Major League Baseball: 2021 Season

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After getting swept at home to the Baltimore Orioles, the Houston Astros look to get back to a winning mindset. Cleveland, however, was not going to do the Astros too many favors. So let's begin a four-game set in northeastern Ohio...

HOU at CLE (4-game series)
GM1: (7-2; Houston)
GM2: (6-3; Houston)
GM3: (3-2; Houston)
GM4: (4-3, 10 innings; Houston)

[GAME 1] The Houston Astros got in the first hit in the first inning, but a wild pitch in the 2nd led Cleveland to steal home to make it 1-0. A run later scored by Cleveland in the 3rd inning put them up 2-0 over the Astros. Then afterwards, try seven unanswered runs! It began with Yordan Alvarez going deep on a solo jack to make it 2-1, Cleveland. It was Jose Altuve, though, who blew the game open with a Grand Slam to deep left to make it 5-2 in the 5th inning. Another run the same inning would make things 6-2 in favor of Houston. Michael Brantley wanted in on the home run loving, and he cashed in with a high homer to deep right. 7-2, Astros, the final score and the end of their four-game losing streak.

[GAME 2] I missed some of the first bits of the game because of a severe storm that rolled through the Houston-Galveston area. I did see the first inning. I checked in again when the game was in the Bottom of the 3rd. When I saw the game on that point, the Houston Astros were ahead of Cleveland 6-0. Cleveland managed to bang a three-run jack to make it 6-3, but that was all they can do as the Astros won 6-3.

[GAME 3] Game 3 began with an RBI to put the Astros up 1-0 after one inning. Two solo jacks by the Astros put the Astros up 3-0 in the Top of the 4th- first by Carlos Correa, then Abraham Toro. Cleveland got onto the scoreboard on a 1-out RBI single later that inning. Now 3-1, Astros. Cleveland didn't score again until the 7th inning on an RBI double. So it's 3-2 now in favor of the Astros. That score would hold as the Astros took down Cleveland 3-2. A series win is assured now.

[GAME 4] HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! It was the Houston Astros that struck first when they got an RBI to go ahead 1-0 in the Top of the 4th in Game 4. An out was recorded in the Bottom of the 5th, but Cleveland brought in an RBI to a 1-1 tie. The "Chasmanian Devil" (Chas McCormick) banged a two-run jack with one out to put the Astros ahead 3-1 in the Top of the 6th. A. Rosario on Cleveland answered right back with a two-out solo homer to make it a 3-2 game, Astros still leading. The Bottom of the 8th saw the Indians hit a solo homer to tie the game at 3-3. Regulation solved nothing, so let's go to extra innings! Good base running by the Astros led them to snatch a 4-3 lead in the Top of the 10th. Pitching stood solid to preserve the win in Cleveland.

After this four-game sweep, the 2021 Houston Astros are now 52-33 on the season, still leading the AL West. If you can believe it, this is the Astros' fourth four-game sweep of the season. We be ballin'! :)

Up next for the Houston Astros' Baseball Club... we take Monday off after this stretch of 20 straight days of play. We're back home for a six-game home stand starting this Tuesday, when we host the Oakland Athletics for a three-game set.


Congratulations to all Sunday winners and recent series winners! Hopefully your favorite team(s) is/are doing well. Or let us know how your favorite team(s) is/are doing...
 
Uhh...I got a little behind here. After witnessing a loss in person last week against the Padres, the Reds finally broke through and beat them in the final game. Farmer tied it with a homer in the 9th and I think rookie Stephenson knocked in the winning run (I could be wrong, as it was several days ago). That meant at least Cincy didn't get completely swept by San Diego on the year.

Since then, Cincinnati swept the Cubbies who came into town, each by 1 run. They moved up to 2nd in the NL Central at the time. If I remember, maybe I'll recap the Royals series which concludes tomorrow.
 
What's up with the Chicago Cubs? The Cubbies haven't won since June 24 at the Los Angeles Dodgers (4-0 was the score). They end up losing that 4-game set with the Dodgers. Then swept at the Milwaukee Brewers, at Dolph Drago's Cincinnati Reds, and dropped the first two games of their 4-game series vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. Yikes! Though, I'm sure you'll gladly take your Reds being 2nd in the NL Central, I'm sure, Dolph Drago. You are 44-41 currently. Milwaukee still has a substantial lead in the NL Central. Speaking of the Brew Crew, it's Reds at Brewers starting on Thursday in a four-game set. Take advantage of this series if you Redlegs can.

I got to say- Fernando Tatis Jr. is the truth! He's one of the most awesome players in the league right now. My Astros full well what Tatis Jr. can do, having played a tough series against San Diego.

Speaking of my Houston Astros, we somehow managed to go from being down 6-2 to winning 9-6. Yordan Alvarez, who recently became a father, belted two bombs to help the Astros' cause. I'll have the full series summary when the series concludes.


[UPDATE] CIN still in a series at KC. At MIL is their next series. Changes made
 
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The Reds wrapped up their series against the Royals only 20 minutes ago. It was another winning series, though very well could have been a sweep.

Cincy had trouble dealing for a good portion of game 1 with KC's pitcher, Minor. That was until the 7th inning, where the boys in red put up a 4 spot thanks to a couple of walks and two home runs. An insurance run was added in the 9th and that was that.

Game 2 saw the Reds up 6-1 in the 8th inning. I had stopped watching by this point, trying to catch up on a Tour de France stage I had recorded. Imagine my surprise when I went to check on the final score to see the Reds had blown their lead and lost the game! The bullpen, which to their credit had been performing well lately, reverted to their earlier season play. Looking at the play by play, it looks like it was a frustrating loss. In the 8th, Cincinnati actually had to record 4 outs, as Stephenson had a passed ball on a strikeout on what would have been the first out of the inning.. A home run by Benintendi cut the lead to 3. Walks will haunt. And so will HBP's. Add up enough of them in the 9th, sprinkle in a few hits, and it means a loss for the visiting team. The Royals had 4 runners cross the plate to make the Redlegs losers for the night.

I had to work again today, but I did get to hear the end of game 3 on the radio while driving home. KC held a 2-0 lead when Cincinnati came to bat in the top of the 7th. Three straight singles and a double gave the Reds 3 runs and the lead. The bullpen TRIED to give it up, allowing the bases to get loaded in the 8th, but they managed to pull through. A run in each of the final two innings did make it slightly less scary. Still...

Game 1: 6-2 Reds
Game 2: 7-6 Royals (walkoff)
Game 3: 5-2 Reds

The starting pitching was excellent throughout the series. Gutierrez had a nice bounceback game since the loss to San Diego in the game I had the pleasure to attend, going 6 innings, while only allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks along with 6 strikeouts. Castillo continues to deal since his horrendous start to the season. 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts was his line in game 2. His ERA is down to 4.81. It doesn't look good, but considering his ERA was sitting at 7.61 on May 23rd, it's quite the improvement. He has only given up 12 earned runs in the 8 games since. Gray seems to be healthy since coming off the IL. Game 3 saw him go 7 innings with 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts.

Overall, the Reds are now 45-41 and sitting 2nd in the NL Central. They are 5.5 games back from the Brew Crew, the same distance behind as 10 games ago. As John mentioned, the Cubbies are on an 11 game slide (:)) and have fallen to 4th behind the Cards at 42-44. Just 11 games ago, they were tied with Milwaukee for the lead. Amazing.
 
The Tigers have gone from a massive disappointment to acceptable this season. I know they're not going to outright win the AL Central, but it's nice not to be the worst team in the MLB (imagine being a Dbacks fan right now). If Cleveland keeps botching games, seriously 9 losses in a row, the Tigers might just take over 2nd place. They're only 9 games out of a wild card spot too and if they manage that I will eat my Tiger's hat.

Oh, and I find this encouraging too:

 
The Oakland Athletics have long been a rival of the Houston Astros since the Astros joined the American League. So let's kick off another series to this rivalry.

OAK at HOU (3-game series)
GM1: (9-6; Houston)
GM2: (4-3; Houston)
GM3: (2-1; Oakland)

[GAME 1] Leadoff double on the very first pitch, followed by a single, followed by an RBI single; and the Athletics are already up 1-0 with nobody out to start Game 1. Just like that. The top of the 1st FINALLY ended with Oakland up 3-0. Framber Valdez having a nightmare start. Recent new dad, Yordan Alvarez, banged a two-run jack on his first pitch. "Air Yordan" made it now a 3-2 deficit on one swing. Oakland's offense remained baller while the Astros have Swiss cheese for defense as the A's banged in another RBI. Now 4-2, Oakland. Make that 5-2, Oakland on a throwing pickoff throw error as a double steal happened. Another A's run crosses home plate to make it a 6-2 Oakland lead. The Astros ended the 4th inning by driving in an RBI to make it 6-3, Oakland. Yordan bombed another homer to make it a 6-6 tie in the Bottom of the 5th with a three-run jack. Yordan BALLIN'! The Astros FINALLY took the lead in the Bottom of the 6th as two runs crossed home plate to make it 8-6 Astros. Essentially 8 unanswered runs. It was then 9 unanswered after six innings as the Astros put across one more run on an RBI. The Astros picked up a HUGE win coming from behind.

[GAME 2] It was Oakland who went up on a solo jack in the 1st inning to make it 1-0. The Houston Astros went ahead on a three-run Jose Altuve bomb to make it 3-1. The Top of the 6th saw a new pitcher along with another solo homer by the A's. It was 3-2, Houston at that point. A bases loaded stealing of home made the A's tie things at 3-3. Good defense by the Astros prevented the A's from doing any further damage. Kyle Tucker struck a solo homer to make it a 4-3 lead for the Astros in the Bottom of the 7th. That score would hold up as the Astros won 4-3.

[GAME 3] When I first checked into this day game, Oakland was up 2-0 as the game was in the Bottom of the 2nd. It wouldn't be until the Bottom of the 7th when the Astros finally saw their end of the scoreboard lit on an RBI double by Chas McCormick. The deficit was now 2-1. The Astros' six-game winning streak comes to an end on this Thursday afternoon. And also, Oakland prevents getting swept a second time this season.

We are now 54-33 after this three-game series win. If the Astros got swept, it would have been a tie in the AL West standings. We still have the best AL record. Boston has the second best at 54-34. Boston, though, is off today but will begin a series hosting the Philadelphia Phillies next. Best overall record so far is the San Francisco Giants at 54-32.

Up next for the Houston Astros' Baseball Club... our final series before the All-Star Break is hosting the New York Yankees. For the Yanks, they feel like they are in enemy territory. We'll see how Astros-Yankees goes here in H-Town starting on Friday for this three-game set.

In non-related Astros news, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa decided to sit out the 2021 MLB All-Star Game. So you won't be seeing these guys play the All-Star Game.



Congratulations to all Sunday winners and recent series winners! Hopefully your favorite team(s) is/are doing well. Or let us know how your favorite team(s) is/are doing...
 
The Houston Astros are not exactly best friends with the New York Yankees. In fact, from the Yanks' mindset, they're going into enemy territory. The Yanks had their fun in the Bronx earlier this season. Now, we'll have our fun here in Houston. Let's kick off the final series before the All-Star Break! Here's my summary of Yankees at Astros:

NYY at HOU (3-game series)
GM1: (4-0; New York Yankees)
GM2: (1-0; New York Yankees)
GM3: (8-7; Houston)

[GAME 1] It was scoreless through three until the Yankees put up two runs on the Top of the 4th. A few more RBIs were scored for the Yanks to go up 4-0 around the Top of the 7th. It's been a while since the Astros got blanked. Sadly, we lost 4-0.

[GAME 2] The Yankees put up a solo homer sometime in the 3rd inning or so to go up 1-0. That was all the scoring needed as the Astros get blanked in back-to-back games. The starting pitching battle was between Zack Greinke and former Astro Gerrit Cole. Greinke had to leave the game with a shoulder injury (I believe).

[GAME 3] The New York Yankees went ahead 1-0 on an error by the Astros in the Top of the 3rd. The Astros in the same inning launched a homer into deep right field to tie the game at 1. Astros FINALLY score in this series! The Yankees, in the following inning, re-took the lead with a solo jack of their own. An RBI single by the Yanks in the Top of the 5 made it a 3-1 lead. Kyle Tucker drew the Astros closer with a solo bomb to right to make it 3-2, Yankees in the Bottom of the 6th. An RBI single made the Yankees lead 4-2 in the Top of the 7th. Yanks blow this one open with a three-run jack in the Top of the 8th. It was now a 7-2 Yankees lead. Astros tried to mount back in the Bottom of the 9th, down 5. It began with the Astros banging in two runs to make it a 7-4 deficit. Now it's 7-5 after another deeply-hit ball didn't go deep enough to homer, but the Astros drove in another RBI. All of this with no outs! Then, Jose Altuve banged a three-run, Walk-Off home run to win the game! ARE... YOU... KIDDING... ME?!?! I think this is the 2nd time this season that the Astros won a game after being down by 5+ runs heading into the ninth.

The 2021 Houston Astros will head into the All-Star Break with a 55-36 record. We will have the AL West lead heading into the All-Star Break.

Up next for the Houston Astros' Baseball Club... besides the All-Star Break, we're at the Chicago White Sox for a three-game weekend set this coming weekend.

In non-related Astros news, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa decided to sit out the 2021 MLB All-Star Game. So you won't be seeing these guys play the All-Star Game. Carlos Correa is sadly on health and safety protocols with the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic.



Congratulations to all Sunday winners and recent series winners! I still can't believe this Game 3 finish for the Astros!
 
Tonight is the 2021 MLB All-Star Game. Whereas the game was to previously be played in Atlanta, it was moved to Denver because of voting rights issues in Georgia. So the MLB All-Stars have proven to be miles high among the better MLB talent as this year's All-Star Game is played in the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado.

Should you be watching the 2021 All-Star Game, enjoy the action!
 
The American League won the 2021 MLB All-Star Game 5-2. Now that the All-Star Game is in the rear view mirror, it's time to get back to work. For when these teams do return to action, here are the standings up to this point (find your favorite team(s)!):

(Source: Yahoo! Sports)

--- AMERICAN LEAGUE (after the 2021 MLB All-Star Game) ---
AL EAST: Boston (55-36), TB (53-37), TOR (45-42), NYY (46-43), BAL (28-61)
AL CENTRAL: Chicago White Sox (54-35), CLE (45-42), DET (40-51), MIN (39-50), KC (36-53)
AL WEST: Houston (55-36), OAK (52-40), SEA (48-43), LAA (45-44), TEX (35-55)

--- NATIONAL LEAGUE (after the 2021 MLB All-Star Game) ---
NL EAST: New York Mets (47-40), PHI (44-44), ATL (44-45), WAS (42-47), MIA (39-50)
NL CENTRAL: Milwaukee (53-39), CIN (48-42), STL and CHC (44-46 each), PIT (34-56)
NL WEST: San Francisco (57-32), LAD (56-35), SD (53-40), COL (40-51), ARI (26-66)

--- OTHER OBSERVATIONS... ---
WIN PERCENTAGES:
...BEST: San Francisco (.640)
...WORST: Arizona (.283)

RECORDS:
...BEST HOME: Chicago White Sox (31-14)
...BEST AWAY: San Francisco (27-19)
...WORST HOME: Baltimore (13-30)
...WORST AWAY: Colorado (9-34)
...BEST 1-RUN GAMES RECORD: New York Mets (18-15)
...WORST 1-RUN GAMES RECORD: Colorado (3-20)

CURRENT STREAKS:
...LONGEST WINNING: Chicago White Sox (5 straight wins)
...LONGEST LOSING: Baltimore, Kansas City, and Washington (4 straight losses each)
...BEST LAST 10 GAMES: Cincinnati (8-2)
...WORST LAST 10 GAMES: Washington and Chicago Cubs (2-8 each)

A LOT of season left, so any number of these things can chance. Keep playing hard! If you all want to make assessments or talk about the season so far, or talk about the upcoming action; you are free to do so. Otherwise...


Enjoy the rest of the 2021 MLB season!
 
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A few news notes...

* Toronto will allow the Blue Jays to return to playing in Toronto starting July 30. Toronto has mostly been playing in Buffalo, New York, USA this season. They also played previously in Dunedin, FL, USA.

* Jake Cronenworth of the San Diego Padres hit for the cycle in their 24-8 rout win at the Washington Nationals. Twenty-four runs is the most runs allowed in franchise history. J. Cronenworth becomes the third All-Star to hit for the cycle after the All-Star Game.


My Houston Astros won at the Chicago White Sox 7-1 last night. I'll have the full summary when that series concludes.
 
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The Houston Astros are back to work after the 2021 MLB All-Star Game! Let's hit up the south side of Chicago and meet the Chicago White Sox. In 2005, this was the World Series, and the White Sox swept the Astros (then in the NL Central) to win it all. So let's see how this match in the south side of Chicago goes...

HOU at CHW (3-game series)
GM1: (7-1; Houston)
GM2: (10-1; Chicago White Sox)
GM3: (4-0; Chicago White Sox)

[GAME 1] When I checked into this game, it was 3-1 Astros, Top of the 5th. The Astros apparently launched a homer as part of that lead. What would have been an easy ground ball out ends up being the Astros leading 4-1 in the Top of the 7th. A bases-clearing double bumped the lead up to 7-1 for the Astros. Astros all kinds of ballin' now. White Sox, meanwhile, looked pretty cool with their black uniforms with white pinstripes and "Southside" across their chests.

[GAME 2] Let's let FOX Sports carry Astros at White Sox for Saturday. I did not follow this game much, and it was 0-0 when I followed it. Turns out the White Sox dominated the Astros 10-1. Rubber game tomorrow, methinks.

[GAME 3] Framber Valdez did not have a great start, plunking two batters early on in Game 3. The White Sox ended up getting a run home to make it 1-0 for the south side of Chicago boys. Two pitches into the Bottom of the 4th inning, the White Sox launched a solo jack to deep left. Now 2-0 White Sox. White Sox all of a sudden figured out how to top the Astros. As a storm passed threw in Houston, I left watching, and then learned the White Sox now led 3-0 in the 6th inning. Make that a 4-0 lead on an RBI by the White Sox later in the game. That's all she wrote- 4-0, White Sox.

The 2021 Houston Astros now are 56-38 after this series loss at the Chicago White Sox. We still won the season series against the White Sox by virtue of the four-game sweep at home. We have lost our last two series now. And the AL West lead? Yeah- we still got it.

Up next for the Houston Astros' Baseball Club... we're back home to play another AL Central team, and another Midwestern team. This time- the Cleveland Indians. This three-game set begins tomorrow night.

On this day (July 18) in 1970... Willie Mays collected his 3,000th hit.



Congratulations to all Sunday winners and recent series winners! Share your summaries of your favorite team(s) if you like.
 
Blitz24
Hey @Dolph Drago, pretty sure our teams are terrible and decided to do a Jets-Bengals game today.
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Geesh. I didn't see the final score until now. Cincinnati had one player alone get 5 hits and drive in 4 (Naquin). India got on base 5 times himself. Winker, Votto and Farmer all got on 3 times. How the hell did we lose? Oh, that's right. The Reds' bullpen is absolute rubbish. :lol:

It sucks because the team was so strong going into the All Star break. And they've tanked since, having been swept by the Brewers and getting pounded by your Mets. The pitching has been awful and offense inconsistent.
 
Dolph Drago
Geesh. I didn't see the final score until now. Cincinnati had one player alone get 5 hits and drive in 4 (Naquin). India got on base 5 times himself. Winker, Votto and Farmer all got on 3 times. How the hell did we lose? Oh, that's right. The Reds' bullpen is absolute rubbish. :lol:

It sucks because the team was so strong going into the All Star break. And they've tanked since, having been swept by the Brewers and getting pounded by your Mets. The pitching has been awful and offense inconsistent.
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Game two had your team get 3 HRs and my team once again have a brittle SP so we had to use our bullpen for 8 IP. Series decider is today.
 
After the White Sox put a takedown on my Astros this past weekend, we're back home to take on the Cleveland Indians. Here's how this three-game set went...

CLE at HOU (3-game series)
GM1: (4-3; Houston)
GM2: (9-3; Houston)
GM3: (5-4; Cleveland)

[GAME 1] A combination of watching something else and then some storms rolling through caused me not to watch most of this game. All I can say is that the Houston Astros won 4-3 despite a late rally by the Cleveland Indians.

[GAME 2] There was sort of a special tribute to José Altuve tonight at Minute Maid Park, as he celebrated 10 years with the Astros. How did he celebrate? He launched a solo jack to left center to put the Astros up 1-0. It was the seventh lead-off homer of the 2021 season for the Little Giant Altuve. In the Bottom of the 3rd, Altuve hit another solo jack that hits the foul pole for a Home Run. Now 2-0, Astros. Yordan Alvarez bangs in a two-run RBI double to put the Astros up 4-0 in the Bottom of the 5th. Then later that inning, Kyle Tucker bangs a two-run bomb to make it 6-0. More damage done in the 5th as the Astros brought in two more runs with the bases loaded and two outs. Astros lead 8-0 after five innings and hung six runs on Cleveland. Carlos Correa was out with an illness some time ago, and he came back for Game 2 and snapped an 0-29 streak of going hitless with a two-out double. That would lead to an RBI single to put the Astros up 9-0 in the Bottom of the 6th. The Indians finally broke up the shutout with an RBI double in the Top of the 8th to make it 9-1, Astros. They would add two more on a deep shot to left that thankfully wasn't a homer. Astros still lead 9-3.

[GAME 3] It was the Indians who struck first on an RBI double in the Top of the 3rd. In the bottom of the 4th with no outs, Jose Altuve banged one into the Crawford Boxes to level the game at 1. The Astros went ahead with a line drive homer by Kyle Tucker. It was 2-1, Astros in the Bottom of the 5th on a very deep to right homer. Indians drove in three runs in the Top of the 6th to go up 4-2 with the bases loaded. A shot to deep left let Altuve get an RBI double to make it 4-3 in the Bottom of the 6th. The Astros brought home Altuve on an RBI single by "La Piña" (Yuli Gurriel) with one out. Tied at 4 now. Cleveland hits a solo jack to retain the lead 5-4 in the Top of the 7th. And the Astros ended up being DONE. 5-4, Indians deny an Astros sweep.


The 2021 Houston Astros now are 58-39 after this series. So after losing two straight series, we win a series for a change. And the AL West lead? Still ours.

Up next for the Houston Astros... we take Thursday off and then host the Texas Rangers for a three-game weekend series starting on Friday.



Congratulations to all of today's/tonight's winners and recent series winners!
 
RECENT DEVELOPMENT...

The Cleveland Indians have decided on a new team name moving forward. The Indians will now be... the Cleveland Guardians. The Indians were presently one of few teams in American professional sports to carry on the nickname of a Native American Indian namesake.


Enjoy the weekend series!
 
In the rubber game of the series between @Dolph Drago and myself, the Mets blanked (actually 1 hit) the Reds 7-0 on the strength of 3 HRs by Villar, D. Smith (a grand slam) and Guillorme.
 
The Cleveland Guardians? They had an opportunity to make it something cool and they just went with something super lame. I'm guessing they chose that so they can still keep half their logo: In-dians Guar-dians.
 
Joey D
The Cleveland Guardians? They had an opportunity to make it something cool and they just went with something super lame. I'm guessing they chose that so they can still keep half their logo: In-dians Guar-dians.
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They clearly wanted Jose Ramirez to just start saying "I am Groot".
 
Blitz24
In the rubber game of the series between @Dolph Drago and myself, the Mets blanked (actually 1 hit) the Reds 7-0 on the strength of 3 HRs by Villar, D. Smith (a grand slam) and Guillorme.
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When I heard the final score, I didn't bother looking at the box score. I didn't realize they had been 1-hit. Turrible. The Reds desperately need Castellanos back. I don't know how long the wrist injury is going to keep him out, but they've struggled badly since he got hit by the pitch in game 2? of the Milwaukee series.
 
If you saw ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" yesterday, Michael Wilbon absolutely RAGED on Cleveland changing its nickname to the Guardians. I could see where that Guardian reference came from when I heard the story. M. Wilbon mentioned something like laziness of management. He even mentioned the Cleveland Spiders of old. I'm... just on the fence calling them the Cleveland Guardians starting next season.


Rangers at Astros summary to come when it concludes.
 
Time to tussle again. It's the Houston Astros, it's the Texas Rangers, and the Silver Boot series continues! Three-game set in H-Town. Here's how it went:

TEX at HOU (3-game series)
GM1: (7-3; Houston)
GM2: (4-1; Houston)
GM3: (3-1; Houston)

[GAME 1] When I first saw the game, the Astros led 7-0. Texas can only manage three runs to fall 7-3. Texas now lost 10 straight as of this game.

[GAME 2] In the first inning, the Astros got on the board on a bases loaded walk. A couple of sacrifice flies in the 3rd Inning led the Astros to a 3-0 lead. Houston was riding "Air Yordan" as he launched a solo jack to deep right to make it 4-0 in the Bottom of the 7th. "Thank you for flying Air Yordan!" Framber Valdez had a rather poor pitching performance for the Astros. The Texas Rangers denied the shutout and one-hitter with a solo jack. It was all inconsequential, though, as the Astros won 4-1.

[GAME 3] I first followed this contest in the 5th inning, with the Houston Astros leading 2-1 over the Texas Rangers. Apparently, Houston hit a two-run homer to go ahead of Texas. The Astros put up one more run in the Bottom of the 6th with an RBI-single by Kyle Tucker that brought Yordan Alvarez home. The Texas Rangers now lost 12 straight thanks to the Astros winning 3-1.


The 2021 Houston Astros now are 61-39 after this series. The AL West lead is still ours.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... road trip! This could be a dangerous road trip for the Houston Astros. Up next is a three-game set at the Seattle Mariners. Then, they got three games at the San Francisco Giants, and then the blockbuster- a two game set at the Los Angeles Dodgers. But first- at the Seattle Mariners starting on Monday.



Congratulations to all of today's/tonight's winners and recent series winners!
 
Joey D
The Mets are "inquiring" about Scherzer? Don't the Mets need some form of an offense over pitching?

The Padres also got Fraizer, which is surprising since Fraizer isn't just a rental.
www.espn.com

Padres get Frazier from Pirates for three players

The Padres have acquired Adam Frazier from the Pirates for three minor leaguers.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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Ideally yes, the Mets do need hitting. The problem as of late is that their SP is not going very far into games and most of what they brought up from the minors have ended up hurt. IF their SP come back healthy, the team will be extremely dangerous in the playoffs. The question is if those pitchers are returning.
 
Blitz24
Ideally yes, the Mets do need hitting. The problem as of late is that their SP is not going very far into games and most of what they brought up from the minors have ended up hurt. IF their SP come back healthy, the team will be extremely dangerous in the playoffs. The question is if those pitchers are returning.
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That makes sense, I guess I didn't realize DeGrom was on IR and I thought Syndergaard was back, but it looks like he's still rehabbing. I know they just got Rich Hill...which seems like a bold move.

I don't follow the Mets too closely, more of just see "LOL Mets" stuff on social media.
 
Joey D
That makes sense, I guess I didn't realize DeGrom was on IR and I thought Syndergaard was back, but it looks like he's still rehabbing. I know they just got Rich Hill...which seems like a bold move.

I don't follow the Mets too closely, more of just see "LOL Mets" stuff on social media.
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The Mets are infuriating as always. More often than not this year they have won but they are quickly gaining the Cardiac Kids moniker.
 
One sports writer suggest the Astros could really be great if they made a deal for Max Scherzer. However, I don't know if Houston fans would welcome Scherzer, considering his Washington Nationals defeated us in that horrendous 2019 World Series. Safe to say the M. Scherzer is a viable commodity for any team to try to pick up.

If your team(s) have 60 or more wins so far this season, raise your hand. looking I see... the Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays (defending AL Champs), the San Francisco Giants (best record in baseball), and the Los Angeles Dodgers (defending champions and defending NL Champs). My Astros on this current road trip will battle two teams in the 60-win club. After a three-game set in Seattle and a day off on Thursday, we're at San Francisco's BEAUTIFUL ballpark for a three-game set. Then with the following Monday off, it's two games at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Though the Giants have the best record in baseball, and though the Dodgers' series is a two-game series, it's the Dodgers series that concerns me more. It's only two games. However, you know Rancho Cucamonga will be ready to dump all over the Astros after the cheating scandal. If you think it was bad in the Bronx with the Yankees, it's going to be even worse at the Dodgers.


Enjoy some baseball!
 
An out West road trip is on tap for the Houston Astros. We begin our latest Tour of Awesome in Seattle. Here is how things went in the Emerald City...

HOU at SEA (3-game series)
GM1: (11-8; Seattle)
GM2: (8-6; Houston)
GM3: (11-4; Houston)

[GAME 1] I really followed this game around the Top of the 3rd. And by this point, the Astros were already up 6-0, hanging six early on the Mariners in the first inning alone. Martin Maldonado had liftoff when he launched a solo jack to left field to make it 7-0. With bases loaded and one out, Seattle finally got on the board with a two-run RBI to make it a 7-2 game with the Astros still leading. It was then 7-3 after a review that brought in another Mariners' run. The Astros brought home one Astro on an RBI by Martin Maldonaldo to make it 8-3, Astros. A three-run homer by Kyle Seager turned an 8-3 Astros lead into an 8-6 Astros lead. A blowout turns into a real game. A wild pitch followed by an RBI single made it an 8-7 game. Are the Astros thinking eight runs are enough to sink the Mariners? I fell asleep around the 8th inning. The game ended up as a 11-8 win for Seattle. Eight runs were NOT enough to keep down Seattle on this night. Apparently, the Mariners hit a Grand Slam to put the Mariners up for good. Yay, us...

[GAME 2] After failing like they did last night, the Houston Astros have to think making an early statement. They did just that thanks to Yordan Alvarez with a three-run bomb in the 1st inning to deep right on a beautiful clear sky Tuesday night in Seattle. The Mariners hit a two-run jack of their own to deep right to make it a 3-2 Astros lead. Not THIS again. A two-run RBI double put the Astros up 5-2 in the Top of the 4th. Another Astro made it home on an RBI single by Martin Maldonaldo. 6-2, Astros now. A wild pitch by Seattle in the same inning led to a steal home attempt that worked. It's now a 7-2 Astros lead. Another RBI was scored by the Astros in the Top of the 5th to make it 8-2 for Houston. The Mariners' side of the scoreboard lit up again as a two-run RBI was cashed in by the Mariners to halve the Astros' lead to 8-4 in the Bottom of the 6th. The Mariners belted a two-run jack in the Bottom of the 9th similar to the early homer the Astros gave up. The Astro had it but couldn't hold on to record the out and rob a homer. Defense held serve as the Astros won 8-6 to make Game 3 the Rubber Game of this series.

[GAME 3] Rubber Game time! The Houston Astros struck first on an RBI in the Top of the 2nd. They'd drive in another run on an RBI double the following inning. So 2-0, Astros at this point. There was another run batted in for the Astros to make it 3-0. Then in the Top of the 5th, "La Piña" (Yuli Gurriel) launched a solo homer to center to put the Astros up 4-0. An RBI single by Jose Altuve puts the Astros up 5-0 in the Top of the 6th. That was followed up by another RBI by Aledmys Diaz. It's 6-0 Astros, Top of the 6th now. There was another lucky break for the Astros when a would-be fly ball to deep center saw one Mariner stumble and fall and fail to catch the ball. The end result- another Astros run lands. Another Mariner mistimed a deep right center ball, and it was enough to send home another Astros run. Make that an 8-0 Astros lead now. Honestly, most of this game has been lucky breaks the Astros took advantage of Mariners miscues. The shutout was denied once Kyle Seager banged a solo jack to center-right. Now it's 8-1, Astros in the Bottom of the 6th. Make that 8-2 now with back-to-back jacks by the Seattle Mariners, and then another run scores all in the Bottom of the 6th as Jake Odorizzi left the game.. All three games saw the Astros collect eight runs so far. In the Top of the 7th, another Astro crossed home play to make it a 9-3 lead for the Astros. A bases-loaded walk let the Astros now look at a 9-4 lead in the Bottom of the 7th, but no further damage was done after seven innings. Kyle Tucker bombs one to left center to put the Astros up 11-4 on a two-run jack. No further scoring as the Astros won the series 11-4!


The 2021 Houston Astros now are 63-37 after this series. The AL West lead is still ours.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... the road trip continues! Now things are going to get potentially dangerous. After Thursday off, we are on a three-game set at the San Francisco Giants, who hold the best record in baseball. Then things could get worse when they are at the Los Angeles Dodgers for two games.



Congratulations to all of today's/tonight's winners and recent series winners!
 
My Houston Astros will not take the field again until tomorrow in San Francisco, so I'll do an assessment.


The 2021 Houston Astros are 63-37 on the season after taking two of three from the Seattle Mariners in Seattle. Even amid cheating scandals and such, not many people actually acknowledge the Astros are actually good. A surprising note I forgot to mention from the Mariners series was that a first-ever happened. Abraham Toro became the first player in MLB history to homer for one team, then homer for the team he was traded to in consecutive days. So Toro hit a homer for Houston one day, then homered for Seattle the following day to the team he was traded to. The Houston Astros will be in California to meet two powerful NL West teams. First, a three-game weekend set in beautiful San Francisco and their beautiful ball park. Afterwards (after Monday off), it will be a two-game set at the Los Angeles Dodgers. San Francisco still has the best record in baseball, and you know the Los Angeles Dodgers are hungry to dump on the Astros in this rematch of the 2017 World Series.

Player-wise, I am obviously sold on Jose Altuve. I keep calling him the Little Giant. This 5'5" 2B from Venezuela comes up big in many games. One YouTube comment said that the Yankees hate Altuve more than they do the Red Sox. Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel produce nicely as well. Kyle Tucker even asserts himself at times. Zack Greinke and Lance McCullers Jr are great pitchers for the Astros. However, I get skittish with Jake Odorizzi when he starts. Framber Valdez even has his off pitching games. I am fairly impressed with Luis Garcia and Christian Javier pitching. Also, Ryne Stanek and Bryan Abreu have been very good in late inning pitching. Overall, I think the Astros are doing very well. I still feel the Astros will have to try to win a championship soon and without any conspiracy. It would also be great to see Dusty Baker coach another team to another championship.

It isn't perfect in Houston, but Houston has something special in the works. Whether or not they can parlay that into another championship remains to be seen. It will no doubt be a critical August and September for the Houston Astros Baseball Club.


If you would like to assess your favorite team(s) or any team in general, feel free to do so. Let us know how your favorite team(s) is/are doing so far. Other than that, enjoy some MLB baseball!
 
Joey Votto set a Reds' franchise record homering for the 6th straight game today in the finale against the Cubs. Who did he surpass? Oh, just some guy named Johnny Bench. :lol: In fact, he has 8 dingers in the past 6 games. He's had a few down years for his standards, and he started slowly this season as well. But boy has he picked it up since the All Star break. With the absence of Castellanos, Moose and Senzel, he's been providing some major power. Who else is hot? Kyle Farmer has been on fire. And rookie Jonathan India has been an on-base machine.

As for that series against the Cubs, overall is was mostly successful. After dropping game 1, Cincy rallied and took the remaining 3. The bullpen unsurprisingly imploded in game 1, giving up 1 run each in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings to lose by 1. Luckily that trend didn't continue. Well, not as badly as game 1 anyway. In the 9th inning alone, they still managed to give up 2 runs in game 2, an additional 2 in game 3, and 1 in game 4. What's the takeaway from this? They damn well better have at least a 2 run lead when trying to lock down the final 3 outs.

I don't really want to get too much into the Javier Baez nonsense in game 1. He started jawing at Amir Garrett immediately after hitting the walkoff and did some weird bat wiggle while going on the slowest jaunt in history to first base. The benches didn't clear this time around. Well, the Chicago one did, but it was for the celebration due to the walkoff. The MLB is a joke. Earlier in the season, Garrett struck out Rizzo and jawed at him. This caused Baez to jump over the dugout railing and cause a kerfuffle. Garrett received a 5 game suspension for his involvement. What did Baez get for his jawing this week? Essentially the MLB media praised him in a tweet, showing those Redlegs who's boss. :rolleyes: Anyway...

I should note Cincinnati took 2 of 3 from the pesky Cards in their previous series. Yay.

Overall, the Reds sit 2nd in the NL Central 7 games back from the Brewers, at 54-49.
 

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