ALDS IST - Blue Jays & Rangers

[Frayed Knot]

The first series kicks off in just a few hours and the Canadian team and the team from the city where they care more about football in June than they do about baseball get the shitty start times once again: 4:30 on a Thursday followed by 1:00 on Friday (3:30 & non local time).
They then get the prime-time slot on Tuesday then a couple of TBAs for Games 4 & 5 which translates into the networks saying: you just set there and wait while we see which series we really care about are still going and then we'll slot you in whenever else is still available


Anyway, weird fact I heard just the other day on the Rangers. They won 95 games this year but did so with only a plus 8 run differential. Not in one game or for the final week, but that was their total for the whole frickin' season, a gap which translates to a Pythagorean record of 82-80.
No team had previously won 95 or more games with anything less than a +66 in RS vs RA but the Texans were an absurd 36-11 in one run games which was enough to get them the best record in the AL

Marco Estrada for the Jays, who needed starters Marcus Stroman and Nelson Liriano just to get through the WC game, faces off against phormer philly Cole Hamels

[MFS62]

My friends in Canada are already stocked up on Labatt's. And there may even be some left for when the game starts.
Go Jays.

Later

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Bad day for Cole Hamels. Excellent.

[metirish]

Game 2 starts at 1pm on TBS

[Frayed Knot]

metirish wrote: Game 2 starts at 1pm on TBS

J.A. Happ, 20-4; 3.18* vs Yu Darvish, 7-5; 3.41



* How the hell did THAT happen? Happ turns 34 next week and hasn't had a season this good since his first full season in the majors back in 2009 when he was 2nd in ROY as a Phillie
Between that year and this one he was 49-56; 4.36 for five different teams

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I guess I don;t pay enough attention but was even more surprised to see Rick Porcello becoming a No. 1-type starter for a division winner in a good league.

[HahnSolo]

Liriano just took a line drive off the back of his head off the bat of Carlos Gomez (speaking of not paying attention, had no idea he was with Texas).

Jays playing long ball, leading 5-2 in the 8th, Rangers trying to rally tying run at plate.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I guess I don;t pay enough attention but was even more surprised to see Rick Porcello becoming a No. 1-type starter for a division winner in a good league.

Tigers beat writers were lamenting that two former Tigers - Porcello and my fellow Mizzou alum with the Nats -- are top candidates to win the CY this year. Max walked of course. They lost patience with Porcello and I don't remember who they got in the trade for him.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, the Porcello as Boston ace thing kind of snuck up on me as well.
He was a real promising prospect with the Tiggers but they brought him up so young (ML debut at 20) that it's not surprising that he didn't set the world on fire immediately.
The Sox have been hit and miss on some of these high profile deals they've made but, after getting not much out of him in 2015 AND being on the hook for $20M+ thru 2019 (Sawx signed him to an $80+M deal immediately after trading for him) they've been rewarded here in season two.

As for who the Tigers got when trading him ... some dude named Cespedes (also Gabe Speier and Alex Wilson) so I guess you could say that they dealt Porcello for Michael Fulmer so it doesn't look so bad from that perspective.


btw, Jays go up two games to none

Edited October 7, 2016 by Guest

[Zvon]

There were games today!?!? GAH!

Oh, A.L.
The real ballgames start at 5:30. I haven't missed nuthin

[Zvon]

HahnSolo wrote: Jays playing long ball,

No shit. Darvish: 5 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs.