Cobra Commander

They let Cuzzi do a playoff game? What, does Joe West have the flu or something? Joe West probably thinks the Divisional Series is beneath him.

Maybe Kershaw doesn't have an October problem. Maybe Mattingly has an October problem. Last year in the NLDS comes to mind. Leave him in too long, it all goes to pot. Pull him too quick, it all goes to pot. Since the Royals game overlapped the end of Rangers/Jays and the start of Cardinals/Cubs, here's a summary! The Royals went down 3-0. Got a solo HR from Perez. Colby Rasmus hit a solo HR (his 73rd career homer at Kauffman) to make it 4-1. KC scored their next 4 runs as follows: Run 2: runner on 3rd (Rios) scores on a non-inning ending GIDP Run 3: Cain breaks for 3rd because Oliver Perez did an elaborate leg kick, Cain scores on a Hosmer bloop Run 4: Salvador Perez 4 pitch walk! Run 5: Alcides Escobar scores from 3rd on a single. Escobar got a triple since the CF couldn't hear the RF due to the noise at Kauffman They also got hits going against Houston's elaborate shifts. Instead of last night, where they kept ramming their heads into the wall hitting to the 3 infielder side of the infield. So the Royals don't face Keuchel in Houston in an elimination game! Anyways, Dodgers/Mets might be interesting in the 9th!

I tried listening for a little bit (thru Steve Simons). Most of the callers really were too detected or accepting of defeat to rant. So, I turned it to one of my favorites (a small station in Louisiana that essentially plays Louisiana-centric oldies and Cajun-ish stuff)

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David Price has started 5 postseason games and went 0-5 with a 4.98 ERA (losing games in the 2010 ALDS (twice), 2011 ALDS, 2013 ALDS, and 2014 ALDS). But he's been on a pretty good run lately and the 6th time is the charm. David Price is probably too good a pitcher to not start a postseason game where his team wins eventually. So, if Price has a good ALDS Game 1 start, it'll be no shocker to various media types and If Price has a bad ALDS game 1 start, those media types are gonna blame it on Price resting for 11 days before this start (the longest time a starter has rested from the regular season to a game 1 start since Red Ruffing in 1939). Probably a bit like people criticizing the Buehrle start only after it turned into a disaster. If it works, it's not mentioned. If it doesn't, it's a bad terrible idea.

pitching a guy on Tuesday and Friday seems crazy, even for a pitcher from Japan. Using that schedule, Tanaka should be good to go for game 4 on Monday.

I've listened to WFAN thru TuneIn over their graveyard shows. Not sure if the guys calling in to talk sports at 2am are gonna be more surly or sympathetic to somebody aiming to recover from alcoholism. Also, if the Yankees beat the Astros, it's Severino on Thursday, isn't it? Starting a 21 year old rookie in that setting should be interesting.

Yeah. The Jays actually haven't murdered LHPs as often in the last month as they did before. Which probably means they flatten Derek Holland and Cole Hamels

don't rule out a runner reaching 2nd on a throwing error, advancing to 3rd on a groundout, scoring on another groundout, and finishing 1-0 without getting a hit.

The "Best Record in the AL" race could have been different if the Jays/Orioles game on Tuesday didn't get rained out (or if the Thursday game didn't get moved up to noon after a doubleheader due to concerns about a hurricane). I think John Gibbons kinda gets treated like how people used to treat Ned Yost before last year. Basically, if the Jays lose in the ALDS, there'll be people blaming it on Gibbons. Actually, out of the 10 playoff managers, I think the 4 managers with the best reputations are all in the Wild Card game (Maddon/Hurdle, Girardi/Hinch). The other 6 are Yost, Gibbons, Banister, Matheny, Mattingly, and Terry Collins.

"Long live the ASG giving out home field advantage!" - The AL

Take your pick

"Matt Harvey tells reporters that he's always considered 180 IP a limit, and won't answer questions about the playoffs. Can't believe this"

I caught the 4th and 5th sets. And the break-fest part of the 5th set was absurdly entertaining. It seems like Fognini just made Nadal run until Fognini found an opening.

i'm watching Colorado v. Hawaii. It doesn't seem like either team is any good but they're evenly matched here.

"Patterson, get your ass over here, pronto"

Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar got the chickenpox vaccination 10 days ago upon getting his US Citizenship. So people are trying to figure out if chickenpox vaccinations cause unvaccinated people to get the chickenpox.

Time to figure out which rookies and random dudes are gonna be part of the expanded rosters!

Royals/Rays had two "batter doesn't run to first on a live ball" plays in the same inning. Kendrys Morales didn't move from first on a grounder to first because he thought it was a foul ball (instead Loney threw home, got Zobrist, Kendrys still didn't move, and got tagged out). Asdrubal Cabrera thought he called time but swung at a pitch that got hit to 2nd and he got forced out.

The TiCat that switched his number so that they could retire #68 for Mosca looks like he could be a pro wrestler too.

so, presumably Tim Dog and/or Luke didn't make it into the movie? also, not sure how much of the "Dre in sequins, and he's not as gangster as the Ruthless guys" stuff ages well 20 years later.

The Royals come back from down 6-4 with 2 outs in the 9th to win 8-6. Junichi Tazawa's ineffectiveness trumped the Royals 3rd base coach overdosing on insanity peppers. Summary of that inning: Omar Infante triples to left, is thrown out at home plate trying to score an inside the park home run. 1 out. Drew Butera single to right. Alcides Escobar single to right, Butera to 2nd. Ben Zobrist lines out to short, 2 outs. Lorenzo Cain singles to right, Butera to 3rd/Escobar to 2nd. Eric Hosmer singles to left, Butera/Escobar score, Cain to 3rd. Tie game. Kendrys Morales walks, Hosmer takes 2nd on indifference. Mike Moustakas double to right field, Cain/Hosmer score, Morales is out at Home. 8-6. So, 6 hits, 4 runs, and the first and third outs came at home plate. Including trying to induce an Omar Infante inside the park home run. Although the official reasoning is that Omar scores if not for the incredible throw. Which is sorta like saying "they had to really bring it to cause our bad decision to backfire". I think if they sent Gordon in Game 7, the offseason is dedicated to people insisting the Giants got lucky when they threw him out. Tazawa was hilariously ineffective today. Like "belt-high forkball" bad.

yeah, that's a bit ambitious. They'd only need to pass at least 2/5ths of their division first. It's cool that the Royals actually won a game in Boston this year as opposed to last year where they got swept and Raul Ibanez had to remind them that other teams thought they were good. Around baseball: it seems like the heat is getting to a bunch of people because there's been a splurt of ejections over the last week or so. And nobody got ejected for fighting or hitting a guy with a pitch. Just stuff like Brad Ausmus disputing a replay, Francona mad about a neighborhood play, Matt Carpenter arguing strikes, Loney spiking his helmet post strikeout, and Doug Eddings ejecting Fredi Gonzalez. edit: and Lloyd got ejected because his reliever was really shitty. Speaking of that: Fernando Rodney got DFAed. The Mariners bullpen is fucking horrid. Rob Rasmussen is a walking dispenser of free runs.

If this isn't a job for Damien Sandow, I don't know what is. I'd opt more towards a guy that is way more past his prime, like Riggs was. Unfortunately, guys like Curt Hennig and Roddy Piper aren't available for such a role. Chris Jericho comes to mind as somebody that could dedicate himself to being an on-screen misoygnist.

So, have we cast the Bobby Riggs in this Battle of the Sexes angle yet?