Hello,
Two of the hottest teams in MLB started a three game series on Friday. Those two teams are LA and Tampa Bay. The Dodgers ended up prevailing in the first game 7-6, but it was only after a wild 4 run 9th inning comeback.
LA continues defying expectations and logic, remember they are doing most of this without Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez. It seems Ramirez will be back fairly soon, in fact he pinch hit last night. ESPN is reporting that he won't play in Saturday's afternoon game. If LA is truly as good as they appear to be right now, then why were they so bad earlier in the season? I'm starting to feel a bit silly that I still have all these doubts about LA. But I can't quite give up the lingering doubts yet.
Entering the bottom of the 9th inning, Tampa leads 6-3 with closer Fernando Rodney pitching for the Rays. Rodney has 27 saves this season, but not a mid 4.00 ERA. LA won 7-6 by scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th. The first Dodger up was Skip Schumaker, who had a single. One Dodger on, 0 outs. Up next was light hitting Dee Gordon, who struck out swinging. Still Schumaker's on first base, but now there's 1 out. Up next: Mark Ellis, who tripled to left field driving in Schumaker. Tampa leads 6-4, Ellis is on third base and there's still one out. He's followed by Nick Punto, who doubles to left and drove in Ellis. Rays 6, Dodgers 5, Punto on second base and still only one out. The next Dodgers batter is Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez doubles, Punto scores and the game is tied at 6. Still only one out with Gonzalez on second base. Yasiel Puig is the next Dodgers batter, with first base open the Rays choose to intentionally walk him. Jerry Hairston Jr. then grounds into a fielder's choice. Gonzalez scores on a throwing error by Rodney. Dodgers win 7-6 and continue this great run they are on.
This is Fernando Rodney's seventh blown save of the season. He's tied in blown saves with the Orioles Jim Johnson and the Cubs James Russell.
Although this was a great win by the Dodgers, LA still seems at least one or two pitchers short. Chris Capuano struggled, giving up 10 hits in 4.1 innings. It makes me nervous that LA had to have Brandon League and Carlos Marmol pitch 3 innings. Thankfully LA seems to have unlimited resources and recently signed Brian Wilson to a year contract. He's currently in the minor leagues getting ready to play in the big leagues again. I feel confident about Dodgers late inning pitching with Paco Rodriguez, Kenley Jansen and Brian Wilson.
The Dodgers continue cruising, they've won 8 of their last 10 games and 3 in a row. LA has a 88.5% chance of making the playoffs. The Diamondbacks were able to beat the Mets 5-4 to remain 5.5 games back in the NL West.
Thanks to my friends at MLB Network I was able to see the mano a mano battle between the greatest closer ever and probably the best hitter in MLB now. Of course I'm referring to the top of the 9th inning showdown between Miguel Cabrera and Mariano Rivera. What a battle, Cabrera won by hitting a 2 run game tying home run. Although New York ended up winning the war by winning 4-3. That breaks the Tigers 12 game winning streak. But at the end of the season the Yanks will be watching the Tigers in the playoffs.
Initially I was extremely irritated that ARod was still able to play after filing an appeal to his 211 game suspension. Due to that appeal, he'll be able to finish playing this season. I've changed my mind a bit, I'm enjoying the Yankees having to pay Rodriguez a lot of money for very little production. On Friday Rodriguez was 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and he's currently hitting .200. It seems the Yankees can't wait around on the MLB for him to be suspended. ESPN reports the Yanks delivered a letter to Rodriguez yesterday that he'll be suspended for getting a second opinion without getting the Yankees permission. I researched this but I didn't find a definitive answer to if the Yanks would have to pay him during any team initiated suspension. Yes, I'm saying that's the main reason they'd suspend him. They realize they agreed to one of the worst contracts of all-time and are looking to reduce that financial burden where they can. Out of everyone the Yankees are probably the most excited about ARod's MLB suspension when it finally arrives.
In other games the Braves continue their winning streak, they've won 14 straight games now. Their latest victory was a 5-0 victory over the Marlins. This is the Braves longest winning streak since 2000, and I believe the longest MLB winning streak since 2002. Justin Upton had his 22nd home run and has 6 homers in August. Chris Johnson and Brian McCann also homered.
The Braves didn't make an August trade, but it might seem that way with Brandon Beachy back. In only his third appearance since recovering from major elbow surgery, he pitched 8 scoreless innings. Beachy is 1-0 this season and this is first win in 15 months.
Miami and the Chicago White Sox are the first two teams to drop to 0% chance of reaching the playoffs. Meanwhile Atlanta looks to be the first team to clinch a playoff birth, currently they are at 99.9% chance.
Finally the AL East continues to be a close battle, both the Red Sox and Rays lost on Friday. However the Orioles won. Boston is 70-48 and remains in first place in the AL East. The Red Sox lost again to the incredibly hot Royals as new Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy had a rough outing. The Rays are in second place, they trail Boston by 2 games. Meanwhile the Orioles are still fighting to remain in the AL East playoff chase. They've won 3 games in a row and are only 4.5 games behind Boston. The Yanks are completely irrelevant in the AL East. They are 4th place and 10 games behind Boston. New York has a 2.0% chance of reaching the postseason. I'm guessing they are much more interested in ending the ARod era as quickly and cheaply as possible than this season's limited playoff chances.
themusicaddict
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