Issue #652
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 we had a full slate of Wednesday games (15). Here are the results (link to all game box scores):
STL 1, MIL 2 - STL SP Dustin May had a no-hitter going through seven innings, but then gave up a double to Garrett Mitchell and a single to Luis Rengifo in the eighth (7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K). The Brewers would score two that inning and that was all they needed as MIL SP Chad Patrick also pitched well in a short start (4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), and three Milwaukee relievers threw five shutout innings, include Trevor Megill earning his 6th save. St. Louis out-hit the Brewers 8 to 3 in this one, but they went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
COL 1, LAD 4 - LAD SP Shohei Ohtani helped himself by hitting a leadoff HR in the bottom of the first, and then Freddie Freeman also hit a solo HR to give the Dodgers an early 2-0 lead. Ohtani then pitched six hitless innings (6 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K), only allowing a run in the fourth when he walked TJ Rumfield and then hit Hunter Goodman with a pitch, and Rumfield eventually came around to score. The Dodgers had a combined no-hitter going into the eighth, but finally Tyler Freeman broke through with a single against Tanner Scott. Rookie Kyle Hurt pitched a scoreless ninth for his first major league save. Andy Pages went 2-4 with his 13th HR, and became the first player with 50 RBI this year.
HOU 4, TEX 3 - This third game of the Texas series didn't feature a no-hitter, or a huge first inning, like the first two games did. Instead the lead flipped back and forth several times, with Joc Pederson hitting a solo HR in the third to put the Rangers up 2-1, then Yordan Alvarez tying the game with a solo HR in the fourth. Both starting pitchers did pretty well otherwise: HOU SP Mike Burrows (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and TEX Jacob deGrom (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K). In a two-man slugging duel, Alvarez hit another HR in the eighth as the Astros took a 4-2 lead, but then Pederson hit his second HR of the game in the bottom of the frame to bring the Rangers back within one. Texas reliever Gavin Collyer didn't allow any further damage by the Astros in the ninth, but Houston reliever Enyel De Los Santos did the same against the Rangers in the bottom of the ninth to close it out.
PHI 3, SDP 0 - PHI SP Cristopher Sánchez extended his scoreless innings streak to 44.2 IP, surpassing the Phillies franchise record which was 41 by Hall of Famer Grover Alexander. He threw seven scoreless in this game (7 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K), lowering his ERA on the year to 1.47. Two Philadelphia relievers combined for the shutout, including José Alvarado who struck out two in the ninth for his first save of the season. Meanwhile, SDP SP Walker Buehler did well but gave up two runs in the sixth (5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K), and then Trea Turner added an insurance run with a solo HR in the ninth.
MIA 1, TOR 2
WSH 2, CLE 3
SEA 9, ATH 1
ARI 3, SFG 2
LAA 0, DET 4
ATL 0, BOS 8
TBR 2, BAL 11
CHC 10, PIT 4
CIN 2, NYM 4
MIN 2, CWS 15
NYY 7, KCR 0
RIP, Bob Horner
As noted in an article by Mark Bowman at MLB, Bob Horner has passed away at the age of 68. Horner was the first overall draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 1978 out of Arizona State University. He bypassed the minors and jumped right to the Majors in his age-20 season, hitting 23 HR in 89 games to earn the NL Rookie of the Year award. That was his first of seven seasons with 20+ HR, even though he was frequently injured and only twice played more than 130 games in his 10-year career. Playing mostly 3B early on and then shifting to 1B, Horner became the 11th player in Major League Baseball history to hit four home runs in one game on July 6, 1986. Overall, he had 218 HR, a .277/.340/.499 slash line, and a 127 OPS+.
Today’s Trivia Question
One of today's Birthday Boys is reliever Craig Kimbrel, who was recently released by the Mets but then signed by the Rays. He has 440 career saves, which is second amongst active pitchers behind only Kenley Jansen (483). How many of the four other active pitchers can you name that have 200 or more career saves?
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Row 1: Craig Kimbrel, Kirk Gibson, Bill Doran
Row 2: Jhonny Peralta, Duane Ward, Jim Thorpe
Today’s Matchups
Today we have a very short slate of Thursday games (6), as many teams are either traveling or otherwise have the day off. Here are all six matchups (and here is a link to the full schedule):
LAA Grayson Rodriguez vs. DET Jack Flaherty
MIN Taj Bradley vs. CWS Erick Fedde
ATL Chris Sale vs. BOS Payton Tolle - this is an interesting one, as Sale has a 1.89 ERA and the rookie Tolle has a 2.45 ERA
TOR Patrick Corbin vs. BAL Chris Bassitt
CHC Colin Rea vs. PIT Paul Skenes
HOU Spencer Arrighetti vs. TEX Nathan Eovaldi
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys is Kirk Gibson, so here are some interesting quotes from him:
"Now here I am almost 52 years old, it's really easy. I'm way more at peace. But when you're a competitor, and you're as intent on becoming the best in the world as I was, it comes with consequences."
"There was a perception of me, and I earned it because I was really intense, really gruff. I treated certain people poorly at times. It was because of who I was. It was almost my strength. I came in all business. I tried to find ways to fit in with that demeanor, but it's not easy."
"If you're a manager you can't get frustrated and be emotional. You have to continue to steer the ship, you can't let go of the wheel because who knows where it will go then."
"I'm not out here to win a beauty contest."
⚾ 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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