Here’s your morning baseball
briefing:
Game of the Day for August 26:
Houston
Astros 8, Chicago White Sox 6
The Astros and White Sox played in the 2005 World Series in
what seems like decades ago for each team, and they now hold the two worst
records in the American League - but on
Monday night in Chicago the game unfolded with the drama of a Fall Classic. Now that Houston is in the American League
they won’t meet for a World Series again, but regular season games can
sometimes be just as exciting.
Houston led 7-3 in the sixth when Jeff Keppinger and Adam
Dunn spurred a five-run White Sox comeback with home runs, and suddenly Houston
was down a run with three innings left.
Outfielder Chris Carter wouldn’t let his team dwindle, and he singled
home the tying run in the next frame, setting up an exciting finish. Both teams went scoreless in the eighth, but
with two outs in the top of the ninth, Houston third baseman Matt Dominguez hit
an Addison Reed slider out of the park for the go-ahead run. Chris Carter then followed with his second
home run of the game to give the Astros an 8-6 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
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): 0. There were no walk-off wins on Monday, snapping the
season-long streak at 15 straight days.
Longest
Winning Streak: 3, by the Los Angeles Angels
Longest
Losing Streak: 5, by the New York Mets
A.L. MVP Watch: Miguel
Cabrera, 3B, Detroit Tigers
Yesterday:
1-4 with 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, and 1 walk
Season: .359, 43 HRs, 130 RBI and 94 runs scored
On pace
for: .358, 53 HRs, 162 RBI and 117 runs
scored
N.L. MVP
Watch: Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks
Yesterday:
1-4 with 2 RBI and 1 runs scored
Season: .298, 31 HRs, 103 RBI and 86 runs scored
On pace
for: .298, 38 HRs, 129 RBI and 108 runs
scored
A.L. Cy
Young Watch: R.A. Dickey, Toronto Blue Jays
Yesterday:
6.1 IP, 6 hits, 1 runs and 6 K’s in a win vs.
New York Yankees
Season: 10-12, 143 K’s, and a 4.39 ERA
On pace
for: 12-14, 176 K’s and a 4.39 ERA
N.L. Cy
Young Watch:
Zach Greinke, Los Angeles Dodgers
Yesterday:
8.2 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 walks and 9 K’s in a
win vs. Chicago Cubs
Season: 13-3, 112 K’s and a 2.86 ERA
On pace
for: 16-3, 140 K’s and a 2.84 ERA
News &
Notes: New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez hit the 650th
home run of his career on Monday against Toronto, placing him just ten home
runs shy of fourth place, held by Willie Mays.
New York Mets pitcher and All-Star game started Matt Harvey has a torn ligament in his pitching arm and is shut down for the season immediately. It's uncertain whether he will need Tommy John surgery that would put him out possibly for next season as well.
The Houston Astros are the most profitable team in baseball, despite having the worst record. While that may make the owners pockets happy, I’m guessing the fans don’t really care since their team is 44-86.
The Houston Astros are the most profitable team in baseball, despite having the worst record. While that may make the owners pockets happy, I’m guessing the fans don’t really care since their team is 44-86.
History –
1974 World Series
Winner: The Oakland Athletics beat the Los
Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 3.
The 1974 World Series matched the two-time
defending champion Oakland Athletics against the Los Angeles Dodgers, making
this the first ever all-California World Series. Dick Williams, who led the A’s to their last
two titles, was long gone as he had one too many clashes with the A’s front
office, and Alvin Dark took over managing the outrageous and unpredictable characters. Dark had previously managed the Giants and took them to the 1962 World Series where they lost to the Yankees.
For Los Angeles, Walter Alston was managing his 21st year in Dodger
blue, having won World Series titles for the Dodgers in 1955, 1963 and
1965.
The Dodgers
has home field advantage in the series, but it wouldn’t matter much. The teams split the first two games in Los
Angeles, each winning by a slim 3-2 margin.
With the series now in Oakland, A’s pitcher Catfish Hunter was brilliant,
shutting out the Dodgers on four hits through seven innings, as they held on to
win 3-2 again, with the only Dodger runs coming by solo home runs from Bill
Buckner in the eighth and Willie Crawford in the ninth.
In Game 4, Oakland
starting pitcher Ken Holtzman helped his own cause by homering in the third to
give the A’s a 1-0 lead, but he would surrender two runs to the Dodgers in the
fourth before settling down through the seventh. Oakland broke the game open in their half of
the sixth inning when they scored four runs on three walks and two singles to
take a 5-2 lead. Reliever Rollie Fingers
pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth innings to secure the win, and Oakland had
a 3-1 series lead as they flew south the Los Angeles for Game 5.
The A’s
jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on single runs in the first and second innings,
and the Dodgers tied the game at two in the sixth, but Oakland outfielder Joe
Rudi tagged Los Angeles reliever Mike Marshall with solo home run in the
seventh, providing the winning run in yet another 3-2 Oakland win. Rollie Fingers once again closed out the
Dodgers for his third save in the series to go along with one win, and was
named MVP as Oakland won their third straight World Series title, despite
hitting just .191 as a team.
For the
series, Oakland outscored Los Angeles 16-11, but were outhit 36-30. Hall of
Famers in the series included for the A’s: outfielder Reggie Jackson,
and pitchers Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers; and for the Dodgers: manager
Walter Alston and pitcher Don Sutton.
Future Hall of Fame Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda was the third base
coach.
Tomorrow: 1975 World Series – Boston Red Sox vs. Cincinnati Reds
Trivia -
Today’s Question: What is the only American League team never to have played
in a World Series?
Yesterday’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?
Answer: Jose Bautista, outfielder for the Toronto
Blue Jays, hit 54 HRs in 2010.
Vegas Bet: Lastly, here’s an
actual bet you can make at a Las Vegas Sports Book: Over/Under a combined 3 HRs and RBI by Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera today vs. Oakland.
Yesterday’s
Bet: Over/Under
14 combined strikeouts by Cliff Lee
and Zach Wheeler today in the Phillies-Mets game.
Result: Push. They combined for exactly 14 strikeouts (7 by
each).
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 | 55 | 1.5 | Lost 2 | Washington | 65 | 65 | 13 | Lost 1 | |
| Baltimore | 70 | 59 | 5.5 | Won 1 | Philadelphia | 60 | 71 | 18.5 | Won 2 | |
| NY Yankees | 69 | 62 | 7.5 | Lost 1 | NY Mets | 58 | 71 | 19.5 | Lost 5 | |
| Toronto | 59 | 73 | 18 | Won 2 | Miami | 49 | 80 | 28.5 | Lost 1 | |
| CENTRAL | W | L | GB | STRK | CENTRAL | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Detroit | 77 | 54 | - | Lost 1 | St. Louis | 77 | 54 | - | Won 1 | |
| Cleveland | 71 | 59 | 5.5 | Won 2 | Pittsburgh | 76 | 54 | 0.5 | Lost 2 | |
| Kansas City | 66 | 64 | 10.5 | Won 2 | Cincinnati | 74 | 58 | 3.5 | Lost 2 | |
| Minnesota | 57 | 72 | 19 | Lost 2 | Milwaukee | 57 | 73 | 19.5 | Won 1 | |
| Chicago Sox | 54 | 76 | 22.5 | Lost 1 | Chicago Cubs | 55 | 76 | 22 | Lost 2 | |
| WEST | W | L | GB | STRK | WEST | W | L | GB | STRK | |
| Texas | 76 | 55 | - | Won 1 | LA Dodgers | 77 | 54 | - | Won 1 | |
| Oakland | 73 | 57 | 2.5 | Won 1 | Arizona | 67 | 63 | 9.5 | Won 1 | |
| Seattle | 59 | 71 | 16.5 | Lost 4 | Colorado | 62 | 71 | 16 | Won 2 | |
| LA Angels | 58 | 71 | 17 | Won 3 | San Diego | 59 | 72 | 18 | Lost 1 | |
| Houston | 44 | 86 | 31.5 | Won 1 | San Francisco | 58 | 73 | 19 | Lost 1 | |
Schedule for Tuesday August 27 with probable pitchers in parentheses. My picks to win
are highlighted. Yesterdays’ Picks: 7-3
Overall: 778-587
Times EST
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