And That Happened Lite

Flew in from San Francisco B.O.A.C., didn’t get to bed Monday night. That means I was completely out of it by, oh, 8PM last night and didn’t get to ATH as usual. Here’s the express edition, however:

Rockies 11, Padres 10: It’s long been obvious that the Rockies are charmed this year, but when they win despite a horrible outing from their starter and a bullpen meltdown and still win, that just seals it. Inside the park homer for Barmes, though it took Edgar Gonzalez dislocating his shoulder while diving for it to make it so.

Yankees 6, Angels 5: The Yankees clinch. They also came back after blowing five-run lead and held on for a rare win in Anaheim.

Diamondbacks 10, Giants 8: Mark Reynolds broke his own strikeout record. Which shouldn’t be a big deal given that he’s got a .922 OPS, but that didn’t stop the dude in front of me on the plane Monday night going on and on about how Reynolds sucks “because he can’t make contact.”

Reds 10, Pirates 4: I have a friend with Pirates season tickets for some reason. This is him via Blackberry during the game “I’m behind home plate @ Pirates v. Reds – about 5 real players – this sucks – kill me now.”

Athletics 9, Rangers 1: It’s easy this time of year to sort of write off every team that has had a poor season as a wreck and feel sorry for their fans and generally just want it to all end quickly (as many of my recaps today suggest). But you have to remember that there are still games to be played and that games, on an individual basis, still matter. People still enjoy them for their own sake and haven’t simply moved on to football or the hot stove season or whatever. That was brought home to me during my trip this past weekend, as many people I talked to in the Bay Area were rather excited about the A’s strong September. They’re not showing up in droves, but people are watching and listening and are simply happy to have baseball.

Cardinals 11, Astros 2: Often at this time a year I wonder if teams can’t simply pay some fee to the league office that would allow them to simply forfeit every remaining game rather than go out and embarrass themselves the way Houston is as the season comes to a close.

Royals 5, Red Sox 1: Zack Greinke pretty much sewed up the Cy Young award with this one, right? His 15th win in front of the influential Boston press corps. puts the exclamation point on a strong finish.

Dodgers 14, Nationals 2: Three . . . thats the magic number. Yes it is. Its the magic number. Somewhere in this hip-hop soul community, was born three Mase, Dove and me, and that’s the magic number.

Phillies 9, Marlins 3; Marlins 3, Phillies 0: Joe Blanton gave up two hits in seven innings in the first; Anibal Sanchez allowed two hits in eight innings in the second. I like symmetry.

Mariners 4, Rays 3: Tampa Bay is eliminated. The team, not the bay itself. That would be catastrophic.

Tigers 3, Indians 1: Some wonder whether Edwin Jackson is hurt or tired or is tipping his pitches or whatever, but it seems he simply hasn’t faced the Indians enough.

Braves 3, Mets 1: Jair Jurrjens allows only one run on five hits as the Mets painful season draws closer and closer to a merciful end. The Braves have won 10 of 12, but it’s going to be too little, too late.

Twins 8, White Sox 6: The Twins have won eight of nine, and are showing themselves to be a better overall team than the Tigers, but can they close the 2.5 game gap? Whatever happens, we can thank them for giving us an actual race as the season winds down.

Cubs 7, Brewers 2: The Cubs won their third straight since suspending Milton Bradley for the season. Coincidence? Doesn’t matter, because it will not be viewed as such when it comes time to decide what to do with the guy next year.

Blue Jays 6, Orioles 5: See Houston comment above.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

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Rob²
14 years ago

Greinke pitched 2-hit, shutout baseball for 6 innings last night and was taken out with a 5-run lead after 91 pitches.

Methinks that Mr. Greinke might be getting the kid gloves treatment here as the Royals try to protect his stats for the Cy Young.

Jason @ IIATMS
14 years ago

Welcome back, CC.

I am in full ‘rest up’ mode before October starts.

Greg Simons
14 years ago

Welcome back, Craig.  Glad you had a good time, and also selfishly glad we’re getting our ShysterBall fix once again.

ecp
14 years ago

Methinks Mr. Greinke’s elbow (and not so much the stat line) was being watched carefully after getting whonked by a line drive just last Thursday, hence the kid glove treatment.  The Royals need no further rotational casualities; they haven’t any idea who is pitching Thursday as it is.

Wade
14 years ago

Like a Norwegian Blue pinin’ for the fjords -missed my AM commentary.  Glad yer’ back from a good trip Mr. C.

Good Wednesday everybody!

Patrick
14 years ago

Wahoo!  Shysterball returns. smile

Welcome back, Mr. C..

Levi Stahl
14 years ago

Welcome back, Craig—we missed you. Hope you ate some garlic fries at the Giants park.

Motherscratcher
14 years ago

Welcome back

Your dreams were your ticket out.

Or so I’ve heard.

bensdad00
14 years ago

Braves 10 of 12 would have been better if the loses wern’t to the team they trail in the division

Dennis Koziel
14 years ago

Welcome back, Craig.  I’m getting used to my morning dose of ATH.  Do you think the Rockies match up better against the Cardinals or the Phillies?

Will
14 years ago

Flew in from San Francisco B.O.A.C.

British Overseas Airways Corporation?

As for forfeiting the rest of the season, stay tuned tonight to see if the Nats can clinch their second straight 100-loss season.

Craig Calcaterra
14 years ago

“British Overseas Airways Corporation?”

Sure, routing through Heathrow made the flights longer, but I got a GREAT rate.

YankeesfanLen
14 years ago

Evidently didn’t fall for the promo of latest re-release.

APBA Guy
14 years ago

Glad you’re back. Saw the pics of you and the missus in St Helena, hopefully you sampled some Merryvale there.

I’m glad the guys up in Napa were excited for the A’s. It’s easy to get excited when they aren’t facing any real pitching. Last night was perfect example. The night before Millwwood had shut them down way too easily.

Last night, the A’s really didn’t hit Brandon McCarthy hard. He was done in by an atrocious missed diving catch by Cruz in right, allowing Barton to third on what was scored a triple. Barton scored on a bad relay by Kinsler.

The A’s really lit up reliever Willie Mays Eyre, getting 5 runs on 6 hits, 3 of them doubles. Eyre throws stick stright, and at 31 his 5.17 ERA is right in line with his career 4.92, so why the Rangers brought him in in a close game is beyond me.

But in truth the Rangers are out of it. They will not be this year’s version of the 2008 Rays,  though they were much improved because of their improved starting pitching.

But that’s still a work in progress, as is their defense. With Hamilton down the glaring weakness in their outfield defense is apparent, with Byrd in center and Cruz in right. Andrus is excellent at short, but he does not look like an impact bat.

I’m not convinced yet about the A’s. Yes, they are better right now than Cleveland and a depleted Texas team. We’ll see if they have any bats in AAA next Spring. If they don’t, next year will look an awful lot like this year.

Wooden U. Lykteneau
14 years ago

As for forfeiting the rest of the season, stay tuned tonight to see if the Nats can clinch their second straight 100-loss season.

If?!

Missing from Craig’s MIE post about Omar Minaya was the raping of the Nationals/Expos franchise from 2002-2004, which begs the question: How much more evidence do the Mets need that Minaya justn’t does rhyme with Costanza?

Will
14 years ago

If?!

Hey, they could win out.

MooseinOhio
14 years ago

Is the #2 pencil still the gold standard for standardized testing?  Personally I’m a mechanical pencil devotee.

Sounds like Cafe Brioso will be getting a frequent visitor today.  My recommendation is a cup of coffee with a shot of espresso as it tends to clear the fog away fairly well.

Glad to have you back but equally glad you and the little lady got some time away in one of the greatest cities I know of.

Craig Calcaterra
14 years ago

Thanks Moose. Glad to be back. It was a great trip. I think going to bed early last night and sleeping a bit later than normal this morning took care of things nicely, so I may not need much Brioso today. Wanting it, however, is another thing . . .