Issue #682
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 Friday games (15). Here are the results (link to all game box scores):
KCR 1, CWS 22 - CWS SP David Sandlin pitched well (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), and three White Sox relievers threw scoreless frames. Meanwhile, things got off to a good start for the Royals' staff, with Steven Cruz getting three strikeouts as the opener. But then things fell apart as the White Sox scored 10 runs in the third inning, and 12 more runs over the next four innings. This onslaught included five home runs from five different players, starting with Miguel Vargas who went 3-6 with a HR, a double, and 5 RBI. Rookie Jacob Gonzalez hitting out of the ninth spot in the lineup was 3-4 with a walk, a HR, a double, 3 runs, and 5 RBI. Andrew Benintendi went 2-4 with a HR and a double; Kyle Teel was 2-5 with a walk, a HR, and 3 RBI; and Tristan Peters had a big day going 2-5 with a walk, a grand slam HR, 3 runs, and 6 RBI. Sam Antonacci was 3-5 with a walk, and Chase Meidroth went 4-5 with a walk, 3 runs, and 2 RBI.
COL 8, MIN 9 (10) - The Twins built up a 7-0 lead off COL SP Tomoyuki Sugano (5 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), including 2-run HRs by Kody Clemens in the first inning and Brooks Lee in the second. Meanwhile, MIN SP Taj Bradley threw seven shutout frames, only giving up two runs finally in the eighth (7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K). At that point however the Rockies mounted a real comeback, with three that inning and then five more in the top of the ninth, including 2-run HRs by Jack McCarthy and Hunter Goodman. Now with an 8-7 lead, they brought in Antonio Senzatela for the bottom of the ninth, but he allowed three consecutive singles which scored a run to force extra innings. Twins reliever Andrew Morris pitched a scoreless top of the tenth, while Rockies reliever Jimmy Herget in the bottom of the tenth intentionally walked Victor Caratini to setup force out options. Unfortunately, a wild pitch allowed the automatic runner to advance to third, and then a walk-off single by Royce Lewis drove him in.
CHC 2, MIL 6 - MIL SP Jacob Misiorowski was impressive once again, hitting 105.5 mph on the radar (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K), only allowing a solo HR to Seiya Suzuki in the fifth inning. CHC SP Colin Rea also pitched well (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K), but then the Brewers scored a bunch off the Cubs bullpen, including Garrett Mitchell hitting a 2-run HR in the sixth, and William Contreras doing the same in the seventh. William Contreras, Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, and David Hamilton each had two hits apiece in the victory.
CIN 6, PIT 4
HOU 0, DET 8
WSH 1, BAL 3
TEX 5, TOR 4
SEA 3, CLE 1
ARI 1, TBR 6
PHI 2, NYM 1
NYY 1, BOS 6
MIA 4, STL 0
ATH 9, LAA 3
LAD 1, SDP 7
ATL 3, SFG 1
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Today’s Trivia Question
One of today's Birthday Boys (see above) is reliever Jim Johnson. He led the AL in saves with 51 in 2012 and again with 50 in 2013. Can you name the other three Orioles pitchers who have led the AL in saves since 1970? (Hint: one did so more recently than Johnson's two seasons, while the other two did it before Johnson.)
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Row 1: Jim Edmonds, Rico Petrocelli, Yordan Alvarez
Row 2: Gus Zernial, Jeff Conine, Jim Johnson
In addition to Yordan Alvarez, another currently active player who was born on June 27 is ATH Jonah Heim.
Today’s Matchups
Today we have a typical full slate of Saturday games (15), with the following being some of the more interesting matchups (and here is a link to the full schedule):
NYY Gerrit Cole vs. BOS Jake Bennett - rivalry series, featuring Cole for New York up against Boston's rookie Bennett who is making his sixth major league start after striking out 9 over 6 shutout innings in Colorado
CHC David Peterson vs. MIL Kyle Harrison - Peterson is making his first start since being traded from the Mets to the Cubs, and he is up against Harrison who is having a very strong season with an 8-1 record and a 2.50 ERA
KCR Michael Wacha vs. CWS Davis Martin - two pitchers having generally good seasons, and both coming off solid outings
Additional starters of note include CIN Chase Burns, DET Framber Valdez, TOR Dylan Cease, NYM Christian Scott, SEA Logan Gilbert, LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and SFG Logan Webb.
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Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys (see above) is Jim Edmonds, so here are some quotes from him:
"Having the attitude of just playing the game isn't my strength. I have to be productive. That's my responsibility."
"I like to have a good time. I'm playing a great game, so why should I stop smiling when I get on the field?"
"I get paid a lot of money to play a game with the greatest players in the world. What could be better than that?"
⚾ 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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