The NLC once again has the three best records in baseball.

artie_fufkin wrote:

Joe Blanton stinks.
Just thought it needed to be said.

Thanks, I've always wanted to say it , but was a little hesitant ...
 

Yahoo: "- C. Pennington scored on fielder's indifference"

This is either a reporting error or Cement-head is pitching for the Reds.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (6/23/2013 6:47 pm)

Not in a position to watch. They giving an estimated start time?

Can one of you guys send me an email when the game starts? ESPN is showing Sports Center until first pitch and I can't stand to watch a second of Stuart Scott.

PD says "10 pm start time" . . . maybe they'll update that.

On paper, at least, it is getting even more dominating.  Five of the seven outs the second time through have been swing and miss.  The other two were ground out and fouled out.  One guy managed a single.  Fucking awesome.  

 Top 5th: Texas

- A.J. Pierzynski grounded out to shortstop
- M. Moreland struck out swinging
- D. Murphy singled to shallow right
- L. Martin struck out swinging

Max wrote:

On paper, at least, it is getting even more dominating.  Five of the seven outs the second time through have been swing and miss.  The other two were ground out and fouled out.  One guy managed a single.  Fucking awesome.  

 Top 5th: Texas

- A.J. Pierzynski grounded out to shortstop
- M. Moreland struck out swinging
- D. Murphy singled to shallow right
- L. Martin struck out swinging

Believe it or not, he's even getting squeezed a bit. It's a small strike zone.
 

Third time through is looking dicey:

Top 6th: Texas

- I. Kinsler singled to shallow left
- E. Andrus walked, I. Kinsler to second
- N. Cruz popped out to shallow left
- A. Beltre fouled out to third

Choate . . . hmm, we're now on the fourth pitcher in a game we are losing.  

Max wrote:

So, tomorrow, when y'allz woken up, I will be interested to hear if anyone can explain how that double switch in the 7th did anything good.  Matheny brought in Rosenthal to pitch 0.1 inning.  So why not just leave Freese in the game, pinch hit Descalso for Rosenthal, and then Freese is still in the game and the pitcher does not come up again for 9 more ABs?

Doesn't the double switch only make sense if you plan to leave the pitcher in or if you are switching out a player for a defensive specialist when you have the lead?

I assume the plan in that inning was for Kozma to catch a freakin' hump backed line drive and the Cardinals would have been out of the inning.
Lots of other stuff that made me wonder what was going on. Waino makes Martin look awful with curveballs in his previous at bat and then he singles on what obviously wasn't a curveball.
And where was Robinson going? The ball gets over Beltre's head, and Robinson can crawl home.
And I'm convinced Joe Nathan is an alien. He never blinks.
 

Waino also disagreed with MM about being pulled: Of course it's not unusual for a pitcher to dispute such a decision, but Matheny's reasoning does confuse me a little. Per the article, "Mike Matheny said Wainwright, the third hitter due up in the bottom of the seventh, was going to come out then, anyway, and he thought the right-hander had labored a bit."

The second reason makes sense, but without it the first one breaks down, IMO. I've never gotten comfortable with how willing MM (and in all fairness La Russa before him) is to use a pitcher for one batter only in a game that tight. Unless the pitcher's truly had it, or it's clearly LOOGY time, why not let him try and finish the inning instead of wasting a reliever? I suppose playing at home and having an off day factor into it. I'm certain part of my problem is the "Depression mentality" my parents passed down. I view the bullpen as a scarce resource that needs to be saved for possible extra innings. Probably one of many reasons I'd suck as an MLB manager.