@sang yeah Brewers had it and just didn't have the hitting to hold onto it. Yelich has been a ghost this year.

Posted by: @bill_graham

Judge hits 2 more dingers today for 59 so only 2 more to tie Maris.

He also went 4 for 5 and is batting .316 and only one point from tying for the AL BA lead.

He really has a chance for thr triple crown. Just an epic offensive year.

So who gets the AL MVP? Judge or Ohtani?

 

I think it is crummy what the teams/pitchers are doing to Judge. Don't challenge him. Don't give him ANY chance to hit one out. I watched the game last night night against Toronto and they wouldn't throw to him at all. Do you think if Maddux, Clemens, Randy Johnson, whoever, would agree to that? Heck take it back a long time. Bob Gibson, Koufax, Drysdale, Marichal? They would have told the pitching coach & manager to get bent if they were told not to pitch to him.

I remember who gave up Aaron's 715th (Al Downing) and it is probably the only reason his name is known. What is wrong with that?

Poor sportsmanship in my opinion.

@lee 

I disagree, I've watched a few of the previous games and they were throwing over the plate, he was getting into full counts. Jays and Yanks were were both trying to win, looked like Judge was waiting for his pitches but also trying to get on base. I bet he lights one up now that they have the division.

Not saying he won't. I hope he does. But when I was watching the game last night, every pitch he got was low and outside. They even showed one of those graphics of where every pitch is shown and hardly any were in the strike zone.

Perhaps I am just old school. 😉 

61!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, Brewers season is over. Weird year, they jumped out to a nice lead and then gave it up while still just hanging in there. 86 wins, Burnes leads the league in Ks, the team was 3rd in HRs (ahead of both LAD and Astros). I'm not sure what's more frustrating - that they were were so close to being really good, or that they were so close to falling apart.

I forgot the WC round is best of 3, but that's long overdue. MLB playoffs don't need to be long, but the 1-game play-in always seemed a little short-changed - it's not like it's a tie-breaker, it's playoffs.

Yeah the Brewers season was odd. You'd think with the expanded playoffs 86 wins might be enough but I guess not in this case. To me, while they may have hit a lot of homers they weren't scoring much in the last month. I have a friend from Madison and he can't figure it out either. When they traded their closer at the trade deadline he figured they were toast. Turns out that didn't matter. And he played like crap in San Diego I think it is. Was that a sign? Who knows.

I think they still have a solid team and I would be optimistic for next year. I mean, can St. Louis always find a way to field a good team? 🤔 

I love October playoff baseball. There's a crispness in the air, leaves are turning color and the excitement of the games. There was SO much to watch yesterday. I kept switching channels between two college football games and the Cleveland/Tampa game. Watched the whole game. I didn't know they don't put a guy on second to start the inning after nine innings (one of the dumbest things MLB has come up with in forever in my opinion).

15 innings of that? Exciting yet somewhat boring at the same time. There were 39 strikeouts. Yes, 39! I have no idea how MLB will make the game more hitter friendly but I would bet that will be on the table. They have done it before to generate more offense.

Setting up your pitching rotation on the chance to get to the next round is next to impossible. You can't worry about round 2 if you can't get out of round 1. Makes it more important than ever to get a first round bye. Look at the Mets. They could be done tonight. And their two best starters can't go.

I find the strategy of baseball fascinating.

RIP Bruce Sutter. One of the greatest closers ever.

Bruce Sutter, Hall of Famer and Cy Young winner, dies at 69 (msn.com)

Will Tribe Guard HFA

The series hinges on it - they sure did last night - WOTT A RALLY -

it's necessary for 'dians to win tonight - a 5th-game win in NY is long odds

he still might bust out, but it must be asked - does Judge's slump tip the MVP to Shohei Ohtani

but jesus, their Phans are walkin proud, talkin loud - Eagles are undefeated, & before you can say Mike Schmidt, Phillies have taken over NL playoffs - SD also - not surprised SD won, But They're Still Nowhere Near The Squad LA Is, nor any team in MLB - teams who killed it regular season often get bounced early outta postseason

but no, even the Colt 45's Don Nottebart and Bob Johnson, the Astros' Mike Scott & JR Richard - & Perhaps Even The Rocket Himself - could have done it better - Amazing ballgame last night, a 1-0 doubleheader - Seattle's pitching was just as good

that's the key tonight - Indians need to nick Cole early, then hopefully the pitching can shut down Bronx Bombiz & ignite a celebration in the Jake & beyond...

but yes, the predictable clown fodder from the offended crowd is hilariously surfacing - "they're shed of the pressure & shame of representing a racist mascot & logo, OBVIOUSLY that's been huge in why Guars have thrived this year......" 

let's go Tribe, scalp Yanks tonight

Chief Wahoo, a racist - Tom Yawkey, a racist - Warpaint, a racist horse - headresses, a racist gesture demeaning to Indians - how full of bologna can people get anyway

Wow, Padres knock off the 111-win Dodgers. LA has had 90+ wins every full year since 2013 and they only won the WS in the shortened 2020 season.

Yankees live to play another day. They need some hits, not just homers. At least the pitching held it together last night. Back to the Bronx we go...

@porkchopbob 

Good for San Diego. They went 5 and 14 against them this season. Yes, that bad! I really have no rooting interest this year although I was somewhat pulling for Atlanta for some reason. The other thing I thought would be fun would be a Yankees/Dodgers series to take me back to my childhood. 

Hey, if you love baseball you can't beat October!

@lee

Yeah, playoff baseball is kind of nuts, a team can just get start cooking after 162 games. In basketball the better team almost always wins an extended series, but in baseball a team like last year's Braves can just have a hot hand in October (I hate the Braves, glad to see them put down)

Yankees finally got their bats working last night. Astros rematch should be pretty epic.

Houston is the best team. Period. But they were last year too and got beat. Hey, ya never know. Astros have the advantage of setting their pitching rotation. I would take them in six. 

In the N.L. I hope San Diego wins. They went out and spent a ton of money and frankly it hasn't really panned out. I wonder what Tatis is doing? What a dope. 😉 But I can't stand Bryce Harper so I hope Philly goes down.

At the moment I hope either NY or SD wins it. 

@lee I've always been a Yankees fan, and this squad is super fun to watch. I'd love to see them get revenge on the Rastros.

Wouldn't mind seeing the Padres knock off Bryce Dallas Harper and the Uncle Phils after the Brewers gifted them Hader (and their season).

@porkchopbob 

Couple of things. I dunno if SD got a gift from Milwaukee. No idea what SD bullpen was like before but he has been good lately! My Brewer buddy was mad as hell when they made that deal but I don't think that sank Milwaukee. Brewers can't hit. 

Obviously the Astros are public enemy number one. Probably will will be for a while. but who is still on the roster from then? Not many. And two guys in that are managing other teams. That alone should be worth another discussion!

Let's see if the price on Judge moves up if they win it all since he is in a free agent year.

How much money do you need?  

@lee For sure, I never thought the trade sank Milwaukee, they had every chance to make the wild card. Too many holes in the lineup.

I didn't hate the trade except I don't think the Brewers got enough in return. It was somewhat of a gift, SD knew Milwaukee was just trying to get something for him. Hader didn't even play all that well during the reg season, but he's not bad to have in SD's back pocket now in October.

@porkchopbob 

Regarding the Hader trade, the Brewer bullpen was fine after the trade. I want to say they moved a guy into the closer role. You would know that. When Hader got to SD, he wasn't doing that well but he has stepped it up in the postseason. 

As to the particulars of the trade, I don't know what Milwaukee got. I assume minor leaguers and/or draft picks. Baseball trades on that level are difficult for me to judge. Football & basketball, yes. Some low level baseball picks (or undrafted players) have gone on to have great careers. Who knows? Guess that's why you have a scouting department.

As to the Padres, nice win yesterday. There is no way they could have lost the first two at home.

The Yankee/Astro game did not surprise me. NY played three games in three days in three different cities. When did that happen last. Ever???

@lee yeah they had Devin Williams (probably the 2nd best closer in the NL) on the roster as their set-up guy, so they could move Hader and still have a solid closer. I think the Brewers got a couple of pitchers and some prospects, the usual. Better than nothing, but was kind of a sign the Brewers weren't chasing after the division this year. Kind of the opposite of the CC Sabathia trade in 2007.

So I saw a couple of stories saying the Yankees are in danger of being swept. Anytime a team is down 2-0 this can come up which I think is a bit of an overreaction. Could it happen? Well yes of course. But teams have bounced back from this hole as well as 3-0. They can go back to Houston up or down a game. Certainly changes the dynamics depending if they are up or down a game but I say they go back to Houston.

At least I hope so.  

@lee Yeah, I mean, what else are they going to write? Obviously, being down 0-2, they could be swept. Duh. Not much of a story, they could also rally and win 4-2.

Games have been relatively close, Yanks just have to start swinging bats again.

Judge better get his "blank" together. They need him! He can't be striking out all the time.

Posted by: @porkchopbob

@lee Yeah, I mean, what else are they going to write? Obviously, being down 0-2, they could be swept. Duh. Not much of a story, they could also rally and win 4-2.

Games have been relatively close, Yanks just have to start swinging bats again.

Well yes, we are saying the same thing.

So both series can end today. In which case there is no baseball until Friday. Now I know there are a lot of details and semantics to that possibility but I wish if the Phils and Astros win today they could start the World Series Tuesday or Wednesday but I guess that just isn't how they do things. I imagine a lot of scheduling issues involved. 

Hope it doesn't snow in Pennsylvania in November!  

Bad time for the Yankees bats to go cold, but they've been living and dying on HRs. That's just not sustainable.

Both teams' superstars, Altuve & Judge, have been in terrible slumps - Altuve finally got a hit after going 0-for-25 - if NY wins tonight.....never know what could happen - they recall 2004

I have been a Yankee fan for over 60 yrs and while I try to keep an optimistic attitude I have to say this team is done, stick a fork in them.

The Astros are just too well balanced to let them come back not to mention they hit a buck eighty against a feisty Cleveland team and barely won and are hitting one twenty something this series so unless they get lucky and hit a 3 run homer they aren't scoring against Houston's excellent pitching.

It will be an interesting off season for the Yankees with Judge, a FA and Cash and Boone unsigned maybe time for a front office shakeup and new blood at Manager.

True, but all these things were said after NY smashed us 19-8 or so in the third game in 2004 - "they're history, they rolled over" etc - then 4 games later, a smoke show at 10-2 & the distress of Boone's HR in 2003 is relieved - NY has had a real good season this season - Sox fans can only give credit & say wait til next year

So. Phillies-Rastros. Yawn.

Anyone saying MLB is rigged can shut up now.

I ❤️ NY

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5MxqPNRkktY

No love for Gaylord Perry? Giants great, was awesome w/Indians, then bounced around w/6 teams over the last 8 of his 21 year career

RIP sir, keep hockin up the ball, must’ve enjoyed seeing ‘em get all flustered & upset over a little gamesmanship ⚾️