Edgy MD

Seemed to have a particular love for Mets hitters taking enormous, futile cuts when ahead in the count. But yeah, his "I love it!" utterances seemed to be numerous once I became aware of it.

A lot of warning track drives to center tonight.

Best for last.

Piersinski says "I LOVE IT!" when Soto swings for the fences 2-0. The Mets not having a baserunner since the fifth notwithstanding.

Network PBP guys tend to be in love with their voices. Local PBP guys tend to like beer. Anyhow, it would really be nice to see the top of the lineup break through this inning.

Tonight, it's a slider away problem. Last night, it was a high fastball problem.

I don't know who this booth is, but they've been less intrusive than the typical Fox broadcast.

Bichette first-pitch swinging, and I find myself thinking, "I wish Semien were up."

It's Two-Out Baserunner Night at Chase Field.

Gurriel just had the weakest ABS challenge I've seen yet. He figured that, if he bailed out, the pitch must be a ball — but his head was completely turned away when it crossed the plate. Also the organist played "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" that inning for some reason.

METS Starting Pitcher: Clay Holmes (RHP) 4-2, 1.69 ERA Lineup: Juan Soto (L) LF Bo Bichette (R) SS MJ Melendez (L) DH Mark Vientos (R) 1B Carson Benge (L) RF Marcus Semien (R) 2B Brett Baty (L) 3B Francisco Alvarez (R) C Tyrone Taylor (R) CF ARIZONA Starting Pitcher: Merrill Kelly (RHP) 1-3, 9.95 ERA Lineup: Ketel Marte (S) 2B Corbin Carroll (L) RF Geraldo Perdomo (S) SS Adrian Del Castillo (L) DH Ildemaro Vargas (S) 1B Nolan Arenado (R) 3B Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (R) LF Gabriel Moreno (R) C Ryan Waldschmidt (R) CF

Hall-of-Fame Manager Bobby Cox, who enjoyed two successful tenures with The Atlanta Braves along with an impressive run with the Blue Jays in between, has died at 84. He had been suffering the last five years from congestive heart failure. Cox won five pennants and one World Series championship as a manager. His sole championship with The Braves was an ongoing source of commentary as the teams he skippered were by any other measure one of the longest running dynasties in baseball history. Cox had only a brief career as an MLB player, joining the late sixties Yankees as a part-time thirdbaseman for two seasons as they sunsetted out of the longest-running dynasty in American sports history, but parlayed a single year coaching for the World Series-winning 1977 Yankees into one of the most enduring managerial careers in history. His teams were marked by an all-time rotation anchored by long tenures from three Hall-of-Fame starters, stars drafted and developed out of the Georgia region, and a managerial regime defined by relentless umpire baiting. His career record of 162 ejections (a full season!) as manager is a whopping 38.8% more than John McGraw — the next-nearest competition. When you consider that this eclipses that totals of legendary malcontents like Leo Durocher, Earl Weaver, and Billy Martin, you have to tip your cap to him, or possible throw it on the ground, and kick dirt on it. Along the way he fathered eight kids over two marriages and, well, those were not entirely without incident. Prior to his COPD diagnosis, Cox also suffered a stroke in 2019. His number 6 is retired in the rafters of whatever stadium the Braves play in.

Last year, he became the fastest player to make an All-Star team in big league history, being named to the National League squad (as a replacement for another selection) after only five games.

More importantly, they remain tied for the much-sought-after 14th place in the league-wide standings. The Rockies are playing the Phils, so whoever wins and whoever loses, hey, they gain on one of them. This is, of course, true of nearly all matchups. Fourteenth place is like that.

Brewers righthander Jacob Misiorowski may or may not be the hardest-throwing starter in big league history, but he is producing that most inhuman numbers of the Statcast Era. He opened against the Yankees with a 102.4-MPH hummer past Trent Grisham, and that was t:he slowest of his 10 pitches that inning: Trent Grisham 102.4 MPH 103.0 MPH 102.8 MPH (Strikeout Swinging) Ben Rice 102.7 MPH 103.2 MPH 103.3 MPH (Strikeout Swinging) Aaron Judge 103.3 MPH 103.5 MPH 103.1 MPH (Only Ball) 103.6 MPH (Lineout RF) He's of course never thrown more than six innings (and never fewer than five), and I'm guessing there is a 70% chance that he will suffer a devastating injury this season, and perhaps be a trivia question in five years, but in the meantime, he's the most ferocious show going.

The Mets and Diamondbacks confront each other over the bitter differences the two teams have with each other. The time is 7:15 PM, and the place is FOX Sports. (On your dial. The actual place is Chase Field in Phoenix.) Clay Holmes comes for the Mets on the hill. Merrill Kelly brings his 9.95 ERA to defend for the Serpientes.

Working without heat but certainly effective. Myers shuts it down.

Williams leaving the game is goofy. What are you saving him for?

Semien eliminating the double-play with the steal is HEROIC! See? There are multiple ways to avoid DPs. We end up with a hard out, but it would have been two otherwise.

THIS is BASEBALL!!

Inneresting to see Bruján and not Taylor getting the pinch-running call.

That's not a pitch Vientos has been getting around on. Very gratifying to see.

It's harder to bring back the base hit if that's not what they're really going for.

Big stop by Simmy and the top of the order comes in the ninth.

Just saw only the seventh total hit of the game for both teams together. It's a strange game these days.