Using a series of dots and dashes I could hardly understand, you told me something important: KluberCut.
We plopped down in front of the Roku displayer. The Indians lead the Yanks 2-0 after three and a half innings. Corey Kluber is pitching as expected. Sonny Gray has been good too (the runs he allowed in the first inning were not earned). I had left the Cubs game going on the kitchen radio (via the MLB audio app on my phone). I went in there and met silence. Was the app stuck in the too-familiar "Buffering..." state again? Very possible. Probable. I switched to the Arizona feed. Also silent. Strange. Then I looked at the score: not only did I see that the Cubs had tied it in the eighth but the game was back in a delay! Epic on the North Side. What a long day for those involved but what a story for the scoreboard.
I went to turn down the kitchen radio. The broadcast was airing a Flash Flood warning for the Phoenix area. Lamb had singled. Mathis singled. The ScuZzer is in deep at one-and-two. ScuZzer, 7. Contreras will bat second in the bottom of the ninth.
Kluber is through eight with his ninth and tenth strikeouts to close out the final two batters of the inning. He has struck out at least ten batters in nine of his last ten appearances.
C'est no action in the Cleveland bullpen. Kluber is just shy of 100 pitches. He'll be back out soon looking for his third complete game of the season.
Gardner, 6-3. C Frazier, K. Gregorius, 5-3.
Nick Williams has homered to center for Philadelphia, the game is tied. Trout backed carefully to the wall, leapt, got just the tip of his glove on the ball, it's 2-2. Hyun Soo Kim later ripped a ball that ricocheted off the second baseman's shin. Probably a hit. César Hernández now doubles into and out of the right field corner. Galvis catches a piece of a ball that catches a piece of Martín Maldonado. Galvis is in the hole, 0-and-2. Way in. It's Parker Bridwell on the mound for Anaheim. Galvis lines one to right, it's suddenly 4-2 Phillies. Galvis saw ten pitches that at-bat after walking in his first AB. Aaron Altherr, excuse-me swing, 5-3, barely.
Enter Cameron Rupp. Trout at first with the oven mitt. Something away at 85, one-and-two. Bender, K.
Commercial break in progress, Jake. There were some ads, highlighted by a new Buick commercial.
Valbuena, 0-for-1. He is in the hole, Eickhoff is getting ahead of these guys for sure. Valbuena, K. Simmons, 1-and-1. Low strike. Simmons, 9. Cron, 7.
The AL Wild Card race is pretty tight. The broadcast flashed a graphic of it, LAA 3 1/2 games out, needing to jump Baltimore, Seattle, and Tampa Bay. The ballpark appears to have filled in a bit. Hernández now. Walk. Galvis bats. He goes 8.
Thursday Afternoon
That was earlier, this is Thursday afternoon, Cards versus Brewers in Milwaukee, rubber game, Brewers leading 2-1 in the top of the sixth. Yadi, 8. Inning over.Diamondbacks and Cubs, Delayed by Rain
Delayed at the outset, Diamondbacks at Cubs had begun. Goldschmidt hit a three-run home run and his Snakes were up 4-0 on José Quintana and the Chicago Cubs. Yet, that game is now delayed again in only the second inning. It was raining in Milwaukee, too, but Miller Park has a roof so the downpour did not did not stop the action. Indians at Red Sox was postponed altogether yesterday. Rain, rain everywhere but not much in St Louis these days.Diamondback at Cubs Gets CraZy
A couple of hours later. The AriZona-Chicago game bridged afternoon to evening action, easily. It's 18:32 central and the D'Backs lead the Cubs 8-7 in the top of the 8th in a crazy game that has been drawn out by two hours of weather delays, beginning with 90 minutes of delay before the first pitch and another half hour there in the second inning. I suppose the 'Cut has begun in the Bronx but I'm gonna roll with this see-saw affair until it's over. It has the feel of that Indians-Red Sox game from earlier this week. The Cubs had gotten to Zack Greinke first and then to Andrew Chafin. Archie Bradley yielded a single to Willson Contreras, which put the Cubs up 7-6. Then Carl Edwards Jr walked the first two he saw. Justin Wilson came on and both inherited runners scored. Wilson works to Adam Rosales. Pat Hughes takes a moment to explain why this game, scheduled to start at 13:20 is still going. To the bottom of the 8th.We plopped down in front of the Roku displayer. The Indians lead the Yanks 2-0 after three and a half innings. Corey Kluber is pitching as expected. Sonny Gray has been good too (the runs he allowed in the first inning were not earned). I had left the Cubs game going on the kitchen radio (via the MLB audio app on my phone). I went in there and met silence. Was the app stuck in the too-familiar "Buffering..." state again? Very possible. Probable. I switched to the Arizona feed. Also silent. Strange. Then I looked at the score: not only did I see that the Cubs had tied it in the eighth but the game was back in a delay! Epic on the North Side. What a long day for those involved but what a story for the scoreboard.
Goldschmidt and the Three Homers
The radio feed in the kitchen has resumed its broadcast. The third delay lasted 30 minutes, bringing the game's cumulative delay to two hours and thirty-five minutes. Top of the ninth, Wade Davis pitching. Pollock pops out, 4. Here's Goldy. Yard work! That's three for him today—yowZa. Was that a change down and in? [Ed. note: it was probably a curve using a knuckle curve grip, per Brooks.] Goldy has a compact, powerful, direct-to-the-ball stroke. Simple and— Now JD Martinez hits a home run and it's 10-8. This is setting up for Fernando Rodney.I went to turn down the kitchen radio. The broadcast was airing a Flash Flood warning for the Phoenix area. Lamb had singled. Mathis singled. The ScuZzer is in deep at one-and-two. ScuZzer, 7. Contreras will bat second in the bottom of the ninth.
Fernando Rodney, The Closer
Here's RiZzo. Rodney's fastball goes 91 to 94 mph, with tail. Then a change in the dirt at 85, bringing the count to 2-and-2. Just inside with a fastball. Close in and down with a changeup, could have been a strike but it wasn't. RiZzo trots down to first. Strike one on a change to Contreras. He tries to bunt that pitch? Foul, strike two. The first run means nothing. Contreras just got cute. Fastball 96, away. Then a change at 83 mph, over the plate but lowering itself as Contreras swings over it. Alex Avila, strike one. The count goes to two-and-two. A change misses low and in, the count runs full. There are still a good amount of fans at Wrigley. Walk. Rodney makes it interesting. Ian Happ, 0-for-4 today. He guns for the first pitch and is way out in front. This is Rodney's 15th year in the league. Happ fouls back 97 mph. I am learning that Rodney's fastball has quite a wide speed range on it. Happ, backwards-looking K. "It's all up to Heyward." In game time alone this game is over four hours and now it's just plain over. Rodney has launched another arrow into the sky.Ho-Hum Corey Kluber
We went back to the 'Cut. I was telling B that Kluber has been the best pitcher in baseball since he came back from the DL. Then Gary Sánchez hit a home run. She said that was her cue to go to bed. It's 20:18 central daylight. It's pleasant outside here in St Louis, especially for August 3rd. The cicadas are really thrumming. But floods in Phoenix and near-record heat in Portland. Rain delays in Chicago and Baltimore. It's a craZy weather world in the U.S. so far this month. Lindor lines his 18th home run to left, his seventh from the right side of the plate. It's 5-1 Cleveland.Kluber is through eight with his ninth and tenth strikeouts to close out the final two batters of the inning. He has struck out at least ten batters in nine of his last ten appearances.
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Kluber Reaches Double-Digit Whiffs, Again, in HotCut
Gardner, 6-3. C Frazier, K. Gregorius, 5-3.
Missing a Mike Trout Homer
Trout Fishing in America, shorty. I believe I just missed a Mike Trout home run. There was a shot of him in the dugout, looking exhilarated, and it's suddenly 2-0 Angels. So... . Luis Valbuena grounds out. Here's Andrelton Simmons. It's Jerad Eickhoff on the mound for the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. Simmons with a good take on a fastball away, three-and-one. He looks at 91 close, BB. C.J. Cron now. Taking a lead at first, Simmons holds his batting gloves, one in either hand, that's his oven mitt. I've seen players hold their batting gloves in their hands before but it's been years. I can't recall seeing any other player do it this year. Simmons, SB. But, he was not holding a batting glove in his left hand as it met the base. Strangely, one of his batting gloves was loose and visible in the replay of him sliding into second base. Did he drop it as he was in the act of sliding? The stands in Anaheim appear somewhere halfway between empty and full. A sort of shut-ins type waterfall exists in the outfield. Kaleb Cowart bats. Eickhoff is at 32 pitches. Cowart, K.Nick Williams has homered to center for Philadelphia, the game is tied. Trout backed carefully to the wall, leapt, got just the tip of his glove on the ball, it's 2-2. Hyun Soo Kim later ripped a ball that ricocheted off the second baseman's shin. Probably a hit. César Hernández now doubles into and out of the right field corner. Galvis catches a piece of a ball that catches a piece of Martín Maldonado. Galvis is in the hole, 0-and-2. Way in. It's Parker Bridwell on the mound for Anaheim. Galvis lines one to right, it's suddenly 4-2 Phillies. Galvis saw ten pitches that at-bat after walking in his first AB. Aaron Altherr, excuse-me swing, 5-3, barely.
Knapp Takes One on the Knuckles
Ramón Flores got a hit. He is in right tonight for LAA. I'm not sure I've seen him play before, but he played some for the Yankees in 2015 and a lot for Milwaukee last year. I didn't know. 249 AB for MIL in 2016, 31 BB: 58 K, .205 average, .294 OBP, .261 SLG, .555 OPS. Trout walks. Eickhoff had him in the hole, let him out. Here's Albert. He's in the hole. Two on, two out. Foul, left field line. A foul back that got Andrew Knapp right on his right hand, across the top of his hand, those top knuckles. God, that's like a torture treatment. He's flexing it. He had gone out to the mound, there was an impromptu player conference there but the Phillies bench came out, the trainer. Andrew Knapp is going to leave the game. That's smart. He needs to ice that. That'd be like dropping a rock on your hand, except not sharp or jagged in any way.Enter Cameron Rupp. Trout at first with the oven mitt. Something away at 85, one-and-two. Bender, K.
Commercial break in progress, Jake. There were some ads, highlighted by a new Buick commercial.
Valbuena, 0-for-1. He is in the hole, Eickhoff is getting ahead of these guys for sure. Valbuena, K. Simmons, 1-and-1. Low strike. Simmons, 9. Cron, 7.
The AL Wild Card race is pretty tight. The broadcast flashed a graphic of it, LAA 3 1/2 games out, needing to jump Baltimore, Seattle, and Tampa Bay. The ballpark appears to have filled in a bit. Hernández now. Walk. Galvis bats. He goes 8.
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