Issue #616
The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!
⚾ Welcome! ⚾
Yesterday featured a full slate of games (15). Here are the results (link to all game box scores):
MIN 5, NYM 3 - Francisco Lindor hit a 3-run HR in the third inning to give the struggling Mets an early lead. NYM SP Nolan McLean had an impressive 10 K in 6.2 IP (5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB), but also allowed three runs, which tied the game, including allowing a 2-run HR to Byron Buxton. New York brought in Devin Williams, but he loaded the bases (in part from two walks), and with no outs Luke Keaschall hit a single that drove in James Outman. Another walk meant another run, but then Austin Warren came in and got three bases-loaded strikeouts to get them out of the jam. The Twins stuck with Cole Sands who had pitched a scoreless eighth, and he did the same with two strikeouts in the ninth to earn the win. After the game, I heard a funny take: the Mets are currently on pace to lose every game for the rest of the season. Ha! Ouch!
BAL 5, KCR 6 - The Orioles scored early with a 3-run HR by Coby Mayo in the top of the second inning. The Royals fought back and the game was tied 3-3 after five. KC went up one in the seventh, then Adley Rutschman hit a 2-run HR in the top of the eighth. Michael Massey hit a solo HR in the bottom of the frame to again tie the game at 5-5. Royals reliever Lucas Erceg pitched a scoreless ninth, and the Orioles brought in their closer Ryan Helsley. He had control issues, walking both Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. Then Vinnie Pasquantino struck out swinging, but the pitch was wild and both runners advanced. Garcia then scored on a walk-off wild-pitch.
CWS 11, ARI 5 - The White Sox clobbered ARI SP Merrill Kelly (4.1 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), including consecutive HRs by Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas, and Colson Montgomery. For Murakami it was his ninth HR of the year, and his fourth in as many games. In the top of the ninth, rookie Sam Antonacci hit his first major-league HR, and it was of the inside-the-park variety. Although it wouldn't matter for the outcome of the game, Ildemaro Vargas extended his now 16-game hitting streak with a 3-run HR.
HOU 5, CLE 8
NYY 4, BOS 0
CIN 12, TBR 6
STL 5, MIA 3
ATL 4, WSH 11
MIL 12, DET 4
PIT 1, TEX 5
PHI 4, CHC 7
SDP 1, COL 0
TOR 4, LAA 2
ATH 5, SEA 2
LAD 1, SFG 3
Pardon the interruption!
Hello from Tom! Did you know that what you are reading today are just some highlights from the full Baseball Buffet newsletter? Paid All Star subscribers receive all of the following, every day:
Game summaries for every game
Current MLB standings
Notable player transactions… injuries, call-ups, free agent signings, trades, etc.
Rotating statistical leader lists
Current hitting streaks of seven or more games
On this day in baseball history…
Career summaries for each of The Birthday Boys
Daily Hitter Watch and Pitcher Watch lists - who has historically done well or poorly against their matchup today?
Good Reads… my favorite recent baseball articles from other writers
… and the answers to the daily trivia questions!
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Today’s Trivia Question
How well do you know the stolen bases leaders from the recent past? One of today's Birthday Boys (see below) is Dee Strange-Gordon. He had the most steals from the past decade (2010-2019) with 330. Five other players had 250 or more SB during that period... how many can you name?
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Row 1: Jimmy Key, Terry Francona, Mickey Vernon
Row 2: Kevin Kiermaier, Dee Strange-Gordon
Currently active players who were born on April 22 include HOU Bryan Abreu, PIT Noah Davis, and TOR Bowden Francis.
Today’s Matchups
We again have a full slate (15) of games today, including the following interesting matchups (see also full list):
NYY Max Fried vs. Ranger Súarez - hard to not highlight any matchup in this storied rivalry, and today's game features two solid pitchers
LAD Shohei Ohtani vs. SFG Tyler Mahle - similarly, hard to not highlight any game that Ohtani is pitching and not just hitting
TOR Eric Lauer vs. LAA José Soriano - the Blue Jays are a disappointing 10-13, and the Angels have a similar record at 11-14, and yet this game is interesting because of the José Soriano Show. He has a 0.28 ERA with 39 K in 32.2 IP over his first give starts.
Additional hurlers taking the hill today include KCR Michael Wacha, SEA Logan Gilbert, DET Casey Mize, and NYM Clay Holmes.
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys (see above) is manager Terry Francona, so here are some good quotes from him:
"Once players have my trust, they have it."
"I think the outside world can learn a lot about how to act by watching a major league clubhouse. I don't think you want to do everything the same, but there's a lot of things I think people could learn from."
"I like information. I love when smart people make me think of something in a new way."
"As a manager, the more consistent you are, the better off you are. It's easy to be up when things go well. When things don't go well, the players will follow your lead. So you have to be consistent and upbeat, which takes some work sometimes."
⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.
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