Frayed Knot

The problem with the Nieuwenhuis game is that it was a dreary affair for the first 8 innings. So much so that even as he came up as the potential winning run the thought of him actually coming through was the furthest thing from my mind. I'm usually standing and often pacing during a tight NYM 9th inning, but I was still prone on the couch when he connected. I was so stunned by the result that I bolted upright before the ball even landed. Still, that win moved the Mets up to a meager 13.5 G out of 1st and 14 G below .500, so, probably not a top of the quarter century kind of game.

The Mariners net a run on a 1st & 3rd single but another bad base-running play (had a run cut down at the plate earlier in the game) prevents a big inning. 5-2 Jays after six.

Scherzer goes 5-2/3, 3 hits, 4 walks, 5 Ks, and a 5-1 lead (runner on 1st/2-outs his responsibility)

Between in-game interviews, late comebacks from commercials, and promos for other network events, no televised sports production misses (or shrinks the screen) as much live action as baseball telecasts. It's an insult to viewers but I don't think the networks doing so care even a little bit. ESPN seems to be the one which started the whole trend but, as they often say in television coverage, no bad idea goes un-copied [see FS1, TBS, etc]

=Centerfield post_id=206986 time=1760663650 user_id=65] Andres Gimenez again. 2-1 Blue Jays.

Max Scherzer's final ML game? He's throwing a decent game (1 run, 1 hit, 3 BB) and is in line for a 'W', but didn't have a very good season. Only 17 starts/85 innings (exactly 5/per) and has put up his highest ERA (5.19) and highest WHIP (1.29) since he hit his stride in his fifth season (2013) And while this goes down as his Age 40 season, it's only because he didn't turn 41 until just after the July 1st cut-off, so he'll turn 42 next July. Maybe he can still pitch in 2026 but he first needs to convince a ML GM of that this winter and that's going to be a tall task. I'm betting against it.

Brewers now down 3 games to none They've scored a combined 3 runs on 9 hits across the three games Oh yeah, and Jackson Chourio injured himself (either hamstring pull or a doozy of a cramp) on a swing and had to leave the game.

16 combined K's thru 5 innings in a 1-1 late-afternoon-sun Dodger Stadium pitchers' duel Tyler Glasnow (now being pulled after allowing a two-out walk in top 6?!??!) vs Jacob Misiorowski (who followed an ineffective 'opener')

TBS

Leading off the 8th with a 12-2 lead, Vladdy Jr pulls up at 2nd and thereby passes up the opportunity to try for a cycle. His four hits tonight are now 1B, 2B, 2B, HR

If this were a prize fight they'd have stopped it already.

If your last name is Albert that probably serves as a powerful incentive to stay thin so as to not give people a ready-made nickname to hang on you.

Frayed Knot wrote: FO, GO, ... ? K And the Dodgers have a 2-0 lead behind Yamamoto's CG 3 hitter.

FO, GO, ... ?

Yamamoto, now with a 5-1 lead, is on in the 9th trying for the CG. He was at just 97 pitches thru 8 coming into the inning.

So Yamamoto, our pursuit back in winter '23-'24, would have been a nice addition: 38 starts over two seasons, 2.66 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and a league low 5.9 H/9 this season. Roki Sasaki, this past winter's white whale, not so much (at least so far): 10 games, 8 starts, 36.1 total IP. And kind of a rough outing in relief last night (2B + BB/5 batters faced)

It was such a dumb play by Teoscar who, while a terrific hitter, is an adventure on defense and didn't cover himself in glory running the bases last night. When a ball is hit that deep in the OF (as deep as it could get in this case) there's only one play for the runner at 3rd: TAG UP!!! That way, if the ball is caught you run. Also if the ball is dropped you run. If the ball is even touched you run. And if the ball makes it over the fence you can just walk. There's nothing to be gained by being even one foot off of 3rd base! At one point after the catch/non-catch Hernandez was running both ways which is what allowed the Brewers to cut him down at the plate (and it wasn't even particularly close). Plus his movements back and forth between home & 3rd caused the other two runners to hold up also although, in fairness, Will Smith at 2nd seemed just as confused and at one point was waving his trail runner back towards 1st. Nobody, it seems, looked to ump as everyone was probably looking at the ball the whole time and made assumptions when they saw it wound up in the CF's glove. In all it was a pretty entertaining couple of minutes. Dave Roberts wound up challenging the call on the hope it would show an incorrect or non call by an umpire(s) which would at least have negated the DP as all runners would have been returned to their bases.

Oh I get it, this -- "I wonder how we can get Mendoza to feel the stress." -- was all about Mendoza's dignity. Don't know how I missed that the first time around.

So let's hope he gets enough of it that he'll need to resign for personal/mental/medical reasons! Grow up!

Really! That's what you take from that?

Apparently via his own choice as he cited stress of the job which took a "severe toll" on him. "It's time I take care of myself and exit on my own terms"

And for those of you not watching, the wildest play of the game came in the 4th inning of the still scoreless game when Max Muncy hit a ball off the CF wall with the bases loaded into a double play with no runs scoring. That's tough to do y'know. 8-6-2 if you're scoring at home (or even if you're alone).

=Centerfield post_id=206858 time=1760411053 user_id=65] Looks like it would have hit him.

And after almost getting hit by a pitch, Turang swings through a 2-2 pitch up above the zone for the final out Dodgers 2 - Brewers 1

Ball Four (w/apologies to Jim Bouton), bases loaded, Brice Turang up to the plate