Backups Provide Excitement
As we head further into August and prepare for the expansion of rosters beginning in September we’re starting to see teams letting their superstars rest and take their time recovering from minor injuries. So instead of seeing players like Mike Trout or Andrew McCutchen smacking the ball around we’re getting a glimpse of some of the players that will be making an impact in future seasons. We see players like San Francisco’s Austin Slater going 2–4 with a HR and 2 runs scored or Houston’s Tyler White, who went 3–5 with a HR and a triple, as the stars of the games. And with the long season we end up seeing more and different faces in the bullpens. Teams at the top are trying to squeeze every win outta every one of their regulars and are using prospects to cover injuries while others are trying out new combinations of players to see how they might perform in the future. All these new mixes of players result in a tendency of movement in the standings.
Today saw movement in the AL as Houston took back sole possession of 1st place and the NL West stratified a bit as Arizona and Colorado both won while the rest lost.
Astros Alone in First Again
Angels 1, D-Back 5
Padres 2, Rockies 6
Rangers 4, A’s 2
Astros 10, Mariners 7
Giants 3, Mets 5
Cardinals 3, Dodgers 1
The Diamondbacks dominated my Angels with both pitching and hitting as Clay Buchholtz went 7 shutout innings giving up only 4 hits while Paul Goldschmidt went 3–3 with a home run and a double. His offense was ore than enough to keep the Angels in the loss column.
The Astros and Mariners had a wild game but Seattle couldn’t put enough together to ever take the lead even though they had a 5 run 6th. Pitching wasn’t as much a factor in this game but Tyler White went 3 for 5, with a home run and a triple. He led what turned out to be a 17 hit performance by the Astros’ offense and drove the team to back-to-back victories for the first time in 2 weeks.
The Dodgers lost a pitcher’s duel as they took Walker Buehler out in the 7th after 104 pitches. He hadn’t allowed a run and only gave up 3 hits but then the bullpen came in to lose the game he left leading 1–0.
Player of the Day: Houston DH Tyler White – 3–5, HR, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI
Pitcher of the Day: Arizona’s Clay Buchholtz – 7 inn, 4 hits, 0 runs, 7k
Daily Ramble 244.2 | Sports – West Coast Baseball – Backups Provide Excitement