06-29-2016, 05:56 PM | #6281 |
b/c 5 is better than 4
Posts: 9,721
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Brett Cecil & Franklin Morales on tap to return to Jays, so that's 2 lefties coming back for them..... if Cecil can get back to his same form as last season, he'd be invaluable.....
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06-29-2016, 06:54 PM | #6282 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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He's totally capable of it, but jeeeez was he bad earlier this year.
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06-29-2016, 08:59 PM | #6283 |
Posts: 52,478
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MLB is probably sweating the fact that there aren't any close divisional races just a little bit.
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06-29-2016, 09:04 PM | #6284 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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Just the first half of the season hot shot.
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06-29-2016, 09:45 PM | #6285 |
Posts: 52,478
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National League is pretty much decided. Only 7 teams above .500 and 3 of them are only 4 games over .500.
Nationals and Mets for the East unless you think Marlins are for real. None of them playing well so it's possible this could change if one of them gets hot. Giants and Cubs are walking away with the divisions. Cubs are 4-6 last 10 still up 10.5 games. Dodgers are the Giants only real threat.. American league is a little bit less settled..but..Houston is 9-1 last 10 and still 10 games behind the Rangers. Cleveland and their winning streak at least have 2 potential teams to contend with in the Tigers and Royals. Might be the only real division race I think..but maybe Cleveland is for real? And of course the Orioles..Red Sox just lost 2 of 3 to Rays after the Rays got swept by 3 1st place teams in 11 games (giants Indians orioles) which is proof enough for me the Red Sox aren't contenders. Blue Jsys..meh..And the Yankees are a sub .500 diaaster |
06-29-2016, 09:50 PM | #6286 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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wouldn't you say that perhaps... they (The Orioles) are peaking too early?
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06-29-2016, 09:51 PM | #6287 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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and lol good teams lose series' to bad teams all the time. Just depends if you're slumping or not. You're no fun to shoot the shit with, because you only see things through the eyes of a total homer.
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06-29-2016, 10:06 PM | #6288 |
President of Freedonia
Posts: 58,167
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lol Daniel Murphy has hit 4 home runs in 9 games against the Mets. He's also already tied his career high with 14 home runs this year.
I was all for moving on from him even after his insane NLDS/NLCS. Seemed like a classic case of a guy just going apeshit in the national spotlight. No reason to expect that to become his new norm. Nope. It was. He's legitimately one of the best hitters in baseball right now for our division rival and I'm already willing to say it's one of the biggest fuck ups in Mets history. |
06-30-2016, 12:27 PM | #6289 |
Large Marge sent me
Posts: 32,245
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Too bad Supreme isn't here to explain why it was ok that the Reds suck at baseball so much that they felt compelled to throw at one of the games rising superstars who also refused to show up the Reds by doing a curtain call the day before.
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06-30-2016, 01:17 PM | #6290 |
Posts: 52,478
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06-30-2016, 01:25 PM | #6291 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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06-30-2016, 01:26 PM | #6292 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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But what do they do if those thunderbats slow down a bit? Can't rely much on their pitching can they?
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06-30-2016, 05:39 PM | #6293 |
Posts: 52,478
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Orioles have scored 10+ runs in 3 straight never done it 4 games in Baltimore (st Louis Brown's did it in 1922)
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06-30-2016, 05:40 PM | #6294 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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ur not answering my question, sir.
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06-30-2016, 05:44 PM | #6295 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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If the Orioles pitching rounds out, with their bullpen being as good as I've seen it, they're definitely world series contenders.
For the Jays to contend, they either need Brett Cecil to have a total turn around come his return, or they need a big acquisition in the bullpen to where I would use either Troy Tulowitzki or Jose Bautista as trade bait (for something OTHER than just a lefty in the bullpen but that would be a requisite part of the deal.) |
06-30-2016, 05:49 PM | #6296 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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Fucking love Jason Grilli though. Such a useful strikeout guy. Also like Joe Biagini's turn around for the past few games. he was hard done by in Colorado with some bad defence, but he was drawing a lot of soft contact. I don't know if he's longed for the majors, but he definitely serves a nice purpose for now. And he's an amazing interview.
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06-30-2016, 06:47 PM | #6297 |
Posts: 52,478
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06-30-2016, 06:52 PM | #6298 |
Large Marge sent me
Posts: 32,245
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YEA NOW THEY'RE GOOD AGAIN, THEY BEAT THA TWINZ!
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06-30-2016, 06:56 PM | #6299 |
Posts: 52,478
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The Orioles should work in a New Day Booty Os reference sometime..Adam Jones is a big WWE fan
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06-30-2016, 11:26 PM | #6300 |
Large Marge sent me
Posts: 32,245
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3 games to go, but the Mets showing why they, Giants and Nats are a serious threat to the cubs. Cubs having problems in close games now too. So far their problems are they cant handle a dominant starter who can work within the strike zone and dont play well in close games. Playoff baseball will require them to figure those two things out fast. You cant count on running into another broken down Cardinals team in October.
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07-01-2016, 12:00 PM | #6301 |
Inno Knows.
Posts: 43,710
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Bobby Bonilla getting paid today
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07-01-2016, 12:47 PM | #6302 |
President of Freedonia
Posts: 58,167
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Bruce Sutter has been getting roughly $1.3 million from the Braves since 1990 and will continue to do so until 2020. He last played for the Braves in 1988.
The Reds have to pay Junior $3.5 million a year until 2021. The Dodgers are paying out over $43 million this year to plates who are not playing for them. And countless of other players are getting deferred money with interest. |
07-01-2016, 04:40 PM | #6303 |
Posts: 52,478
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Find it funny the Indians have to wear Canadian flag patches on Canada Day
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07-01-2016, 05:48 PM | #6304 | |
Former TPWW Royalty
Posts: 66,588
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Quote:
Like with the classic example of the Mets and Bonilla, whatever they saved at the time hasn't been close to what they have been paying out all these years later. |
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07-01-2016, 06:05 PM | #6305 |
Posts: 52,478
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Blue Jays seeing if they can lose the game by running out of players due to ejections as this game goes to the 16th
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07-01-2016, 07:01 PM | #6306 |
Loque Ja
Posts: 87,860
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Into the 18th, run out of pitchers so putting in Ryan Goins as pitcher
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07-01-2016, 07:07 PM | #6307 |
Loque Ja
Posts: 87,860
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Goins loads the bases
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07-01-2016, 07:08 PM | #6308 |
Loque Ja
Posts: 87,860
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DOUBLE PLAY to get out of the half
Goins makes it through! Jays HAVE to deliver a run here though or they are DOOMED. |
07-01-2016, 07:23 PM | #6309 |
Loque Ja
Posts: 87,860
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Heading into the 19th
Darwin Barney pitching now with no warmup.... |
07-01-2016, 07:26 PM | #6310 |
Loque Ja
Posts: 87,860
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Barney gives up the home run
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07-01-2016, 07:38 PM | #6311 |
Loque Ja
Posts: 87,860
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And that's the ball game.
Will be a "good story" for Cleveland I guess... that they break their "streak record" in a 19 inning game..... Trying to see the positives.... |
07-01-2016, 09:18 PM | #6312 |
President of Freedonia
Posts: 58,167
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With the fan ballots now closed it’s time for my annual exercise in predicting the All Star Game rosters before they get formally revealed in a few days. As always, I don’t agree with all of these selections, however I’m making the predictions based on the process in which the teams are currently constructed. You have the fan-elected starters, player-elected reserves and pitchers, and the managers filling out the rest all while making sure each team has representation. It’s a complicated process that I think could be handled better, and I will point out some of the flaws in my projected roster as we go along.
I’ll start with the NL, because Rob Manfred thought it would be a good idea to have the Senior Circuit be the road team in one of their own ballparks. National League Starting Lineup (8) C: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants 1B: Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs 2B: Ben Zobrist, Chicago Cubs SS: Addison Russell, Chicago Cubs 3B: Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs OF: Yoenis Cespedes, New York Mets OF: Dexter Fowler, Chicago Cubs OF: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals In the final polling update this week, the closest race was at catcher where Buster Posey was trailing Yadier Molina but closing in quickly. Giants fans have been great at the polls in recent years and Molina is having a largely dreadful season, so I’m thinking Posey will pass Molina in these last few days. The only projected starter here that I disagree with is Addison Russell, who while great defensively still has a long way to go to develop as a hitter. His presence on the team will likely deny one of Corey Seager, Trevor Story, or Aldemys Diaz a spot on the roster. Other than that though, this is a fair lineup. Sure you can argue the merits of Zobrist vs. Daniel Murphy or Bryant vs. Nolan Arenado, but all of those guys are likely to make the team anyway so it doesn’t really matter. Player Balloting: Position Players (8) C: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals 1B: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks 2B: Daniel Murphy, Washington Nationals SS: Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers 3B: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies OF: Jay Bruce, Cincinnati Reds OF: Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies OF: Starling Marte, Pittsburgh Pirates Murphy and Arenado, as mentioned, are highly likely to be voted on to the roster as backups at their respective positions. Goldschmidt and Gonzalez also feel like safe bets. It’s a toss up as to who will make it between Seager or Story as the backup shortstop but I’m tentatively going to guess Seager fares better in the polling. Even though I alluded to Molina having a terrible year, I could easily see the players voting him in entirely on reputation in spite of the numbers just as Jason Varitek was in 2008. On the flipside, reputation could very well hurt a guy like Ryan Braun as I can imagine a lot of players still refusing to vote for him after his PED fiasco from a few years ago. As such this spot is a toss up for me so I’m guessing the other two outfield spots go to Marte who is among the league leaders in steals and batting average, and Bruce who is the Reds’ best overall player. Player Balloting: Pitchers (8) SP: Jake Arrieta, Chicago Cubs SP: Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants SP: Johnny Cueto, San Francisco Giants SP: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers SP: Noah Syndergaard, New York Mets RP: Jeurys Familia, New York Mets RP: Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers RP: Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates The starting pitching in the NL this year is absolutely absurd. Maybe a Cueto or a Syndergaard will fall off the actual player ballot, but I can’t fathom any of these five not making the team with the kind of years they’ve had. Kershaw would have had to be the one in line to make the start but with him going on the DL this week that duty might fall to Arrieta instead which is about as great of a Plan B as you could possibly have. Trying to forecast the relievers is a much tougher call. I’ll give the nod to Jansen and Melancon who are having solid seasons and have a reputation. In spite of his relatively inflated ERA compared to his peers, Familia is the league leader in saves, has a regular season consecutive saves streak that dates back to August 1st of last year, and was viewed as a snub last year so I think he will get some love. Managerial Selections (9) C: Jonathan Lucroy, Milwaukee Brewers 1B: Wil Myers, San Diego Padres SS: Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies 3B: Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals OF: Odubel Herrera, Philadelphia Phillies SP: Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins SP: Jon Lester, Chicago Cubs SP: Julio Teheran, Atlanta Braves RP: Fernando Rodney, Miami Marlins Five teams are missing representation: the Marlins, Brewers, Phillies, Braves, and the hometown Padres. The Marlins’ spot is the easiest one to fill as Fernandez is a slam dunk choice for the pitching staff. There are nearly always three catchers on the All Star team, so Lucroy wins out over Wilson Ramos to satisfy the Milwaukee requirement. Herrera is simply the best player on the Phillies so he should make it as an extra outfielder. The trade of Rodney to the Marlins seemingly makes Wil Myers a lock to be the Padres rep, although I think both will make it anyway as usually even the bad host teams will have two reps and Rodney still sorta counts towards that. That leaves the dumpster fire Braves whose best options would be pitchers: Teheran or Arodys Vizcaino. Collins watched Teheran fire 17 shutout innings against his Mets over the last two weeks so that might give him the leg up It’s already a very Cub-heavy team but Lester has just been far too good to leave off. Trevor Story has been one of the best, well, stories in the NL so he should definitely be there. The last spot then goes to Carpenter who would give Collins versatility at 2B and 3B. If my prediction of Jay Bruce getting voted in by the players ends up not coming true, Collins is going to need to get creative to squeeze Bruce, Adam Duvall, or Zack Cozart on to rep Cincinnati. Final Vote Possibilities Here’s the point where you realize how deep the league really is. MLB rules require a minimum of 13 pitchers to be named to the roster. This projection only has 12. In that case, Collins would need to load up his Final Vote list with arms to fill the requirement. Another Cub starter such as John Lackey or Jason Hammel could be in the mix. Stephen Strasburg is on the DL but would still have the numbers to warrant the honor of being selected. A guy like Drew Pomeranz or Ryan Buchter could give Padres fans a chance to add another hometown player. Closers like Vizcaino, A.J. Ramos, or Hector Rondon could be in play. Lastly, don’t forget about Hwan Seung Oh who has been probably the best non-closing reliever in the NL. Should one of those pitchers make the initial roster to free up Collins to nominate position players for his Final Vote, I’m thinking it would mostly consist of names already mentioned: Diaz, Braun, Ramos, Duvall, and Cozart could all be viable choices. Gregory Polanco could be an option in an already crowded group of outfielders along with any one of three Marlins: Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich and, yes, Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro making one last All Star team would be a very nice send off for him, actually. American League Starting Lineup (9) C: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals 1B: Eric Hosmer, Kansas City Royals 2B: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros SS: Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox 3B: Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles OF: Jackie Bradley Jr., Boston Red Sox OF: Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City Royals OF: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim DH: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox Perez and Ortiz’ elections to their respective positions are a mere formality based on the most recent poll, the only debate is which of the two will garner the highest vote total. The one change I made from the poll is Cain overtaking Mookie Betts for a starting outfield spot. Cain was a very narrow fourth place but he has the ballot box stuffing Royals fans behind him and Betts’ recent injury might have lost him some late votes. To be blunt, I hope I’m wrong on this one because the pool of outfielders is very deep this year and Cain, while a nice player, could prevent someone more deserving from making the team. I can’t object to any of the other starters. In particular the competitions all along the infield are between two players who are certainly going to make the team one way or another. Trout will be making his fifth All Star appearance at just 24 years old, he might break the record before he is all said and done. Player Balloting: Position Players (9) C: Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles 1B: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers 2B: Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners SS: Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians 3B: Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays OF: Carlos Beltran, New York Yankees OF: Ian Desmond, Texas Rangers OF: Mark Trumbo, Baltimore Orioles DH: Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto Blue Jays The infield didn’t really take too much thought, and I’d be stunned if any of Cabrera, Cano, Lindor, or Donaldson failed to make the team. Wieters is one of only three AL catchers with a respectable batting line, so his election is sensible. The backup DH is always hard to forecast. I believe Nelson Cruz has the best case in terms of raw numbers, however much like with Ryan Braun I believe his PED history could cause some of his fellow players to steer clear, paving the way for Encarnacion to make it instead. I had a much tougher time trying to decide which three outfielders the players are most likely to vote on. In the end I settled on Beltran who is a respected veteran in the midst of a career resurgence, Desmond whose transition to the outfield has been one of the better stories in baseball, and Trumbo who is amongst the league leaders in home runs. Ned Yost will have no shortage of other deserving outfielders to choose from to fill out the roster later. Player Balloting: Pitchers (8) SP: Marco Estrada, Toronto Blue Jays SP: Cole Hamels, Texas Rangers SP: Danny Salazar, Cleveland Indians SP: Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox SP: Steven Wright, Boston Red Sox RP: Zach Britton, Baltimore Orioles RP: Wade Davis, Kansas City Royals RP: Andrew Miller, New York Yankees I certainly can’t make an argument against any of these five starters. Sale would have to figure to be the top choice to get the start for the Junior Circuit. Hamels and Salazar have been the best pitchers on two of the best teams in baseball. Estrada has built on his quality campaign from a year ago with an even better one this year. Wright is leading the league in ERA and channeling his inner 2012 R.A. Dickey. It’d be tough for the players to make a wrong choice on relievers with how many incredible ones there have been in the AL. Britton has been the best closer in the game this year, Davis is having another brilliant year and has built a reputation of dominance, and Miller is striking out nearly two batters an inning. Managerial Selections (7) C: Stephen Vogt, Oakland Athletics SS: Eduardo Nunez, Minnesota Twins 3B: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays SP: Chris Tillman, Baltimore Orioles RP: Dellin Betances, New York Yankees RP: Kelvin Herrera, Kansas City Royals RP: Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox The A’s, Rays, and Twins are the only three teams yet to be called, and conveniently the most obvious representatives from each of those teams plays a different position. Vogt fills the unofficially required third catcher role, Nunez fills a sort of utility role, and Longoria is the face of his franchise and the type of star that deserves recognition at an All Star Game. I suspect Yost will take at least one more starter to give him the luxury of extra innings if necessary. Personally Tillman wouldn’t be my preference but his 10 wins might stand out to Yost. Beyond that though I think Yost will repeat last year’s strategy of loading up on hard throwing relievers for this game. Herrera will be rewarded by his manager for a second year in a row as a set up man, and Betances will join his teammate Miller. Would it be overkill to include Aroldis Chapman and have the entire BMC trio available? Given that the objective is to win, probably not. However given that Chapman missed a month to suspension I will guess that he instead opts for a guy who has been around all year like Kimbrel. Final Vote Possibilities That guys like Betts and Cruz aren’t yet on this projected roster is quite an indictment of how convoluted the voting process can be. I hope it doesn’t end up like this in reality. Along with them, other potential bats that could be in play for the Final Vote depending on how Yost wants to use the spot could include: Ian Kinsler, Victor Martinez, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Adrian Beltre, and Dustin Pedroia. Alternatively, maybe Yost wants to roll with 14 pitchers and give himself maximum flexibility on his pitching staff. If he wants another relief arm you’re looking at guys like Chapman, Steve Cishek, Roberto Osuna, Brad Brach, and Will Harris. Extra starter options (several of whom I prefer to Tillman, frankly) could include the Josh Tomlin, Trevor Bauer, and Corey Kluber trio from Cleveland, a Rookie of the Year candidate in Michael Fulmer, or guys like Aaron Sanchez, Colby Lewis, and Jose Quintana. |
07-02-2016, 07:35 PM | #6313 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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Jays can't convert 2nd run in a 19 inning game, even when their shortstop gives them a scoreless inning, but win the following game 9-6. They don't make enough in game adjustments when the bats aren't working. So infuriating.
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07-02-2016, 10:30 PM | #6314 |
Posts: 52,478
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How bout those Red Sox
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07-03-2016, 04:19 PM | #6315 |
Loque Ja
Posts: 87,860
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Well..... when the bats are working, they are working.... DAMN
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07-03-2016, 07:08 PM | #6316 |
Quark is Less Impressed.
Posts: 38,371
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07-03-2016, 07:17 PM | #6317 |
Posts: 52,478
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Refering to their shellacking last night but anyway
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07-03-2016, 07:29 PM | #6318 |
Quark is Less Impressed.
Posts: 38,371
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Don't mean shit now.
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07-03-2016, 07:43 PM | #6319 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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yeah 2 of 3 is sweet. I'd rather lose 21-2 than 2-1. it's all the same anyways at the end of the day, no extra points for runs scored in the standings.
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07-03-2016, 08:03 PM | #6320 |
Former TPWW Royalty
Posts: 66,588
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Don't know why Farrell keeps using Buchholz as a starter (or even at all) but today's win was good.
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