walking-off the Phils in the 10th inning via a 2R HR by Josh Donaldson. Huge win for them.

So today was essentially a reversal on how things have gone lately.
Most common recently has been the Yanx losing games but not any ground. Today they won but they don't gain much; not on the A's, not on KC, and not on Cleveland, only on Seattle.
And one more day is removed from the schedule


The remaining games:

OAK +0.5
(7 games remaining) - LAA x 3; @ Texas x 4

KCR - - - (1.5 out of the division lead)
(8) - @ CLE x 3; @ CHW x 4
Plus there�s the one suspended game where KC is down by 2 in bottom 10th. KC is the home team for that but it will be played with the series in Cleveland, I assume on Monday.

SEA -1.5
(7) - @ TOR x 4; LAA x 3

CLE -3.5
(8) - KCR x 3; TBR x 3
Plus the suspended game

NYY -4.5
(7) BLT x 4; @ BOS x 3

Yanx have to catch or pass three of those teams and there�s automatically a minimum of two wins for one of them in the CLE vs KCR series.


also
DET +1.5 Division lead; + 3.0 WC lead
(7) - CHW x 3; MIN x 4

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx beat the O's
KC & CLE wound up splitting their "DH" tonight
Tigers get shut out by the ChiSox
Mariners get swamped by the Blue Jays

DOES ANYONE ACTUALLY WANT TO WIN THE WC IN THIS LEAGUE????

So the Yanx pick up 1/2 game on KC & Cleve, and a full game on the Tigers & M's
Still unlikely but, like the guy in slasher movies, I don't trust that they're actually dead until I see the body.


The good new is that the A's, after giving up one in the top half of the 1st, have put up a six-spot in the bottom, thanks in large part to [u:22t60cqk]4 BBs[/u:22t60cqk] from CJ Wilson (who didn't survive the inning) and now a big 2-out error

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx 'Tragic Number' is now:
2 vs the A's
3 vs KC
5 vs SEA
6 vs CLE

So they could be EEEEEE-liminated as early Wednesday.
Thursday is Jeter last-day-ever-in-Yanqui-Stadium day (not sure if you've heard that?) so that might wind up as a nice 'Double-Header' so to speak.

[Edgy MD]

I seem to recall some folks sweating over the notion that he's only played one post-elimination home game in his MLB career. And folks were sweating whether the team would stay alive until Thursday.

Sadly they miss what's going on, and that's him dragging them down to the bitter end. I mean, if the team is still alive, do they have the farcical substitution ritual, where the gets pulled in the seventh? Or he gets pinch-run for after a flare single in the bottom of the sixth? Or being alive, do they play to "win" (and by keeping him in, that means pretending to play to win), and therefore risk the chance that his final at-bat could be grounding into a game-ending double play with the tying run on second.

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Thursday is Jeter last-day-ever-in-Yanqui-Stadium day (not sure if you've heard that?) so that might wind up as a nice 'Double-Header' so to speak.

No such luck. The forecast calls for heavy rain on Thursday, so the agony may be prolonged.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

MFS62 wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Thursday is Jeter last-day-ever-in-Yanqui-Stadium day (not sure if you've heard that?) so that might wind up as a nice 'Double-Header' so to speak. No such luck. The forecast calls for heavy rain on Thursday, so the agony may be prolonged. Later

And the kicker to that is that tickets for that game are, not surprisingly, not just sold-out but also heavily scalped/re-sold/bid-up however you want to put it.
But if that game is rained out it almost certainly will not be made up (no time, no bearing on races, etc.) so an awful lot of folks will be out an awful lot of money, not to mention the whole swan song thing being ruined..

[HahnSolo]

They'll open the doors and keep people there to 5 AM if they have to.

[Lefty Specialist]

They could be building an Ark in Monument Park and they'd still play that game.

[Ceetar]

White Sox and Konerko finish at home on the 28th, fwiw.

[Frayed Knot]

They'll open the doors and keep people there to 5 AM if they have to.

They could be building an Ark in Monument Park and they'd still play that game.

At some point if the delay lasts long enough the Orioles should just say 'Fuck it' and walk out.
They've got the division, have no need to playing ball until 2 in the morning before traveling to Toronto for a Friday game. And if it costs them a forfeit than so be it.

[Edgy MD]

Even with a 9-0 win, the Yankees still won't even their RS/RA ratio.

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx lose (I'd tell you who K'd on 3 pitches for the final out w/the tying run on but I'd be accused of a hate crime so I'll leave the culprit un-named)
KC wins, Detroit wins on a walk-off. Seattle loses (hey M's, coughing up 24 runs to Toronto in 2 games, one of them with Felix on the mound, is not way to conduct yourself in a pennant race)

Yanx can now do no better than force a three-way tie for the two WC spots with Oakland & KC - and the A's can take themselves out of that possibility with a win tonight.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

The Yanks tragic number is 1 and they have a game against Baltimore at 1 pm today. We could be celebrating VY Day before supper!

[Frayed Knot]

The Yanks tragic number is 1 and they have a game against Baltimore at 1 pm today. We could be celebrating VY Day before supper!

A story in one of the NYC locals (I just saw the on-line headline tho didn't read it) suggested that it's the duty of the Yanx to lose today and get things over with so that FJHG (Final Jeter Home Game) day has no other stories hanging over it.

[Edgy MD]

Well, they already tanked the season to make sure any and all other story lines were DOA, so... .

[Guest d'Kong76]

O's just scored 6 in the 4th to make it 6-3

[seawolf17]

Phil Hughes (@Twins) will NOT come back out for 9th inning. He is at 209 2/3 IP & gets a $500k bonus if he reaches 210 IP in 2014

OUCH.

[Frayed Knot]

Tigers win this afternoon, putting them 1.5 ahead of KCR

Oakland down 3-0 in the 4th - they may have the Yanx off their tail but still have some work to do in order to out-last Seattle & Cleveland.

[Frayed Knot]

seawolf17 wrote: https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/514878013205667840 Phil Hughes (@Twins) will NOT come back out for 9th inning. He is at 209 2/3 IP & gets a $500k bonus if he reaches 210 IP in 2014 OUCH.

Ouch indeed.
Hughes also set an ML record for K/BB ratio, K'ing 186 while BB'ing just 16 for the season. The 11.63 K/BB ratio breaks Bret Saberhagen's 1994 mark of 11.00

[Edgy MD]

Twins have to roll out Hughes for a one-inning appearance later in the week for good faith.

Stinks to lose a record from the Mets' vault, but it was probably one we didn't appreciate enough while we had it in house. Some degree of comfort, though, that Hughes going to the Twins probably cost the Yankees the post-season.

[Frayed Knot]

Turns out that Hughes was pulled because a monsoon hit delaying the game for an hour or so and ending his day - so apparently nothing underhanded going on there w/Twins mgmt.

[Edgy MD]

Sure, but if I'm Gardenhose, I still try to roll the guy out there this weekend for an inning. Ol' Ron has apparently sworn off that notion.

[Frayed Knot]

Seattle won earlier to keep their slim hopes alive.
Either or both of Oakland or KC can clinch the two WC spots with a win tonight -- both are tied late (KC @ ChiW, Oak @ Tex).

Detroit won this afternoon meaning they'll be at least 2 games up in the Central heading for the weekend, and 3 up* if KC can't pull this one out.



*aka "Dormie" in golf terms - in honor of the Ryder Cup starting tomorrow (in a few hours actually)



P.S. for some reason the White Sox unis are trimmed in green for tonight's game