Didn’t have time to sand and polish, but maybe it can be a utility hook to hang some chat on.
Reds 11, @Pirates 3 — Cincinnati sucked the air out of the Pirates’ final scheduled home game, grabbing a 5-0 lead before the Buccos came to bat and going on to seize a tie for for 2nd place in the NL Central. About the only thing Jeff Locke did right in his brief outing was to keep Billy Hamilton off base.
Two freebies from the walk-prone lefty stuffed the sacks for Jay Bruce, who cleared them with a first-pitch double, and then rode home on Todd Frazier’s blast. Locke was hooked after that 5-run frame, but Hamilton touched off a second outburst with a bunt hit and his 11th steal in so many tries. Hamilton started in CF due to the thumb sprain Shin-Shoo Choo inflicted on himself Saturday, and wound up with 3 hits, combining with Chris Heisey for 6 knocks and 5 runs as an unaccustomed 1-2 punch atop the Redlegs’ order.
- Cincinnati evened the season series at 8 wins each, with one last tilt in the Queen City next weekend.
- Locke had yielded one run over 2 prior starts against the Reds, who are somewhat vulnerable to southpaws.
- Bruce has 14 RBI the last 6 games (5 Reds wins), and 107 for the year. The only other Red to reach 107 RBI since 2001 is Joey Votto (113 in 2010).
- The Bucs have treaded water for a long time: They’re 38-37 since the end of June, 24-25 since August started, 10-11 in September.
- Pittsburgh’s home attendance of 2.26 million is the 2nd-best in franchise history, topped only by the first season in beautiful PNC Park.
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@Rays 3, Orioles 1 — Tampa’s Enny Romero allowed a leadoff hit and then no others in his debut, working past 4 walks but falling one out short of qualifying for the win, when Kelly Johnson kicked a 2-out grounder to let the tying run reach 2nd. Romero had a hand (or at least a glove) in a 1-6-3 on Chris Davis to end the opening frame, and leadoff man David DeJesus gave the rookie a lead with a blast at the end of a 10-pitch at-bat, his first Rays homer. Baltimore’s second hit came with 2 outs in the 9th; they got on the board and got the tying run to bat against Fernando Rodney, but J.J. Hardy flied to center, and left their hopes on life-support.
- Ten hits and 2 runs by Baltimore in their last 29 innings.
- Not like the old days: Debuting as a starter in the heat of a playoff race?
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@Indians 9, Astros 2 — Cleveland’s 3-run 4th flipped a 2-0 deficit, with 2-out, 2-strike RBI hits by Michael Brantley and Mike Aviles. Their 4-run 6 socked it away, with Brantley in the mix again, as the Tribe opened a game-and-a-half lead on Texas for the 2nd wild card.
- Corey Kluber went 5.1 innings, but Terry Francona used 7 relievers for the last 11 outs, although none allowed a run and Cleveland had a 5-run lead after the 6th. It tied the known record for scoreless relief outings of 4 batters or less in a regulation win.
- Chris Carter hit his 29th HR. Houston hasn’t had a 30-HR man since Lance Berkman, 2007.
Please, let’s hear no whimpers about Cleveland’s easy schedule down the stretch. Texas wouldn’t be in the race without their 14-2 record against Houston, or their 22-6 run from July 29 through August 28, with all but 4 of those games against losing teams. They finished August losing 2 of 3 at home to Minnesota, and then had ample chance this month to gain ground on the A’s, but dropped 5 of 6 (swept at home). As for who’s the better team, Cleveland won that season series, 5 to 1. The other wild-card chasers all had chances, too: Baltimore just lost 3 straight to Tampa, when wins would have put them in the driver’s seat, and they lost 2 of 3 to Cleveland earlier this month. The Royals have staged an admirable recovery, but losing 7 straight at home last month (5 to the Marlins and White Sox) made the mountain too high. And the Yankees, even with all their floundering against Boston, still would have been in decent shape had they gone 5-1 last week against the Jays and Giants (instead of 3-3), given their upcoming series with Tampa. They all had chances; Cleveland has made the most of theirs.
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@Royals 4, Rangers 0 (10 inn.) — Justin Maxwell’s grand slam off Joakim Soria, on a full count with 2 outs, closed out K.C.’s home schedule in style by clinching their first winning season in 10 years and keeping their longshot playoff hopes alive. The loss for Texas was a major blow, as they fell 1.5 games (one loss) behind Cleveland; their last 7 games are at home, but they have no chance to affect the Rays or Indians.
James Shields and Alexi Ogando matched zeroes until the Ranger stepped aside in the home 8th. Texas threatened in the 1st, but Salvador Perez threw out Elvis Andrus stealing 3rd. Maxwell helped Shields through the 2nd with a diving catch; the Royals’ ace worked past a leadoff double in the 4th, Perez gunned down another to end the 5th, and David Murphy struck out with a man on 2nd to end the 7th. Meanwhile, Ogando had the Royals’ number. They only got one man to 2nd base, on a sac bunt in the 3rd, and that ended with infield outs. Ogando whiffed the side in the 5th, and departed after 7 having allowed just two singles.
Top of the 9th, Texas got a break when Greg Holland’s third strike escaped Perez, letting Alex Rios on with no one out. Rios swiped 2nd on the next pitch, but then he got too greedy, trying to advance on Adrian Beltre’s deep flyout to left. Rios spent the last few years in the AL Central, so you would have thought he’d know a little something about Alex Gordon’s arm.
Eric Hosmer led off K.C.’s 10th with an opposite-field double, and Soria came on to give Billy Butler a pass. Perez beat out a SS grounder, and the bags were full. But Mike Moustakas popped out foul, and George Kottaras hit into a 4-2 forceout. That left it all to Maxwell, who’d struck out in his last two trips and had just 9 ABs in the last 2 weeks. He swung through Soria’s first offer, watched the next four as the count ran full, then sent a pipeline fastball soaring.
- Maxwell has 2 career game-winning hits, both 2-out, full-count slams. Mets fans might recall the other one: The 0.730 WPA Maxwell garnered in that game is the most ever against the Mets by a player who entered as a pinch-runner, and has not been topped since in MLB.
- Have to agree with David Schoenfield’s take on that 9th inning: “[Ron] Washington, of course, chose option C: Bring in your fourth-best reliever, Joakim Soria.
- They’re all “must-wins” for K.C. now, still 3 losses behind Cleveland.
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Giants 2, @Yankees 1 — The pieces were in place for a storybook end to Andy Pettitte’s days in Yankee Stadium. The pregame ceremonies were for Mariano Rivera, but once the rocking chair came off the field and the spike-shod lads went on, it was Andy’s spotlight. He punched out two in the opening stanza, and set down the first 14 Giants before a 2-out walk to Pablo Sandoval. Pettitte took a no-hitter and a 1-0 lead into the 6th, thanks to Mark Reynolds’s homer in the 3rd, and there were some who dared to remember Yogi Berry Day. But Ehire Adrianza busted that all up with a tying blast on a 2-2 hanger, his first home run. New York left 2 on in their 6th, and blew a golden chance in the stretch frame, as Javier Lopez struck out both Vernon Wells and Ichiro Suzuki with 2 in scoring position.
The Giants’ second hit was Panda’s leadoff double in the 8th, sending Andy off with fitting fanfare. David Robertson would have given anything to keep that run off Pettitte’s ledger, but Tony Abreu timed a breaking pitch and doubled to the RF corner for the lead. Rivera came on and got the last 2 outs of that inning to keep the score at 2-1.
A-Rod’s hit started off the home 8th, and Robinson Cano doubled the pinch-runner over to 3rd with no outs. But they could not score: A hot shot to 3rd was corralled, and the late-starting Zoilo Almonte cut down at home (see 2:15 here), while Cano held passively at 2nd. Curtis Granderson struck out on 3 pitches, his third whiff in an 0-4 day. With 2 down, Eduardo Nunez singled into left, but Juan Perez threw Cano out at the plate. Mo worked out of trouble in the 9th, collecting a DP on Pence after Cano’s errant throw left 2 on base with no outs. But New York had the bottom of the order in their last gasp, and rookie catcher J.R. Murphy struck out to end the game.
- It’s the first time in 19 chances that Pettitte took a loss when allowing 2 hits or less.
- Pettitte is now 41-15 in 80 starts where he let in exactly 2 runs. I expected better. He’s actually won more often when allowing exactly 3 runs (50-21 in 89 games).
- For what it’s worth, the two 1-0 wins that Rivera has saved for Pettitte were on 1998-04-27 and 1999-08-07.
- With so many other angles to this game, I almost overlooked a small detail: the second meeting of Pettitte and Petit. Andy got the better of their first go, with 7 scoreless innings and a ribby hit that knocked Yusmeiro out.
- Another thing: It was Andy’s 4th and final chance to beat the Giants, the only one of the 29 teams he has pitched against without a win. He never did get a chance to go against the Yankees, who were not on Houston’s interleague schedule during Pettitte’s 3 years there and missed their chance to greet him in the 2005 World Series.
- I’m not a Yankees fan, so maybe this is not my place. But the term “Core Four” seems somewhat demeaning towards guys like Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill and David Cone, who helped start the franchise turnaround — especially so to the homegrown Williams. I know the term stems from the fact that Derek, Andy, Mo and Jorge all debuted in 1995, and that no slight is meant to anyone. It still winds up seeming rude to Bernie, who frankly played a much bigger role in the dynasty than did Posada.
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Braves 5, @Cubs 2 — As it was in the beginning … Way back on Opening Day, Freddie Freeman’s 2-run HR scored Jason Heyward with Atlanta’s first runs of the season, a lead they’d not relinquish. And so it was again, on the day Atlanta formally donned the division crown that they have carried in their luggage for the last two months. Heyward led off the game with his first hit since August 17, and after Justin Upton’s 156th strikeout, Freeman bombed the first pitch out of sight, tying his career high with HR #23. The Braves were never headed, as 22-year-old Julio Teheran tossed 6 efficient innings (7 Ks, no walks) for his 13th win, while lifting his SO/BB ratio to 3.71, the best by a qualified Brave under age 25.
- Craig Kimbrel fanned three in save #49, 13th-most in MLB history. But he allowed 2 hits for the first time since August 16, as his BA allowed soared all the way to .169.
- Andrelton Simmons popped home runs nos. 16 and 17, tying Jeff Blauser for 2nd-best by a Braves SS. Denis Menke hit 20 in 1964.
- J. Upton’s 156 Ks tied Dan Uggla (2011) for #3 in franchise history. Uggla holds the top 2 marks, 168 last year and 165 this year.
- Edwin Jackson is the first Cub with 17 losses since 1999, Steve Trachsel. Before that, Rick Reuschel, 1975. Jackson’s come by the mark fairly, with a 7.27 RA/9 in his losses — 7th-worst of the 24 searchable Cubs seasons of 17+ losses.
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@Athletics 11, Twins 7 — Oswaldo Arcia joined the exclusive fraternity of 129 searchable players who ever had 6 RBI in a loss. I also heard something about the A’s repeating themselves….
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Mets 4, @Phillies 3 — Two hits in the MLB debut of Mets SS Wilfredo Tovar, joining Jose Reyes and Kaz Matsui in the franchise annals at that position.
Since 2010, Cliff Lee has started 120 games, and walked 120 batters. He would be the 10th modern pitcher with a 4-year stretch of 100+ starts and no more walks than starts (listed by most starts in the span, one span per pitcher):
- Cy Young, 1901-04 (160 GS, 156 BB)
- Christy Mathewson, 1911-14 (141, 116)
- Greg Maddux
, 2005-08 (136, 128) - Brad Radke, 2003-06 (126, 109)
- Carlos Silva, 2004-07 (124, 112)
- David Wells, 2002-05 (122, 106)
- Cliff Lee, 2010-13 (120, 120)
- Bob Tewksbury, 1991-94 (118, 100)
- Jon Lieber
, 2001-05 (117, 112; out all of 2003) - Babe Adams
, 1919-22 (101, 74)
Silva was the youngest to do this, ages 25-28. No other pitcher did it younger than ages 28-31 (Maddux & Radke). The most frequent age ranges are 30-33 (Mathewson, Maddux, Radke and Tewksbury) and 31-34 (Young, Mathewson, Lee and Tewksbury). Wells was the oldest, ages 41-44; he and Maddux both did it at 40-43.
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A further flaw of the “closer” concept — besides its failure to improve the save conversion rate over prior usage patterns — is the expectation of esteem and deference that oft arises in a pitcher of pedestrian ability who lucks into that job.
On the other hand, anyone might have conniptions hearing that his prestige job would soon be shared with this guy.
