10-1-18
The NL West and the NL Central needed another game to
settle their business. And I completely
missed both games. I didn’t know when
they were on and they were over by the time I got to work. I’m not sure if either were on national ESPN
radio or not. (It’s a bad sign when your
fans can’t find your product.) I did
find the results at least. The Brewers beat the Cubs at Wrigley to win
the Central, and the Dodgers beat
the Rockies in LA to win the
West.
10-2-18
The NL Wildcard game was between the Rockies and Cubs at Wrigley. I was able
to start watching it late in the game. Nolan Arenado had scored the game’s
only run on a sacrifice to make it 1-0 Rox.
The pitching matchup was between veteran Jon Lester and Kyle Freeland,
making his first postseason appearance and on short rest. Surprisingly, Freeland outlasted him and went
six 2/3.
Adam
Ottavino came on in relief in the seventh. One of the Cubs drew a walk from him and
celebrated in a way that would have gotten somebody pegged in the regular
season. A rare catcher’s interference
call by Drew Butera loaded the bases
for the Cubs. Ottavino struck out Jason Heyward to end the inning though.
Javy
Baeza would get an RBI hit in the eighth to tie it. ESPN’s
Matt Vasgersian made an hysterical, overwrought call of the play and any
other dramatic play. Why would any
baseball announcer model themselves after Joe
Buck? In the tenth, Arenado made a great
dive, stop, and put out. Like you
weren’t going to get a highlight reel play from him in a game? In the eleventh, Baeza got caught in a
rundown and hugged Arenado on the tag.
It was pretty blatant runner’s interference, but it wasn’t called since
Nolan didn’t try to make throw a throw to either base with runners. I’m going to say that he likely didn’t think
he was going to get either of them and chose to eat the ball and hug it out instead.
We go to the thirteenth.
Trevor Story singled. “That’s a win for the Cubs,” said Jessica Mendoza on the theory that if
he didn’t hit a homer it was a good result for the Cubs. The only thing dumber than that statement is
that she was parroting something Matt had already said a couple of innings
before, and it was dumb then. Backup
catcher Tony Wolters would get an
RBI hit to give the Rox a 2-1 lead. Matt
was screaming like a schoolgirl calling the play.
In the bottom, the umpire was hit on a cross-up hard
enough for everyone to hear it. He
stayed in the game though. Scott Oberg struck out the side to end
it 2-1 Rockies. Rockies have played three games, in three
days, in three time zones, and this game took nearly five hours. When will it catch up with them? [Admittedly, I added that last line after
they’d already been eliminated.
Spoilers.]
10-3-18
I looked back at my MLB Season Preview. I
was so wrong in places, I was literally laughing at myself. I did actually get most of the teams right. I don’t really care about making any more
predictions for the postseason. I’m just
going to watch and listen.
The Yankees
took batting practice on the A’s in
the AL Wildcard game. The final was 7-2 Yankees and it was over early. The Bleacher Creatures started chanting, “We
want Boston!”
10-4-18
Here was a dilemma.
Aggie Volleyball was on at
the same time as the Rockies were playing
the Brewers in one of the NL
Division series. I also had a bit of a
cold and I was at work, doing work. I
kind of settled for peeking in at both games.
The Aggies were in Kansas City to play the Roos.
The Roos have a better record and were undefeated in conference. That said, the announcer mentioned that they
were missing their top scorer. It
showed.
Megan
Hart
went on a serving run in Set 1. The Roos
took a timeout and Megan promptly aced them coming out of the break. The Aggies took it 25-15. In Set 2, the Aggies
had a good lead to start, but the Roos came back and got it to 10-9. Coach
Jordan took a timeout and the Aggies stormed back ahead to take it 25-19.
Set 3 was close throughout, but the Aggies took it 25-20 for the 3-0
sweep. The announcer was really
impressed with Tatyana Battle, who
led with 13 kills. Julianna Salanoa may have had her best game ever with 10 kills and
9 blocks.
In Milwaukee, it was 2-0 Brewers in the ninth, but the
Rockies got two on, including a pinch hit by Matt Holiday. Front Row Amy was there standing and
cheering on the Brewers. Charlie Blackmon just missed a ground
rule double into the corner by an inch, but would get an RBI anyway. An error by Orlando Arcia loaded the bases.
Nolan Arenado sac’d in a run
to tie it at 2. “It’s a win coming out
of this tied,” said AJ Pierzynski. What is with these playoff announcers saying
dumb things? I know AJ is better than
that. It would have been an actual “win”
if they’d kept them from tying the score.
In the tenth, Adam
Ottavino was pitching for the Rockies.
I heard his name pronounced in a way I hadn’t heard it before. JDH417
throws up his hands in confusion. Mike Moustakas would get an RBI hit
with runners on the corners to win it 3-2
Brewers. Between him and Lorenzo Cain, this team has some
serious playoff experience.
Later, the Dodgers
beat the Braves 6-0. Max Muncy had a three-run homer.
It’s already not looking good for the Braves.
10-5-18
I was pleased to hear one of the AL Division series on
the radio this afternoon. It was the Astros versus the Indians, and Justin
Verlander against Corey Kluber starting. Alex
Bregman got the first hit of game in the fourth with a home run that nearly
hit the roof. (If a ball is fair and hits
the roof, it is in play.) Josh Reddick drove in another run to
make it 2-0.
In the fifth, George
Springer homered and Jose Altuve followed
him with another to make it 4-0. Kluber was
knocked out of the game. In the sixth,
Verlander, who hadn’t given up a hit in the first five innings, was knocked out
after loading the bases. Ryan Pressly came in and spiked his first
pitch, which brought in a run. Another
scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-2.
The Astros added on in the seventh as catcher Martin Maldonado homered and Bregman had
another RBI to make it 6-2. In the eighth,
pinch runner Miles Straw scored,
making it 7-2. “While America abandons
the use of straws, we’ll keep using this one,” said one of the announcers. That was a tortured analogy for the sake of
the Agenda. (F you, ESPN!) Even the announcers
seemed a bit incredulous that they used it.
Roberto Osuna came in for the
ninth and we were regaled with a recap of his domestic abuse controversy
(charges dismissed, by the way). I’m
surprised they didn’t tie it into the Kavanaugh nomination. The Astros
won 7-2.
Rockies
started playing the Brewers about
halfway through this game and it clipped along very quickly. It was 1-0 Brewers until the eighth when they
put up two more runs for the 3-0 win. Once again, Mike Moustakas drove in a run.
What has happened to the Rox’s offense?
I have a co-worker who over-the-moon about the Yankees winning and playing the Red Sox. I’m glad somebody else at work cares about
baseball, but why does it have to be a Yankees fan? The Sox went up 5-0 to start Game 1 of their
series, thanks in part to a JD
Martinez’s three-run homer in the first.
They didn’t score again in the game after the third.
Chris
Sale
came out in the sixth after giving up two hits.
Luke Voit brought in the
first Yankee run, another came in on a fielder’s choice to make it 5-2. In the seventh, the Yankees loaded the bases
with no outs. Giancarlo Stanton struck out, and the Yankees had to settle for one
run by Voit again on a fielder’s choice RBI, 5-3. Aaron
Judge homered in the ninth off Craig
Kimbrel, but Kimbrel struck out the rest of the heart of the order for a 5-4 win.
The late game in today’s quad-header was the Dodgers versus the Braves. Manny Machado hit a two-run homer, Yasmani Grandal hit a homer, Clayton
Kershaw went 8 innings, and Kenley
Jansen closed in out in the ninth for a 3-0 win. The end. (That was a bunch of baseball. If only I could have just sat and watched it
all.)
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