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Art Deco · 07-30-2020, 05:55 PM

Game 1: It was the Chris Paddack show as he becomes the fourth of the current five starters to pitch a complete game shutout in a 3-0 win over the Texas Rangers. Paddack was brilliant, allowing only 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out 11 on 106 pitches to improve to 9-5. It turned out all the support he needed was supplied by Austin Meadows, who hit HR #20 in the 1st off the Rangers' fine young lefty Tarik Skubal. But Wander added 2 more with his 18th longball of the season in the 5th with Vidal Brujan on base. Brujan had singled to extend his hitting streak to 17, while Franco was 3-4 with the HR and 2 steals. Paddack joins Max Fried (2), Noah Syndergaard and Daniel Lynch with shutouts this year, the total of 5 has to be the most by a club in a while and we're only halfway through the year. Elsewhere Baltimore lost so the lead is now a baker's dozen.

Game 2: After complaining about the bullpen in my midseason roundup above, they showed why I have my concerns after a 6-2 loss to Texas. What was a 1-1 pitcher's duel between Brock Burke and Max Fried into the 8th inning got out of hand after Fried allowed a 1-out single and was pulled. Nick Anderson came on, walked a batter and then gave up a 3-run HR to Lewin Diaz to make it 4-1. In the bottom of the 8th the Rays loaded the bases but could only scratch out a run on a Brujan sac fly (which ended his hitting streak, you knew it was good as over when I finally mentioned it yesterday). It was still a game at 4-2 but rather than burn Jose Alvarado with lefties due up I turned to Aaron Ashby. He got the first two batters on groundouts but walked a guy and then served up a 2-run HR to light-hitting lefty catcher Nick Ciuffo and that was that. Fried at 7.1 5 2 2 1 7 deserved a better fate, and the offense should shoulder some blame here too as they only managed 6 hits in 8 innings off Burke, continuing their pattern of being stymied from time-to-time by random lefties. Wander homered in the 1st to tie the game at 1 (#19) so he stays hot. Job #1 for me as GM between now and the end of the month is to find a lefty who's an improvement over Ashby and once that's done he's going to become quite familiar with Durham and its surroundings (or maybe another organization if he's part of the trade). Elsewhere, Baltimore has cooled off considerably with another loss today, so the lead isn't touched, and in the story of the day, Miami's Evan Fitterer, making his MLB debut, pitched a no-hitter against the Phillies in a 2-0 win. Shockingly he was left in to throw 144(!) pitches as he walked 5 and struck out 10, and although he started the season making 5 starts at AA, in AAA he was used as a reliever. I think the AI is going to wreck his arm. Fitterer was the first player to throw a no-hitter in his MLB debut since Bumpus Jones (you remember him?) on October 15, 1892, so it took 131 years to happen again.

Game 3: Normal service restored at the Trop as the Rays downed the Rangers 5-1. Noah Syndergaard's start today encapsulated his season with the Rays: Very hittable at times, and then ace-quality pitching at others. Today he gave up 3 hits in the first without allowing a run, gave up 2 more in the second and one in the third, but ended up only allowing 3 over the final 6 innings in a complete game 9-hitter. He walked nobody, which obviously helped, and struck out 6. The lone run against him was unearned when the man who scored had reached on a dropped fly ball by Max Kepler (who was also 0-3 today, way to fight for that RF job). He added to his AL-leading win total, now at 12. After I mentioned in my midseason report that this offense didn't rely on the HR, today they did with 3 of them accounting for 4 of the 5 runs. Alec Bohm hit #19 in the second to make it 1-0, Rafael Devers hit #13 to make it 3-0 in the 4th, and Brandon Marsh hit #10 just inside the RF foul pole in the 5th to make it 4-0. Seth Beer's RBI double in the 6th brought home the 5th run. Those four hits were 2/3 of their safeties on the day with Austin Meadows getting the other 2 on a double and single. The 3 homers came off Matt Magill, who had surprisingly shut them down in a start last season in Texas. Baltimore won so the lead remains 13, and in an update on the magic number, it's now 65. Those same Orioles come to town for the next 3 games.

Team record: 60-25.

07-30-2020, 05:55 PM	#120
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	June 30-July 2, 2023: vs Texas (3) Game 1: It was the Chris Paddack show as he becomes the fourth of the current five starters to pitch a complete game shutout in a 3-0 win over the Texas Rangers. Paddack was brilliant, allowing only 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out 11 on 106 pitches to improve to 9-5. It turned out all the support he needed was supplied by Austin Meadows, who hit HR #20 in the 1st off the Rangers' fine young lefty Tarik Skubal. But Wander added 2 more with his 18th longball of the season in the 5th with Vidal Brujan on base. Brujan had singled to extend his hitting streak to 17, while Franco was 3-4 with the HR and 2 steals. Paddack joins Max Fried (2), Noah Syndergaard and Daniel Lynch with shutouts this year, the total of 5 has to be the most by a club in a while and we're only halfway through the year. Elsewhere Baltimore lost so the lead is now a baker's dozen. Game 2: After complaining about the bullpen in my midseason roundup above, they showed why I have my concerns after a 6-2 loss to Texas. What was a 1-1 pitcher's duel between Brock Burke and Max Fried into the 8th inning got out of hand after Fried allowed a 1-out single and was pulled. Nick Anderson came on, walked a batter and then gave up a 3-run HR to Lewin Diaz to make it 4-1. In the bottom of the 8th the Rays loaded the bases but could only scratch out a run on a Brujan sac fly (which ended his hitting streak, you knew it was good as over when I finally mentioned it yesterday). It was still a game at 4-2 but rather than burn Jose Alvarado with lefties due up I turned to Aaron Ashby. He got the first two batters on groundouts but walked a guy and then served up a 2-run HR to light-hitting lefty catcher Nick Ciuffo and that was that. Fried at 7.1 5 2 2 1 7 deserved a better fate, and the offense should shoulder some blame here too as they only managed 6 hits in 8 innings off Burke, continuing their pattern of being stymied from time-to-time by random lefties. Wander homered in the 1st to tie the game at 1 (#19) so he stays hot. Job #1 for me as GM between now and the end of the month is to find a lefty who's an improvement over Ashby and once that's done he's going to become quite familiar with Durham and its surroundings (or maybe another organization if he's part of the trade). Elsewhere, Baltimore has cooled off considerably with another loss today, so the lead isn't touched, and in the story of the day, Miami's Evan Fitterer, making his MLB debut, pitched a no-hitter against the Phillies in a 2-0 win. Shockingly he was left in to throw 144(!) pitches as he walked 5 and struck out 10, and although he started the season making 5 starts at AA, in AAA he was used as a reliever. I think the AI is going to wreck his arm. Fitterer was the first player to throw a no-hitter in his MLB debut since Bumpus Jones (you remember him?) on October 15, 1892, so it took 131 years to happen again. Game 3: Normal service restored at the Trop as the Rays downed the Rangers 5-1. Noah Syndergaard's start today encapsulated his season with the Rays: Very hittable at times, and then ace-quality pitching at others. Today he gave up 3 hits in the first without allowing a run, gave up 2 more in the second and one in the third, but ended up only allowing 3 over the final 6 innings in a complete game 9-hitter. He walked nobody, which obviously helped, and struck out 6. The lone run against him was unearned when the man who scored had reached on a dropped fly ball by Max Kepler (who was also 0-3 today, way to fight for that RF job). He added to his AL-leading win total, now at 12. After I mentioned in my midseason report that this offense didn't rely on the HR, today they did with 3 of them accounting for 4 of the 5 runs. Alec Bohm hit #19 in the second to make it 1-0, Rafael Devers hit #13 to make it 3-0 in the 4th, and Brandon Marsh hit #10 just inside the RF foul pole in the 5th to make it 4-0. Seth Beer's RBI double in the 6th brought home the 5th run. Those four hits were 2/3 of their safeties on the day with Austin Meadows getting the other 2 on a double and single. The 3 homers came off Matt Magill, who had surprisingly shut them down in a start last season in Texas. Baltimore won so the lead remains 13, and in an update on the magic number, it's now 65. Those same Orioles come to town for the next 3 games. Team record: 60-25. Last edited by Art Deco; 07-30-2020 at 10:42 PM.