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May 18, DoubleCut.

At 10:46 central daylight you announced, "Another DoubleCut."  This means Colorado Rockies at Minnesota Twins.  The first half of the double header is nearly over.  German Márquez was good enough through five and is in line for the win.  Ervin Santana went seven innings but gave up five runs on six hits, four walks, and three strikeouts.  At 18:10 Tyler Chatwood will go opposite José Berríos in the nightcap.

I have listened to a hodgepodge of today's early action.  I heard the Pirates getting to Tanner Roark and the Nationals.  The crushing blow was a John Jaso home run, his third.  He is hitting .165.  I now have the Tigers at home leading 6-5 over the Orioles.  I heard a J.D. Martinez walk.  He is 1-for-1 today with a home run and three walks.  His numbers through only his first handful of games back from injury are otherworldly: 8-for-16 with five homers and something like eight walks on top of that.  Before today's home run and three walks his OPS was 1.886.  The Detroit broadcast was noting the walks, remarking that J.D. isn't really a "walker".

*

Danny Duffy, mound dipper.  This is Yanks at Royals, 2-0 KC, top 3, two outs, no one on.  A shot of Holliday and Gardner next to each other in the Yankee dugout.  I've always thought they resembled one another.  B says, "Cousins!"  Duffy is through the first nine Yankee batters, six by strikeout.

A Chad Qualls sighting.  He is on the mound for Colorado in Minnesota in the second game of a doubleheader with about 10,000 in the stands.  Those fans are wearing sweaters and hoodies and coats.  Qualls's hat is dirty.  B asks, "What the blank is on his hat?"

Back to KC, weather imminent.  "This wind is really swirling around here," says Suzyn.  Duffy allowed a bunt single to Ellsbury.  And then a walk to Holliday.  He fans Castro on a slider low and away.  Judge, 9.

I think I overestimated the Minnesota crowd.  There aren't anywhere near 10,000 there—maybe a third of that.  Target Field is mostly empty.  With two outs in the 8th, Berríos walks a batter and Molitor lifts him.  Spilborghs on the Rockies TV broadcast called José's repertoire "the best stuff I've seen all season."

The Yankee broadcast is talking about the Freeman wrist injury.  John and Suzyn continue to surprise and impress me with their catholic ingestion of the entire baseball spectrum.  They touch on Freeman's loss, how he got hurt, who hit him.  Then in the next breath they are talking about Didi, who is on first with a walk.  But Hicks goes GIDP and Carter strikes out.  This game is official.

There are three games going right now.  One is the laugher in Atlanta, where the Blue Jays bombed Teheran, who allowed nine runs in three innings and left with a game score of -3.  Then, there's the second half of the DoubleCut as well as this KC game, which could be halted any minute as opening skies approach.  Three West Coast games will start within the half-hour.

The TV broadcast shows Lorenzo Cain on the KC bench with a pair of scissors, held wide open, using the edge of one of the blades to abrade the handle of his bat.  Moustakas gets into one, a no-doubter, for three runs.  It's 5-0.  Now Cain, bat handle nice and scuffed, 9.

Judge had singled here in the seventh and made his way to third on grounders.  I think of Moustakas as being a big guy.  Judge makes him look small in comparison.  And Judge in contrast to the third base coach is absurd.  Duffy through seven has allowed zero earned runs and has 10 Ks.

...

Christian Vázquez catches Raj Davis in the act.  It was very close.  Raj chats with BoMel in the A's dugout—why didn't you challenge?  Call on the field would have stood either way, I believe.  It's nice to hear Jerry Remy on the Sox broadcast, via NESN.  No one pronounces Xander Bogaerts like Jerry Remy.  The Red Sox have put Hector Velázquez on the mound in this game, he of the Mexican League, hailing from Obregon.  Remy says he played winter ball once upon a time in Obregon himself, which he described as difficult but worth it considering he made a big league club the next year.  Sox lead 2-0.  Or not.  Jed Lowrie just tied it, busting his slump, plating Matt Joyce.  Deadest of dead centers, directly over the 400' sign.  Now K-hris Davis.  Velázquez would go on the neck tat list:  Molina, Chapman.  Now K-hris Davis leaves the yard and gives Oakland the lead.  He hits a change to right center just to the right of the 388' sign.

South to LA where Utley is 51.  Edinson Volquez works, down 3-1.  Utley singles, Ryu scores.  Utley takes second.  From Utley to Seager to Bellinger is a progression of taller, lither, younger lefties, all with big swings, Bellinger's the biggest.  Seager lines into a 4-6 DP.

Dave Roberts, manager dipper.  Edinson Volquez, not currently on the mound, but always spittin' the juice.  He was born in the chaw and will die in the chaw.  Ryu deals.  Volquez, 6-4.  The Marlins are 24 years old and have two World Series championships but haven't been to the postseason since 2003, the longest such drought in the National League.  (Is there a longer drought in the AL?  Seattle?  Anaheim?)  Ryu leaps and snares a comebacker, 1-3, Gordon retired.  Gordon amused.  Yelich, a SoCal kid, goes oppo, his sixth of the year, making it 4-2.  Yeah, he has "only" six homers but he's batting .370 or so and as I watch Yelich ... he is so good.

Justin Turner singled and stole second.  Bellinger fanned, Grandal fanned.  Turner entered this game with just one home run but a .935 OPS.  He looked alright motoring around third to score on an Adrián González single.  Pederson a big, off-balanced swing.  He takes two and then looks bad on a half-swing at a ball well out, up and away.  He fans.  The Dodgers don't really have a center fielder.  I'm not saying anything they're not saying to themselves.  Not with Toles out, too.  Not Puig, not Kiké, not Bellinger, not Van Slyke, not Pederson.  They'll make a trade.  Fifty runs inna doubleheader, between the Brooklyn Robins and the Philadelphia Phillies, 1929.  Baker's Field in Philadelphia.  And in 1922 the Cubs won a game 26-23 over Philadelphia after leading 25-6.  The game took three hours and one minute to play.

Justin Bour, a Rule 5 pick by the Marlins prior to the 2014 season, is listed at 6'4" and 269 lbs.  Nomar G says he wonders about the 269.  Bour, BB.

...

Puig walks on four pitches.  Ryu immediately squares to bunt, takes a pitch on his right bicep.  Nomar is critiquing Ryu's bunt grip—his fingers were wrapped around the barrel.  Utley gets the sacrifice down.  The SAC goes 1-3.  Now Seager.  The count has gone 3-0 so Mattingly just puts him on.  Justin Turner, GIDP.  Volquez escapes.

The Late Slate is looking pretty good.  Dodgers 5 - Marlins 2;  Mariners 1 - White Sox 0;  A's 3 - Red Sox 3.




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