Issue #708
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! ⚾
As usual for a Friday, we had a full slate of games yesterday (15). Here are the results (link to all game box scores):
KCR 1, DET 2 - Royals opener, rookie Beck Way, allowed three hits and two runs in the first inning. And that was a shame because Noah Cameron then came in and pitched seven shutout innings (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) which would have made for a great pitcher's duel since DET SP Tarik Skubal was outstanding (7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 K). Veteran closer Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 12th save of the year.
NYY 1, PHI 0 - This was a pitcher's duel by two strong starters. PHI SP Jesús Luzardo had 9 K over 7 innings (3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB), giving up a solo HR to Paul Goldschmidt in the fourth. That was all the Yankees would get, but also all they would need as NYY SP Cam Schlittler was outstanding with 12 K over 7.1 IP (3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB). New York closer David Bednar pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 19th save.
ATL 7, BAL 6 (10) - The Orioles scored first with two runs in the second inning, but then the Braves scored two off BAL SP Trevor Rogers (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) in the top of the fourth. Baltimore immediately retook the lead with one off ATL SP Grant Holmes (5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) in the bottom of the frame, and the score stayed 3-2 through the seventh. Drake Baldwin hit a solo HR off Rico Garcia in the eighth to again tie the game, and it eventually went into extras.
Andrew Kittredge came in for the Orioles and gave up a single to Joey Bart which advanced the automatic runner to third. 2B Jackson Holliday made a great stop on a ball hit by Jim Jarvis, but then air-mailed a throw to try and get Bart at second. Kittredge recovered to strike out both Baldwin and Ozzie Albies, but then gave up a 3-run HR to Matt Olson, his 27th of the year. Now with 7-3 lead, the Braves turned to Dylan Lee, who gave up a single to Tyler O'Neill before giving up a run on a one-out sacrifice fly by Jeremiah Jackson. Christian Encarnacion-Strand then hit a 2-run HR to bring the Orioles within one, but then Lee struck out Sam Huff to close it out.HOU 9, CWS 5 - HOU SP Spencer Arrighetti struggled in the first inning, giving up two walks, two hit batters, and two singles which resulted in three early runs for the White Sox. When he came out for the second inning he developed significant foot pain (right foot nerve irritation) and was relieved by AJ Blubaugh before throwing a pitch. The White Sox scored two more in the fifth to go up 5-0, but then the Astros finally got to CWS SP Davis Martin (5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) in the sixth, and continued hitting off Chicago's bullpen resulting in a big 8-run inning. That included a 2-run HR by Cam Smith, with Jeremy Peña and Jose Altuve each collecting 3 hits on the day.
COL 5, MIL 2
CHC 3, PIT 2 (10)
ARI 3, WSH 2
LAD 4, NYM 2
CLE 3, TBR 11
SDP 4, MIA 2
TOR 4, BOS 6
ATH 2, MIN 0
CIN 4, STL 2
SEA 4, TEX 5
LAA 6, SFG 7 (10)
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What you see in this issue of The Baseball Buffet is an abridged version. All-Star subscribers receive the following, every day of the week:
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 pitcher Javier Vázquez. During the decade from 2000-2009 he was both remarkably durable, and also a solid strikeout producer. Two questions:
His 327 games started during that decade ranks second—can you name who started the most games between 2000-2009?
His 2,001 strikeouts also ranks second during that decade—can you name who ranks first with 2,182 strikeouts from 2000-2009?
Hint: They are different pitchers for each answer.
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Billy Wagner, Doug Drabek, Javier Vázquez
Currently active players who were born on July 25 include WSH PJ Poulin and CWS Korey Lee.
Today’s Matchups
We have a full slate of Saturday games today (15), including the following particularly interesting matchups (and here is a link to the full schedule):
TOR Dylan Cease vs. BOS Sonny Gray - Two outstanding pitchers matching up here: Cease, who was the AL's starting pitcher in the All-Star game, and one Gray, who really could have been an All-Star and now has a 12-1 record and 2.48 ERA on the year.
LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. NYM Nolan McLean - Two top pitchers facing off in game two of this series
SEA Bryan Woo vs. TEX Nathan Eovaldi - Game two of this important AL West series, with two solid pitchers taking the mound
Additional starters who are throwing today include DET Casey Mize, WSH Foster Griffin, SFG Robbie Ray, TBR Nick Martinez, PIT Paul Skenes, HOU Hunter Brown, and CIN Hunter Greene.
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys (see above) is Hall of Famer Billy Wagner, so here are some quotes from him:
"You have to be mentally 'there.' Your talent is there, but you have to be mentally there, too."
"Obstacles are not a road block. Obstacles are stepping stones. They build you and shape you, define you. I wasn't supposed to be here… I refused to give up, or give in."
"Whenever I get into a tough situation... I think of growing up, and I say, 'This situation won't be the worst one I've ever been in.'"
"When you go out there and pitch for 14 years, you start to put some numbers together. This is just a credit to the hard work and all the people behind me that always made the plays and made me look good."
"I retired out of baseball to be a parent. That's more important to me than baseball... If I can raise my kids to be good citizens, good people, that's all I need."
⚾ 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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