Uh oh....Brewers 2.5 back with 4 to go....Brew Crew are 9-1 in last ten games. Here goes the fingernails.
Astros take a slight lead over the Yankees...103-54 to 102-56. Gerrit Cole get's 19th win and sets new season record for strikeouts by an Astros, with 314, that breaks the record held for 40 years by J.R. Richard who's career was cut short by health issues. I would have thought Nolan Ryan would have held that record, but he never had 300 with the Astros, he did have 383 with the Angels in 1973 though.
I remember JR Richard from my childhood. I remember when his career was cut short. That dude was absolutely dominant.
From the Wiki on JR Richards. From 1976 to 1980, he was one of the premier pitchers in the majors, leading the National League twice in strikeouts, once in earned run average, and three times in hits allowed per nine innings, winning at least 18 games a year between 1976 and 1979.[2] On July 30, 1980, Richard suffered a stroke and collapsed while playing a game of catch before an Astros game, and was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery to remove a life-threatening blood clot in his neck. His condition brought a sudden end to his major league career at the age of 30.[3] His 313 strikeouts in 1979 remained an Astros franchise record until Gerrit Cole surpassed it on September 24, 2019, and he held the team's record for career strikeouts (1,493) until 1987. Two-time National League MVPs Johnny Bench and Dale Murphy both named Richard as the toughest pitcher they ever faced.[4][5]
He was also hammered in two divorces, plus swindled in a shady oil deal that left him broke and homeless. I'm glad he was able to bounce back from all that. There was that moment of 4 years when I was a kid that Richards was so dominating on the mound that kids like me were in awe of him.
Brewers clinch a WC spot. Incredible. They were 5.5 games back of the Cubbies in early September and had lost Yelich, Huira, and our best SP to injuries. Most of the fan base had written off the season and the big debate was whether the club should go into rebuild mode for 2020. I doubt if any of our remaining outlet mall bargain bin starters (our present ace is a Pirates cast off) could start for the Mets AAA franchise. So what happens? They basically ran the table the past three weeks while the Cubs melted after injuries to their star players. Lazarus is alive in MKE.
Astros Greinke loses his no hitter in the 9th but gets the Shutout win. Astros 104th win, a new club record.
BOBDA!!...Evidently Maddon has no desire to hold an Office in Wisconsin! See, this is why the NLCD has been so fun the last few years. Final weekend, and we still dont have a winner yet. I almost want to see a 1 game playoff come Monday.....Almost. Not sure I'd be emotionally stable after what's gonna happen Saturday night in the Vatican.
What do you guys think of the Rangers purposely dropping a foul ball so Minor could have a shot at his 200th strikeout?
You can relax a bit, AJ. Rockies are putting a Coors Field beat down on us tonight. Hopefully, Counsel resists the urge to use Hader this series and starts focusing on preparing for Scherzer and the Nats on Tuesday.
Astros would have to lose last 2 games and Yankees win both for them to tie us. We have Verlander and Cole going this weekend so I think the worst will be a split which will give us the best record. Correa will not play.
Well, the Cubbies are trying to gift us the NLC by beating the Cards again tonight but we found a way to decline the gift in the most painful way possible. Leading 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth with the Rockies down to their last out, Hader, who normally destroys left-handed hitters, gives up a home run to a scrub left-handed pinch hitter. Rockies win it in the 10th on a HR by Story. It also looks like our entire starting outfield is injured. Braun is now out with a calf injury sustained last night and tonight Cain, who made two spectacular catches in CF, injured himself sliding into home and colliding with the catcher.
I'd sympathize with ya Bobda, but so far this has been the worst sports related weekend I can ever remember. I just drooled on myself, and didnt realize it. Oh God, it's more serious than I thought.