There are a ton of great games this afternoon during the 1-2 eastern or, more appropriately for me at this point, 12-1 central hour. We’ve got the Mets and newly second place Phillies each sending All Stars to the mound. We’ve got the Dodgers sending the best pitcher on the planet against the Nationals’ best (I’m including Strasburg, yes) who’s no slouch himself. We’ve got hottest team in baseball against this season’s most disappointing group and finally we have the America’s team (the Pirates) against the Reds in a battle of teams trying to catch the Cardinals.
It’ll be a good set of games and, as it’s Sunday and I finally don’t have much to do, I’m going to watch them, or at least parts of them, and give a live, running diary of what I see and think. I’ve done this a bunch before and it usually gets a pretty good reception so hopefully you’ll like this one too. Judging by my previous live blogs, however, I’ll probably run out of gas after about an hour so I might stop then.
Anyway, here we go!
12:09- There is a delay in Toronto. How is that possible in a stadium with a retractable roof?
12:11: Oh I get it. the delay is to honor Carlos Delgado who is being inducted into the horribly named Blue Jays “Level of Excellence.”
12:12: After about a full minute of dramatic lead up music, a banner saying “Carlos Delgado” just dropped to reveal…… a banner saying “Carlos Delgado.” Very dramatic.
12:12: Also, Carlos was just presented with a very normal looking navy blazer which looked remarkably similar to the one he just took off. What is going on here?
12:15: The heck with that, I’m switching to Harvey-Lee.
12:15: This game has already started and Harvey’s retired the first 2 batters but Utley’s on second.
12:19: Harvey blows a fastball by 4 hitter Dominic Brown. It’s nice that Brown is finally the player the Phillies hoped he’d be. That said, Harvey k’s Brown with nasty changeup down and away. Harvey’s only k of the inning.
12:21: Holy Crap I can watch all 4 games at once! This is the coolest thing ever. I’m not going to miss anything and neither are you.
12:21: Votto at the plate in Cincy and Lee on the mound in New York, this is sweet. Votto walks on 4 pitches. The guy pitching for Pittsburgh looks like a 7th grader.
12:22: Jeff Locke on the mound for the Pirates, he walks too many but aparantly has a better BAA against righties than lefties. Though both BAAs are pretty good.
12:23: Locke gets Brandon Phillips to ground to short.
12:25: Dominc Brown makes a great sliding catch to save Cliff Lee.
12:26: Mets announcers talking about the day David Wright debuted. On that day, against the Expos, Wright was at third, Kaz Matsui was a short, Jose Reyes was a second and Ty Wigginton was at first. Cool.
12:27: Wright hits a homer! Great timing for him. They’re going to review it though. It’ll stand.
12:28: Garrett Jones hits a homer for Pittsburgh! He’s been killing it for the Pirates this series against Cincy. Guess Homer Bailey isn’t getting another no-hitter today.
12:29: Back in NY, the Mets’ announcers are tying to say that the Mets are on a quest to play for .500. Hey, whatever you gotta say to keep the fans watching.
12:30: RA Dickey is on the hill for Toronto. Nice. He’s one of only 4 pitchers to beat Tampa in the last 22 games.
12:31: Brett Lawrie has been switching around between third and second but he’s at third today.
12:31: Marlon Byrd goes waaaayyyyy gone against Cliff Lee. Second homer of the inning for the Mets. 2-0.
12:32: Dickey looks pretty good so far. He’s been better lately and he’s battling Desmond Jennings now.
12:33: We just learned that Jennings is hitting .283 this season against the Blue Jays with a cumulative cycle. That’s on the list for most useless thing I’ve ever learned. Jennings k’s.
12:35: Zobrist hitting lefty against the righty Dickey, which would not be noteworthy except that last time he faced Dickey he hit righty the first 2 ABs. Cool.
12:36: Harvey back on the hill. He’s spotting up. Blows Delmon Young away. He’s on point today. Announcers comparing Harvey to a young Clemens and calling his slider unhittable.
12:37: Weak groundout from Frandsen, 2 away already. Harvey has 22 straight starts with at least 10 swings and misses, longest active streak by far. Wow.
12:38: 1-2-3 inning for Harvey.
12:38: First pitch in DC for Nats and Dodgers. Crawford leading off.He grounds to Rendon who makes a great glove flip. I like that guy.
12:40: Jeff Locke facing a surprisingly bad Todd Frazier in Cincy. It strikes me that Locke is that kind of pitcher that you need to give you a few wins above replacement during the regular season if you’re going to win 90 games or a division but you can’t count on in October.
12:42: 2 on for Hanley in DC after singles from Punto and A-Gon.
12:44: The Dodgers could take the lead in the NL West today. Wow. Also, Hanley smokes a liner right at Scott Hairston in left.
12:44: The Dodgers are 19-5 in their last 24. Puig for MVP?
12:45: 2-2, 2 on, 2 out for Andre Ethier. Ethier bloops out to short, inning over. Bryce Harper leading off for Nats in the bottom.
12:47: Jeff Locke gets an infield single in Cincy. He’s on for Marte. Wild pitch from Bailey gets by Corky Miller and Locke advances.
12:48: Corky Miller is the starting catcher for the Reds today. That is all.
12:48: Harvey back on the mound. in NY. Kershaw on the hill in DC. Dickey in Toronto simultaneously pitching.
12:48: Dickey k’s Luke Scott. Good.
12:50: Homer Bailey is nearly unbeatable with more than 6 days of rest. Maybe the Reds should use a 6.5 man rotation.
12:51: Full count from Kershaw to Harper. Something tells me we’ll see this matchup for the next 10 seasons. Harper can’t catch that 94 MPH fastball. Strike 3.
12:52: Meanwhile, Harvey makes quick work of the Phillies again. K’s the last batter. No hangover from the break for Harvey.
12:53: This is the first game this season the Dodgers have had Kemp, Crawford, and Ramirez in the lineup. Game 97.
12:53: Rendon is the 2 hitter for the Nats. He strikes out though. 2 batters, 2 ks for Clayton. Aces aren’t disappointing today.
12:54: Matt Harvey at the plate for the Mets. He strikes out. Guess he’s not perfect.
12:56: Announcers are discussing all the media attention for Harvey lately. It’s actually impressive that he’s been as focused as he has and hasn’t let his pitching struggle.
12:57: Melky Cabrera rips a single up the middle for Toronto.
12:58: Kemp hitting for LA. He’s been a big disappointment this season. Health issues but also underperformance.
12:59. Kemp’s first AB back, a big fly to left. Way out and the Dodgers take a 1-0 lead on Kemp’s 5th. Guess the shoulder feels good.
1:00: Nats are 3-7 in their last 10. They are bad. Expect a post on them maybe tomorrow.
1:01: 4 of the first 7 Dodgers to hit have gotten hits off of Jordan Zimmerman so far. Make it 5 of 8. Uh oh.
1:01: Big RBI double despite the best efforts of Sam Fuld give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead in Toronto.
1:02: Kershaw grounds out but it scores a run in DC. 2-0 Dodgers. Runner on third and 1 out for Crawford.
1:03: Crawford singles. 3-0 Dodgers. LA is 6 for 10 so far.
1:04: Jason Grilli is on the cover of the latest Sports Illustrated. FYI.
1:06: Carl Crawford steals second in DC. This could be getting away from the Nats in a minute.
1:06: Harvey gave up a single to Utley but is way ahead of Dom Brown in NY. K’s him with another change up. Second time he’s done that to Brown. 6th k for Harvey.
1:08: A-Gon is up with 2 on and 1 out. Zimmerman k’s him up on a nice pitch. Best ball he’s thrown today. Slider. 2 out for HanRam.
1:09: Harvery gets Delmon Young to fly out. 2-0 Mets still.
1:10: I’m getting tired, we’re already at 1,300 words. Almost done. Live blogs are taxing. Loving the 4 games at the same time thing though.
1:11: Homer Bailey k’s up Garret Jones on a nasty sinker at 91. He’s got it going today despite trailing.
1:13: Meanwhile, Hanley homered in DC, the Dodgers are up 6-0 and Zimmerman walked the next batter. Kemp will hit for the second time this inning and there is some much needed action in the Nat’s ‘pen. Zimmerman doesn’t have it today. Currently 1.2 innings, 6 earned.
1:15: This is my last entry. Maybe I’ll jump back in later or something. Kemp doubles down the line off of Zimmerman, Ethier scores. 7-0 Dodgers. Kemp has 6 total bases in the second inning here.
1:16: Also, Jose Reyes just stole a bag in Toronto. Jays still up 1-0 on Chirs Archer and the Rays there. It’s 1-0 Pittsburgh in Cincy with both Locke and Bailey throwing well. Harvey and the Mets lead 2-0 over Cliff Lee and the Phillies and Harvey is dealing. It’s a blowout through one and a half innings in DC with the Dodgers up 7. I’m taking a break. Happy Sunday.
-Max Frankel
