Major League Baseball: 2019 Season

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Just as well Toronto has a basketball team to cheer for. At least Vlad and Cavan Biggio should be fun to watch...
 
This is Memorial Day, where we honor the men and women in our military who paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend the USA home and abroad.

We recently lost a baseball legend. Bill Buckner died yesterday at the age of 69. It was reported Buckner died of a condition called Lewy Body Dementia. Buckner played over 22 MLB seasons. I offer my condolences to the Buckner family and all whom have known and loved Bill Buckner.


On a different note, a lot of games are being played on this Memorial Day. My Houston Astros are currently leading the Chicago Cubs 6-3 in the Top of the 8th here in Houston. Hope your team(s) is/are doing well.
 
Since the beginning of the series against the Dodgers on the 17th, the Reds have not won 2 games in a row, nor had 2 losses in a row.

May 17th - L
18th - W
19th - L
21st - W
22nd - L
24th - W
25th - L
26th - W
27th (double header) Game 1 - L
Game 2 - W

I fully expect a loss tomorrow, followed by a split of the series with the Pirates by winning Wednesday.
 
My Astros ended up winning 6-5 today against the Chicago Cubs here in Houston. But man... what's up with the Detroit Tigers? The Tigers of MoTown are on a stretch of 1-12 the past few games including today's 5-3 loss at Baltimore. Detroit's last win was this past Friday at the New York Mets 9-8. Before that, their last win was 5-3 at Minnesota on May 12. Sad baseball times in Detroit right about now.
 
The Reds forgot they were supposed to lose today and took the victory 11-6 instead. Derek Dietrich hit 3 homers. In fact, 7 of his last 8 hits have been dingers. And 12 of his last 17. Unreal. :eek:
 
I'm sad to find out Carlos Correa will be out 4-6 weeks with a fractured rib. Things are going to get tough for the Astros right now. They must first deal with the Chicago Cubs. So this is how we did in Interleague Play (when this would be an NL Central game back in the old days):

GM1 CHC at HOU: (6-5; Houston)
GM2 CHC at HOU: (9-6; Houston)
GM3 CHC at HOU: (2-1; Chicago Cubs)

I'm going to be honest, GTPlanet. I'm surprised we won this series. The Chicago Cubs played us almost like the 2017 World Series match against the Los Angeles Dodgers. You're going to get every team's best shot no matter who you play against. The Cubs are NOT a sorry team. They aren't tomato cans. You are not playing against Minor League Baseball teams or college teams. You are getting every team's best shot no matter who is on the calendar. That said, the Cubs did great playing us in this series. All I know is that the Astros are going to have a tough time ahead without some of our best players playing.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we're going to entertain some teams on the road. And... they are LATE GAMES! After taking tomorrow off, we're at Oakland for three followed by at Seattle for four. Oakland's been hot lately. The Astros are going to get tested for sure on this upcoming road trip.


Elsewhere, and other musings...

* The Astros' next opponent is Oakland, and in a battle of California's two AL teams, the Los Angeles Angels did Houston a favor. Like, a 12-7 victory at Oakland in 11 innings. The A's had a win streak of 10 or so games, but they have now lost back-to-back games.

* I think it's pretty nice Derek Dietrich of the Cincinnati Reds is getting some national love for his offensive production. Maybe he'll be the catalyst to lift the Reds more in games. Unfortunately for the Redlegs tonight, the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated Cincy 7-2.

* It was 4-2 in Baltimore as the Detroit Tigers grounded the Baltimore Orioles.

* 4-2 was the same score in Miami as the Miami Marlins downed the San Francisco Giants.


Congratulations to all other series winners and those who won today/tonight.
 
Mets played really great last night. As in the bullpen giving up 6 runs in 3 innings to waste away a 5 run lead. Although the Dodgers are good and credit goes to them for pulling it out, the Mets are a walking disaster. Take away their decent early run (because this team likes to do well in the first 10-15 days) and they are 8 games below .500. Cano is washed up and Diaz was not worth the ridiculous price the Mets paid for him. Jed Lowrie may not play for the Mets (and make $22 million to do nothing), Familia was not worth the contract given as the Mets KNEW WHAT THEY HAD IN HIM 6 MONTHS PRIOR. Only players saving this season are the surprising JD Davis and Pete Alonso, who has 19 HRs. Pitching is borderline terrible as only Steven Matz has been consistent, deGrom may have significantly regressed, Wheeler is playing like he already got the fat contract he's trying for, and Noah Syndergaard has fallen in love with a poisoned match in just going for speed (his "very fast fastball") as opposed to pitching and using other pitches. I'm not sure any of the team's ownership or management has any idea what they are doing.

But other than that, the game was great.
 
One of the hot topics from Game 3 of the Cubs at Astros series back on Wednesday was a young girl getting hit by a foul ball hit by Albert Almora, Jr. of the Chicago Cubs. People were wondering if maybe the netting should be extended to prevent certain foul balls from ending up hitting people unexpectedly. The plan would mean netting would be extended to the foul poles to protect fans. What say you on this matter?


With all of this said, I hope you all have a great weekend and get to enjoy this weekend's games.
 
The Twins won 3/4 against the Rays to become the first AL team to 40 wins* and stretched the division lead to 11.5. Up next is a 3 game series against Cleveland.

*Houston is at 39 and ahead 3-2 as of this post, so the Twins may not have that lead for long.
 
We go from May to June with this weekend series. This is a summary of the Houston Astros paying a visit to the Oakland Athletics:

GM1 HOU at OAK: (4-3; Houston)
GM2 HOU at OAK: (5-1; Houston)
GM3 HOU at OAK: (6-4, 12 innings; Houston)

The Houston Astros won this series in a sweep. Not even the seagull invasion in Game 3 could subdue the Astros going up against the Athletics. I think the bigger accomplishment here was the Astros finding other players to produce in the absence of star players. No Springer, no Correa, no Altuve... no problem. You still have to produce as best as you can. I'm glad the Astros have found other talent to try to shine in place of some of our banged up players. It's great to know you have a good farm system to call up quality talent to take the place of the starting talent. Oakland is going to host the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim after taking tomorrow off. My Astros still lead the AL West by 8.5 games, and our record is now 40-20. The Twins still have the better record with 18 losses compared to our 20.

Up next for the Houston Astros... more late games (MOAR LATE GAMEZ!)! The Astros are heading to the Emerald City trying to sparkle like diamonds against the Seattle Mariners in a four-game series. The Pacific Northwest's only MLB team is ready to rock once we go to Seattle to entertain the Mariners in their house.


Elsewhere...

* There were 1,135 home runs hit in May 2019- the most homers hit in any month in MLB history. Can you imagine how much people been jacking balls out of the park this past month?

* I haven't heard much about him, but I want to offer a little salute to Cavan Biggio on the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes- of the same bloodline as Hall of Famer Craig Biggio. Maybe he'll end up being as great as his daddy.

* As I arrived on GTPlanet, I knew the Minnesota Twins reached 40 wins in the fewest amount of games in team history. The Twins are just ballin'.


Congratulations to all recent series winners and those who won on Sunday. Hopefully your favorite team(s) is/are among the winners from this weekend.


[UPDATE/OMISSION] HOU leads AL West by 8.5 games now. I forgot to include that in my original post.
 
The calendar says it is June 2019. With that said, let's find out how everybody is doing record-wise. This is the latest Standings Update featuring all 30 MLB teams. Find your favorite team(s) here (Source: Yahoo! Sports):

--- AMERICAN LEAGUE ---
AL EAST: New York Yankees (38-20), TB (35-22), BOS (30-29), TOR (21-38), BAL (18-41)
AL CENTRAL: Minnesota (40-18), CHW and CLE (29-30 each), DET (22-34), KC (19-40)
AL WEST: Houston (40-20), TEX (30-27), OAK and LAA (29-30 each), SEA (25-37)

--- NATIONAL LEAGUE ---
NL EAST: Philadelphia (33-26), ATL (32-27), NYM (28-31), WAS (26-33), MIA (21-36)
NL CENTRAL: Milwaukee (34-26), CHC (31-26), STL (30-28), PIT (28-30), CIN (27-32)
NL WEST: Los Angeles Dodgers (41-19), COL (31-27), SD (30-29), ARI (30-30), SF (24-34)

OTHER OBSERVATIONS:
WIN PERCENTAGE...
...BEST WIN PERCENTAGE: Minnesota (.690)
...WORST WIN PERCENTAGE: Baltimore (.305)

HOME/AWAY RECORDS...
...BEST HOME: Los Angeles Dodgers (25-7)
...BEST AWAY: Minnesota (21-9)
...WORST HOME: Baltimore (8-23)
...WORST AWAY: Kansas City (8-23)

CURRENT STREAKS...
...LONGEST WINNING: Colorado (8 straight wins)
...LONGEST LOSING: Toronto (6 straight losses)

CURRENT 10-GAME STRETCH:
...BEST RECORD: Colorado (9-1)
...WORST RECORD: Toronto (1-9)


Things are heating up with Summer officially starting later this month. I hope your favorite team(s) are doing well so far this season. There is still a ways to go and still a lot of time to either maintain a good season or bounce back. Good luck to all of your favorite teams moving forward.


[OMISSIONS] Did you know today is the 2019 MLB Draft? It will be a chance for teams to acquire new talent.

I am also happy to report that New York Mets broadcaster Ron Darling has recovered from his cancer. I wish R. Darling the best.
 
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I'm still shocked at how bad the Royals are since they've been in perpetual rebuild mode after their World Series win..
 
It does seem sad about the Kansas City Royals, doesn't it? I mean... you go from World Series champs to a continuous downward spiral. My Astros were like that after their improbable 2005 World Series run. Granted the '05 Astros got swept by the White Sox, the Astros just had a long while of not really amounting to much since 2005. That all changed, of course, when we won it all in 2017.

As for the (respectively) Tigers and Blue Jays, here's hoping both teams get better. I would imagine Detroit and Toronto are probably going to be active traders trying to find extra talent to get some more wins. Unless things get progressively worse, I don't see Detroit nor Toronto finishing dead last in their respective divisions.

I am surprised that the Los Angeles Dodgers currently have the best record in baseball. You know, Houston been ballin', Minnesota been ballin', but it's the Dodgers with the best record at 41-19 as of the time of this post. I have been impressed with the Milwaukee Brewers as far as National League teams go. I could see the Brew Crew win the NL Central, but also the Cubs and Cardinals getting NL Wild Card berths. I could also see the NL Wild Card go to the Cubs and the Braves.

The only game that went Final as of the time of this post was an 8-1 beating the Chicago Cubs delivered to the visiting Los Angeles Angels. Jon Lester picked up the win for the Cubbies, and losing for the Halos was Trevor Cahill.


Welcome to Major League Baseball, to all drafted talent. That even includes the Baltimore Orioles drafting Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman with the first pick in the MLB Draft.
 
Nice to know the Reds have the best record of those in the basements of their divisions. Actually, they'd be 4th place in a couple. The NL Central is tight. If not for the 1-8 start, constant 1-run losses, and no hitting with excellent pitching (offense has picked up considerably, though still inconsistent), the Reds could be in the hunt for the division lead. Or at very least, above .500 would be manageable.
 
The race in the NL Central is honestly very tight based on the Standings Update. So I can see your point, Dolph Drago. I mean, who is to say the Reds don't move up to mid-pack or even surprisingly lead the NL Central? Cincinnati came into Monday with 27 wins; Milwaukee has 34 wins. So the spread of games back is pretty narrow. In fact, the NL Central is more competitive than the NL West at this point among NL divisions. Keep believing! :)
 
The latest road trip for the Houston Astros continues as they paid a visit to the Seattle Mariners for a four-game series. Here now is the series summary...

GM1 HOU at SEA: (4-2; Houston)
GM2 HOU at SEA: (11-5; Houston)
GM3 HOU at SEA: (14-1; Seattle)
GM4 HOU at SEA: (8-7, 14 innings; Houston)

So that is how our trip to the Pacific Northwest went. You're going to get the best shot from each team, even against weaker opposition. The Houston Astros still managed to take . Remember we don't have Springer, Correa, and Altuve in this road trip. That said, Myles Straw has come up big. I couldn't watch Game 3 after the Mariners banged two homers to go up about... 6-1 or so. Apparently thereafter, the Astros just got destroyed in having their seven-game winning streak go down in flames on Wednesday night. Houston is now 43-21 and still leading the AL West. The lead is now nine games over the Texas Rangers.


Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we're back home! Awaiting us back at Minute Maid Park are the Baltimore Orioles. Three-game set in H-Town against the O's.


Elsewhere...

Remember Dallas Keuchel? He was a pitching star for the Houston Astros. Now, this pitching ace was picked up by the Atlanta Braves. So Atlanta... get to know Dallas Keuchel.


Congratulations to all other winners from today/tonight as well as recent series winners.
 
Back home after stops in Oakland and Seattle. Here is what happened as the Houston Astros hosted the Baltimore Orioles:

GM1 BAL at HOU: (4-3, 11 innings; Houston)
GM2 BAL at HOU: (4-1; Baltimore)
GM3 BAL at HOU: (4-0; Houston)

If you are a talented team playing against a team like the last-place Orioles, you probably are expecting to completely whack such a team. We still took 2 out of 3 against the O's. A guy we called up from the Minors hit a two-run jack to put the Astros ahead in Game 3 of this series. Baltimore is now 20-45- the last team to make it to 20 wins this season, and they are still dead last in the AL East. My Astros are now sitting at 45-22 and still leading the AL West ahead of the Texas Rangers. We currently have the best record in the American League. If the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat San Francisco today in San Francisco, the Dodgers will still have the best record in baseball with just one less loss than my Astros.

Up next for the Houston Astros... we take Monday off before starting a quick NL Central family reunion for two games against the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Yeah, so a fellow GTPlaneteer who loves the Brewers will be enemies with me for Tuesday and Wednesday. Brewers at Astros starting on Tuesday for two games!


Congratulations to all recent series winners and everyone who won today/tonight. Hopefully your favorite team(s) is/are among the game winners or series winners.


[UPDATE] Los Angeles Dodgers won at San Francisco, so they still retain the best record in baseball.

Mistakenly used "HAL" instead of "BAL."
 
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Spare some thoughts for David Ortiz ("Big Papi") after getting shot over the weekend in an attempted burglary in the Dominican Republic. The 43-year old is expected to fully recover, but this is very unfortunate.

Enjoy the new series in the meanwhile!
 
I went to the Nats-Padres game this Sunday

It's always fun to watch baseball at the ballpark it's being played on; but needless to say, I was impressed by seeing 4 consecutive homeruns by the Nats (8th time in mlb history)

Wingenter did a nice reliever job, and I'd say the exact opposite for Stammen, that was abysmal, obviously because he allowed the 4 homeruns.
 
[Update] Minnesota Twins take the best record in MLB again. .677
:lol:
Only until the All-Star then we will find out. "Oh we're a Minnesota team, lets blow it"
 
This would be just another NL Central game if it were the old days. Today, this is Interleague play as the Houston Astros of the American League West met the National League Central's Milwaukee Brewers. So let's see what the Astros and Brewers did in this quick two-game set...

GM1 MIL at HOU: (10-8; Houston)
GM2 MIL at HOU: (6-3, 14 innings; Milwaukee)

So we managed a series split of the Brewers. We had to earn our win of Game 1. After seven innings in Game 2, Justin Verlander picked up over 15 strikeouts- a career high. It would have been a better pitching performance if JV didn't give up so many solo jacks by the Brewers. Verlander picked up 19 strikeouts- tied for the most by an Astros pitcher in franchise history. The team ended up with a franchise-record 24 strikeouts for Game 2 of this series. But... all of this didn't mean anything as we failed. It was also the first extra innings game we lost (3-0 in extra inning games heading into tonight).

Up next for the Houston Astros... Thursday will be a day off, but afterwards, it's another inner-forum rivalry. This time, my Astros against... Barra333's Toronto Blue Jays. This is a three-game set to conclude the Astros' home stand before heading out on the road again. Just like this season's NBA Finals, it's America vs. Canada for this series! Cooler story is that Craig Biggio's son, Covan(?) as well as Yuli Gurriel's brother will be playing on the TOR side against my Astros.


Congratulations to all recent series winners and others who won on Wednesday.
 
Well, even with this injury to Carlos Correa, the Houston Astros are still doing pretty good. Surely we'd love to have Altuve, Springer, and Correa back in the lineup, but the team is dealing fairly well.

Last night still kind of hurts for me racking up all of those strikeouts but can't put away the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brew Crew are a top team for a reason. The Brewers are part of that stacked NL Central. The Chicago Cubs- and maybe also the St. Louis Cardinals- can contend, but I think the NL Central (for right now) is the team to beat in the NL Central.
 

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