Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: We wondered why they didn't bring up Harper in the 8th with a chance to tie or in the 9th. There were two real opps for PH'ing Harper - Realmuto walks to start the 8th ... but then immediately gets CS with Bohm at the plate and I don't think Bohm is the guy you want to PH for anyway. If either or both are still on after Bohm's AB then I'm sure we would have seen Bryce then. .. but they weren't. - if (whichever rhyming K.) Clemens got on to start the 9th then that's the logical spot. But he K'd so NYM nemesis John Harrison PH'd for the 9-spot cuz now it's not the tying run. Once Harrison got on they could have used him but at that point you'd be PH'ing for one of the top of the lineup guys (Stott, T. Turner). I suspect by then Robbie Thompson is hoping somebody will tie it (or go ahead) and then he'd have Harper in reserve for the 10th when the lower lineup would be due. The Philly lineup is definitely shorter and less scary without Harper and Rhys Hoskins
Edgy MD wrote: The biggest thing that bothered me was that we really get an utterly fictional version of Art Howe, and anybody who has watched the guy over the previous 40 (now 50) years in baseball knows it. But that's nothing new. Howe, who i recall being not a big presence in the book (but its been a while), is portrayed in the flick as generally grumpy and not at all in line with Beane's direction for the club. Was he actually grumpy? Not that I know of (we heard, after all, that he lit up rooms) but of course I have no idea what he was like behind the scenes. Maybe behind closed doors he did nothing but bitch and moan about his contract as well as interference from above. In line with his GM? Most probably not and, in any case, was chosen by screenwriters to represent one of the doubters within the A's org that our heroes Billy and Petey have to win over or push out of the way. So you could say it's more a symbolic portrayal than a personal one. And while I can understand why that bothers Art, it doesn't particularly bother me as a viewer.
A's take their second straight from Atlanta, this one in walk-off fashion courtesy of three 9th inning walks from Braves' closer Raisel Iglesies followed by a run-scoring grounder/error. 2-1 was the final. So that's 1.5 games closer to the top of the division over the last two days with 2/3 of that gain feeling like found money. This game was also a reminder of MLB 2023 style because now not only do we not have to endure games in EDT stretching towards midnight* but now we've got PDT games ending before midnight in the east. This one was a 9:40 local time start and ran 2:19 - so that's an 11:59 EDT final out. * Gary talked last night about one of the long games vs Philly last year that clocked in at 4:26 which would mean final out at around 11:36 for a 7:10 start (OK that game was actually played on a Sunday afternoon but the point remains that approaching the witching hour ending times were certainly within the realm of possibility in recent years)
The Hot Corner wrote: So the bullpen issues a 4 pitch walk to start the inning. And then six pitches later he's out of the inning! (not that I'm advocating his 'strategy')
So Soroka, 6 IP, 4 R on 5 hits + 2 BBs But the bigger news is that Oakland is in danger of winning a game, against the Braves no less. It's 4-2 as the A's bat in bottom 8.
Also reactivated, and pitching tonight, is Braves starter Mike Soroka, his first MLB appearance since tearing his achilles tendon during a game against the Mets in August of 2020. He later re-tore the tendon in '21 Although, seeing as how this start against Oakland, calling it a Major League opponent might be questionable. Either way, he started things off with a 1-2-3 bottom 1st
=nymr83 post_id=126886 time=1685365598 user_id=54] Verlander has allowed 27 hits and only 6 walks in 30 innings, but carries a 4.5 ERA - that seems like bad luck and he should be more in line for an ERA in the 3's
So I think it's safe to say that SNB isn't getting off to a good start for the Phillies Bottom 1st: 1B, HR, HR, 1B, FC, 2B, 1B, E-6, FC, SB, 1B, CS 7-0 Braves heading into the 2nd
=Marshmallowmilkshake post_id=126831 time=1685305450 user_id=119] Wow, I checked the score, saw it was 2-0, did a quick chore, checked again and saw it as 6-2!
Ooooooh boy, we just might have something special here. After he was here for about two or three weeks I said that I had yet to see him have a quality AB. Since then I'm not sure I've seen him have a bad one.