At least we learned a lot: -Lowrie is money. .900 OPS which wasn't out of line with his peripherals. I don't expect him to keep that up, but anything close to it is fucking mashing for a middle infielder. -Kalish looks like he could take over an OF spot in 2011 and be a very good starter by 2012. -Reddick isn't ready for the bigs, and his stock has taken a sizable hit. -Doubront is worth a roster spot. -I still like Lars as a prospect, but he needs more seasoning.
Home record: 52-29 Road record: 29-52 What the hell? No way the splits should be that drastic. It makes no sense.
There are two other teams who were almost as bad, and one is a playoff team! The other was in contention until mid September (around the 18th-20th or so). The Braves: Home Record: 56-25 Away Record: 35-46 The Rockies (went from 82-66 and 1 game out of the lead to 83-79 and 9 back, a 1-13 finish to end the season) Home Record:52-29 Away Record: 31-50 Can you guess the team without looking at the standings? Home Record:40-41 Away Record:17-64 Spoiler The Pirates! A .500 team at home, dismal on the road Interesting fact, The Spoiler Cubs are the only team to have more wins on the road then at home, by five games. San Diego came the closest to doing the same. They had 90 wins, 45 at home, 45 on the road.
The only DS matchup I don't particularly care for is Yankees-Twins, which we've seen NYY dominate forever, though w/ all the injuries & questions maybe this year will be different? The Rays have the same problem as the Phillies: A streaky offense. Assuming neither of those offenses go quiet, I'd wager there won't be any sweeps. I'd love to believe the Phillies could put away the Reds in 3 games, but the Reds like to win late and the Phillies like to sport a questionable bullpen. Nonetheless, football season takes a backseat until Philly's no longer playing baseball. If you had to pick one first round series to go 5 games, which would it be? Atl-SF is the closest matchup for my money.
Phillies/Reds game. Spoilered in case someone is DVRing it. Spoiler I just turned on the game because I was getting ready for the Twins/Yanks. I don't watch much NL baseball, but holy shit is Roy Halladay throwing a hell of a game. He has a no hitter through 8 as I'm writing this and I believe he has only allowed one base runner. I don't care much about either team, but I'm sure looking forward to the first postseason no hitter in 50+ years. Edit: There it is. Absolutely amazing. And a relatively intense last out too.
I sure was proud to be a Phillies fan tonight. Halladay just looks nasty, and seeing that this series should be more difficult then whomever Philly faces in the next matchup they have a great show at going to and winning the series. That and of course Skip Bayless says they will win the whole thing makes them a lock.
That was a decent postseason debut. Can't wait to see the encore. And on top of that he already has a perfect game this season. Special
As you can see, it won't be any different. Tomorrow the Twins will lose because Pettitte has always owned them and then they'll go to New York and fold like a house of fucking cards. It won't even matter who starts for the Yanks. And yes, I'm too better and pissed off to offer anything more substantial.
I wouldn't wave the white flag yet. Pettite's back has been iffy lately and I'll be surprised if he pitches a full 6 innings. With the way the bullpen (minus Mo) has looked lately, you certainly have a chance to do some damage tonight. Also, is Pavano actually your number 2 starter or are the Twins just scared to send him out there at Yankee Stadium? I certainly would've loved the chance to heckle the shit out of him on Saturday. And if this were Philly, throw batteries.
I think Pavano has been their best and most consistent pitcher throughout the season. Especially since he grew the awesome 'stache. Liriano can be just as good and even better at times, but he's a lot more inconsistent. And even when he's on he always seems to have a bad inning where he gives up 3+ runs. The rest of the guys are just mediocre pitchers who have sporadic flashes of great games. That's my opinion anyway. As a twins fan I'll be happy to just see them win a game. I wanted to make it to the cities for a playoff game but couldn't get work off and they'll be in NY for weekend games. I was really hoping that the twins would pull something out of their ass and win this series so I could have a chance to go to target field for the ALCS. That ballpark had such a great atmosphere when I was there in April and I get chills thinking about what a playoff game there would be like. I'm with the other guy though. Yankees always dominate the twins, postseason especially. The only shot the twins have of postseason success is if the yankees either don't make the postseason or get matched up with some other team that knocks them out.
Petitte's line for the night: 7ip, 2er, 4k, 1bb, 1hr. So now the Twins get to go to the Bronx down 0-2 in the series on Saturday. My prediction: 8-2 Yanks.
As a Twins fan, I wish we could stop playing the fucking Yankees in the post season. They seem to be our fucking kryptonite.
Aaaannnd I'm dumb. Oswalt has some big shoes to fill tonight. However, the Phillies got 4 runs Wednesday despite a combined 0-11 from Utley, Howard and Werth. Philly's greatest strength is manufacturing a run or two and getting on the board early, giving these starters the small amount of breathing room they need.
It is so strange those types of things usually happen TO Philadelphia teams, not vice versa. I honestly can not believe the Phils won that way. I would be shocked if the Reds are not swept now that type of game will break a teams spirits for good. Truthfully the Phillies are the better team so I think they would have won the series regardless, however that game certainly would not be put in the "deserve" column. Red's fans shouldn't be to upset. Aroldis Chapman is a fucking stud, and he wasn't even a starter this year. There is a great core group of players on that team, Joey Votto is an MVP caliber player and with one of the best bullpens in the National League I doubt this will be the last time you hear about the Reds in the post season. I'm so glad that ball did not hurt Ruiz. Watching some of those balls hit (or almost hit) the players last night sent chills down my spine. Can you imagine taking a Chapman fast ball in the noggin? Everyone talks about a football player getting killed eventually, these guys keep popping up with 100 mph heat it might not be long until a batter get's taken out for good either. Zyron, were coming for you pal!
God damn I hope Ernie Johnson doesn't do games in the next rounds. They can't find a baseball announcer? Fucker is still saying back, back , back after the ball hit the wall and bounced away from the fielder.
Agreed. Ernie sucks. It's some weird paradigm where he is half shouting and yelling when something exciting happens, but strangely there is no passion in his voice. His sportscasting is like me having an orgasm with a fat girl. I'd take him over Dick Stockton, who's doing the Giants/Braves games with Bob Brenley. Every time that Stockton pronounces the word "Error" like "Aira" I want to blow my brains out. He's saying it so often that I think he's doing it on purpose.
Fuck you, Brooks Conrad! I love Bobby Cox. He is the greatest manager ever....during the regular season. It is astonishing some of the bullshit he decides on in the post season. How is Conrad still in there? Why did he yank Kimbrel so early? Fuck! For a team that is dealing with the loss of a Hall of Fame 3B, a HoF closer, and a starting All-Star 2B already, we don't need this shit also. Fuck you, Brooks Conrad!
I'm a die hard Phillies fan and I still say the following: I'm sad to see Bobby Cox go, he is a legend. Good luck, Bobby, wherever life may take you. And to Braves fans: hell of a showing. Down with injuries like you guys were, you have nothing to be ashamed of.
Watching Baseball Tonight and just noticed that Curt Schilling has the biggest head that I have seen since Andre the Giant. It is twice the size of John Kruks. He said he didn't use HGH?