Issue #656
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 Sunday games (15). Here are the results (link to all game box scores):
SFG 19, COL 6 - Coming into this game the Giants had the lowest runs/game this year at only 3.67. But in this one they had 25 hits and scored in every inning except the third. Willy Adames went 3-5 with a walk and a grand slam; Bryce Eldridge was 4-6 with a HR, 2 doubles, and 4 runs; Rafael Devers went 4-6 with three doubles and 4 runs; Jung Hoo Lee was 5-6 with a double and 2 RBI; and Casey Schmitt was 3-6 with 2 RBI. Tyler Freeman went 3-4 with a walk and a double, and Kyle Karros was 2-4 with a walk, a double, and 2 runs in the losing effort for the Rockies.
NYY 13, ATH 8 - The Athletics scored three in the bottom of the first inning, due in part to a fielding error by CF Trent Grisham. NYY SP Will Warren recovered from that and didn't allow any further runs through six innings (6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K). Meanwhile, the Yankees erupted for a mind-boggling 13 runs in the third inning, as both ATH SP Jacob Lopez (2 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) and reliever Michael Kelly (0.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) faced 12 batters before getting any outs. The Yankees did all of that damage without hitting any home runs, and then didn't score any further the rest of the game either. The A's scored five runs later in the game, in part from HRs by Brent Rooker and Jonah Heim. But then David Bednar pitched a scoreless ninth to close out this wild contest. Ben Rice continued his outstanding season by going 2-5 with a triple, a double, 2 runs, and 4 RBI, and Anthony Volpe was 2-4 with 2 runs and 2 SB.
ARI 2, SEA 3 (10) - ARI SP Merrill Kelly (5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) gave up a solo HR to Cole Young in the second inning, and then another to Dominic Canzone in the sixth. Meanwhile, SEA SP Bryce Miller only allowed one hit in five innings of work (5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K). Luis Castillo came in as the piggy-back pitcher and did well also, only allowing 2 hits over five innings as the game stretched into the tenth tied 2-2. In the bottom of the tenth, Jonathan Loáisiga came in as the D-Backs’ fifth pitcher and intentionally walked Luke Raley to set up force out options. Cole Young bunted to advance the runners to second and third, and then Victor Robles hit a walk-off single that drove in Randy Arozarena.
MIN 3, PIT 9
TOR 5, BAL 9
SDP 2, WSH 4
BOS 9, CLE 4
LAA 2, TBR 5
ATL 4, CIN 6
MIA 1, NYM 10
DET 1, CWS 2
MIL 2, HOU 0
KCR 3, TEX 6
PHI 1, LAD 9
CHC 1, STL 5
Start June with the 50%-off discount!
The Memorial Day weekend 50%-off sale pricing I had recently led many readers to upgrade to receive the full Baseball Buffet every day. So I thought I’d run it again to kickoff the new month!
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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
One of today's Birthday Boys (see below) is Carlos Zambrano. A fine pitcher, he was also one of the best hitting pitchers of his generation. He had 24 home runs as a pitcher, which is tied for the second most during the expansion era (since 1961). Can you name either the pitcher who ranks number one (with 33 HR as a pitcher), or the pitcher who is tied with Zambrano for second? Note: This is asking only about HRs hit while a player was in the game as a pitcher, not as a DH (like Shohei Ohtani does), or as a pinch hitter, which some pitchers used to do more frequently than they do today.
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Dean Chance, Derek Lowe, Carlos Zambrano
Currently active major leaguers born on June 1 include STL Iván Herrera, CIN Andrew Abbott, MIL Brian Fitzpatrick, and BOS Tyler Uberstine.
Today’s Matchups
As is typical for a Monday, many teams are travelling or otherwise have the day off, so we have a short slate of only nine games. Here are a few interesting matchups (and here is a link to the full schedule):
KCR Luinder Avila vs. CIN Chase Burns - the 23-year-old Burns is off to a great start this season with a 1.98 ERA over 11 starts
LAD Emmet Sheehan vs. ARI Eduardo Rodriguez - an important NL West series begins, with Arizona's best pitcher in Rodriguez facing the tough Dodgers lineup
COL Kyle Freeland vs. LAA José Soriano - there are no ties in baseball, so someone has to win
A few other starters who will be taking the mound today include MIA Sandy Alcantara, CIN Chase Burns, MIN Joe Ryan, TEX Jacob deGrom, and LAA José Soriano.
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys (see above) is pitcher Dean Chance, so here are a couple of quotes from him:
"One day you can throw tomatoes through brick walls. The next day you can't dent a pane of glass with a rock. It hurts, but you hang on, hoping it will come back."
"I'm not surprised to be traded, but I am shocked that the Angels would trade me to an AL club. I'm shocked that they'd run the risk of letting me come back to haunt them." (On being traded to the Twins after the 1966 season)
⚾ 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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