Frayed Knot

I like that they got 9 outs out of those 14 + 14 + 2 pitches from three relievers last night.

There were some less than ideal routes he took to flies earlier in the season, some of which turned catchable balls into ones he didn't catch. Been much improved lately but those factor into things too. And, yeah, defensive metrics are still very much a work in progress rather than the final word.

In the all-Chicago series which started at Wrigley Monday night, Pete Crow-Armstrong hit the first pitch of the game thrown by the White Sox for a HR. And then in bottom 10 he hit the last pitch the ChiSox threw for a HR, aka: a 2R walk-off. He also had a single, double, and a stolen base and it made him a 30/30 player for the second straight season, this one with nearly 1/4 season still to go.

Recently acquired Robbie Ray faces Zac Thornton in a battle of southern paws. This will the third start as a Padre for the 34 y/o, 13 year veteran Ray, although his first two weren't all that impressive: a 4 R, 7 H, 5 BB in 5 innings 'L' vs HOU; followed by 2 R/2 H/3 BB in just 4 frames vs MIL (ND). But overall this year he's a decent 10 - 7, 3.28, 1.33 on the year even while leading the majors in walks with 65 [in 132 IP (4.4/9)] In other Padre news, the sale of the club was approved by MLB on Monday to duo of Jose E. Feliciano* and Kwanza Jones. Feliciano, who will be the designated control person, and Jones are a married couple. He is the co-founder and managing partner of Clearlake Capital Group and together they run various philanthropic endeavors. The team has been owned by the Seidler family since 2010 until the death of managing partner Peter Seidler in late 2023 led to the decision to sell. And, btw, Mets now need to go 24 - 12 to finish the season at .500 Still a tough hill to climb but, for the first time, it suddenly seems possible. And, yes (before anyone brings it up) I think it's a goal worth pursuing. I never bought into the whole 'all this winning is bad' argument. * maybe he'll sing the national anthem on a regular basis

Weird game. But three outfield assists and three near perfect (1 H, 1 BB) innings from the pen.

He also has a line single and a line out (3) tonight ... so at worst he's only occasionally lost.

Mighty blow by Pol.anco!!

Yanx place Max Fried back on the IL, this time with a left elbow bone bruise ... not a good thing, to happen, I surmise, when you're a LH pitcher. Yanx open a series in Baltimore against the suddenly hot and in WC contention Orioles on Tuesday

Eleven Padre batters, nine have reached base*, but just one run**. * Line-out - Single - Single - Single (9 - 2) - Single (9 - 2) / BB - HBP - BB - FC (1 - 2) - Sac Fly - Single (7 - 2) ** and if McLean had made a better throw he'd still have a shutout going

Six Padre outs so far, FOUR OF THEM at the plate!!! Not sure that was in the game plan of either team

Good news: We're winning Not so good: McLean has faced seven hitters and retired one of them - and that one caught him more than the other way around

Start spreading the news!!!

Making sure we get a proper reset on TWiB after a lapse last week. - Joshua Báez in his second ML game following his 3 HR showing on Saturday: 0/5 w/3 Ks. Jeeez, what an overhyped bust this guy turned out to be!! Not a lot of hot/sexy series to open this week: Braves are at Twins, Phils & Marlins go head to head, our pursuit of the Nats sees them go to Rangers, Yanx at Baltimore. A few quirks in that Seattle plays ex-Seattle (Mariners @ Brewers) while the Philly, Kansas City, Oakland, West Sacramento, Las Vegas A's go to Kansas City to face the Royals Think there are any remaining A's fans left in western Missouri/eastern Kansas? Were there ever many in the first place? Their 13 year run in K.C. never saw a winning season and topped out at 74 wins*. In fact, their most impressive feat while there was seemingly shipping future stars to the Yanquis for not much in return in part due to an ownership overlap which was a clear conflict of interest. * They then moved to Oakland and immediately ran off nine consecutive winning seasons which included five post-seasons and three WS championships

The hot Mets [9 - 3] welcome the ever hotter Padres [ 17 - 5] for a three game series Monday (7:10) Tuesday (7:10) and Wednesday (1:10) The Pads started Sunday in a three-way dead heat with Philly and Arizona for the 2nd & 3rd WC slots. Disappointments early on (were below .500 as recently as late July) their high-priced but underachieving offensive talent has mostly caught fire lately [Tatis, Merrill, Machado] and they added hurlers Robbie Ray and Casey Mize (from the Giants and Tigers respectively) to their staff. We'll see Ray on Tuesday but will miss Mize. Ex-Dodger Walker Buehler [7 - 5; 4.88; 1.43] gets the start Monday against Nolan McLean. The game plan is simple: avoid seeing super-closer Mason Miller

Agreeing with GWreck in that I never thought the eponymous surgery should be a factor in his HoF worthiness. It made him more famous but not a greater pitcher.

Somebody here besides me must have seen this one by now. Oddly this one doesn't seem to be generating the same amount of interest as director Christopher Nolan's OPPENHEIMER did a couple years back despite equally good reviews plus a story that's stood the test of time (only about 2,800 years and counting) and one seemingly more accessible -- Action ! / Adventure ! / Sword Fights ! -- for a broader audience as compared to a science procedural. Maybe it just lacked a BARBIE to serve as a companion in a double-headed summer flick-fest. Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, John Leguizamo, and about a half million others.

Probably. It was like Lemon thought of that opportunity as his last best chance to grab a lead. But that's a ridiculous conclusion, especially when you're the home team, there's five full innings left to go, and your PH of choice is a 35 y/o bench player by that point of his career. In short, Lemon panicked. Murcer would go on to take just 164 more ABs in his career spread over the '82 & '83 season. Supposed fight. I always thought it was more probable that he punched a wall in frustration and made up the elevator fight thing to make himself look like a tough guy (remind you of anyone?). There's zero evidence of the fight except for George's story and, remember, he was the 'convicted' half of Billy M's born/convicted liar statement that led to his (2nd? 3rd?) firing.

That inning was Sengalicious!

Helps to have a 1st baseman who doesn't break the Senga.

I know we're not supposed to fat-shame people (nor do I want to) but I do want to start shaming the awful commercials for meds designed to slim down overweight folks. The whole concept of marketing meds directly to people even though they can't buy them on their own is kind of weird to begin with. Doing so with hokey/bad taste ones just ups that ante a few notches.

My bad on this one. Only one of the walk/HBP runners scored in the 2nd inning and the walk in the 7th scored as well. The middle of the three WAS runs came via a solo HR

Maybe my biggest memory of Tommy was the utter look of disgust on his face towards Yanqui manager Bob Lemon (and on the world in general) upon being PH for in the 4th inning of Game 6 of the '81 World Series. The score was tied at 1-1 and the Yanx had runners on 1st & 2nd with two outs. The strategy didn't work as PH Murcer flew out leaving the runners stranded and the Yanx with five innings to cover with their pen. It didn't go well. George Frazier gave up three runs immediately in the 5th, Then Ron Davis (Ike's dad) and Rick Reuschel (I don't remember him being a Yank) made a mess of the 6th and the Dodgers went on to a 9 - 2 rout for the WS win. Side note: That loss, charged to George Frazier, was his third of the Series. He wasn't the first pitcher to lose three WS games in one year but he was the first to do so while actually trying to win. The previous guy with three WS losses was Claude Preston 'Lefty' Williams of the 1919 Chicago White Black Sox

Three Nats runners have scored today (so far): guys who were put on via a walk, via a HBP, and via a walk.

When the Yanx had their Old Timers' Game a few weeks back, T.J. sent a message to be read which was essentially him saying 'Goodbye'. It was known he hadn't been well for a while now but that pretty much confirmed that the end was just around the corner.

Luis Torrential ... amirite folks?