Frayed Knot

^ as to the point above^ So after the games of Friday July 8th and a 12-5 clubbing of the BoSox, the Yanx were just past the halfway point of their season (84 games played) and sitting on a record of 61-23 (.726) which translates to a pace of 118 wins for the season (117.6). Since that point they are 11 - 20, a .355 clip or a 57 win season. The problem is that they've still got a double digit lead as neither the 2nd or 3rd place teams back on 7/8 [TBR & BOS] have a winning record since then either [15-15, 12-20]. And while the 4th & 5th place teams then have made up 6.5 & 8.0 games (still not a lot on a stumbling team over a five week span) they started from so far back that they're not within striking distance unless this NYY collapse has staying power well into September. The Blue Jays, who seem like they're always one year away from being one year away, not only have the next best AL East record right now they're also the next best record in the AL overall. So while the NL has six teams more than ten games over .500, the AL has just the Astros and Yanx [HOU +2.5]. After those two it's a full 10-game gap until you reach the 61-52 Jays and the rest of the pack fighting it out as if in a contest for who wins the title of tallest midget in the circus.

So just finished watching via delay (without knowing the result ahead of time). After the Mets took the multi-run lead I found myself rooting increasingly hard for the shutout. Normally it's, eh, a 6-0 win vs a 6-1 win, no biggie. But I got real tied into maintaining the Zero to the point where I almost resorted to FF'ing through the Mets half innings in favor of watching the top halves of innings only (I didn't, but was tempted). So completing it not only left the Phils at just two runs for the series but it was one in the very first inning of the series and the other via the clown- car rules. So even as frustrating as the one loss was, slamming it shut since then feels like a bit of retribution especially as it came while facing Nola and then Wheeler.

So the Braves will (or likely will, leading 6-2 in the 8th) chop 1.5 games off the NYM lead just since yesterday [win Friday + two wins Saturday - one NYM win] but it'll chop three games off their remaining season and two off of ours so that blunts the hurt somewhat. Tough game for us tomorrow while the Braves still face the Marlins.

Never in doubt.

I certainly would have backed off it once it got to 2-0

I don't know that Nido is our "best bunter" so much as he's just the one being asked to do it most often.

Willets Point wrote: May > Maton Maton's an automatic out. He's an automaton.

Marsh is apparently very athletic but it's tough to reconcile that with a guy with such a prodigious beard. I still have trouble buying James Hardin's talents for the same reason.

May the May be with us.

That might be the first 1st-pitch Vogelbach swung at since he's been here.

Despite all the K's (10), still only about 5 innings worth of pitches needed for JdG to get through 6 I'd give him the 7th

The donning and shedding of protective oven mitts for runners has added an average of five minutes to Mets games this year. That's a true fact which I just made up.

Edgy MD wrote: I love watching Marsh. Why is his hair always wet? Duh, cuz he's been in a marsh.

Except that Tatis is still in the (relative) chump change period of his deal. 2022 salary = $5mil of the $340mil total (1.4%) and whatever portion of '23 he misses is at a rate of $7mil, so not much savings for a guy who they've already paid 2/3 of this year's salary to do nothing as a result of the motorcycle accident (unless that was ruled a breach of contract). The $20+ and $30+ years don't start kicking in until 2025

I remember doing a lengthy 'analysis' of long term deals ... probably going back to the MoFo days of the late '90s I recall there being more bad than good with naturally some in between as well. Randy Johnson (ARZ) was one of the best. More recently, the National's FA deal for Scherzer was great for the team and in both cases the players were already in the back side of their careers when the contracts began. As in trades and drafts and which prospects to keep and which to deal, you've got to pick the right ones. As the most important lesson from Moneyball said, it's easier to recover from the players you fail to sign than it is from the ones you sign at the wrong price. This is particularly so for Oakland and other smaller revenue teams but the idea remains true. Then there are the pre-FA long-term contracts of which the Braves are big believers having already given long term deals to - Ozzie Albies: 7 year deal signed in April '19 for $35 million when Albies was just 22 y/o and with about 1-1/4 yrs of ML service under his belt - Ronald Acuna: 8 years/$100 also signed in April '19. Acuna was 21 and was not yet even one full season of ML service - Austin Riley: 10 years/$212, signed just this month. Riley is a comparatively old man at 25 and with ~3 years ML time, hence the higher numbers. He also could be the NL MVP this year. Assuming all these work out (and they have so far) the Braves could have 20-something stars at three positions for well under market rates for years to come. They took the same strategy in the early 2010's although those deals turned out to be more a mixed bag at which point they quickly pivoted and got out from under them as fast as they could.

46th HR for Judge but the Yanx give up one in the 9th then another on the 10th to lose 3-2 in Fenway. 2-9 in their last 11

So I'm guessing that that those Dairy Queen commercials with Tatis & Bryce Harper are now out of circulation for a while.

Braves just won.

Or maybe three people who barely knew each other watching a game while trying to figure out what level of fans the other two are.

Well, I guess 20-0 is out of the question.

Now do you pr for him? ... I guess not.

We effectively already had the ghost runner to win the game situation after Marte's leadoff 2B but didn't cash in. Now we need one just to tie it.

Yup, he's out if Tomas holds onto that but it was a tough hop with zero margin for error.

Announcers have mentioned neither the existence, nor identity of, the ghost runner.

And now the pen & lineup situations start to favor Philly.