Moshagge3

Just take a moment to imagine how we would look at the current standings if MLB had failed to secure the agreement for expanded playoffs and had to keep the status quo. The Indians, White Sox and Twins all within a game of each other, each needing to win the division to stay out of the one-game playoff, with tons of games left head-to-head. The upstart A's trying to stay ahead of the villainous Astros with a five-game series between them starting this week. The big, bad Yankees staring down the barrel of no postseason. Three good storylines. The current format gives us no storylines. On the morning of September 5, we know the eight teams making the playoffs and the seven teams missing the playoffs. We can't even pass the time contemplating matchups because there's too many combinations to consider. And the October upset thing is a double-edged sword. It's like the NCAA tournament. Everyone loves first-round upsets and then misses the top seeds when they're gone. Sure it would be cool for a day if the Giants upset the Dodgers and the Marlins upset the Braves. Would I actually be motivated to watch a Marlins-Giants NLCS where I could name maybe ten players between the teams? Questionable.

I would also like to point out that the American League is making a mockery of the argument that expanded playoffs "give hope to new markets." The markets currently benefiting the most from the new system are those of the Yankees and Astros, last year's ALCS opponents. Two teams who have been devastated by injuries and who had zero incentive to do anything to address them. Why should they when they can run out their depleted rosters every day and back into the playoff spots waiting for them? .

The American League playoff teams are set. The O's ain't making a run with their schedule and roster. The Tigers? Please. And we have weeks to go in the season. CLE/MIN/CWS are in some order at the top of the standings, but they're all in the tourney, so who cares? The Yankees are a loss away from third place and based on their lack of moves at the deadline, it's clear they could not give less of a rat's behind. The Astros still exist, I think. Since the advent of divisions, has a league had a September with less intrigue than this one? And I would add that even when there were two divisions, if neither one was competitive you could at least get excited about an LCS between the heavyweights running away with those divisions. Now there's no point in even thinking about, let's say, a Braves-Dodgers showdown since any one particular matchup has such a small chance of actually happening. If Manfred is thinking of using this season as a Trojan horse to bring 16-team playoffs into the permanent fabric of baseball he should look at how dull the next three weeks of AL baseball are going to be.

Sorry if I'm late to the game on this, but Cole Young Sulser's name anagrams to "No closer, guy. Use? L."

I always loved watching Pedro Martinez. Among current enemies I certainly can't hate on Zack Britton.

Putting The Ball In Play by Chance Sisco Pitching the Seventh Inning by the Orioles' starting rotation Baltimore, Here I Come by Kumar Rocker

Using Eshelman in this game was a headscratcher, too.

Hays wasn't having great results but he was having pretty good at-bats and seemed a lot less overmatched than Mullins usually does.

So about that pretty good lineup... The injuries to Hays and Iglesias is really exposing the lack of depth. Slumps by Nunez and Ruiz and all of a sudden most of the lineup is a black hole.

I don't really get why Eshelman is in the eighth inning of a close game. He's a soft-tossing spot starter, like gee what a shocker he couldn't pick up the K with a guy on third and one out.

Do we need "rave reviews" when we're currently alternating between Smith's horrible glove and Valaika's horrible bat?

Sometimes when people discuss Mountcastle it feels like he's a feral child who had never seen a baseball glove until this year. He played 221 innings in left field last year! Maybe he wasn't Alex Gordon out there, but I don't get the idea that he has to be kept in Area 51 like a top secret research project when the Orioles are getting horrible LF defense at the major league level.

LOL, so what is he, a pinch runner?

Game 1 Lineup. Pretty thin after the first four hitters. According to Roch the Orioles are considering putting Iglesias on the IL. Is Bryan Holaday really better than Sisco or Smith vs. a lefty?

I'm not an expert in player development or anything, but wouldn't it be good for his growth as a player to play in an actual baseball game this calendar year? As others besides me have pointed out, does Mountcastle really profile as a guy who you're going to be worried about being able to retain as a FA when he's 31? Mookie Betts he is not. I don't know, it seems like the interests of the "rah rah playoffs 2020 baybee" crowd and the "be patient and trust the process" crowd are kind of aligned on this issue.

Hyun Jin Ryu starts tonight, coming off of two very good, if not deep, starts against Atlanta and Miami. In those starts: 11 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 5 BB, 15 K

Nunez was due up first in the bottom of the eighth, I think you want his bat in there in a tie game.

Iggy's quad must have been pretty bad today to not get a PH appearance in the last inning.

I really hope this isn't because of sign stealing!

I was going to post this! I haven't been able to watch live tonight but Gameday suggests a LOT of iffy calls tonight both ways.

Yankee fans of a certain age are still pissy about Bill Mazeroski ("we outscored them by so much that series!"), and Red Sox are more neurotic than they are, so I would assume so.

He hit one in the eighth off Castro. It missed being a home run by a few feet.

It's funny that the official scorer who was so generous with Hays gave Chris Davis an error on Jay Bruce's hard grounder. If Bruce had been given credit for a double, he would have hit for the cycle.

Very trivial point, but do the statistics from this game count yet, or not until the game is completed on Friday? When Hanser Alberto steps to the plate in Philadelphia, will the scoreboard show his batting average to be what it was before the start of the suspended game, or what his average is after going 2-3 today?