Here’s your morning baseball
briefing:
Game of the Weekend for August 23-25:
Saturday - Arizona Diamondbacks 12, Philadelphia
Phillies 7 (18 innings)
You never know
what you’re going to see in baseball on any given day, and in the longest game
in the majors over 24 years that didn’t end until 2:12 am, the Diamondbacks
outlasted the Phillies 12-7 in an eye-opening 18 innings Saturday night in
Philadelphia. Arizona rookie outfielder
Adam Eaton finally hit the go-ahead RBI double in the 18th inning as the
Diamondbacks exploded for five runs.
Nearly three hours earlier, the Phillies scored four runs in the bottom
of the eighth to tie the game at 7, but for the next ten innings they would be
shut out. The two teams combined for 137
at-bats, 32 strikeouts and 28 walks in the marathon game. The series finale was played less than 12
hours later.
Rest
of the weekend 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): 15. The walk-off streak has reached a season-high 15 straight
games as the Philadelphia Phillies walked-off winners on Friday for the third
consecutive day; the Chicago White Sox walked-off winners on Saturday; and
yesterday the San Diego Padres walked-off winners in the 13th inning.
Longest
Winning Streak: 3, by the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels
Longest
Losing Streak: 4, by the New York Mets
A.L. MVP
Watch: Miguel Cabrera, 3B, Detroit Tigers
Last Week:
Hit .346 with 2 HRs, 8 RBI and 4 runs scored
Season: .360, 42 HRs, 128 RBI and 93 runs scored
On pace
for: .359, 52 HRs, 160 RBI and 116 runs
scored
N.L. MVP
Watch: Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks
Last Week:
Hit .358 with 1 HR, 5 RBI and 5 runs
scored
Season: .298, 31 HRs, 101 RBI and 85 runs scored
On pace
for: .298, 39 HRs, 127 RBI and 107 runs
scored
A.L. Cy
Young Watch: Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers
Last Week:
1 start, 6 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs and 11
K’s in a win vs. New York Mets
Season: 19-1, 196 K’s and a 2.73 ERA
On pace
for: 23-1, 246 K’s and a 2.70 ERA
N.L. Cy
Young Watch:
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
Last Week:
1 start, complete game 9 IP, 6 hits,
1 run and 9 K’s in a win vs. Atlanta
Season: 15-7, 182 K’s and a 2.58 ERA
On pace
for: 18-8, 230 K’s and a 2.58 ERA
News &
Notes: On Sunday Chicago White Sox outfielder Jordan Danks became
the first player in nearly 60 years to back his brother, White Sox pitcher John
Danks, with a home run.
Also on Sunday, former Cy Young winner Roy Halladay returned
to the mound after missing most of the season with a shoulder injury, and
pitched six strong innings, allowing just two runs, as he picked up the win
against Arizona.
History –
1972 World Series
Winner: The Oakland Athletics beat the New
York Mets 4 games to 3.
The Oakland A’s, still led by manager Dick
Williams, won their second consecutive pennant thanks largely to A.L. MVP
Reggie Jackson and three 20-game winners – Ken Holtzman (21-13), Catfish Hunter
(21-5) and Vida Blue 20-9. They also fielded
the best reliever in baseball with Rollie Fingers. The Mets meanwhile, managed by former Yankee
catcher Yogi Berra, labored in last place most of the summer before getting hot
in September, winning just 82 total games, the fewest for any pennant
winner.
Oakland had
home field advantage in the series and beat the Mets 2-1 in Game One. For New York, former Giant and future Hall of
Famer Willie Mays started in centerfield, in what would be his last start of
his illustrious career. Game 2 saw both
teams battle the California sunshine, with Oakland committing five errors in a
10-7 twelve-inning loss. The Mets led
6-4 in the ninth when Willie Mays lost a flyout in the sun, opening the gate
for two Oakland runs that tied the game at six.
The Mets finally broke through in the 12th inning when they scored four
runs, thanks largely to two fielding errors by A’s second baseman Mike Andrews,
and New York held on to win 10-7. A’s
owner Charlie Finley became furious with Andrews, placing him on the DL with a
fake injury, only to have the Commissioner of Baseball Harvey Kuehn reinstate
Andrews and fine Finley for this illegal move.
The series
shifted coasts and the Mets won two of the three games at Shea Stadium, taking
a 3-2 series lead as the series moved back to Oakland to crown a champion. Catfish Hunter faced New York’s ace Tom
Seaver in a pitching duel in Game 6, and Hunter, combined with Reggie Jackson
who had two RBI, saved Oakland’s season by beating the Mets 3-1, forcing a Game
7.
In Game7 for
all the marbles, Oakland jumped out to a 4-0 third inning lead on a pair of
two-run home runs by Bert Campaneris and Reggie Jackson to propel the A’s to a
5-2 victory and their second consecutive World Series title. Jackson was named MVP. Notable World Series records that were tied
include eleven walks by Oakland outfielder Gene Tenace, a record he shares with
Babe Ruth in 1926, and eleven strikeouts by Mets infielder Mike Garrett, a
record he shares with Eddie Matthews in 1958.
For the
series, the Mets outscored the A’s 24-21 and outhit them 66-51, but still lost
as they committed ten errors to Oakland’s nine.
Hall of Famers in the series included for Oakland: manager Dick
Williams, outfielder Reggie Jackson, and pitchers Catfish Hunter and Rollie
Fingers; and for the Mets: manager Yogi Berra, outfielder Willie Mays, and pitcher
Tom Seaver.
Tomorrow: 1974 World Series – Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles
Dodgers
Trivia -
Today’s Question: Miguel Cabrera and Chris Davis are each on pace to hit more
than 50 HRs this season. Who was the
last player to hit more than 50 home runs in a season?
Yesterday’s
Question: How many World Series rings
did Reggie Jackson win while actually playing?
He did not play in the 1973 World Series.
Answer: 4. Jackson
won the World Series while playing with Oakland in 1973 & 1974, and the New
York Yankees in 1977 & 1978.
Vegas Bet: Lastly, here’s an
actual bet you can make at a Las Vegas Sports Book: Over/Under 14 combined strikeouts by Cliff Lee and Zach Wheeler today in the
Phillies-Mets game.
Yesterday’s
Bet: Over/Under
3 combined runs allowed by Detroit
pitcher Max Scherzer and New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey in their matchup
Saturday at Citi Field.
Result: Under. Scherzer allowed 0 runs and Harvey 2.
Standings:
| American League | National League | |||||||||
| EAST | W | L | GB | STRK | EAST | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Boston | 77 | 55 | - | Won 2 | Atlanta | 78 | 52 | - | Won 1 | |
| Tampa Bay | 74 | 54 | 1 | Lost 1 | Washington | 65 | 65 | 13 | Lost 1 | |
| Baltimore | 70 | 59 | 5.5 | Won 1 | Philadelphia | 59 | 71 | 19 | Won 1 | |
| NY Yankees | 69 | 61 | 7 | Won 1 | NY Mets | 58 | 70 | 19 | Lost 4 | |
| Toronto | 58 | 73 | 19 | Won 1 | Miami | 49 | 80 | 28.5 | Lost 1 | |
| CENTRAL | W | L | GB | STRK | CENTRAL | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Detroit | 77 | 53 | - | Won 3 | Pittsburgh | 76 | 54 | - | Lost 2 | |
| Cleveland | 71 | 59 | 6 | Won 2 | St. Louis | 76 | 54 | - | Lost 1 | |
| Kansas City | 65 | 64 | 12 | Won 1 | Cincinnati | 74 | 57 | 2.5 | Lost 1 | |
| Minnesota | 57 | 72 | 20 | Lost 2 | Milwaukee | 57 | 73 | 19 | Won 1 | |
| Chicago Sox | 54 | 75 | 23 | Won 2 | Chicago Cubs | 55 | 75 | 21 | Lost 1 | |
| WEST | W | L | GB | STRK | WEST | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Texas | 75 | 55 | - | Lost 2 | LA Dodgers | 76 | 54 | - | Lost 2 | |
| Oakland | 72 | 57 | 2.5 | Lost 1 | Arizona | 66 | 63 | 9.5 | Lost 1 | |
| Seattle | 59 | 70 | 16 | Lost 3 | Colorado | 61 | 71 | 16 | Won 1 | |
| LA Angels | 58 | 71 | 17 | Won 3 | San Diego | 59 | 71 | 17 | Won 1 | |
| Houston | 43 | 86 | 32 | Lost 1 | San Francisco | 58 | 72 | 18 | Won 2 | |
Schedule for Monday August 26 with probable pitchers in parentheses. My picks to win
are highlighted. Weekend Picks: 18-17
Overall: 771-584
Times EST
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