At 12:47 central daylight the sky suddenly darkened. No, it wasn't an eclipse—that's next week. It was an enormous airship toting a banner that read: AriZona HotCut.
Greinke is 13-5 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP over 23 starts, a remarkable bounceback from his woeful first year in Arizona. McHugh has started only four games after having spent much of the year on the disabled list with an elbow impingement. He has a 5.32 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP over 22 innings.
Houston leads the American League West by 12 games but are a curious 3-7 over their last ten games. Arizona are one of two National League Wild Card leaders, holding the exact same record as Colorado. St Louis trails each team in the Wild Card standings by four-and-a-half games.
Bottom one, Eduardo Nuñez grounds an opposite-field base hit to right field on the first pitch from Trevor Bauer. Batting second, Andrew Benintendi gets a warm Fenway welcome, fresh off his big weekend in the Bronx including two three-run bombs in Saturday's HotCut. But here he flies out, 9. Mookie Betts swings at a breaking ball away and is in the hole. Now he chases one down and away, "Mookie got himself out there." It's surprising because Mookie is the second-toughest to fan in the American League, says Joe C. Moreland, in the hole, takes a pitch inside but Nuñez is going. Roberto Pérez gets his man, 2-6.
Aaron Hicks, it's been awhile since you graced these pages. Your return is with fanfare! Aaron hammers one ... ohhh ... Hicks just hit one to the sticks, and the Yankees take a 3-2 lead. I have the sound off so I didn't actually hear that call but I imagine that's pretty close to what John Sterling had to say. Hansel Robles works to Aaron Judge. On a full count Judge drops to a knee, swinging through an 85 mph slider. Terry Collins wants a lefty to face Didi, though, so that's it for Robles. Bring on the commercials. I'd go to the HotCut, which is now begun in the desert, but I want to see Didi swing. It's Downtown Jerry Blevins to face Didi. An 84 mph flattish side-to-side slider misses low, 1-and-1.
On the next pitch Didi swinging-bunts one, the ball goes almost nowhere, 2-3. Aaaaand ... that's all we need from you tonight, Jerry ... Terry is going right back to the bullpen for a righty to face The Sánchino. More commercials, the very same as just I saw. My need to've seen the end of Anjelica Huston disguised as a fee is reason enough to require relief pitchers to face at least two batters, excepting injury. When these games bog down due to bullpen mixing and matching all I'm doing is sitting here waiting and watching commercials and that isn't enjoyable. Dellin Betances has the heat lamp on him in the Yankees bullpen.
Gary Sánchez powers a ball to right and gone. He is the Sánchino! Ohhh, he walks softly and Gary's a big stick, and the Yankees take a 4-2 lead. He has that simple, compact, and powerful opposite field power stroke, SuZyn. There was criticism—from some—when Sánchez was invited to the Home Run Derby? Really? Did you see that swing? If Sánchez can crouch behind home plate and block that dirty David Robertson slider and then go out and slingshot home runs to right, then really what more can you ask for?
I still have the game on mute but I'm pretty sure that's how John Sterling saw it, too.
Greinke quickly has George Springer in the hole, then misses away, then misses in. Springer gets a piece of one, fouls it off. Springer rips a ball into the hole—which Ketel fields expertly—but the throw is way off line, Goldy sprawls for it but can't corral it, Springer scampers down to second. Goldy then makes a strange soft throw to second but Springer was already on the bag and not going anywhere, it's like Goldschmidt was playing hot potato.
It's Altuve now and I'm flagging bad. There is a graphic on the Arizona broadcast showing players with the highest road batting average in a single season, dating back to 1913. First is Harry Heilmann in 1925 with a .456. I think he's a Hall of Famer. Oh, yeah, a four-time batting champion, nicknamed The Slug a career .342 average, no big deal. Third on this list was Rogers Hornsby in 1921 with a .419. Fourth is Ty Cobb in 1925 with a .418. Fifth is Stan Musial in 1948 with a .415.
In second on that list is Jose Altuve with a .420 batting average in road games this year. Altuve is an incredibly good hitter, one of the best of our time, of any time. He struck out in the first. He takes strike two, 92 at the knees and in, but probably a strike, he had a brief complaint. I guess that's a 2-seamer from Greinke. On 2-and-2 Altuve goes fishing at a hard slider in the dirt and shows a rare lack of focus as he tosses his bat in exasperation before soon realiZing that Mathis has had the ball ricochet off of his shinguard, bouncing all the way to the backstop. Seeing this Altuve then hot-foots it down to first. Here's Reddick, runners at first and third. Reddick pops out, 3.
HotCut Preview
Tonight, the desert, the HotCut. It's Snapdragon 2, Collin McHugh, on the mound for the Houston Astros set to face Zack Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first game of a four game home-and-home series (two in Phoenix, two in Houston).Greinke is 13-5 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP over 23 starts, a remarkable bounceback from his woeful first year in Arizona. McHugh has started only four games after having spent much of the year on the disabled list with an elbow impingement. He has a 5.32 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP over 22 innings.
Houston leads the American League West by 12 games but are a curious 3-7 over their last ten games. Arizona are one of two National League Wild Card leaders, holding the exact same record as Colorado. St Louis trails each team in the Wild Card standings by four-and-a-half games.
Indians at Red Sox, Makeup Game, T.O.G.I.T.
It is 17:11 central daylight and Doug Fister has thrown the first pitch in this makeup game at Fenway Park. This is an unusual start time but it means and extra hour of baseball on this Monday night. Francisco Lindor strikes out looking. I'm listening to the Boston feed of this game on WEEI, called by Joe Castiglione. Jason Kipnis also looks at strike three. Here's Jose Ramírez, the Indians third baseman. He checks on a breaking ball. He grounds a ball up the middle for his 138th hit. Edwin Encarnacion digs in, takes a big swing, and misses an inside pitch. He sends a lofted cue shot to the left of center, but just beyond the infield. Brock Holt goes out and gets it, 4.Bottom one, Eduardo Nuñez grounds an opposite-field base hit to right field on the first pitch from Trevor Bauer. Batting second, Andrew Benintendi gets a warm Fenway welcome, fresh off his big weekend in the Bronx including two three-run bombs in Saturday's HotCut. But here he flies out, 9. Mookie Betts swings at a breaking ball away and is in the hole. Now he chases one down and away, "Mookie got himself out there." It's surprising because Mookie is the second-toughest to fan in the American League, says Joe C. Moreland, in the hole, takes a pitch inside but Nuñez is going. Roberto Pérez gets his man, 2-6.
American League Strikeout Percentage Leaders
Specifying a minimum of 100 plate appearances, a sort on FanGraphs indicates that the toughest to strikeout in the American league are:- Ben Revere, 7.8%
- Andrelton Simmons, 10%
- Mookie Betts, 10.2%
- Robinson Canó, 11.1%
- Eduardo Nuñez, 10.3%
- Yuli Gurriel, 11.2%
We Went to Dinner and Missed All the Home Runs
Who hit the homers? I didn't see them so I'm hesitant to say. I did see replays of them though: two for Edwin Encarnacion, two for Rafael Devers, and one for Andrew Benintendi. You might think the score would be roughly tied, or even that Boston would have the advantage but that isn't the case. The game is now final, Cleveland 7 - Boston 3. Yeah, Boston did hit three home runs offa Trevor Bauer but they were all soliloquies. Bauer went 6 2/3 and struck out eleven. Doug Fister takes the loss.Baseball Spinner: Reds at Cubs
José Quintana gets Asher Wojciechowski looking at an inside fastball. Then Billy Hamilton flies out, 9. It is tied at two runs apiece headed to the last of the fourth. Quintana has four strikeouts against three walks.Baseball Spinner: Gotham Style
It's tied at two in the Bronx, the New York Mets visiting the New York Yankees. David Robertson works to Asdrubal Cabrera. A very bendy slider bites hard, caroms away, but it's OK because there's no one on base, the count is full. Another slider bites only the dust, BB. That brings La Potencia, Yoenis Céspedes, to the plate. He hammers one foul, 1-and-2. A piece of one, foul. Correction: that wasn't a foul. That was a nasty sharp slider that Céspedes bit on, got none of, blocked ably by Sánchez, Céspedes didn't even try to run to first, K. The Yankees will have Hicks, Judge, and Gregorius in the bottom of the eighth.Aaron Hicks, it's been awhile since you graced these pages. Your return is with fanfare! Aaron hammers one ... ohhh ... Hicks just hit one to the sticks, and the Yankees take a 3-2 lead. I have the sound off so I didn't actually hear that call but I imagine that's pretty close to what John Sterling had to say. Hansel Robles works to Aaron Judge. On a full count Judge drops to a knee, swinging through an 85 mph slider. Terry Collins wants a lefty to face Didi, though, so that's it for Robles. Bring on the commercials. I'd go to the HotCut, which is now begun in the desert, but I want to see Didi swing. It's Downtown Jerry Blevins to face Didi. An 84 mph flattish side-to-side slider misses low, 1-and-1.
On the next pitch Didi swinging-bunts one, the ball goes almost nowhere, 2-3. Aaaaand ... that's all we need from you tonight, Jerry ... Terry is going right back to the bullpen for a righty to face The Sánchino. More commercials, the very same as just I saw. My need to've seen the end of Anjelica Huston disguised as a fee is reason enough to require relief pitchers to face at least two batters, excepting injury. When these games bog down due to bullpen mixing and matching all I'm doing is sitting here waiting and watching commercials and that isn't enjoyable. Dellin Betances has the heat lamp on him in the Yankees bullpen.
Gary Sánchez powers a ball to right and gone. He is the Sánchino! Ohhh, he walks softly and Gary's a big stick, and the Yankees take a 4-2 lead. He has that simple, compact, and powerful opposite field power stroke, SuZyn. There was criticism—from some—when Sánchez was invited to the Home Run Derby? Really? Did you see that swing? If Sánchez can crouch behind home plate and block that dirty David Robertson slider and then go out and slingshot home runs to right, then really what more can you ask for?
I still have the game on mute but I'm pretty sure that's how John Sterling saw it, too.
CactusCut
Bregman barehands a slow roller off the bat of Zack Greinke, gets the throw there in time, and Collin McHugh has avoided heavy damage in the second inning of a little something we like to call the HotCut. McHugh is fooling no one. After Josh Reddick made a sweet diving catch to rob JD "Byrider" Martinez of a hit, Daniel Descalso aka The ScuZzer doubled to deep right center. Then Ketel Marte singled Descalso home. As it stands, it's 1-0 AriZona, top 3, Juan Centeno looking at a 92 mph sinker from Greinke, K. McHugh is an .077 batter, certainly in limited time, but his swing there on a 1-and-2 curve was as soggy ramen noodle a cut as you'll ever see in a major league game.Greinke quickly has George Springer in the hole, then misses away, then misses in. Springer gets a piece of one, fouls it off. Springer rips a ball into the hole—which Ketel fields expertly—but the throw is way off line, Goldy sprawls for it but can't corral it, Springer scampers down to second. Goldy then makes a strange soft throw to second but Springer was already on the bag and not going anywhere, it's like Goldschmidt was playing hot potato.
It's Altuve now and I'm flagging bad. There is a graphic on the Arizona broadcast showing players with the highest road batting average in a single season, dating back to 1913. First is Harry Heilmann in 1925 with a .456. I think he's a Hall of Famer. Oh, yeah, a four-time batting champion, nicknamed The Slug a career .342 average, no big deal. Third on this list was Rogers Hornsby in 1921 with a .419. Fourth is Ty Cobb in 1925 with a .418. Fifth is Stan Musial in 1948 with a .415.
In second on that list is Jose Altuve with a .420 batting average in road games this year. Altuve is an incredibly good hitter, one of the best of our time, of any time. He struck out in the first. He takes strike two, 92 at the knees and in, but probably a strike, he had a brief complaint. I guess that's a 2-seamer from Greinke. On 2-and-2 Altuve goes fishing at a hard slider in the dirt and shows a rare lack of focus as he tosses his bat in exasperation before soon realiZing that Mathis has had the ball ricochet off of his shinguard, bouncing all the way to the backstop. Seeing this Altuve then hot-foots it down to first. Here's Reddick, runners at first and third. Reddick pops out, 3.
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