After playing until 12:30 last night, the Dodgers-Cardinals series has the early start in Game 2. 3 pm TBS Kershaw for the Dodgers, Wacha for the Redbirds. With Hanley Ramirez's injured, Nick Punto will get the start at SS for the Dodgers. I expect many many 'sliding into first' jokes and they will all be glorious.
FOX finally gets into the MLB Playoffs with the ALCS getting underway in Boston. Sanchez throws for Detroit, Lester for the Sox. Gametime is 7pm
LA Dodgers at St Louis Cardinals
Grienke -vs- Kelly
7:30 TBS
with the Pirates and A's bounced, most people's rooting interest have fallen by the wayside. Now we are in 'let cheer for compelling baseball' mode. I think I can talk myself into cheering for the Dodgers because of Puig!!! and Clayton Kershaw is a really good pitcher, but the whole 'spending a quarter billion dollars on payroll' thing is a huge turnoff.
STL at PITT 3:30
ATL at LAD after that
Liriano gets the start for the Bucs
Weather: 74°F, partly cloudy
Wind: 15 mph
Attendance: 39,487
Time: 3:05
Twins' record: 32-45 (last in AL Central, 10.0 GB)
Fangraphs boxscore | MLB Game Wrap
"Highlights":
Lowlights:
For the last few weekends I've been traveling between the People's Republic and western Wisconsin, working on putting Pops' things in order and attending family functions. Last Friday was no different, other than a buddy of mine who lives in Madison asked if he could get a ride to Winona so he could bring his restored Chevy truck out of storage for the summer. The plan was to leave around noon, after he finished up installing a window for a client.
Well, the day before I had a particularly vindictive migraine. It was bad enough I thought I was having olfactory hallucinations; specifically, I thought I could smell a gas leak in the neighborhood. I even called up the gas company to come out and check. Now, I'm not actually paranoid - the complete gas service was replaced in our neighborhood just a few weeks ago, and there were front-end loaders working out in the street Thursday, making me suspect something had been severed. The guy from the gas company came out and checked the new connection on each house on my street, the mains, and anything else that possibly could leak, all to no avail. I apologized, of course, but I could still smell a decidedly off odor.
Ten minutes before I left on Friday I figured out what I was smelling. I opened the door to a storage area on the second floor. Down in the corner, where I had laid it out months before, was a mouse trap. I've been checking that trap near-religiously, so the mouse that I caught couldn't have been there any earlier than Tuesday evening. But, given that it's summer (and, thanks to a stupid call during renovation, our central HVAC doesn't go upstairs which is why we want a new unit from Kellerman Heating & Cooling), the mouse didn't take long to make things smell pretty ripe. Okay, really ripe.
Mrs. Hayes is a confirmed animal lover, so even though I would be late to my buddy's place, I absolutely had to dispose of the body. First order of business was to remove the corpse from the premises while simultaneously curbing my urge to vomit. The little bugger had soiled himself, I guess. Next was to clean up the greasy mark he left behind on the floor. Armed with a Lysol wipe, a can of Lysol, and enough intestinal fortitude not to make a bigger mess myself, I wiped up the, erm, leavings, washed my hands, and got out the door. I was worried the potency of that smell would still be there when I got back today, but, mercifully, it's gone.
Nonetheless, I am armed with empirical evidence. The egg the Twins laid laid last night smells worse than a mouse corpse laying in an attic for a few days in the summer heat. As a matter of fact, given the choice between the two, I'd rather relive cleaning up that mouse and his leavings than re-experience the 2011 Twins season to date. My mind is already wandering toward 2012. Is yours?
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Here's this week's View from the Ballpark:
photo by Flickr user Telstar Logistics
Remember, no embiggening.
Finally, we get to go home and take on somebody our own size. The Dodgers (35-44) are the epitome of a small-market club, struggling to make payroll, playing their games in an old, rundown stadium with trough urinals.
They do have some Midwestern charm, however:
The Dodgers owe everybody and their mother money:
The team owes a total of $74,121,433 to their players, food and travel vendors, and even the city of Los Angeles.
The team owes Los Angeles $240,563 in taxes. It also owes Levy Restaurants $588,322 for running the concession stands at the stadium, as well as $339,403 to Continental Airlines for team travel.
Some of the Dodgers' major payroll creditors include former players Manny Ramirez ($20.9 million), Andruw Jones ($11.1 million, currently with the NY Yankees), and Juan Pierre ($3.05 million, currently with the Chicago White Sox, who is also owed $3.5 million for his trade). Other players on the list include the current roster, and the LA Times points out that two of the players owed money (Zach Lee and Alexander Santana) haven't even begun playing yet. Also on the list: longtime sportscaster Vin Scully ($152,778).
That would be the best-PBP-voice-in-baseball Vin Scully. Unfortunately, Scully, 82, rarely does away games east of Denver these days. So scratch that from the list of attributes for this series.
Instead, let's just hope Our Boys can get some Mojo back in order to make a run at respectability. They still have a shot at the International League playoffs!!!11one111!!!!
Pitching matchup:
Chad Billingsley (Righty, 4.48 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 3.56 xFIP, 86:40 K:BB in 94 1/3)
Nick Blackburn (3.15 ERA, 4.43 FIP, 3.89 xFIP, 51:27 K:BB in 97 innings)
Billingsley is right at league averages for GB%, FB% and LD%. His 5 1/3 innings against Detroit last Tuesday (6 hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks, one run) was his longest outing in a month. He has given up four or more runs in four of his last six starts. Even better, the Dodgers' bullpen has been awful -- minus 20.7 pRAA on the season (the Twins' pen is only -12.5 pRAA).
Offensively, the Dodgers have been mediocre, with the glaring exceptions of Matt Kemp (327/416/619) and Andre Ethier (317/389/461). If we can avoid Neck Fat giving those guys hanging sliders, we might actually win this series.