Frayed Knot

The Cards on the other hand, start with two outs and none on and go: BB, HR

So a leadoff (gift) double ... but none of the next three batters gets the ball out of the infield [K, GO, K]

Giants down 9-1 in Top-8 at home vs Nationals, Paxton Schultz pitching M. Chapman - HR (9-2); R. Devers - HR (9-3); J.H. Lee - Walk + SB; B. Eldridge - Walk; D. Susac - Double (9-4); <Orlando Ribalta replaces Schultz> D. Gilbert - GO (9-5); Wild Pitch (9-6); B. Kennedy - K Nats add a run in top-9, Gus Varland in to pitch with a 10-6 lead L. Arraez - Double; M. Chapman - Double (10-7); . Devers - Walk; <Mitch Parker replaces Gus Varland> J.H. Lee - Single; B. Eldridge - Grand Slam ... Giants 11- Nats 10 That's 10 runs allowed by the Nats pen while getting only 3 outs.

And we still can't retire #9 hitters named Fermin And now the Cards hit their third grounder in a GiDP situation (in ten batters) that was too slow to turn two. And that's followed by a hit

Single - Walk - Weak grounder (so no GiDP, 1-0) - RBI Single - Walk - Weak Grounder (so no GiDP, 2-0) Shirley the Mets would have managed to hit into a GiDP there, maybe two!

They did. Not to a 28 man roster but to 26. And I don't think going to 28 would do much to lessen the need/temptation for tinkering anyway. We've gone from 9-10 man pitching staffs to 13-14 since I've been following but larger staffs have only led to more shuttling, not less. Also, instead of having players subject to promotion/demotion without limit for a set number of years they did set limits on the number of times within a season a few years ago. But those limits simply made the shuttle service involve more arms not fewer transactions. I agree that so many transactions is often difficult to keep track of --'Who's this guy again?' -- but I don't think it hurts those being transported back and forth. They're getting ML service time while they're up (possibly for the only time in their career which also gets them into the MLBPA pension plan) as well as a significant bump in pay for as long as it lasts. Plus you never know if/when their performance might lead to a longer stay either with their current team or because it piqued the interest of another.

There were always a decent percentage of NYG fans who didn't like/trust Phil Simms, even after they won a Super Bowl with him at the helm (and where he was MVP by going 22-for-25 in pass attempts) and felt that the Giants won despite him not because of him. So my NYG fan buddy Paul was at a game one time -- must have been 1988 when the two backup QBs were Jeff Hostetler and Jeff Rutledge -- where the Giants were losing and a crew in the section behind him starting chanting, WE WANT JEFF! WE WANT JEFF! So Paul turned and asked them which one. WE DON'T CARE! WE DON'T CARE! That the Giants were in the midst of a 10-6 season that year, had just come off a SB year and would shortly win another, or that Simms would wind up with a much better career than either of his backups didn't seem to matter to some. He was still the problem rather than the solution backing up the old adage about how the second (or third) string QB is often the most popular guy on the team since he hardly ever throws key interceptions like that damned starter does.

So was Mendy. Beware of buying too much into the backup quarterback syndrome.

So it's free as long as you pay extra for it in advance?

Butchery?

There were also a record 16 ABS challenges in that Brewers/A's game Monday night.

Kodai Senga has been scratched from his next rehab start (tonight) due to "ulnar nerve irritation" in his upper right arm. Mendoza also mentioned that his velocity had been down in his most recent outing. And so it goes. https://nypost.com/2026/06/09/sports/kodai-senga-scratched-from-rehab-start-in-latest-mets-injury-mess/

You've got to remember that, in those pre-expansion days, St Louis was not only MLB's westernmost town but also its southernmost and that radio station KMOX, 'The Voice of St Louis', broadcast Cardinals games to not just Missouri but Arkansas, Texas and beyond. So there was a certain degree of the Cardinals feeling like they represented the south even if not all of them were from it. The Redskins were the same in the NFL and they stayed white only until into the '60s* (not that you'd ever hear the NFL acknowledge that) because their games were carried by radio into Virginia, the Carolinas and beyond well before there were teams in Atlanta, Florida, Charlotte, etc. The Cardinals finally integrated in the early '50s after Anheuser-Busch bought the team. The story was that when 'Gussie' Busch toured the team's training camp he asked where the black players were. When told they didn't have any black players he asked, 'Why not, we sell beer to black people why wouldn't we sell baseball to them as well'. So maybe not an altogether humanitarian gesture on Busch's part but a practical one to him which in turn led to the same result. * I once saw some pictures (probably in a magazine though I can't remember) about the Redskins one of which was of a teenager/young man carrying a sign demanding to KEEP THE REDSKINS WHITE. I wonder if that guy ever realized the irony of his wording.

That's what's needed, of course, a run that no one sees coming. Something like 27-28 being followed up with 40-15. Or two years ago when the Tigers sold off parts at the deadline and were seven games under .500 after Tarik Skubal got roughed up on August 2nd only to close out the season 34-17 and won four playoff games. The problem is that they've put themselves in a position where they Need such a run. But they occasionally do happen.

The beginning of this week sees Philly in Toronto as Christopher Sanchez looks to restart a scoreless streak. His 50+ inning streak was broken when he gave up a run, just one, in his last start. Other than that one he hasn't been scored upon since late April. The Nats continue out west where they'll be in San Francisco starting later tonight. The Braves and Marlins have Monday off. Braves head to Chicago's south side where they'll take on the vastly improved White Sox. The Marlins will host the DBacks starting Tuesday. The Yanx, coming off a rain-shortened two game series split with Boston, have their second series with the Guardians in a week. Cleveland took two of three in da Bronx a week ago. This week the scene moves to Cleveland where the Yanx jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st.

Let Benge Hit! Let Benge Hit!

Young people in general tend to be lousy at estimating older aged people. Everyone over the age of 35 looks 80 to them. There's a story about Mantle and Stengel where Casey took young Mick out to the OF at Ebbets Field prior to the first 1952 WS game in Brooklyn in order to show him how he, Casey, liked to play the ball off the odd angled walls in that park. And the story goes that that was the first time Mantle not only realized that Casey had once been a ballplayer but also there was a time when he had been something other than an old man. Casey was 63 at the time while Mick was still not yet 21 and his own father had died a few months earlier at the age of just 40.

And against a lineup with eight RHBs

Braves won today (3-0 sweep of Pirates) Phils beat White Sox (win 2 of 3) Marlins over Rays (2 of 3) Nats lose to DBacks (but still win 2 of 3) So we need to finish with a positive result here just so as to not lose ground across the board.

Hah!! I was right! The official scorer DID award Ewing an RBI oe: and I was right that Gary would know!!! (Keith revealed that Gary texted immediately after the call was made)

Well I think it was more the results of his final inning that ended his day rather than just number of pitches. btw, Ducky Medwick died at the age of 63 (when Keith was in his second ML season) so not quite as old as Keith seems to think he was when he was the StL roving minor league hitting instructor.

And just think, the Padres only have Tatis (1 HR) and Machado (.172 BA) under contract for 8 and 7 seasons after this current one. Not that I think their current numbers are where those two will be locked in going forward. But those contracts do have the potential to be concurrently ugly over a multiple year period. Tatis, at least, will play out the whole season as a 27 y/o, but Machado turns 34 just in the next few weeks.

I'm not sure that Gelbs and Keith are correct in stating that the FO/DP is no RBI (I'd trust Gary if he gave out that info but not necessarily these two). I thought only GiDPs fit that category based on the idea that if the defense had enough time to turn two they could also have chosen to cut down the run. A FO/DP isn't really the same situation.

I think I had some Yuki Matsui at an Asian Fusion restaurant recently.

Jared Young turns 31 y/o next month, so I guess that means we can no longer refer to Jared Young as young Jared.