August 2018 MLB Game Thread

Sad Sam Jones

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Corey Kluber is healthy and back in rhythm... 3-hit shutout of the Angels on 97 pitches. Leonys Martin is 4-for-8 with 2 home runs as an Indian. Watching the Indians and Angels play is an absolute treat if you enjoy watching the two best shortstops in the game ply their trade.

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jon abbey

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McCullers leaves the game pointing to his elbow or forearm, it didn't look good.
 

jon abbey

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I can't find confirmation of this, but if McCullers is out, presumably Forrest Whitley is not postseason eligible because of his minor-league PED suspension earlier this year, right? I know that is true if it is MLB like Cano, but not sure about a minor-league one.
 

Marciano490

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George Springer just slid head first into 2B and messed up his hand. Coming out of the game.
Maybe this is obvious, but why have raised bases? Just seems like so many extra hand and ankle injuries. Just have them all flat like home plate, no?
 

Lowrielicious

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Maybe this is obvious, but why have raised bases? Just seems like so many extra hand and ankle injuries. Just have them all flat like home plate, no?
Much harder to stop on the base when sliding (you don’t need to stop at home).
Much harder to find the base with your feet without looking.
Harder for umps to tell if runners or fielders touch the base.
 

Koji’s Slider

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I have a feeling that tonight’s Yankees vs. White Sox will have a lot of eyeballs from the New England region.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Just in case you weren't paying close attention:

Ramirez SB totals by month
March/April: 2/2
May: 5/7
June: 7/7
July: 11/12
August: 1/2

Currently at 33 HR and 26 SB. I knew the guy was having a ridiculous year but now he's on pace for 48 HRs and 38 SB. It'd be amazing if he went for 50/40 or even 40/40. Is it too early to start an MVP thread? There are some amazing candidates this year. Still wonder what happens if JD Martinez somehow wins the triple crown too.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Wow, Engel's catch turns a 5-0 Yankees lead into 2-0. Amazing. If the White Sox can figure out a way to pull this one out, the Yankees will seriously have to be wondering what else they can do to get a win.
 

SemperFidelisSox

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Really not looking forward to those seven remaining games vs Cleveland. Their starting pitching is excellent. Bauer threw another gem tonight. Miller is back.
 

NDame616

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I wonder if players are diving head first into bases more because of replay now a lot of guys are being called out on pop up slides when they don't touch the base for a millisecond.
 

jon abbey

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Phillies and D'Backs tied at 2 in the 14th, MLBN is showing bits between highlights but I wish they'd go to it fulltime.
 

KiltedFool

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Just in case you weren't paying close attention:

Ramirez SB totals by month
March/April: 2/2
May: 5/7
June: 7/7
July: 11/12
August: 1/2

Currently at 33 HR and 26 SB. I knew the guy was having a ridiculous year but now he's on pace for 48 HRs and 38 SB. It'd be amazing if he went for 50/40 or even 40/40. Is it too early to start an MVP thread? There are some amazing candidates this year. Still wonder what happens if JD Martinez somehow wins the triple crown too.

Jose Ramirez is friggin awesome, and he deserves a lot more attention than he's gotten, loved reading this perspective on him.
 

Plympton91

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Absolute FUBAR umpiring this afternoon in the Nats game. Turner is the Runner on first. Flyball to LCF leaping attempted catch against the wall. Ball hits wall and CF glove at the same time, Ball richochets to LF who catches it on the fly.

Third base umpire meekly signals no catch from about 10 feet to the right and behind third base. Nowhere near where he’s need to be for Turner who rounded second and was watching leftfield. Turner interpreters it as a catch and race back to 1B Soto, who hit the ball, also assumes its caught, also not seeing the 3B umpire doing his disappearing act, and walks back away from the attempted “double play” on Turner returning to first base.

The umpires gather and call Soto out for “passing” Turner.

Just the epitome of the Nats FUBAR season so far.
 

Al Zarilla

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Giants 1-0 top 6 and Josh Reddick makes his way around to third on steals, etc., tries to score on a passed ball and Madbum tags him into next week. Still 1-0. I tuned in at just the right time.
 

DeadlySplitter

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"King" Felix gave up 11 R, 7 ER to the Rangers in 6 IP tonight. he's only 32 but he's fallen off the cliff (too many pitches??)
 

jon abbey

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We missed a wild individual performance in that Phillies/D'Backs game on Monday. Arrieta shut out ARI for 8 innings and PHI took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 9th. David Peralta homered to make it 2-1, ARI scored one more and it went to extra innings at 2-2. Here is what Peralta did after that:

10th-singled (stranded)
12th-doubled (stranded)
14th-homered (game-winner, 3-2 ARI)

No one has had 11 total bases from the 9th inning onward in a game before.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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Francisco Lindor with a 3-run walk-off homer after Cody Allen blew a save in the top of the inning.

The following has become my favorite stat of the season:
Anthony Castrovince‏Verified account @castrovince

Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez are both on pace for 90+ extra-base hits (they have 52 apiece) in 2018. Here is the complete list of teammates to have 90+ XBH in the same season:

*Babe Ruth (97) and Lou Gehrig (117), 1927 Yankees
The current pace:
Lindor 96
Ramirez 93

Another one – Ramirez is 1st in the AL in stolen bases and one short of the lead in home runs. Here's the list of everyone since 1920 who has led their league in both home runs and stolen bases:

Chuck Klein (1932)… and he only needed 20 stolen bases to do it.

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DeadlySplitter

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Blake Snell was pulled after 5 perfect innings on only 47 pitches. confusing no matter what the reason is unless it's an injury recurrence.
 

VORP Speed

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Blake Snell was pulled after 5 perfect innings on only 47 pitches. confusing no matter what the reason is unless it's an injury recurrence.
It was his second start after coming back from the DL for shoulder fatigue. He was on a 75 pitch or 5 inning limit. They’re not going to mess around with their franchise pitcher so that he can chase some meaningless stat. I mean, if anyone is going to choose logic over tradition it’s the Rays, right?
 

grimshaw

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The Angels are finally joining the position player pitching party. First time since 1993.
Got through the inning in 7 pitches.
 

jon abbey

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The oddest thing in that game was Edwin Jackson going 7 shutout innings. Yes, that Edwin Jackson.
Yeah, I just posted this on the Yankee thread, and actually he has been great since they signed him, 2.48 ERA in 54.1 innings, 9 starts. Looking at their team stats, I think he could start the wild card game even, NY hits lefties better than righties. OAK has a really deep pen now, though, so whoever they pick will be on an exceedingly short leash.
 

jon abbey

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With Kenley Jansen out for at least a month with an irregular heartbeat, LAD turned to immortals Scott Alexander and JT Chargois to protect a 2-0 lead against COL in the 9th tonight:

K, 2B, HBP, groundout, 3 run HR by Ryan McMahon, ballgame Rockies.
 

AB in DC

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So we were all writing off the Mariners and their unsustainable record in one-run games? They just finished a four-game sweep of Houston, on the road, by margins of 2, 3, 1, and 1. They're back within 1.5 games of Oakland and only 4 games behind Houseton.
 

jon abbey

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So we were all writing off the Mariners and their unsustainable record in one-run games? They just finished a four-game sweep of Houston, on the road, by margins of 2, 3, 1, and 1. They're back within 1.5 games of Oakland and only 4 games behind Houseton.
They did actually have a long reversion to the mean stretch before that, they went from 55-31 to 65-50 before this really impressive sweep in Houston. Edwin Diaz should maybe get some MVP consideration, I think they are 10-1 in extra innings now and he has 46 saves already, including four in four days against the Astros this series.

SEA can still easily fall out of it quickly, though. Their schedule is brutal through Sept 2, seven games in Oakland plus 3 LAD, 3 more HOU and 3 @ARI plus 2 @SD. Cano comes back soon, I'd say that would help, but all logic seems flipped for them this year (King Felix in the Sonny Gray mopup garbage time role).