Thursday, August 1, 2013

THURSDAY BLOG - August 1st, 2013


MLB has offered 50-game suspensions to eight of the nine major leaguers tied to the Biogenesis investigation, with Alex Rodriguez being the only exception.  A-Roid and his team of lawyers, agents, representatives, and Yes-men, are huddled up as they consider their options, which include accepting a 200-game suspension.  Here is the story from the NY Daily News:  


ESPN says that MLB is pushing for a lifetime ban on A-Roid, but is willing to agree to a “lengthy” suspension to avoid the appeal process and get this done once and for all:


In case you missed it, A-Roid tells Sports Illustrated that he wants to be a “role model”, especially to his daughters.  Here’s the exclusive interview with SL Price:


My take:  I still cannot believe that A-Roid is stupid enough to try and continue this charade and try and fight the inevitable.  He would do himself, his family, and the game a huge service by accepting the punishment, taking responsibility for his actions, and moving forward.  A-Roid should definitely take the suspension and try and salvage whatever career he has left.  

Let’s go to the games.  The Marlins beat the Mets 3-2 last night.  Henderson Alvarez is beginning to look like the real deal, as he threw 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball.  Over his last three starts, the 23-year-old righthander has allowed only 2 runs.  Jake Marisnick hit his first major league home run, and Placido Polanco and Giancarlo Stanton drove in the other Marlin runs with sac flies.  Get ready for an afternoon matinee today, starting at 12:40 pm.  Tom Koehler takes on All-Star game starter Matt Harvey.  This weekend, the Cleveland Indians come to town for a three-game interleague series.  The expected pitching matchups this weekend:

FRIDAY Ubaldo Jimenez vs Jose Fernandez  7:10 pm
SATURDAY Zach McAllister  vs Jacob Turner 7:10 pm
SUNDAY Scott Kazmir vs Nathan Eovaldi  1:10 pm

After this weekend, and a day off on Monday,  the Marlins will hit the road.  Three games at Pittsburgh against the Pirates, three games in Atlanta against the Braves, and three games in Kansas City against the Royals.

The Fish are still at the bottom of the list in runs scored in MLB, with 338 runs in their 106 games.  Here are the rest of the bottom-dwellers:

TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 41-65 338
White Sox 40-65 390
Nationals 52-56 401
Astros 36-70 405
Phillies 50-57 407

In contrast, the Detroit Tigers lead the majors with 549 runs in 106 games.

In the Major Leagues yesterday, first in the National League,

Reds 4 Padres 1
Homer Bailey gave up six hits and an unearned run in 8 1/3 innings of work.  Brandon Phillips connected long distance and Joey Votto drove in a pair of runs with a double.

Giants 9 Phillies 2
Brett Pill homered and drove in four runs as the Giants snapped a five-game losing streak.

Pirates 5 Cardinals 4
Don’t look now, but the Pirates have taken a 2 1/2 game lead over the Cardinals in the NL Central by winning the first four games of this five-game series.  Russell Martin drove in the tie-breaking run in the eighth inning.

Braves 9 Rockies 0
Mike Minor threw seven shutout innings, allowing only two hits.  Brian McCann hit a three-run homer and Freddie Freeman finished 4-4 with two runs scored and two RBI.  The Braves lead the NL East by a whopping 11 games.

Cubs 6 Brewers 1
Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer and David deJesus drove in three runs in the win.

Yankees 3 Dodgers 0
The Yankees scored three times in the ninth inning to settle of a split of their brief two-game set with the Dodgers.  Hiroki Kuroda and Clayton Kershaw exchanges zeroes, Kuroda for seven innings, Kershaw pitched eight innings. 

Over in the American League,

Blue Jays 5         A’s 2 (10 innings)
Jose Bautista drove in the game winner with a double and Colby Rasmus followed with a two-run single.

Astros 11 Orioles 0
Jesus Castro hit a grand slam and two doubles, Matt Dominguez went 4-5 with a homer run, and Robbie Grossman also connected long distance.  Brett Oberholzer pitched seven innings of shutout ball in his first major league start.

Tigers 11 Nationals 1
Torii Hunter went 4-5 with three RBI and Alex Avila clubbed a two-run homer.  The Tigers pummeled Gio Gonzalez for 10 runs and 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings and have now won five straight and nine out of their last ten.  

Indians 6 White Sox 5 (10 innings)
Carlos Santana’s solo home run ended the game.

D-Backs 7 Rays 0
Eric Chavez went 2-3 with a homer, Paul Goldschmidt also went yard, and Cody Ross had three hits and two RBI.  The Rays lost for only the fifth time in their last 28 games.

Royals 4 Twins 3
Alex Gordon scored the go-ahead run on an error and the Royals won their eighth game in a row.

Red Sox 5 Mariners 4 (15 innings)
Stephen Drew drove in the game winning run with a single.

Rangers 2 Angels 1
For the third straight game, the Rangers belted a walk-off home run to beat the Angels.  Yesterday, it was Adrian Beltre doing the honors.

Today in MLB, in the National League,

Mets @ Marlins       12:40 pm
Matt Harvey vs Tom Koehler

Giants @ Phillies 7:05 pm
Matt Cain vs Cole Hamels

Cardinals @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Joe Kelly vs Charlie Morotn

Rockies @ Braves 7:10 pm
Chad Bettis vs Julio Teheran

Dodgers @ Cubs 8:05 pm
Ricky Nolasco vs Chris Rusin

Over in the American League,

White Sox @ Indians       12:05 pm
Chris Sale vs Justin Masterson

Royals @ Twins 1:10 pm
James Shields vs Scott Diamond

Astros @ Orioles               7:05 pm
Jordan Lyles vs Bud Norris

D-backs  @ Rangers 7:05 pm
Zeke Spruill vs Yu Darvish

Mariners @ Red Sox 7:10 pm
Felix Hernandez vs Ryan Dempster

Blue Jays @ Angels         10:05 pm
Josh Johnson vs Garrett Richards

In other baseball news, the trade deadline came and went yesterday.  Here are the winners and losers, according to Yahoo! Sports:


Jayson Stark also chimes in with his opinion of the trade deadline moves:

  
Next deadline for trades is August 31st, although in any trades now, the players have to clear waivers first.  You will now see teams put all sorts of names on the waiver list, only to pull them back if any team claims them.  

Here are the latest rumors around the majors:


Here is ESPN chiming in with their gossip:


TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  As we move into the month of August, who holds the major league record for home runs in August?  The answer comes later, alligator.   

Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:


Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:


In Dolphin news, the Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys will play in the first preseason game this year this Sunday, August 4th, in Canton, Ohio.  The annual game at the Pro Football Hall of Fame will be broadcast nationally by NBC, Channel 6 in South Florida.  I can’t believe the football season is already here.

The Herald has a couple of stories:

Receivers Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline were both held out of Monday’s scrimmage:


The offensive line seems to be struggling as players move around on the O-Line:


Here is the Palm Beach Post’s daily Dolphin Camp report:


Here’s ESPN’s NFL Nation Blog, with news from all around the league:


We can all continue to sleep at night, knowing full well that Aaron Hernandez remains in jail, where he belongs.  

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I’m selling three lots totaling a little over five acres in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, overlooking the New River, a quick 35-minute drive from Boone and Blowing Rock.  Click here to see some photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: 


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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: As we move into the month of August, who holds the major league record for home runs in August? 

Rudy York blasted 18 homers while playing for the Detroit Tigers in August of 1937.  The record for home runs in ANY month is held by the Cubs‘ Sammy Sosa, who hit 20 dingers in June of 1998.  

Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” radio segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com

IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com

Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day. 

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