Oct 03

AL Wild Card Game, 2018

As at Yankees, 5:08 PM PDT, TV: TBS

The As are making a virtue of necessity by planning to “bullpen” this game, using a multitude of pitchers. This strategy is supposedly different from a bullpen game in which relief pitchers are used in 1- or 2-inning stints, but I’m not entirely sure how. As manager Bob Melvin “…noted the distinction between a ‘bullpen game’ — using a series of relievers in 1- and 2-inning stints — and using Hendriks as an opener before turning to a traditional starter for multiple innings, in the role the pioneering Tampa Bay Rays call ‘the bulk guy.’

It will be RHP Liam Hendriks, then, who starts for the As. He’s 0-1 with a 4.13 ERA in 24 innings this season and has made 8 appearances in the “opener” role. He’ll face the Yankees’ more traditional starter RHP Luis Severíno (19-8, 3.39 ERA). He started last year’s Wild Card Game against the Twins and got knocked out early, giving up three runs and two homers.

Today in As history:

  • 1924 At Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl, the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League beat the Eastern Colored League’s Hilldale Giants (PA), 6-2, in the opening game of the first Colored World Series. The ten-game event, in which KC will capture the crown, winning five games to 4 with one tie, features games played in Chicago, Kansas City, and Baltimore.
  • 1965 At Metropolitan Stadium, Angels’ first baseman Vic Power (Pellot) ends his 12-year major league career going 1-for-5 with an RBI single in a 5-2 loss to the Twins. The .284 career hitter will have the distinction of being the last active player to have worn a Philadelphia A’s uniform (1954).
  • 1976 On the last day of the season, Kansas City’s George Brett and Hal McRae and Minnesota’s Rod Carew are separated by .001 for the batting title. Brett, who goes 3-for-4 , edges his Royals teammate (.333 vs .332) for the American League crown with the deciding hit, an inside-the-park home run, being a misplayed line drive, leading McRae to believe the lack of effort was intentional.
  • 1993 Eighty-three year-old Mel Harder throws the ceremonial ‘last’ pitch at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. As a member of the 1932 Indian squad, he also had thrown the first pitch as the team’s starting pitcher in the ballpark’s inaugural game, a 1-0 defeat to Lefty Grove and the A’s.
  • 2012 In the final game of the season with the AL West title on the line, Ranger’s center fielder Josh Hamilton’s fourth inning-error opens the floodgates that allow the A’s to erase a five-run deficit when they score six times en route to their 12-5 victory at the Oakland Coliseum. The Texas loss puts the team into the new one-game AL Wild Card contest against Baltimore.

Today in Yankee’s history:

  • 1947 In Game 4 of the Fall Classic, Bill Bevens comes within one out from pitching the first no-hitter in World Series history. The Yankee hurler loses his claim to fame and the game when Cookie Lavagetto, pinch-hitting for Eddie Stanky, hits a two-out ninth-inning double, giving the Dodgers a 3-2 improbable victory.
  • 1948 After taking his position in center field in the bottom of the eighth inning at Fenway Park, Joe DiMaggio, is removed from the game by Yankee manager Bucky Harris. As the superstar of their hated rivals limps off the field, the enthusiastic Red Sox crowd of 35,000 gives Joltin’ Joe a lengthy and loud standing ovation, a gesture he will later refer to as one of the greatest thrills of his career.
  • 1995 The Yankees, 9-6 victors over the Mariners in the Bronx, and the Rockies, dropping a 5-4 decision to the Braves in Colorado, become the first clubs to participate in the postseason not having been a first-place team. The two wild-card clubs will not advance further in the playoffs, both losing their three-out-of-five divisional series.
  • 2009 Needing only a win or a Colorado loss for the past week, the Dodgers finally clinch the National League West title with a 5-0 victory over the wild-card Rockies. Joe Torre, who will be managing in the postseason for the 14th consecutive season, has won thirteen divisional titles, including ten with the Yankees, one with the Braves, and now his second with LA.
  • 2010 The Rays, entering the final day of the season tied with the Yankees, win their second AL East crown when their rivals lose to Boston. With the title not in jeopardy, even with a loss due to their overall record against New York this season, Tampa Bay rallies for a 3-2 victory over Kansas City in 12 innings to take the division by a game.
  • 2013 Alex Rodriguez announces he has filed a lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court, accusing Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig of pursuing “vigilante justice” as part of a “witch hunt” in an effort to “destroy” his reputation and career. On August 5, the Yankees star was given a 211-game suspension for alleged violations of baseball’s drug agreement.
  • 2015 In the nightcap of a Citi Field twin bill, Max Scherzer throws his second no-hitter of the season when the Nationals beat the first-place Mets, 2-0. The 31 year-old National right-hander becomes the fifth pitcher to hurl two no-hitters in the same regular season, joining Nolan Ryan (1973 Angel), Virgil Trucks (1952 Tigers), Allie Reynolds (1951Yankees), and Johnny Vander Meer (1938 Reds), who also accomplished the feat.

As lineup:


Yankees lineup:


Aug 04

Game 109, 2017

Dodgers at Mets, 1:00 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, SNY

Joe Posnanski writes for MLB.com:

Assuming everyone stays healthy, the Dodgers’ crazy lineup features eight players with double-digit home runs and includes NL MVP Award candidates Corey Seager and Justin Turner, along with a certain NL Rookie of the Year Award winner in Bellinger. Their bullpen is so good that the Dodgers have gone into the sixth inning with 61 leads … and they have won every single one of those games. And the rotation will feature Kershaw, Alex Wood (who is 13-1 with a 2.33 ERA) and now Darvish. It doesn’t quite seem fair.

Dylan Hernandez writes at the LA Times:

What immediately stands out about Yu Darvish is his size.

He’s huge. Like, really, really huge.

The measurements of 6 feet 5 and 220 pounds don’t adequately describe the physical stature of the Dodgers’ recently acquired flamethrower. His shoulders are massive. His chest is expansive.

Andy McCullough has team reactions as the deal was made and confirmed.

As noted, the Dodgers send out the newly-acquired RHP Yu Darvish, who was 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA for the Rangers this season. He’ll face RHP Jacob deGrom, who’s 12-4 with a 3.29 ERA and one of the few bright spots in the Mets’ otherwise-unhappy season in which they’re eight games under .500 and only Jacob deGrom has made all 21 scheduled starts. Steven Matz, who is 2-4 with a 5.50 ERA in 10 starts, is the only other pitcher on the active roster of the seven candidates for the rotation in spring training.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1908 In Brooklyn, the last-place Cardinals blank the Brooklyn Superbas (Dodgers), 3-0. The entire Washington Park contest is played with just one ball.
  • 1941 Mickey Owens [sic] becomes the first catcher to handle three foul pop ups in one frame. The Brooklyn backstop’s third inning defense contributes to the Dodgers’ 11-6 victory over New York at Ebbets Field.
  • 1942 In a military relief game at the Polo Grounds, which will be the last war-time twilight game played, Pee Wee Reese’s grand slam in the top of the ninth, which puts the Dodgers up 5-1, doesn’t count because of the 9:10 pm government curfew. The game ends up as a 1-1 tie with the Giants.
  • 1948 Ernie Harwell, filling in for Red Barber, who is recovering from a bleeding ulcer, calls his first major league game as the Dodgers beat the Cubs at Ebbets Field, 5-4. To obtain the future Hall of Fame broadcaster, Brooklyn general manager Branch Rickey trades minor league catcher Cliff Dapper to the Atlanta Crackers.

In non-Dodgers history, on this date in 1985 Tom Seaver won his 300th game and Rod Carew got his 3,000th hit.

Lineup when available.