Here’s your morning baseball
briefing:
Game of the Day for Wednesday August
28:
Boston Red
Sox 4, Cleveland Indians 3
As baseball enters the final month of the regular season,
winning division games becomes extremely critical in deciding the playoff
teams. Boston held a 6.5 game lead in
the A.L. East over the third place Orioles before Wednesday’s contest, and they
distanced themselves by another game when they rallied from a 3-1 seventh
inning deficit to beat Baltimore in Boston.
Second baseman Dustin Pedroia’s clutch two-run single in the seventh
inning tied the game at three, and in the bottom of the eighth, pinch-hitter
Mike Carp broke the tie with a bloop RBI single over the head of Baltimore
third baseman Manny Machado that plated Jarrod Saltalamachia with the winning
run. Koji Uehara then pitched a perfect
ninth to secure Boston’s fourth straight victory. The Red Sox hold a 2.5 game lead on second
place Tampa, a 7.5 game lead now on Baltimore, and an 8.5 game lead on the
Yankees.
Rest
of the days’ scores:
Consecutive
days with a walk-off win (where the home team scores the winning run in the
ninth inning or later that immediately ends the game): 2. The Atlanta Braves walked-off winners on Wednesday when
third baseman Chris Johnson singled home Jordan Schafer in the ninth to beat
Cleveland 3-2.
Longest
Winning Streak: 4 – Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals
Longest
Losing Streak: 6 - Seattle Mariners
A.L. MVP Watch: Chris
Davis, OF, Baltimore Orioles
Yesterday:
2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 run scored
Season: .304, 47 HRs, 120 RBI and 95 runs scored
On pace
for: .304, 58 HRs, 159 RBI and 118 runs
scored
N.L. MVP
Watch: Hanley Ramirez, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers
Yesterday:
1-4 with a HR, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base
Season: .343, 15 HRs, 44 RBI
On pace
for: .342, 18 HRs, 54 RBI
A.L. Cy
Young Watch: Justin Masterson, Cleveland Indians
Yesterday:
6 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, and 6 K’s in a
no-decision at Atlanta
Season: 14-9, 188 K’s and a3.49 ERA
On pace
for: 17-11, 236 K’s and a3.47 ERA
N.L. Cy
Young Watch:
Ricky Nolasco, Los Angeles Dodgers
Yesterday:
8 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs and 11 K’s in a win vs.
Chicago Cubs
Season: 11-9, 141 K’s and a 3.27 ERA
On pace
for: 13-11, 174 K’s and a3.23 ERA
News &
Notes: The Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a
contract with starting pitcher Edinson Volquez, who was released on Sunday by
the San Diego Padres after posting a 9-10 record with an ERA of 6.01 this
season.
History –
1976 World Series
Winner: The Cincinnati Reds swept the
New York Yankees 4 games to 0.
The 1976 World Series featured the defending
champion Cincinnati Reds against the New York Yankees, who were making their
first appearance in the Fall Classic since 1964. This would be the first World Series to
showcase the designated hitter, a rule added to the American League the three
years prior. Sparky Anderson once again
led his Big Red Machine into the playoffs by winning their division handily (10
games), while the Yankees were managed by Billy Martin who was in his first
year back in the Bronx after helping the Yankees win five World Series titles
in the early 50’s.
Cincinnati
had home field advantage in the series, and they quickly jumped out to a 2-0
series lead, winning Game 1 by a 5-1 score, and sneaking a 4-3 win in Game 2
when Tony Perez singled home Ken Griffey Sr. in the bottom of the ninth. Game 2 was the first ever World Series game
to start after the sun went down.
The series
shifted to New York where the Yankees were eager to show off their newly
renovated stadium, having shared Shea Stadium in Queens with the New York Mets
that past three years while work was being completed. It would not end well for New York fans as
Cincinnati proved too strong a team to lose.
They won Game 3 by a 6-2 score, and Game 4 by a 7-2 score as Johnny
Bench hit two home runs, including a three-run blast in the ninth that sent the
New York crowd home. The Reds had won
their second consecutive World Series title, and fourth in franchise history. The Yankees meanwhile were swept in a World
Series for just the second time, the last coming at the hands of Sandy Koufax
and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963.
For the
series, Cincinnati outscored New York 22-8 and outhit them 42-30. Hall of Famers playing included for the Reds:
manager Sparky Anderson, first baseman Tony Perez, second baseman Joe Morgan
and catcher Johnny Bench, who was named series MVP; and for the Yankees: pitcher
Catfish Hunter.
Tomorrow: 1977 World Series – New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Trivia -
Today’s Question: Who was the last team to be swept in the World Series?
Yesterday’s
Question: Cincinnati third baseman
and baseball’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose remains noticeably absent when I
list the Hall of Famers playing for the Reds.
Why is he not in the Hall of Fame?
Answer: Rose voluntarily accepted a lifetime ban
from baseball in 1989 by Commissioner Bart Giamatti for betting on
baseball. In 1991 the Baseball Hall of
Fame voted to ban anybody on the permanently ineligible list from entering the
Hall of Fame.
Vegas Bet: Lastly, here’s an
actual bet you can make at a Las Vegas Sports Book: Over/Under 7 strikeouts by Detroit starter Max Scherzer today vs. Oakland as
he goes for his 20th win of the season.
Yesterday’s
Bet: Over/Under
8 combined runs in the Baltimore –
Boston game tonight.
Result: Under. The teams
combined for 7 runs as Boston won
4-3.
Standings:
| American League | National League | |||||||||
| EAST | W | L | GB | STRK | EAST | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Boston | 79 | 55 | - | Won 4 | Atlanta | 80 | 52 | - | Won 3 | |
| Tampa Bay | 75 | 56 | 2.5 | Won 1 | Washington | 67 | 65 | 13 | Won 2 | |
| Baltimore | 70 | 61 | 7.5 | Lost 2 | Philadelphia | 61 | 72 | 19.5 | Won 1 | |
| NY Yankees | 70 | 63 | 8.5 | Lost 1 | NY Mets | 59 | 72 | 20.5 | Lost 1 | |
| Toronto | 60 | 74 | 19 | Won 1 | Miami | 49 | 82 | 30.5 | Lost 3 | |
| CENTRAL | W | L | GB | STRK | CENTRAL | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Detroit | 77 | 56 | - | Lost 3 | St. Louis | 78 | 55 | - | Lost 1 | |
| Cleveland | 71 | 61 | 5.5 | Lost 2 | Pittsburgh | 77 | 55 | 0.5 | Won 1 | |
| Kansas City | 68 | 64 | 8.5 | Won 4 | Cincinnati | 75 | 59 | 3.5 | Won 1 | |
| Minnesota | 57 | 74 | 19 | Lost 4 | Milwaukee | 58 | 74 | 19.5 | Lost 1 | |
| Chicago Sox | 56 | 76 | 20.5 | Won 2 | Chicago Cubs | 56 | 77 | 22 | Lost 1 | |
| WEST | W | L | GB | STRK | WEST | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Texas | 78 | 55 | - | Won 3 | LA Dodgers | 78 | 55 | - | Won 1 | |
| Oakland | 75 | 57 | 2.5 | Won 3 | Arizona | 68 | 64 | 9.5 | Lost 1 | |
| LA Angels | 59 | 72 | 18 | Lost 1 | Colorado | 63 | 72 | 16 | Won 1 | |
| Seattle | 59 | 73 | 18.5 | Lost 6 | San Diego | 60 | 73 | 18 | Won 1 | |
| Houston | 44 | 88 | 33.5 | Lost 2 | San Francisco | 59 | 74 | 19 | Lost 1 | |
Schedule for Thursday August 29 with probable pitchers in parentheses. My picks to win
are highlighted. Yesterdays’ Picks: 11-4
Overall: 793-592
Times EST
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