HotCuts & Bridges

It is 9:37 central daylight.  I have no word yet on a HotCut but, folks, settle down—it's early.  Early and beautiful outside, 70° in St Louis, continuing the unseasonably pleasant August temperature trend. Pittsburgh at Toronto, T.O.G.I.T. Jaso, 9.  Cervelli, 5-3.  Marte, 6-3.  This way Chris Rowley retired the side in order in the fifth.  Rowley is making his major league debut right here against the Pirates.  He's through five having allowed one run on four hits, no walks, three strikeouts.  Based on the SportsNet camera work, I can say that Rowley might be nursing a blister or a fingernail problem.  I have the sound off but now it's a shot of Marcus Stroman, so blisters is a reasonable guess. Donaldson pokes one to right, Polanco charges in, he can't get there, and now he is limping.  Gregory Polanco is going to leave this game, is that a bum knee?  Looked like it.  What was it he missed time with earlier this year?  It appears he returned from a hamstring inj

At 9:26 central daylight, the HotCut hit the wire:  TampaBay HotCut. Preview This HotCut brings Carlos Carrasco and the Cleveland Indians to Tropicana Field for an 18:10 game against Jacob Faria and the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Indians lead the AL Central by three-and-a-half games but are 3-7 in their last ten.  The Rays are tied with the Seattle Mariners for the second American League Wild Card berth. Cervenka Demoted I recently watched the Marlins' Hunter Cervenka work against the Nationals.  He was a hot mess out there, throwing down and away, down and away, before Mattingly lifted him.  Well, the Marlins sent him to AAA New Orleans today.  Borrowing heavily from this RotoWorld blurb , I note that in 4 2/3 IP Cervenka only allowed one hit yet he allowed eight runs in that span because he walked eight and also hit two batters.   Baseball Waiting Room It's like that scene from Beetlejuice.  Take a number, nothing but a bunch of sick freaks in here, waiting for their

At 9:09 central daylight I saw light at the end of the tunnel.  It was a text from you.  It was the HotCut:  The 'Cut stays in AriZona. Preview It's Yu Darvish and his new-crew Dodgers in the desert to face Anthony Banda and the Diamondbacks.  The game begins at 20:40 central daylight.  I have a friend from high school visiting me later today.  I haven't seen him in fifteen years.  There are two early games today, but apart from those my dictation of the slate will probably be light.  Baseball in 128 minutes, from Cincinnati.  Dinelson Lamet and San Diego face Luis Castillo. Padres at Reds I am listening to Padres at Reds.  Votto flew out to Pírela.  A Reds reporter joined Jeff Brantley and Marty Brenneman.  After they talked about the reporter's upcoming trip to Las Vegas for a wedding, they turned to baseball.  It sounds to me like Billy Hamilton will be on the block this winter.  There are numerous teams that could use a true centerfielder. Lamet works slow

High off another Cardinal win you were up with the Oregon juncos dishing the headline at 5:23 Pacific daylight:  Arizona HotCut. Day Baseball Catches Me Napping At 11:33 I realized baseball had begun at 11:10, twenty-three minutes of day baseball down the drain.  I turned on Rockies at Indians, SenZatela and Bauer.  I heard Amarista homer, his third.  Then a Lindor homer put Cleveland ahead, 2-1.  There is one other game under way, Rangers at Mets, where it's 4-0 Texas in the top of the fourth. Blackmon now.  He's grounded out in each of his first two trips to the plate.  4-3.  Bauer goes 3-up, 3-down in the top of the fifth. Tom Hamilton Woke Me Up I took a siesta that spanned a couple of innings.  It's hard to get too deep into a sleep when Tom Hamilton is on your radio.  It's still 2-1 Tribe, now in the bottom of the eighth. Bridge check.  Rangers at Mets is 5-1 Rangers, bottom seven.  That game will probably still be going when this Indians game is over

No, it wasn't yet another Paul DeJong homer text you sent me this morning at 8:26 central daylight, it was news of today's HotCut:  KluberCut. Preview The HotCut hands Kluber the ball tonight at 18:10 in Cleveland where the Indians will face German Márquez and the Colorado Rockies.  The Indians maintain a three-game lead on Kansas City in the AL Central while the 64-48 Rockies are the first Wild Card in the NL, six games clear of the first outside team looking in, the Milwaukee Brewers. There are no day games today, baseball fans.  It'll be another six hours and twelve minutes until tonight's first pitch.  So long then, for just a little while. The Klubot Pitches Good Most extra-base hits in the majors this year, top five:  Arenado, Blackmon, Stanton, Duvall, and José Ramírez.  José Ramírez, 8, on a flyout to Blackmon on the warning track in Cleveland.  That's right, we're 'Cutting the rug on a Tuesday, Roku-style.  The Klubot had a minor glitch an

You needed only five letters and you got it to me before five o'clock your time:  MoCut. Preview When it was a World Series it was called the I-70 Series.   At 57-53 the Royals are two-and-a-half games back of Cleveland in the AL Central although, perhaps more importantly, they would have a spot in the AL Wild Card game, were the season to end today (they would travel to New York to play the Yankees).  At 55-56, the St Louis Cardinals would all go their separate ways, were the season to end today.  They travel the Chicago Cubs by three-and-a-half games in the NL Central and remain far out of the Wild Card race.  In tonight's game the visiting Cardinals send Carlos Martinez to the mound, opposite Ian Kennedy for the Royals.  The game begins at 19:15 central daylight. The Slate doesn't go live on this Monday until 18:05.  More than half of the teams are off today.  You'll have a couple of late games to choose from:  Orioles at Angels, Cubs at Giants.  If I had to gu

From the pulpit on this Sunday, at 11:24 central daylight, you decried and decreed:  DevilCut. Yo No Se My thought process went:  (a) that probably means Tampa, referring to their original team name but I'm not 100% sure;  (b) because sometimes you'll use an English word to refer to a player whose last name in Spanish translates to the word you've used, e.g. 'The Stork' is a reference to Matt GarZa ;  (c) I can't immediately think of what 'devil' is in Spanish , sadly;  (d) looking at the slate I see that Brewers at Rays features Jimmy Nelson for Milwaukee and Chris Archer for Tampa;  (e) I'll text you just to make sure. The Slate It is 11:50 central daylight, overcast and quiet.  The 'Cut begins in Florida in twenty minutes.  How does The Slate shape up?  There are seven noon-hour games; four 13:00-hour games; two in the 14:00 hour; D'backs - Giants begins at 15:05, which probably wouldn't be enough to bridge to the Sunday Night