July MLB thread

[JMK]

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

I've been listening to the Orioles vs Yankees today.

Yankees sprint out to a 6-0 lead and looked like they were going to destroy the O's. That was in the second inning.

The score now?

8-6 Orioles in the 7th. The Yankees pitchers have walked just about the entire Orioles lineup today. Hell, the Orioles got back into the game without having to swing the bat.

Well done Yankees pitching staff.

:lol :lol :lol

[CMJ]

Been watching it since the first pitch. :)

[JMK]

12 walks and 3 hit batters for Yankee pitchers today.

Too good.

[JMK]

And here come the Yankees again....it just wouldn't be right if there wasn't any drama.

[JMK]

Well we spoke too soon. This was a game that nobody wanted to win. Very very ugly. The O's have been just totally falling apart lately. It appears as though those who said they just don't have the pitching may have been right. Raise your hand if you were one of those people.

:wave

[Hera]

Final score?

Best thing about the Yankees is that you can never count them out. One good inning and they flip things up again.

(But 12 walks...ouch)

[JMK]

13-8 final score.

Even though they won, there's nothing to feel good about really. Giambi is looking better at the plate, but that's about it. The pitching is atrocious, aside from Rivera who is once again the automatic closer he once was.

[CMJ]

Foulke is really worrying me. :\

[jjwr]

Foulke sucks this year, flat out. The Sox need a new closer. I don't know what his issue is but he is not the Foulke of last year. The Sox would have a very comfortable lead in the division if he hadn't blown all these games, just off the top of my head I can think of 3 games he's blown by giving up a HR in the 9th and thats not counting last nights loss.

With the Yankee's bats they are always in a game the problem is they can only pull off those huge innings against teams with no real pitching of its own, i.e Orioles, Devil Rays, etc. Against the good teams their pitching staff kills them and their offense can't get the hits they need off the other teams top relievers/closers.

[Jedieb]

And that's what you get for trashing my boys, HA HA! Another stomping of the O's and we're only .5 behind them. The Sox look like they're going to even up their set with the Rangers so the Yanks will still be 4 behind. We could go into the AllStar break only a few games behind. Let the chase begin...... :evil

And yes, Foulke sucks this year. He's obviously hurt.

[Hera]

Originally posted by jjwr

With the Yankee's bats they are always in a game the problem is they can only pull off those huge innings against teams with no real pitching of its own, i.e Orioles, Devil Rays, etc. Against the good teams their pitching staff kills them and their offense can't get the hits they need off the other teams top relievers/closers.

Cant really argue that at the present.

[JMK]

Foulke's gotta be hurt, but for Francona to say his knee has been bothering him for years is a little weak to me. The guy obviously isn't right, I'm sure it's a new injury and not something that's affected him for years.

As for the Yankees, look at who's back. Mr Fraud Giambi. He's on fire right now, or was he just feasting on weak Orioles pitching? I guess we will know the answer soon enough.

[Jedi Master Carr]

The O's pitching is almost as bad as the Yankees. Honestly, the Yankees don't have the pitching to get far, heck the Red sox don't either. Of course if Schilling comes back that helps Boston but something needs to be done about the Bullpen all they have is Timlin and Myers. Right now this favors the White Sox because their pitching is just plain dominant right now.

[JMK]

Same with their hitters, the Yankees pitchers could still put it together and start playing up to their huge paycheques. Nobody on that staff sucks, things just haven't gone the way the Yankees had hoped. Sure they're getting old but there are lots of successful old pitchers in baseball today.

I'm sure the Sox will be ok once Schilling comes back and Foulke gets back on track.

But the Orioles pitching is just bad. I don't know if they'll be back this year.

[Jedi Master Carr]

The Yankees are old and I don't think they can pull it together for the postseason, old pitching staffs haven't fared well when it comes to the post season. Right now I am predicting a White Sox-Cardinals WS to me they are the best two teams.

[JMK]

Well it's almost a lock that the Cardinals will be there, but as for the AL, I still think it's pretty wide open. As great as the White Sox have been, I'm still not sold totally on them. I think they'll run out of gas down the stretch or crash in the postseason.

[CMJ]

It's the White Sox or the Angels IMHO.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I don't the White Sox can do it, although the Angels have the pitching to match up heck they could get back there.

[JMK]

Angels/Cardinals would be an incredible World Series. I'd love to see that.

[JMK]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2101669

Schilling will be used in the bullpen when he comes back from injury. He will eventually get back into the rotation, but who knows how long he will have to fill the Sox' gaping hole in the bully?

[jjwr]

Only until he can start then one of the starters will move in. They have been lucky and have a solid starting rotation, its the relief which has killed them. With Schilling back they can go Schilling, Clemente, Arroyo, Wells & Wakefield and move Miller into long relief or just relief and have a starter quality pitcher to bridge the gap and maybe even close out games over the course of 3 innings.

[JMK]

Yeah they have an abundance of guys who can either be good starters or long relievers. I'm sure teams would not like the prospect of having to face the Boston starters who are usually tough, then have to deal with Schilling for an inning or 2 every night, then Timlin and Embree. That's not fun.

[Jedieb]

4 games against the O's, and then the first 3 after the all star break are against the Yankees. With those 7 games the Sox could put some serious distance between themselves and the rest of the AL East. I'm hoping the O's and Sox feast off each other and split their series while we do some damage against the Tribe. Ah, a boy can dream....

[Jedieb]

The Home Run Derby was ridiculous last night. Any other year 'roids would likely be the suspect for the way the ball was flying out last night, but not this year. The ball was probably a bit more friendly than it should have been, but for a Derby, that's not really a big deal. I wonder how long LaRussa is going to let his starters go today. he's got to be wanting that HF for the NL. The Cards have a better shot at getting back to the show than Francona and the Sox and you know they'd love to have HF this time around.

[JMK]

Last night's show was just nuts. I watched every pitch yesterday, but really you could have turned it off after Abreu's leadoff performance. That was just simply monstrous. He absolutely pulverized Tejada's record set the year before.

[CMJ]

I watched most of the HR Derby. Was really glad to see Pudge make the finals for the home town fans. And yeah...Abreu really put on a show.

[Jedieb]

At least for tonight.... SWEET BLESSED REVENGE!!! :shootin

[JMK]

Yankees only a 1.5 games out.

It's going to be an interesting 2nd half.

Anyone get the impression that even though the Sox are in 1st, they're already panicking?

[jjwr]

Nah the Sox are fine, they are already shoring up their bullpen and I expect they will make at least one more move and when Schilling moves back to the starting rotation it will add another quality arm.

Bradford looked quite good as well, admittedly it was only 2 batters but he was solid considering he faced Sheffield & A-Rod.

Hopefully the Schilling Closer won't go on too long, one point brought up is he's not used to coming in on such short notice and as such won't be quite ready to pitch. That seemed very evident last night, first two batters abused him but once he got warmed up he moved through them quickly.

The Yankee's pen was very solid last night, oddly enough the Sox & Yanks are total opposites right now in the pitching, Sox have 4-5 Solid starters but the pen is in shambles and the Yanks have maybe 1-2 solid starters and a very solid pen.

[Ryan Pode]

The Orioles bullpen is coming around, save for Sidney Ponson. When he pitches, the O's lose. It's plain and simple. And he looks like Shrek. :(

[Jedieb]

Schilling didn't look like he could push off on that ankle solidly. I think he's probably 1 month away from being ready to start. He should be the set up man, not the closer. If Timlin had gone out for the 9th the Sox probably would have pulled it out. Boston has a lot of home games in the second half. At the very least I think that's going to help them secure the WC. Despite last night's big win, things look grim for the Yanks. Wang, their most consistent starter, is out and the rumor is he may be gone for the season. Pavano, Brown, and Wright are all on the DL and who knows how effective they'll be when they get back. Ughh.

[JMK]

With our luck the Yankees are just going to magically turn it around.

By the way, does that 2 run ding dong by A-Rod last night make him a 'true Yankee' now? :rolleyes

[jjwr]

Well Sox are up early, course all that means is their bull-pen will have a chance to blow this one too!

[Jedieb]

If he hits a dinger like that to win a playoff game, then he'll get the true Yankee label. ;)
Well, another 17-1 spanking. 4 starters on the DL, it's a horror show. The best NY can hope for is a split. Johnson needs to come through tomorrow. Who the hell knows who they'll trot out for Sunday's game. I'm waiting by the phone to see if they call up my 7 year old. (Actually, he won't be 7 until next month, but I'm fudging his age to give him that much better of a chance to make the Yanks starting rotation.)

[Jedieb]

Johnson wasn't great, just good enough. The O's would tie the Sox for first with a win tonight. The Yanks picked up Leiter off the Marlins scrapheap and he's back to NY in time to start tomorrow's game. In other words, the Sox and Yanks will end up splitting these series. The winner? The O's.

[jjwr]

Thats been their MO for the past two years, if one wins a series the other will win the next, if its 4 they split. Neither has really had a great advantage.

Man the 3rd killed the Sox today, they were great otherwise, what a disaster inning for Clement. Oh well, get it out of his system now.

[Jedieb]

Leiter comes off the scrap heap to pitch today. But no fear Yankee fans, Kevin Brown returns on Monday!!! :cry

[Doc Milo]

Leiter did surprisingly well. Can we hope the change of scenery, change of leagues, and increased intensity of being in a pennant race may give him the jolt he needs to get back to form?

Yanks take 3 of 4 and now only 1/2 game out, tied on the loss side.

This season may be the closest to 1996 in recent memory. That year, too, Yanks overcame devestating injuries to pitching staff...

But, back then, the team was playing more fundamentally sound baseball. This team has a lot of work to do on the fundamentals.

Still should be an interesting summer, nevertheless.

[JMK]

Things are now finally levelling out to where we all thought they'd be at the beginning of the year. It was only a matter of time before the Yankees make up the ground and make a race of it. The Sox and Orioles have both been abused by the Yankees lately, so we'll see how that affects the division.

I still can't understand why the Sox decided to pick up Alex Cora. The guy is a lousy hitter, worse than Bellhorn. That double play he hit into last night in the bottom of the ninth was just a killer.

[Ryan Pode]

Erik Bedard and his 2.08 ERA return to face Minessota and maybe get rid of Sidney Ponson forever.

[JMK]

That would be a good start, but I think the O's pitching problems run deeper than Ponson.

[Jedieb]

But, back then, the team was playing more fundamentally sound baseball. This team has a lot of work to do on the fundamentals.
That Cano error made the ninth more interesting than it should have been. The rookie CF got sent back down Sunday night. Bernie made some great plays to finish the series but he's still got an arm that my grandmother could run on. Ughh, Beltran may be struggling at the plate, but what I wouldn't give for that defense in CF right now.

[JMK]

I know how Bernie must feel. I don't know why or how it happened, but 10 years ago, and up until about 5 years ago I had a rocket of an arm. I was an outfielder all my life and routinely threw guys out trying to turn singles to doubles, doubles to triples, and guys trying to score.

Now if I try to launch one it feels like my arm was repeatedly smashed with an ice pick from my elbow to my shoulder, then set on fire. Poor bastard.

Williams was so good for so many years. It's not often where you see a guy spend his whole lengthy career with one team, but it's almost time for Bernie to hang up the cleats. His fielding is not what it used to be, nor is his bat. I hope he soon decides to retire with dignity, and as a career Yankee. He's not HOF material, but the Yanks could conceivably retire his number. He's made a lot of big plays and had a lot of big clutch hits for them over the years.

[jjwr]

I agree 100% on Bernie, I would much rather see him retire as a Yankee then move on and play a few more years for the Rays or something silly like that.

As for the Sox...wow could they look any more listless?

They're playing good defense, pitching has still been solid, they only gave 8, 1, 7, 5, 3 runs the past 5 games but take away their 17 run game and they haven't done squat the plate. No urgency and when it looks like they may make their move they make some incredibly bad plays to kill the rally.

[Jedieb]

If you saw tonight's game you saw that Bernie Williams is at the end of his career. Early in the game he wasn't able to chase down what use to be a routine fly ball, and then he had that huge error that almost cost the Yankees the game. Forget his arm, his knees are simply gone. I agree that he's probably not a HOF, but he's an all time Yankee and he's had a career to be proud of. He's in the last year of his contract and I expect he'll retire after this season. Please Bernie, don't DH for somone next year. It just won't look right.

Well, we're back in first place boys and girls. Still can't get decent pitching, but we're back in first. And Sox fans, you now know what it's like to be at the mercy of the baseball juggernaut that is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Unreal.

[JMK]

The Sox have looked terrible lately. And I think I'm the reason for it. Ever since I saw them play that monday home game back on June 27th they've been pitiful at Fenway. They're just getting mutilated by their division rivals.

[CMJ]

Way to go Kyle. ;)

[JMK]

I know, I feel terrible about it but what can I do now? They treated me to a miserable 7-0 loss and haven't done a thing since. And they really don't have any excuses, they're just playing poorly right now. The Yankees have just as many injuries to their pitching staff, but their bats are coming through now.

[Jedieb]

Thanks Kyle!!!! :thumbup

[CMJ]

Approximately 60% thru the season here would be the playoff teams..

Al East
Boston Red Sox

AL Central
Chicago White Sox

AL West
LA/Anaheim Angels

AL Wildcard
Minnesota Twins


NL East
Atlanta Braves(I'm giving them the division lead even though they are in fact tied)

NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals

NL West
San Diego

NL Wildcard
Washington Nationals

[jjwr]

At least the Sox are showing they can beat a good team, Miller finally showed someting as well.

Schilling with the way he's going should be starting within the month. I'm curious which starter goes to the bull-pen, I'm guessing it would have to be Miller or Arroyo.

[JMK]

I'd say Miller. Arroyo's been quite a good starter.

The Nationals are on the way down, it's about time!

[Ryan Pode]

Goodbye playoffs. :wave :( Guess that's what happens when you get swept by the DEVIL RAYS.

[JMK]

Well if you had only listened to JMC and myself earlier this year we could have told you that Baltimore wasn't going to hang around. The pitching was never there. ;)

[Ryan Pode]

Don't have to rub it in.

[JMK]

Just tryin to spare you the heartache.

[jjwr]

Damn those Devil Rays! By the time they're done they will have won about 75% of their games against the Sox & Yankee's and only 20% against the rest of the MLB.

[JMK]

They're really a pain in the rear to AL east teams. They've beaten up the Yankees quite badly, just swept the Orioles, and now they're playing the Red Sox tough.

[Jedieb]

Ha Ha Sox fans, you're now experiencing the AL Buzz Saw that is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays!!!! :evil

I honestly can't figure that team out. They really are wretched but for some reason they play their best against the top of the AL East. At one point, their Yankee wins accounted for more than 1/4 of their win total.

The Yanks and Sox are even in the loss column but the Sox 2 ahead in the win column. The Yanks open a 3 game set against the Twins with the WC lead at stake. Nice month of baseball coming up.

[Jedieb]

Some big series starting today in the AL. The Yanks are taking on the Angles and the Sox are squaring off against the Twins. A sweep by either one helps the Yanks in the WC race. Meanwhile, Brown is vacation on the DL yet again forcing the Yanks to pick up Chacon from the Rockies. But the weirdest news we've seen in the league has to be Manny's trade demands. Who knows how Manny's mind works. I can't see the Sox getting equal value for him or being willing to give up that offense. Manny can babble all he wants, as long as he keeps hitting the Sox don't have a real reason to trade him.

[jjwr]

No way Manny is going anywhere right now, in the off season maybe but in the midst of the pennant race? Not gonna happen.

Ok those more knowledgable in baseball rules might be able to answer this one.

Sox vs Twins in the 8th, 4-3 lead. Bases loaded and Olerud just hit a Grandslam, 8-3 lead. The announcer said its not longer a save situation...why? Cause they scored again since the starter left?

[Jedi Master Carr]

Worst news for the Twins, they lost Hunter for a month at least. That really hurts their playoff chances. The Red Sox won and the Angels are beating the Yankees. Really right now the Angels look like the best team in the American league, I bet it will be them and the Cardinals in the WS. About Manny they did try to trade them but they would have had to give up too much to do it and they balked at a deal. It would have been between them, Tampa and the Mets but they had to give up their best two prospects to make the deal and that is just crazy.

[CMJ]

Originally posted by jjwr
Sox vs Twins in the 8th, 4-3 lead. Bases loaded and Olerud just hit a Grandslam, 8-3 lead. The announcer said its not longer a save situation...why? Cause they scored again since the starter left?

A save is holding a 3 run - or less lead.

[jjwr]

Aha! I didn't realize that, thanks CMJ!

Huge deal in the works! There is a dead-line tomorrow, I think noon, but its looking like Manny and a Tampa player to the Mets, Sox would get Aubrey Huff & Mike Cameron and the Rays get 4 minor leaguers from the Sox & Mets.

Wow! Cameron is solid, not sure about Huff but losing Manny leaves a hole in the sox lineup, then the question is will the team start to play better without his distraction there?

[CMJ]

I'm gonna go into mourning if Ramirez leaves.

[Jedi Master Carr]

That deal is dead. The Sox didn't want to part with the minor leaguers they thought the deal was too much.

[Jedieb]

I don't think Manny is really much of a distraction. I think the team is use to his behavior. Bottom line, he's still producing. His average is uncharacteristically low, but he's still a HR and RBI monster. I think the Sox would miss him a great deal down the stretch and especially in the post season. Losing Manny would send shockwaves through that line up. Without him, Ortiz would suffer. He certainly wouldn't see as many good pitches in crunch time with Manny gone.

[JMK]

That would be a killer for the Sox. Manny is such a huge part of that team. No one could fill that spot. But I doubt the Sox will trade him now unless someone knocks their socks off with an offer. It's not a secret that Manny wants out and that the Red Sox want to unload his contract, hell they even put him on waivers a couple years ago.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well it his contract they don't like. The new owners didn't sign him and they hate contracts like his. However, this deal won't happen. He makes too much and nobody wants to pay his salary, heck the Mets were only going to take him if Boston gave them their best two prospects. There is no Way I would do that deal. I think they did it to look like they were trying and tell Manny here see we tried.

[Jedieb]

Yanks neeeded today's 9th inning rally big time. The way Oakland is playing, the Angles may end up being in the WC chase in a few days so today's win cuts their lead down.

Damn, my skin crawled when I read Embree was pitching for the Yanks today.

[Jedi Master Carr]

The Angels will win that division they have too much talent. I think Oakland will win the WC though.

[jjwr]

Embree didn't fare too well with his two batters.

Angels gave the win to the Yanks though, its still a win but 4 walks in the 9th? Including one on 4 pitches to A-Rod to bring in a run? At least Foulke would have given up a Grand Slam in that situation and lost it right.

[Jedieb]

Today was yet another example of why the Sox would be out of their minds to ever trade Manny. No one is better with men in scoring position these days and he's as clutch as it gets. He's a FLAKE, a gangsta of a flake, but you can't win without him.

HUGE comeback by the Yanks. They trailed twice but pulled it out in the 11th. Giambi ended July by hitting his 13th and 14th HR's of the month. Last Yankee to do that was Mantle. The A's continue to play amazing ball. And who'd a thunk that August would start with the Astros in the WC lead? With a healthy Petite they could be lethal in the playoffs. They almost pulled it off last year, and they could make it to the WS with a couple of breaks. Aside from the Cards, who's going to stop them, the Braves? :evil

[CMJ]

I know you love to slam the Braves, but I swear Bobby Cox is the best manager in the game. It doesn't matter who he loses, that team wins.

[Jedieb]

That Braves dig was just for you. ;)

Cox is a great manager, but Braves fans are beyond lame. They don't even sell out playoff games anymore. They don't deserve that success.

[CMJ]

I pretty much agree with that. But as you always say, how many times can you be lead to the altar to then lose? The fans didn't abandon them till the late 90's if I recall. They stayed loyal thru the first championship. It was probably the year the Yanks swept them that broke Atlanta's will.

[Jedieb]

That's no excuse. Braves heartbreaks pale in comparison to what the Cubs and Red Sox went through, but those fans NEVER abandoned their teams. Some teams have loyal, diehard fans. The Braves just aren't one of them.

The dogs days of August are upon. Time for the next MLB thread!