How the mighty have fallen. Joe Maddon, hero manager of the Cubs' 2016 World Series championship, has been fired by the Angels due to a current 12-game losing streak.
I just watched the Yankees spank the Angels three straight and got to watch Trout and Otani closely. Trout was hitless and dogged it on a single and the runner took an extra base on him which led to a run. He did not look like he was a happy camper to me. Otani had a couple of hits in three games but got lit up pitching , lasting only three innings. That team has a shallow bench and not much in the pen. Not a particularly well built or coached team.
Never really considered an "Immaculate Inning" , didn't know what the term meant. But apparently the Astros had 2 of the vs the Rangers today and that is a first for a MLB team. ARLINGTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston Astros can officially claim a Major League Baseball "unicorn." Starting pitcher Luis Garcia and reliever Phil Maton threw immaculate innings in their game against the Texas Rangers, marking the first time in baseball that a team threw multiple immaculate innings in the same game.
Terry, I also did not know what an immaculate inning is. I had a hunch, so I looked it up and it was what I thought it might be. Nine strikes in a row for 3 outs. Here's something, which, if true, is pretty amazing IMO:
Wow! Astros! Yankees have only been no hit 2 times at Yankee Stadium since the 50's. Both times by the Astros and both combined no hitters. 2003 and today! Great series for Houston to go in there and take 2 out of 3.
This is the second time in the past 20 years that the Astros have thrown a combined no-hitter in the Bronx. On June 11, 2003, six Houston pitchers – Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Sarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner – held New York hitless at the old Yankee Stadium.9 mins ago
I watched the game and that starter was overpowering. But combined no-hitters just don't have the juice of the real thing. Its this mind set that almost guarantees that the baseball record book is 95% etched in stone. Most records will never be seriously challenged.
One Yankee fans opion.. Astros have the book on how pitch to the Yankee lineup. NY will likely rampage through the regular season, but they are not built for the latter stages of the playoffs where you face quality pitching every day. Too many HR hitters who strike out the rest of the time and too few guys who can deliver a single or even make contact with men on base. HRs are at a premium against quality playoff pitching. This team is incapable of building runs in the traditional way. I probably send two e-mails a week to BlackIrish complaining about Joey Gallo, who embodies all the worst attributes of the Yankee lineup. The guy strikes out 40% of the time, cannot make contact with men on base, only hits HRs (and not frequently enough) while hitting .180. Even Judge raised my ire a few days ago. He hit two HRs in the game but came up with the bases loaed and with a 3-2 count flailed at a breaking ball that was three feet outside and bounced before it got to him. It looked like that Little League kid that rides the bench but has to be put into the game because league rules require everybody play. He's scared shitless, takes two called strikes and swings and misses by a mile. I've been bitching for years about how many RISPs this team leaves stranded. Countless times they have bases loaded or runners on second and third with one or no outs and nobody can make contact.
I understand the fan's frustration, and for the most part I believe it's legitimate. However, when he (assuming it's a he) gets into how ML batters swing at "bad balls", I'm under the impression that he doesn't fully understand the game. What Judge swung at was in fact a good pitch. How long do you (rhetorical "you") think a batter has to make a decision to swing. It's less than a second. The question is, how much less? Today's pitchers have mastered not only velocity (Can you say mid-high 90s?), but highly deceptive pitches. We all are familiar with the different deceptive pitches. The batter has less than an instant to commit to his swing. With 2 strikes, there's immense pressure to not get a called third strike. What looks like a "Little League" swing to that fan actually is a swing committed to at the instant the pitch looked like a strike. I used to be frustrated like the fan when my guys would swing like that, but over time I've come to realize that they're good players who lost those battles to good pitchers. That's my only nit to pick with the fan's observations. Like I said above, the rest is legit IMO.
Astros go from challenging the Yankees with back to back no hitters through 6 innings to losing to another walkoff HR by Judge. Split with them at Yankee Stadium, not a bad outcome. A bit frustrating that the BP gave up 2 walk offs though.
Its pretty clear at this point that the Astros and Yankees are the best of the AL. A lot of fans feel the same about the offensive makeup of the Yankees and their inability to create runs in lean times. That has been their ongoing weakness. This team plays much better defense than past teams and has better overall team speed. And they have enough switch hitters that they can build a lineup that is tough to pitch to from either side. Gallo was a bad bet who is close to an automatic out so far this year but who's defense in RF has been outstanding.
Many here are familiar with Bob Gibson's career. Every time I see facts about his 1968 season, it never fails to blow my mind.
The first season with the lower mound, 1969, while MLB offensive stats ballooned, Gibson still pitched 28 complete games, still was a 20-game winner @ 20-13 (on a mediocre team), and his ERA was 2.18, outstanding by any measure. The moral of the story: Great players adapt to change and remain great.
Al Leiter, former Blue Jay, Yankee and Met pitcher lives in the area here. In fact, my grandson plays in a complex in nearby Bayville named Leiter Field. He basically built it. He was one of the most recent pitchers to run up high pitch counts on a regular basis. In the most famous high school game ever played here at the Jersey shore he pitched a 15 inning no hitter where the other pitcher matched him pitch for pitch until the end, Leiter prevailed 1-0 , had 18 Ks and threw 221 pitches. He routinely threw well over 100 pitches per game . Nowadays once they get into the 80s the next baserunner on usually triggers their ouster from the game. Can you imagine if Dusty Baker tried to pull Bob Gibson out of a 7 inning no hitter like he did with his pitcher on Saturday? Baker would have left the field on a gurney !
Consistent with Gibson's reputation. 221 pitches for a HS pitcher? I would have been shouting for both coaches to be fired for ruining the kids' arms, and I would have been dead wrong, based on what Leiter went on to accomplish. Great story, George. P.S. Wonder what happened to the other pitcher.