At 9:28 central daylight the HotCut was strong and necessary, like my second cup of coffee: KeuchelCut.
That game doesn't start until 19:40 central daylight but folks we are four minutes away from the day's first pitch, from Flushing, where Robbie Ray will make his return from the concussion DL after taking a Luke Voit liner to the head in St Louis late last month.
Robbie Ray retired Juan Lagares, Michael Conforto, and Yoenis Céspedes in the bottom of the first, all by strikeout. He put Wilmer Flores on via HBP to open the second but then he retired Amed Rosario, Dom Smith, and—by strikeout—Kevin Plawecki to find his way out of the inning.
Rafael Montero works in the top of the third with two down, there is no score. Montero fans Blanco and Montero has posted five punch-outs himself. That's 15 outs in this game, in 52 minutes, or 3.47 minutes per out, on pace for a three hour and seven minute game. That's more deliberate than I would've guessed, considering there have been only two baserunners but I suppose it is attributable to all the strikeouts.
Bottom Four. Céspedes ends the Ray shutout bid with one swing, 1-0 NYM.
It was a tied game when Betances hit McCann. The Yankees lost their grip on the game shortly thereafter. McCann scored one of three runs on a José Iglesias bases-clearing double off of David Robertson. McCann later hit a home run. I was waiting for him to give it to the Yankee dugout as he rounded third or stepped on home plate but all he did was give kudos to the sky as he stepped on home. The game lasted four hours and 13 minutes, featuring eight ejections. Tigers 10, Yankees 6.
The game bridged easily. It was still in the eighth inning when I saw Cubs at Reds go live. By the end, it was a three hour and thirty-seven minute game, something of a slog for a 5-2 game with only eleven total strikeouts and no remarkably slow moments.
From 11:10 central daylight, when the Mets game began, to the end of the west coast game (Rangers at Angels, later) it should be at least twelve straight hours of uninterrupted baseball on a Thursday. I could not have drawn it up any better myself.
"Permission to speak plainly Your Honor?"
"Permission granted."
"Your Honor, Strasburg and Keuchel are dealing."
Strasburg is clean through two innings with four whiffs. Kendrick, 4-3, and Keuchel is through three, three whiffs, one hit allowed. The offense for each team is a bit depleted but I'm not sure how much it would matter. Keuchel is throwing an 88 mph sinker with wicked drop and dive. Strasburg is pounding the zone with his mid-nineties fastball and snapping off a sadistic breaker.
I must say, though, there aren't many fans in the stands in Houston. Could it be due to Hurricane Harvey's approaching landfall? Otherwise the number of empty seats is surprising. The storm will reportedly hit near Corpus Christi tomorrow. Houston is sure to get a lot of rain. In those shoes I probably wouldn't be bothering with a baseball game either, even if it is the HotCut.
Strasburg's fastball pours into Brian McCann at 97. Something low at 91, is that his change? That's a hard change. Now something outside at 89, and ... did he just flex his arm, make a fist, release? Wieters went out there. Hmm. First pitch change to Derek Fisher. Now a fastball at 94, up, Fisher chases after it and swings through it. Same result on 96 up and away. That was a bad at-bat. "With Keuchel and Strasburg tonight, only one ball has left the infield." (That ball was off the bat of Anthony Rendon.) A curve at 85 misses low. Then 96 just in and it's 3-and-0. Springer swings on 3-and-0, popping it up. Egads, that is frustrating to see. Inning over. Why are you swinging on 3-and-0 when Strasburg was clearly and suddenly searching?
"Hopefully it's just something minor," says the Houston broadcast.
Preview
Stephen Strasburg will take the mound tonight in Houston, appearing in his fifth HotCut this season and his first since July 3rd. Continuing a theme of elite starters reappearing in the HotCut after relatively long, injury-based hiatuses, Dallas Keuchel pitches for the Astros in his first HotCut since June 2nd, his fourth overall appearance in the 'Cut this year.That game doesn't start until 19:40 central daylight but folks we are four minutes away from the day's first pitch, from Flushing, where Robbie Ray will make his return from the concussion DL after taking a Luke Voit liner to the head in St Louis late last month.
The Bridge of Hope
On top of that, there are three noon-hour games (@ PHI, @ DET, @ TB); one 13:15 game (Rockies at Royals); and the early game I'm most interested in because it will be integral in bridging today's action from beginning to end: Dodgers at Pirates, beginning at 15:05. That game needs to run 185 minutes to span The Slate until the start of Red Sox at Indians at 18:10. That would be a pace of 3.43 minutes per out, very possible.And now, without further ado: baseball.
Robbie Ray retired Juan Lagares, Michael Conforto, and Yoenis Céspedes in the bottom of the first, all by strikeout. He put Wilmer Flores on via HBP to open the second but then he retired Amed Rosario, Dom Smith, and—by strikeout—Kevin Plawecki to find his way out of the inning.
Rafael Montero works in the top of the third with two down, there is no score. Montero fans Blanco and Montero has posted five punch-outs himself. That's 15 outs in this game, in 52 minutes, or 3.47 minutes per out, on pace for a three hour and seven minute game. That's more deliberate than I would've guessed, considering there have been only two baserunners but I suppose it is attributable to all the strikeouts.
Bottom Four. Céspedes ends the Ray shutout bid with one swing, 1-0 NYM.
Conforto Down
Bottom Five. Conforto swings and goes down in a heap. The ball didn't hit him, he just swung and missed. "Who knows what this is," says Howie Rose on Mets radio. Wrist? Shoulder? "If this isn't a metaphor for the whole Mets season, then I don't know what is," he laments. "I can't believe it." Conforto is leaving this game. "I'm sittin' here just shaking my head."Can't Sleep through a Brawl
Where do I begin? I have been listening to baseball all the while. I took Hugo to the park, Marlins at Phillies in my pocket. I tried to take a snooZe but I heard about Betances hitting James McCann in the helmet with a fastball. That opened a can of worms and I pulled up a replay of Miguel Cabrera getting into a fight with Austin Romine, the benches then clearing.It was a tied game when Betances hit McCann. The Yankees lost their grip on the game shortly thereafter. McCann scored one of three runs on a José Iglesias bases-clearing double off of David Robertson. McCann later hit a home run. I was waiting for him to give it to the Yankee dugout as he rounded third or stepped on home plate but all he did was give kudos to the sky as he stepped on home. The game lasted four hours and 13 minutes, featuring eight ejections. Tigers 10, Yankees 6.
A Roberto Clemente Bridge
I switched my focus then to Dodgers at Pirates, the game that was carrying my bridge hopes. I listened to the Pirates feed as I made: tartar sauce, a fish fry breading, a salad and then pan-fried crappie. That all took ninety minutes or more. Adrián González went back-to-back with Yasmani Grandal, rudely greeting Angel Sánchez in his MLB debut. Clint Hurdle was tossed for bench jockeying. Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched inconspicuously well, again. After him it was Josh Fields, Tony Watson, Pedro Báez and then Brandon Morrow, who got his first save since May 10, 2009 with the Seattle Mariners.The game bridged easily. It was still in the eighth inning when I saw Cubs at Reds go live. By the end, it was a three hour and thirty-seven minute game, something of a slog for a 5-2 game with only eleven total strikeouts and no remarkably slow moments.
From 11:10 central daylight, when the Mets game began, to the end of the west coast game (Rangers at Angels, later) it should be at least twelve straight hours of uninterrupted baseball on a Thursday. I could not have drawn it up any better myself.
Dateline Houston
This is tonight's location for a little something we like to call the HotCut. Top 3, no score. Alejandro de Aza, dusted off and inserted back into a major league lineup, is out 6-3."Permission to speak plainly Your Honor?"
"Permission granted."
"Your Honor, Strasburg and Keuchel are dealing."
Strasburg is clean through two innings with four whiffs. Kendrick, 4-3, and Keuchel is through three, three whiffs, one hit allowed. The offense for each team is a bit depleted but I'm not sure how much it would matter. Keuchel is throwing an 88 mph sinker with wicked drop and dive. Strasburg is pounding the zone with his mid-nineties fastball and snapping off a sadistic breaker.
I must say, though, there aren't many fans in the stands in Houston. Could it be due to Hurricane Harvey's approaching landfall? Otherwise the number of empty seats is surprising. The storm will reportedly hit near Corpus Christi tomorrow. Houston is sure to get a lot of rain. In those shoes I probably wouldn't be bothering with a baseball game either, even if it is the HotCut.
Strasburg's fastball pours into Brian McCann at 97. Something low at 91, is that his change? That's a hard change. Now something outside at 89, and ... did he just flex his arm, make a fist, release? Wieters went out there. Hmm. First pitch change to Derek Fisher. Now a fastball at 94, up, Fisher chases after it and swings through it. Same result on 96 up and away. That was a bad at-bat. "With Keuchel and Strasburg tonight, only one ball has left the infield." (That ball was off the bat of Anthony Rendon.) A curve at 85 misses low. Then 96 just in and it's 3-and-0. Springer swings on 3-and-0, popping it up. Egads, that is frustrating to see. Inning over. Why are you swinging on 3-and-0 when Strasburg was clearly and suddenly searching?
Strasburg's Calf, Altuve's Neck
The Nationals bench—Dusty, Mike Maddux, a trainer—visited Strasburg on the mound in the bottom of the sixth after an Alex Bregman double, seemingly in relation to Strasburg's annoyance with his left calf. He had followed through awkwardly a couple of times and could be seen "shaking out" the calf. He stayed on, though, leaving a pretty hittable fastball over the plate for Altuve to take a hack at. Altuve lined it directly at Howie Kendrick in left. Altuve, in turn, is now out of this game, probably because of a problem he is having with his neck."Hopefully it's just something minor," says the Houston broadcast.
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