Major League Baseball: 2021 Season

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Cincinnati welcomed the Cubbies into town over the weekend. The Reds took 2 of 3 games and a second consecutive series. I didn't see any of the games, but apparently today's decider was a barn burner with the Reds winning 13-12 in 10 innings. Each team smashed 5 home runs apiece, with Castellanos and Bryant going yard twice for their respective clubs. They combined for a total 30 hits. Castellanos went 5 for 6 with 4 runs and 4 RBI's. He was also responsible for the game winning single. Cincy remains 1 game under .500 at 13-14 and has pulled to within 3 1/2 games of the NL Central leading Brew Crew.

Game 1: 8-6 Reds
Game 2: 3-2 Cubs
Game 3: 13-12 Reds
 
Here is the first Standings Update for this 2021 MLB season. Records are as accurate as the time of this post. Find your favorite team(s) here (source: Yahoo! Sports):


--- AMERICAN LEAGUE (as of: May 3, 2021) ---
AL EAST: Boston (17-12), TOR (14-12), NYY (14-14), TB (14-15), BAL (13-15)
AL CENTRAL: Kansas City (16-10), CHW (15-12), CLE (13-13), MIN (10-16), DET (8-21)
AL WEST: Oakland (17-12), SEA (16-13), HOU (15-13), LAA (13-13), TEX (13-16)

--- NATIONAL LEAGUE (as of: May 3, 2021) ---
NL EAST: Washington (12-12), NYM (13-13), PHI (13-15), ATL (12-16), MIA (11-16)
NL CENTRAL: Milwaukee (17-11), STL (16-12), CIN (13-14), PIT (12-15), CHC (12-16)
NL WEST: San Francisco (17-11), LAD (17-12), SD (16-13), ARI (15-13), COL (10-18)

So as of right now, the best record is a tie between Milwaukee and San Francisco. The worst record right now is held by the 8-21 Detroit Tigers. There is still a LONG way to go, and a lot can change between now and Playoffs time. Keep playing hard for that chance to play in the postseason!


I may do a quick rundown of Monday games as my Astros are off today.
 
For the first time since the 2019 ALCS, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees cross paths. It was José Altuve who hit the walk-off homer to send the Astros to the 2019 World Series. Now that the two battle each other since word of the Astros' cheating scandal came out, here's how Houston's trip to the Bronx went against the Bronx Bombers:

GM1 HOU at NYY: (7-3; New York Yankees)
GM2 HOU at NYY: (6-3; New York Yankees)
GM3 HOU at NYY: (7-4; Houston)

The New York Yankees fans were incredibly boisterous and vocal about their hatred of the Houston Astros. In fact, you almost swore the Yankees hate the Astros more than the Red Sox. A lot of the fans absolutely hated on José Altuve. Game 1 seemed competitive most of the way with a 3-3 tie. Later in Game 1, the bottom fell out for the Astros as the Yankees took advantage of back-to-back errors by the Astros to lead 6-3. Martin Maldonado took a big hit at home plate and was taken out of Game 1. Game 2 was more of the same, just not really as competitive even with rain falling on Cinco de Mayo. Game 3 saw José Altuve celebrate his 31st birthday. How did he celebrate? Oh, nothing... just hit a three-run go-ahead home run. A little extra insurance late helped prevent the Astros from being swept by the Yanks in Game 3. So the Yankees take the series but are denied the sweep.

My Houston Astros are now 16-15 on the 2021 season, 3rd in the AL West. The New York Yankees now have the same record as us, but they are 4th in the AL East.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we're back home to start a 10-game home stand. The first team we'll take on is the return of an old friend- George Springer. It's the Astros hosting the Toronto Blue Jays for three starting Friday night.


Elsewhere...

* I want to salute John Means of the Baltimore Orioles on his no-hitter of the Seattle Mariners yesterday. The O's won 6-0 in Seattle on Wednesday.

* The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim reportedly released Albert Pujols. He's Hall of Fame material for sure if he decides to retire.



Congratulations to all other Thursday winners and recent series winners!
 
The Reds concluded a short, two game series against the White Sox yesterday. Cincinnati got smashed by Chicago in Game 1, 9-0. The Reds had a grand total of 2 hits, both by Barnhart. Credit to Dylan Cease, the SOX pitcher, who pitched a gem of a game: 6 innings, 1 hit, 11 K's. Fun fact: Alex Blandino, a utility player for Cincy, pitched a scoreless 9th. Game 2 was a good old fashioned pitchers' duel. Sonny Gray and former Astro Dallas Keuchel went toe-to-toe for 7 innings, each giving up only 2 hits. Gray racked up 8 strikeouts in his outing. And for only the 4th time in GABP history, it was a scoreless game after 9 innings. This meant yet another extra innings game for the Redlegs, and Winker singled home the winning run in the 10th. The Reds are 5-2 in extras and 14-15 overall on the season. They sit 4th in the NL Central, 2.5 games behind St. Louis. I nearly forgot. Votto fractured his thumb after getting hit by a pitch. He's looking to miss a month or so. I would love to see him come back stronger as the last few years have been a struggle by his standards.
JohnBM01
* The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim reportedly released Albert Pujols. He's Hall of Fame material for sure if he decides to retire.
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I wasn't expecting that. Has his play declined that much? I haven't paid much attention to him recently. All I can remember is him hammering the Reds constantly. :boggled: I've always hated the Cards but had mad respect for the guy.
 
Dolph Drago
Dang, and I thought Votto's .226 average was bad.
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You think that's bad, wait until you see what the Tigers starting lineup was the past Wednesday. At this point, I'd take Miggy having a .226 BA...you know especially because he's still making $25 million a year.

SNp6g5G.jpg
 
You know, some people who been hating on the Astros for their cheating scandal are now basically saying this is karma for A.J. Hinch (ex-Astros manager) as he returned from his suspension now coaching the Detroit Tigers. Almost as if to say the baseball deities are punishing Hinch further by making the Tigers play horribly, even though they did sweep my Astros in Houston earlier this season. And wow- only three players with a batting average .200 or north in that starting lineup?

I'll have my series summary of the Toronto Blue Jays at the Houston Astros once it concludes. You all go enjoy some baseball this weekend!
 
Joey D
You think that's bad, wait until you see what the Tigers starting lineup was the past Wednesday. At this point, I'd take Miggy having a .226 BA...you know especially because he's still making $25 million a year.

SNp6g5G.jpg
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Miggy's been useless for the better part of the last decade. His contract is almost as bad as Pujols contract before they finally got sick of him getting a hit once every series (at best), and sent him packing.
 
Joey D
You think that's bad, wait until you see what the Tigers starting lineup was the past Wednesday. At this point, I'd take Miggy having a .226 BA...you know especially because he's still making $25 million a year.

SNp6g5G.jpg
Click to expand...
Good lord. That looks somehow worse than the Reds last season.
 
Sorry for the double post, but....Wade Miley of the Cincinnati Reds has just pitched a no-hitter! Yeah, doggy! Think I'll switch my avatar back to my Reds logo for a bit.
 
Dolph Drago
Sorry for the double post, but....Wade Miley of the Cincinnati Reds has just pitched a no-hitter! Yeah, doggy! Think I'll switch my avatar back to my Reds logo for a bit.
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Fun fact, this is the second time Clevland has had a no-hitter thrown against them this season and it's only May 7th.
 
Blue Jays are very handsome birds. They can also be a powerful baseball team. So let's see what happens when the Blue Jays fly into Houston to set it off against the Houston Astros...

GM1 TOR at HOU: (10-4; Houston)
GM2 TOR at HOU: (8-4; Toronto)
GM3 TOR at HOU: (7-4; Houston)

Game 1 was hit-the-ground-running offense. They built off of preventing getting swept at the Yankees with a solid performance at home. Game 2 saw starting pitcher Christian Javier get lit up with some bombs from the Blue Jays. Toronto was ahead 5-0, hoping the Astros would mount a comeback. And for most of the game, we did. We didn't allow any extra runs heading into the ninth. Unfortunately, our misery was complete when Toronto hit a three-run jack to go up for good when the score was 5-4. So Game 3 would be the Rubber Game of this series. In Game 3, the Astros must have been greatly motivated by last night's fail to shut the door on Toronto. The 4th inning saw José Altuve hit a solo jack followed by a three-run bomb by Kyle Tucker later in the inning. In all, Houston had seven unanswered runs until the Blue Jays finally decided to play baseball in the 5th inning of Game 3, scoring four runs. That was all the run damage either team would do afterwards as the Astros won.

We are now 18-16 on the season, 2nd in the AL West behind leaders Oakland (21-14).

Up next for the Astros... we're hosting our best friends, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, for a three-game set starting tomorrow night. AL West showdown.


Congratulations to all other winners from today and recent series winners!
 
I'd like to wish Jordan Zimmermann well in his retirement. This pitcher is retiring after 12 seasons in Major League Baseball. J. Zimmermann is 34 years old as he retires.


[UPDATE] Zimmermann; two n's, not one. Changes made.
 
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Angels at Astros. So we set off a three-game set against a familiar foe. My series summary begins:

GM1 LAA at HOU: (5-4; Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
GM2 LAA at HOU: (5-1; Houston)
GM3 LAA at HOU: (9-1; Houston)

The Astros had a nice lead early in Game 1 until the Angels went up 5-4. Defense kept the Astros into Game late, but the offense was not enough, falling 5-4 in Game 1. Game 2 was mostly a pitcher's duel. The Astros took a 1-0 lead later in the game on a solo homer, but the Angels came back with a solo jack to tie things at 1-1. The big difference maker was an extra run scored late followed by a three-run bomb by "La Piña" (Yuli Gurriel). So Game 3 would be the Rubber Game. After a baller first inning from José Urquidy (though allowing one hit) to start Game 3, the first pitch of Game 3 for the Astros was a solo bomb from José Altuve that hits the foul pole and puts the Astros up 1-0 early. Then later, Yuli Gurriel put another jack on the Angels' pitching; this one a two-run jack to go up 3-0 early. Urquidy sadly had to leave the game after 3.6 innings of shutout baseball. The offense didn't calm down afterwards, as they continued to rout the Halos in Game 3 to take the series. Five homers helped the Astros' cause, and all the Angels could do was score on a sacrifice fly. The pitching held solid in Game 3 as well after Urquidy's unexpected exit.

Up next for Houston... this homestand will end with a four-game weekend set with the Texas Rangers starting tomorrow night. The Battle for the Silver Boot commences!


Congratulations to all recent series winners and all Wednesday winners!
 
I'll make a quick assessment of my Houston Astros now, before we take on the Texas Rangers here in Houston.

Despite not having the pitching of Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez, and despite not having power hitters like George Springer; the 2021 Houston Astros still remain a very competitive team. Five home runs in last night's game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was evidence of how hard-hitting Houston can be when everything is clicking. The real challenge to me, though, is how they take on road games. We love our Astros at home, but the other 29 cities surely will want to vent their hatred and their "cheater!" hate at the Astros. Surely the trip to the Bronx was vengeful as the Yankees vented their frustrations at Houston earlier this season. Most of the hate was directed at Astros players from the 2017, including (and especially) José Altuve. The Houston Astros in 2021 are going to be a tour de force as long as they can stay healthy and consistently play winning baseball. Currently with a 20-17 (how interesting) record and 2nd in the AL West, there's still room for improvement if they want to win the AL West again and maybe go for a 2nd World Series triumph.


If you want to assess your team(s) or some other team(s), go right ahead. Otherwise, I'll do my series summary of TEX at HOU when this four game set concludes.
 
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I realize I didn't do a rundown on the series against the Indians. Game 1 saw Miley's no hitter. This included 8 K's and only 1 BB. Cleveland's Plesac had a fantastic game himself, going 8 innings while giving up only 3 hits with 7 K's and 0 BB's. The Reds broke through for 3 runs in the 9th to allow Miley to go the distance for the no-no. Game 2 was a 9-2 shellacking by the Tribe. I did not see any of the game, so I have no comments on it other than to say Luis Castillo continues to struggle. He has a 6.42 ERA. Yikes! Game 3 was postponed due to weather.

Game 1: 3-0 Reds
Game 2: 9-2 Indians
Game 3: PPD

Meanwhile the Redlegs finished up their series last night against Pittsburgh. I pretty much missed the entire series. Though Cincy scored only 1 run through the first three innings, they broke through for 6 runs in the 4th before adding an additional 7 runs through the remainder of the game. The Pirates could only muster up a solo home run early. Game 2 saw the Buccos put up a 7 spot to easily defeat the Reds. Game 3 was a rubber game affair. A solo homer by Moustakas put Cincinnati up early. Pittsburgh tied it in the 5th via a Polanco single. That was all the scoring done as 9 innings wasn't enough to settle things. Winker hit a go-ahead single in the 10th and Suarez hit a bases clearing double to plate 3. Cleveland had no answer in the bottom of the inning, and the Reds took the series. An interesting fact from game 3: The starters Gray and Cahill went toe-to-toe, each giving up 1 run. With that said, neither made it past 5.1 innings. This led to 9 relievers combined putting up 0's for each team before Underwood Jr. gave up those 4 runs in the 10th.

Game 1: 14-1 Reds
Game 2: 7-2 Pirates
Game 3: 5-1 Reds

One other thing I would like to note. Winker is absolutely bringing it. He came into the Pirates series already batting .354. He left with a .375 average after collecting 7 hits. He is 2nd in BA, 3rd in OBP, tied atop in SLG, and 2nd in OPS among all Major League leaders. And other than OBP, where he sits second, he leads all of those categories in the NL. Mighty impressive this man has been so far.
 
I'm hearing reports that Albert Pujols will stay in Los Angeles... but he'll play for the other L.A. team. That's right- expectation is that Pujols will sign with the Dodgers. So Albert Pujols will return to the National League. Only rather than play for the Cardinals, he will be rocking Dodger Blue.
 
Lone Star state pride was on the line in the Houston Astros' next series. It's the first series between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. We call this series the Battle for the Silver Boot. Here's how this series went down here in H-Town:

TEX at HOU - 4 Game series
GM1: (4-3, 11 innings; Houston)
GM2: (10-2; Houston)
GM3: (6-5; Houston)
GM4: (6-2; Houston)

The Texas Rangers led Game 1 early 2-0, but then the Astros put on three runs to go ahead. The Rangers came back with an extra run to make it 3-3. Most of the game ended up in a 3-3 tie. Nine innings wasn't enough for Game 1, so it had to take 11 innings for the Astros walked it off by stealing home thanks to a wild pitch by Texas. When I first saw Game 2, the Astros were up 7-2 in the Bottom of the 5th. Most of the damage was done in the 1st inning by both teams. Texas led 1-0 in Game 3 before the Astros hung four runs on the Rangers the same inning. A later homer by the Astros put them up 6-1. Then later in Game 3, a three-run jack by Texas put the score at 6-4, Astros. One more run would be scored by Texas to make it 6-5 in Game 3. Solid pitching late helped the Astros hold serve for the 6-5 win in Game 3. Game 4 saw the Astros go up 2-0 for the first half of the game, then brought level by a two-run bomb by Texas. So Game 4 was 2-2 for most of the game onwards until the Astros hung four extra runs on Texas to go up 6-2 after eight innings in Game 4. Enoli Paredes closed out Game 4 for the 6-2 win and the series sweep over Texas.

We are now 24-17 on the season, six straight wins, and now tied for 1st in the AL West standings with Oakland.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we take this Monday off and then get ready for a huge three-game series at the Oakland Athletics. LATE GAMES, baby (except for Thursday- a day game)!


How are your teams doing? Congratulations to all recent series winners and winners from today!
 
Here are some games to touch up on as my Astros have the day off...

* The Cincinnati Reds hosted the San Francisco Giants. Sad day in Cincy as the Redlegs fell 6-3. Logan Webb picked up the win with a Save from Tyler Rogers. The loser for CIN was Sonny Gray. I'm sure our Dolph Drago will make a full series summary when the series concludes.

* Blitz24's New York Mets won 3-1 at the Atlanta Braves. Winning this NL East showdown was Sean Reid-Foley and a Save from Edwin Diaz. Max Fried was the loser for Atlanta.

* Powers of 2 for a score. 2-Squared was what Minnesota put up (4), and 2 to the 4th power is 16, which is what Chicago White Sox put up. For us non Math majors, a 16-4 beating by the White Sox. Former Astro Dallas Keuchel was the winner for CHW, and for the home-standing Twins, also former Astro J.A. Happ was the loser.

* So how did the other Chicago team do? They won! It was 7-3 in favor of the Cubbies over the visiting Washington Nationals. Adbert Alzolay was the winning Cubs pitcher, and Jon Lester was the loser for WAS.

* After getting swept at the Houston Astros, the Texas Rangers knocked off the New York Yankees 5-2 at home. Another ex-Astro, Jordan Lyles, was the winning TEX pitcher with a Save from Ian Kennedy. Ex-Astro Gerrit Cole was the losing pitcher for the Yanks.


Congratulations to all other Monday winners!
 
JohnBM01
* The Cincinnati Reds hosted the San Francisco Giants. Sad day in Cincy as the Redlegs fell 6-3. Logan Webb picked up the win with a Save from Tyler Rogers. The loser for CIN was Sonny Gray. I'm sure our Dolph Drago will make a full series summary when the series concludes.
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Sorry, long text coming through. :P

Thanks for the reminder. Working all the time without a day off has left me tired and forgetful, not to mention I miss much of the games. The Cincinnati Reds made a visit to the mountains of Colorado for a four game set. Game 1 saw the Redlegs put up an 8 spot in the 8th inning. Unfortunately it wasn't anywhere close to enough to overcome the 5 run deficit. Luis Castillo continues to struggle with his ERA up to 7.71 after getting lit up for 10 hits and 8 runs over 3.2 innings. This is a former Cy Young candidate. :indiff: While not quite the 8 late runs seen in game 1, Cincy put up 4 runs combined in the 7th and 8th in game 2. Again, not enough as Miley couldn't find his magic after his no-no last week; 3 innings, 11 hits, 8 runs. :scared: To salvage the series, the Reds would need to win the final two games to get the split. Game 3 was a much lower scoring affair, with both teams tied at 2 after regulation. This meant extra innings yet again for the Reds! And extra innings are something the Reds have been excelling in this season. It was no different in this one, though it would take more than 10. Both teams failed to score in the 10th, and each team scored 2 in the 11th. Castellanos and Suarez drove in the go-ahead runs in the 12th, and the Reds held on to win by 1. Mahle had a strong game going 7 innings while giving up only 2 runs, a far cry from the starters allowing 8 the first two of the series. Game 4 was a wild one. The Red Stockings struck first, the only time they did so in the series. But Colorado came storming back to take a 6-1 lead. The boys from the Queen City don't give up, though, and they put up 4 runs in the 8th to draw within 1 run of the Rockies. Then came the 9th inning. They only had 1 hit in the inning, but a passed ball and wild pitch netted the Reds 2 runs. It took a double play in the bottom of the inning to allow Cincinnati to hold onto their 1 run win.

Game 1: 13-8 Rockies
Game 2: 9-6 Rockies
Game 3: 6-5 Reds (12 innings)
Game 4: 7-6 Reds

Side note: I never should have mentioned how well Winker was hitting, because he went into a hellacious slide after my comments praising him. :ouch: Game 3 was especially rough as he went 0-6 with 4 strikeouts. Hopefully he gets back on his horse. The dude can mash.
 
Detroit's Spencer Turnbull throws the major's 5th official no hitter of the season, blanking the Mariners 5-0. This is the 2nd time the Mariners have been no-hit this season (two weeks ago, John Means of the Orioles managed to do so).
 
Padres, Giants, Athletics, and Dodgers are all looking strong this year. Not a bad year for California baseball. I really need to get down to see a game at Petco Park. Oracle Park here in SF now features a unrestricted vaccinated section...probably going to get tickets soon. Now I just want them to resume ferry service to the park!
 
Oracle Park (which I always known as AT&T Park) is my favorite ballpark in Major League Baseball. I do miss seeing games on TV from there from back when my Houston Astros were in the National League. I will agree that California stepped up in Major League Baseball this season... except maybe for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. My Astros are at the Athletics, and they dropped Game 1 of their three-game set at Oakland last night. So Oakland is still atop the AL West for now. Of course, I'll give a series summary when I get a chance to report about it.
 
New York Yankee Corey Kluber throws the major's 6th official no hitter of the season, blanking the Texas Rangers, 2-0.
 
Dang. What's in the water for MLB pitchers this season? A lot of No-Hitters, but not yet a Perfect Game. Wow...
 
It's tough to believe, but the Oakland Athletics hasn't played any other AL West opponents other than the Houston Astros so far this season. Well, the Astros and Athletics lock horns again. Here's how this three-game set finished up...

HOU at OAK: 3-game series
GM1: (6-5; Oakland)
GM2: (8-1; Houston)
GM3: (8-4; Houston)

Game 1 saw the Houston Astros go ahead a few time while the Oakland Athletics chipped into the lead. I missed most of the second half of the game because heavy rain and thunderstorms impacted the Houston area. It wasn't until I saw on my Android tablet that the Astros' bullpen blew the game to where the Athletics walked it off on a sacrifice fly. A Game 1 win for the Houston would have put the Astros into 1st Place in the AL West, but we've stayed in 2nd in the AL West. Houston led a good amount of Game 2 and won big. When I first saw the game, the Astros were up about 5-1 in the Top of the 7th. So that sets up a Rubber Game for this series. Game 3 was not only for the series win, but also the lead in the AL West. Oakland began the barrage in Game 3 with a solo jack by Mark Canha in the Bottom of the 1st. Houston then led 3-1 in the top of the 3rd Inning followed by homer by former Astro Tony Kemp to make it 3-2 after three. After the third inning, the Astros never tied or trailed. The AL West lead goes to Houston after this well-fought series.

We are now 26-18 on the 2021 season atop the AL West. I don't think the Astros and Athletics will hook up again until sometime in September.

Up next for Houston... we're back to Texas to take on the Texas Rangers. This time, however, in Arlington at that lovely new ballpark for the Texas Rangers. Battle for the Silver Boot continues!


Congratulations to all other winners of recent series and today's winners! How are your teams doing?
 
I'm not really in the mood to do a breakdown of the Cincinnati series against the Giants. It's just depressing. The Reds were pummeled by the San Fran offense and stymied by the pitching of former Redlegs Johnny Cueto and Anthony DeSclafani. Cincinnati was 19-19 going into the series and looking to get themselves back over .500 for the first time since...uh...I can't remember. It was sometime early in the season. Instead it was a sweep, and now they sit at 19-23. :boggled:

Game 1: 6-3 Giants
Game 2: 4-2 Giants
Game 3: 4-0 Giants
Game 4: 19-4 Giants
 

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