MLB Game Thread

#51
#51
Freak said:
Somewhat. Only because I vacation down here in the Tampa area. I guess you could say they're my favorite AL team, for that reason.
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Ah, and duh. I could have just looked under your name and saw the Twins and Braves.


Also, do you know how to make the Astros one look like the others?
 
#52
#52
TOP said:
Ah, and duh. I could have just looked under your name and saw the Twins and Braves.


Also, do you know how to make the Astros one look like the others?
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Yeah, I used to follow the Twins because my wife's family is originally from there. Not so much anymore.

Is the Astros one messed up? We can fix it. Just need a 50x40 image.
 
#53
#53
Freak said:
Yeah, I used to follow the Twins because my wife's family is originally from there. Not so much anymore.

Is the Astros one messed up? We can fix it. Just need a 50x40 image.
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Not messed up, just doesn't have the box around it like the others. I don't know, I have like minor ocd ha.

Also, it's cold in Minnesota anyways.
 
#56
#56
Yeah, Minnesota isn't a great vacation spot I suppose. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the Rays have been decent as of late.
 
#57
#57
Freak said:
Yeah, Minnesota isn't a great vacation spot I suppose. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the Rays have been decent as of late.
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I usually pull for Rays in the East due to my dislike for Yankees and Red Sox. They're usually the ones competing with them for a playoff spot. And I have nothing against the Twins in the Central. Anyone but the White Sox really. Plus, Kirby Puckett.
 
#58
#58
TOP said:
I usually pull for Rays in the East due to my dislike for Yankees and Red Sox. They're usually the ones competing with them for a playoff spot. And I have nothing against the Twins in the Central. Anyone but the White Sox really. Plus, Kirby Puckett.
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I like your reasoning. I pretty much despise the Yankees and Red Sox and I've always hated the White Sox, for whatever reason.

I'm really a National League guy at heart, though.
 
#59
#59
Heading to the bottom of the 7th, Archer just recorded his 11th strikeout.
 
#60
#60
Freak said:
I'm really a National League guy at heart, though.
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I was really disappointed when the Astros got sent over to the AL West. I live within 4 and 5 hours of both Chicago and St. Louis, so as an Astros fan I liked having nearby rivals within driving distance. They've re-branded themselves and are doing well this season but it feels like starting over for me. May as well be an expansion team as they have virtually nobody left from their time in the NL and until now have blown since going over to the AL. Guess I can thank Bud Selig for moving his garbage Brewers to the NL. Jerk.

Even though the D'backs won a championship, it would made more sense imo to sending them over to the AL instead of the Astros. They're basically an infant in terms of today. They had been around for a little over a decade when the Astros got moved to the AL. Unfair imo.
 
#61
#61
After being down 4-1, Astros were able to tie it 4-4 in the 7th inning before giving up another run in the 8th. 5-4 going into the 9th, stupid Orioles. Your city sucks. Booooooooo!
 
#62
#62
Orioles pitcher was able to pick up a grounder hit right on him that he had no business getting. Got the 2nd out. Fml.

Homerun time... please...

Altuve is at to bat. Can't really ask for a better guy when you need a hit.
 
#64
#64
Sigh, almost a hit for a tie. Almost a home run also. A a few feet short and the left fielder was just able to get it. Junk. Probably should have scored 1 or 2 runs with no outs but instead the Orioles come up with the two big plays on defense.
 
#65
#65
Freak said:
Pitchers duel here in Tampa today. Rays and Mariners scoreless through 4 1/2.

Felix Hernandez vs Chris Archer.
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I hate to tell you Freak...

"This broadcast is the property of Major League Baseball and is solely intended for the entertainment of our audience. Any transmission or rebroadcast of the pictures, descriptions, and accounts of this game without the express written consent of Major League Baseball is strictly prohibited."

You're going to jail, man.
 
#66
#66
GAVol said:
I hate to tell you Freak...

"This broadcast is the property of Major League Baseball and is solely intended for the entertainment of our audience. Any transmission or rebroadcast of the pictures, descriptions, and accounts of this game without the express written consent of Major League Baseball is strictly prohibited."

You're going to jail, man.
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Man, why didn't you warn me sooner? Know any good defense attorneys?
 
#67
#67
Astros just took a 3-2 lead in the 6th inning after being down 2-1.


Also, saw this article today: Into Orbit «

The Astros weren’t supposed to be this good this soon. Thanks to maturing talent, shrewd investments, and a fierce commitment to a controversial rebuilding process, however, they’re leading the AL West before the top-prospect cavalry even arrives.
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The future wasn’t supposed to come this fast for the Houston Astros, who currently sit in first place in the AL West thanks to a 30-18 record and the second-best winning percentage (.625) in baseball. The Astros aren’t as good as their record suggests, but that’s OK, because they’re on pace to win 101 games. If they win even 91 games this year, they’ll have shown the greatest two-year improvement of any team since World War II, surpassing the leap made by the Miracle Mets of 1969
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In addition to leading the league in homers and strikeouts, the Astros are also tied for first in the AL in stolen bases (after finishing second last year). That’s downright weird, because the chief utility of a stolen base is to move a runner from first to second so that he can score on a single, but the Astros have the fewest singles in the AL for the second straight year. Speed on the bases comes in handy with an offense that makes a lot of contact and doesn’t hit for much power, as we saw with the Royals last October. Speed isn’t particularly useful when the next batter is likely to strike out or send a pitch into orbit.

This seems dysfunctional, nonsensical. But as Jayson Stark wrote, while the trifecta of leading the league in homers, strikeouts, and steals is almost unprecedented, two of the four teams to have done it, the 1976 Reds and 1938 Yankees, won the World Series. And so far, at least, it’s working for the 2015 Astros.
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I'm not gonna hold my breath. But if you said by finishing first in all of those categories that they'd have a 50/50 chance to win a world series, I'll take that all day. A guy can dream.
 
#68
#68
10 years later, still hate Chitcago White Sux. They just homered to start off the 8th and tie it 3-3.
 
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#69
#69
@ESPNStatsInfo: Yankees/Rays lead AL East at 26-25 (.510 win pct). That is worst record by AL East leader(s) entering June in divisional era (via #ELIAS)
 
#70
#70
Yankee_Vol said:
@ESPNStatsInfo: Yankees/Rays lead AL East at 26-25 (.510 win pct). That is worst record by AL East leader(s) entering June in divisional era (via #ELIAS)
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If not for the Astros early on, I thought the West was going to give the East a run for their money in lower winning percentages but the Angels and Rangers have started winning some games.

Somebody at some point has to pick it up in the East, right? I haven't kept track of payroll in recent years because my Stros are irrelevant anyways but last I knew, Yanks, BoSox, O's and Jay's spent money like crazy with the Rays being the exception. If the first 4 have payrolls within in the top 10 like they used to, somebody has to hit their stride at some point.
 
#71
#71
And as for the Astros which I originally came here to post about.

Saw they were down 2-1 in the 7th inning and figured they'd strike out the rest of the way because you know how the Astros are. But being the Astros, they scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win 5-2.

How they keep winning with these atrocious batting averages is beyond me. Just got done talking about the East, now this is a team that should be struggling to get to and stay at .500 just based off batting average.
 
#72
#72
TOP said:
And as for the Astros which I originally came here to post about.

Saw they were down 2-1 in the 7th inning and figured they'd strike out the rest of the way because you know how the Astros are. But being the Astros, they scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win 5-2.

How they keep winning with these atrocious batting averages is beyond me. Just got done talking about the East, now this is a team that should be struggling to get to and stay at .500 just based off batting average.
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They're 5th in the AL in OPS and 3rd in ERA. That's how.
 
#73
#73
GAVol said:
They're 5th in the AL in OPS and 3rd in ERA. That's how.
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Might hurt pitching a little but they're going to move center field in about 20 or 25 feet I think it was. Also getting rid of the hill, not that it really has any bearing on anything.

While it might hurt pitching, it should help scoring with all the mashers the Stros have. You're right about the OPS but that's why it's surprising the Astros score the way they do. They can't get on base but when they do, they steal bases and hit timely home runs. Relying on timely home runs is risky business. It's bad enough relying on home runs to win in general but it's not often you have so many low averages and strike outs to go with it. Add in terrible averages and they're lucky more of them aren't solo home runs.

Given the history of teams with most home runs and most stolen bases while also leading the league in strike outs, it does seem to work(though I'm not sure it should). Not a lot of teams have done it this way but half of the teams that did, won it all. Sounds good in my mind. Also sounds unrealistic but it's happened so it's obviously not unrealistic.

I don't think the Astros can win it all this year but going forward, they should be a contender(possibly the favorites) for years to come. I just want them to hold on to the division first before I completely buy into what they've become. I feel their system to winning is fragile and could implode at any time. Especially now with the Angels and Rangers picking it up and staying on their tail.

Not sure what to make of this, but you posted on the morning of the 2nd and the Astros have only played 3 games since that time. You said they were 5th in the AL in OPS but now they're 7th. And why the OPS is a surprise is because the OBS is terrible. They're 12th out of 15 in the AL. This is what scares me about the Astros and why I think the way they're winning could become the way they start losing. It's not an ideal system imo. It is if it works but it's playing with fire if you ask me. I get that swinging for the fences is why they strike out so much. But dang, if the OPS drops, the losses are gonna start piling up. They don't bat well enough to sustain success without hitting home runs with people on base.

Thankfully they have good pitching and one of deepest(the deepest?) dimensions for a ballpark in baseball. I think the center field might have been the deepest in baseball and with the renovations will be the 5th or 6th deepest after. Don't quote me on that, I think that's what I had read.
 
#74
#74
Beer and Blow Jays for this guy.

Canada, the 51st state of the U.S. :)

Go Stros.
 
#75
#75
Blue Gays already up 1-0 in the 1st.

Seems like the Astros are always coming from behind. Today won't be any different it appears should they win.
 
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