Here are the top 10 teams in MLB, according to CBS Sports. It should be noted that the top 4 clubs account for all of the pennants in both leagues since the HP was founded in the summer of 2010:
1. St. Louis Cardinals: 25-13 (2011 World Series Champs)
2. Texas Rangers: 25-14 (2010 and 2011 AL Champs)
3. Detroit Tigers: 22-15 (2012 AL Champs)
4. San Francisco Giants: 23-16 (2010 and 2012 World Series Champs)
5. New York Yankees: 25-14
6. Baltimore Orioles: 23-16
7. Atlanta Braves: 22-17
8. Cincinnati Reds: 23-16
9. Cleveland Indians: 21-17
10. Arizona Diamondbacks: 22-18
Natstown, which is trying to become the Hitless Wonders of 2013 (the Nats are 21-18 despite having a team batting average of only .230) is ranked 11th. The Swingin' A's (20-21) are ranked 19th. The A's have a team ERA of 4.33 (25th best in the Majors). If we could put the A's hitters with the Nats' pitchers, we might really have something.
GREENCOLLAR! Yoenis Céspedes homered to lead off the eighth, and that was the game-winning run in a 4-3, come-from-behind win over the Royals in Oakland. Sunday's win followed 2-1 A's victories on both Saturday and Friday, and the series sweep moves Oakland to 23-22--at the moment, six games behind the Rangers in the American League West. (Texas hosts Detroit tonight.)
ReplyDeleteNatstown is currently batting .230 for the year -- 29th of 30 teams in MLB. After a while, you just stop expecting them ever to hit the ball. You can't watch the game at-bat by at-bat -- the sight of all those strikeouts and weak ground balls will drive you nuts. And besides, it means almost nothing for them to get hits or put people in scoring position, because the odds are that the guy coming to the plate is batting less than .200.
ReplyDeleteEventually, you just put the game on in the background and get on with your life, checking in every few innings to see if the score has changed. And if the other team ever goes ahead by more than one run, you turn off the TV, because that game is lost.
First game of a series at Texas, and A's win--#GREENCOLLAR!)--9-2 as Bartolo Colon pitches his 175th all-time victory a few days ahead of his 40th birthday. Baseball-Reference.com says Colon is now tied for 170th in career victories. He now has one more than Ken Holtzman and one fewer than Dave Stieb. If Colon and the A's are solid the rest of the way this season, he's going to get himself into Urban Shocker/Mike Cuellar/Dave McNally territory.
ReplyDeleteOakland is 24-22, second place in the American League West and 5.5 games behind the Rangers.
In San Francisco, Natstown is trying to break a three-game losing streak. They currently lead the Giants 2-1 in the fourth, but they aren't going to be scoring any more runs tonight. The Nats got 2 runs in the first, and Strasburg and the bullpen just have to shut out the Giants the rest of the way.
ReplyDeleteIn the top of the 4th, Natstown had the bases loaded with one out. I didn't even look up -- they almost never get hits with runners in scoring position. (Their occasional runs almost always come as a result of solo homers or random doubles.) Sure enough, we got a tapper back to the mound and a strikeout to end the inning without scoring a run.
With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, the Nats give up a game-tying triple. Then in the 10th, the Nats run out a guy who hasn't pitched all year -- and he gives up a game-winning homer. Nats lose their fourth in a row.
DeleteIt was a lot of fun for all of us Nats fans who stayed up until 1 A.M on the East Coast.
Go, Nats!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile--#GREENCOLLAR!--A's get a Yoenis Céspedes home run in the third, and Dan Straily, Sean Doolittle and Grant Balfour combine to shutout the Rangers for a 1-0 win. Last game in the series is tomorrow afternoon, and Oakland now trails Texas by 4.5 in the A.L. West.