You called me this morning, again, and again I missed your call. You didn't let that phase you. By 12:22 central daylight you were ready to let bygones be HotCuts: TwinCityHotCut.
Confession: I missed the first fifteen minutes of this game. I consider this blasphemous, negligent, and preventable. What I could not prevent was needing to take Hugo to the groomer while Blue Jays at Cubs was in the top of its second inning. That was the available slot, I took it. The long and short of it: Bottom of the fifth, 14:52 central daylight, Cubs 3 - Blue Jays 1. I didn't hear any of the scoring so I'll avoid a detailed recap, at least for now.
Kris Bryant bats against J.A. Happ, Albert Almora Jr at first. Bryant doubles down the right field line, Almora holds at third. Two aboard with no one out for Anthony RiZzo. It's a line drive single for RiZzo, going opposite field on the first pitch, the ball traveling right through the area typically occupied by the shortstop. It's 5-1 Cubs.
In the game I'm watching now, Athletics at Houston, Bregman and Altuve went back-to-back. That's the extent of the scoring in the game. I wonder: is this the highest-ever percentage of total runs that have been scored on home run plays?
Top seven and the count is 2-and-2 to K-hris Davis. A ball high and the count runneth full. That's two in a row he's lost high. He throws pitch number 93 right down the middle and gets lucky as Davis fouls it back. The next pitch is the low strike, which looked low to me but it's a backwards K. With one out in the seventh Keuchel is on fumes. It's 3-and-0 to Ryon Healy. Healy slaps one to second except Altuve was playing shortstop, so it's a single. Incredibly Chad Pinder then grounds one to Bregman for the start of a 5-4-3 double play. Inning over.
It's Moroff at third, S-Rod at second, and Bell at first. Seung Hwan Oh has come on in relief of Duke. Two balls and no strikes. You are listening to this game. A deep fly to the wall, but Tommy Pham has it there, Moroff scores and it's 11-10. All of the runners moved up. Matheny will walk Adam FraZier, to load the bases for Elias Díaz, the backup catcher recently recalled from Indianapolis. The 0-1 is fouled back. Díaz is in the hole. The next pitch is in the dirt but blocked by Carson Kelly. "That ball hit so far out in front of home plate," says Bob Walk. Low and away, it's 2-and-2. A foul back. A strikeout and the Cardinals survive. The Stone Buddha is back.
It was in fact Enberg calling a Tigers game. He is apparently a Michigan Sports Hall of Famer. I was telling B about Enberg: that he did Padres games for a while and before that he used to call tennis on NBC.
Looking on Twitter, I read that Enberg is "coming out of retirement for this weekend's Tigers - Dodgers series." That is per Fox Sports Detroit.
Calling this game on Orioles radio are Joe Angel and Ben McDonald, the Cajun, who had guested on Orioles radio now for at least the past couple of years. The count is 0-and-2, the Angels have five home runs, Caleb Joseph strikes out. That's the first out of the inning. The Angels lead the game 7-5, a man is aboard, Joe Angel is giving me what I need, Seth Smith is batting. It's Yusemeiro Petit on the mound for Anaheim. A strike looking. A swinging miss. The count runneth full. A walk. Petit is lifted, two now aboard, one out, Keynan Middleton will enter this game.
Tim Beckham singles to right but Santander holds at third. Ryan Flaherty, running for Smith, moves up to second. And Manny Machado ... hits a walk-off grand slam! It's his third home run of the night, yowZa. No one calls a walk-off like Bookman, aka Joe Angel. I haven't listened to him much this year—Baltimore hasn't been one of my go-to teams. It could be because they don't play many weekday afternoon games or because I don't have any Orioles on my fantasy baseball team. I've got to get a little more Bookman in yet this season.
Chapman retires Benintendi. Kimbrel will pitch the ninth for Boston.
HotCut Preview
Berríos? Colón? No, it's Ervin Santana for the Minnesota Twins and Zack Godley for the visiting AriZona Diamondbacks. Minnesota is a game away from the second Wild Card in the American League. Arizona once again has identical records with Colorado, each team four-and-a-half games clear of Milwaukee for National League Wild Card bids.Friday Afternoon Baseball at Wrigley Field
Meanwhile, this is a special Friday. It's a type of Friday afternoon that comes along but thirteen times this year. The Chicago Cubs are hosting a Friday afternoon baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL at 13:20 central daylight.Confession: I missed the first fifteen minutes of this game. I consider this blasphemous, negligent, and preventable. What I could not prevent was needing to take Hugo to the groomer while Blue Jays at Cubs was in the top of its second inning. That was the available slot, I took it. The long and short of it: Bottom of the fifth, 14:52 central daylight, Cubs 3 - Blue Jays 1. I didn't hear any of the scoring so I'll avoid a detailed recap, at least for now.
Kris Bryant bats against J.A. Happ, Albert Almora Jr at first. Bryant doubles down the right field line, Almora holds at third. Two aboard with no one out for Anthony RiZzo. It's a line drive single for RiZzo, going opposite field on the first pitch, the ball traveling right through the area typically occupied by the shortstop. It's 5-1 Cubs.
Arrieta Goes 6 1/3
He put a couple of runners on here in the sixth. Maddon wanted a fresh arm and Carl Edwards Jr entered the game. He induced a grounder to first, RiZzo came home with it, Pillar was tagged out in a rundown. It's still first and third but there are two out. It's 2-and-2 to José Bautista. The count runneth full. Bautista, K.Home Run Factoid of the Night
Rafael Devers homered again. I flipped to the game right after the damage though I did catch a graphic posted on the broadcast a la Alex Speier on Twitter. It was something along the lines of Devers now being tied with some other person for the most home runs by a 20-year-old in his first 65 or some-odd at-bats. It didn't say who he was tied with.In the game I'm watching now, Athletics at Houston, Bregman and Altuve went back-to-back. That's the extent of the scoring in the game. I wonder: is this the highest-ever percentage of total runs that have been scored on home run plays?
Keuchel is On Tonight
It's 2-0 Astros, top 6. Matt Chapman pulled a double to left but otherwise Keuchel has kept the ball on the infield. He gets the last out of the sixth on a ground ball to short.Top seven and the count is 2-and-2 to K-hris Davis. A ball high and the count runneth full. That's two in a row he's lost high. He throws pitch number 93 right down the middle and gets lucky as Davis fouls it back. The next pitch is the low strike, which looked low to me but it's a backwards K. With one out in the seventh Keuchel is on fumes. It's 3-and-0 to Ryon Healy. Healy slaps one to second except Altuve was playing shortstop, so it's a single. Incredibly Chad Pinder then grounds one to Bregman for the start of a 5-4-3 double play. Inning over.
Pirates Radio
I've been Scoreboard Shopping. Max Moroff bats in the bottom of the ninth for Pittsburgh. It's Matt Bowman on for the save, the Cardinals leading 11-8, one out. The count goes to 2-and-2. Sean Rodríguez is on deck. The count runneth full. Zach Duke starts to loosen for the Cardinals. Another foul. Starling Marte has already walked. Now Moroff takes high and he will walk to first. The tying run will bat with one out. Bowman hits Rodríguez. It sounds like S-Rod just let it hit him. Mike Matheny wants Duke."This Is Baseball!"
Duke walked Josh Bell, it's 11-9. This was an 11-3 game to begin the bottom of the eighth. It's David Freese to the plate. Pirates radio says the Pirates came back from eight runs down in 2001, and that Brian Giles was involved. That was the fourth time the Pirates had come back from eight down in their 133-year history.It's Moroff at third, S-Rod at second, and Bell at first. Seung Hwan Oh has come on in relief of Duke. Two balls and no strikes. You are listening to this game. A deep fly to the wall, but Tommy Pham has it there, Moroff scores and it's 11-10. All of the runners moved up. Matheny will walk Adam FraZier, to load the bases for Elias Díaz, the backup catcher recently recalled from Indianapolis. The 0-1 is fouled back. Díaz is in the hole. The next pitch is in the dirt but blocked by Carson Kelly. "That ball hit so far out in front of home plate," says Bob Walk. Low and away, it's 2-and-2. A foul back. A strikeout and the Cardinals survive. The Stone Buddha is back.
Dude, What's the Score?
I switched over to the Tigers game but I soon hear that it has gone final, 8-5 in favor of the Dodgers. The eldest game on the slate is Reds at Braves, what say ye? I do not know the status of this game. I am looking only at the options listed on the "headphone icon" screen in the MLB At Bat app. The only information listed there are the two teams playing and the inning. Braves feed: it's 5-3 Reds, top of the ninth. That was a very prompt status report. The next pitch goes 6-3 and the inning is over. To the bottom of the ninth, the Braves trail by two, Dansby Swanson will lead off. The Braves broadcast (Joe Simpson?) gave me exactly what I needed before the game went to commercial.Dick Enberg Comes Out of Retirement
Mark Lemke is on this Braves broadcat. He sounds a little tight, his voice cautious. Raisel Iglesias pitches for Cincinnati. That reminds me. We heard on the Detroit broadcast earlier a voice that sure sounded like Dick Enberg (he was accompanied by a voice I had not heard before, a guy that sounded older and who struck me both as savvy and monotone).It was in fact Enberg calling a Tigers game. He is apparently a Michigan Sports Hall of Famer. I was telling B about Enberg: that he did Padres games for a while and before that he used to call tennis on NBC.
Looking on Twitter, I read that Enberg is "coming out of retirement for this weekend's Tigers - Dodgers series." That is per Fox Sports Detroit.
The Night of the Eldest Game
The Reds have defeated the Braves. I'm putting down my baseball spinner tonight. I'm going to play Night of the Eldest Game. It's Seniors' Night. Oldest game is where I go. Right now that's Angels at Orioles, bottom nine. Someone just got his first big-league hit. [Ed. note: It was Anthony Santander.]Calling this game on Orioles radio are Joe Angel and Ben McDonald, the Cajun, who had guested on Orioles radio now for at least the past couple of years. The count is 0-and-2, the Angels have five home runs, Caleb Joseph strikes out. That's the first out of the inning. The Angels lead the game 7-5, a man is aboard, Joe Angel is giving me what I need, Seth Smith is batting. It's Yusemeiro Petit on the mound for Anaheim. A strike looking. A swinging miss. The count runneth full. A walk. Petit is lifted, two now aboard, one out, Keynan Middleton will enter this game.
Tim Beckham singles to right but Santander holds at third. Ryan Flaherty, running for Smith, moves up to second. And Manny Machado ... hits a walk-off grand slam! It's his third home run of the night, yowZa. No one calls a walk-off like Bookman, aka Joe Angel. I haven't listened to him much this year—Baltimore hasn't been one of my go-to teams. It could be because they don't play many weekday afternoon games or because I don't have any Orioles on my fantasy baseball team. I've got to get a little more Bookman in yet this season.
Chapman is Sweating Heavily
Look at Devers pick up that bat (JBJ's) as he crosses home plate. Bradley has singled in two, putting Boston up 9-6, bottom eight with Aroldis Chapman on the mound, sweating profusely. No one else is sweating like that. Maybe he chugged a lot of Red Bull, or something.Chapman retires Benintendi. Kimbrel will pitch the ninth for Boston.
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