Major League Baseball: 2019 Season

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It seems like the last 5 years of the AL Central have been one or maybe two teams dominate and the rest of the division is stuck in perpetual rebuild mode.
 
I was looking at the standings and something dawned on me. We could possibly see a Twins Vs. Brewers World Series! I know TV ratings wise it would be horrible, but considering how the two fanbases are, it would certainly be entertaining.

It seems like the last 5 years of the AL Central have been one or maybe two teams dominate and the rest of the division is stuck in perpetual rebuild mode.

I'm just happy the Twins are the ones dominating for a change. :D

Also, I wonder how long Keller will stick around in KC? He looked very impressive last night and considering how the rest of the team is I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a different uniform before the season is over.

Game 2 is tonight, but I'm guessing it won't happen if it rains like it's supposed to.
 
I was looking at the standings and something dawned on me. We could possibly see a Twins Vs. Brewers World Series! I know TV ratings wise it would be horrible, but considering how the two fanbases are, it would certainly be entertaining.



I'm just happy the Twins are the ones dominating for a change. :D

Also, I wonder how long Keller will stick around in KC? He looked very impressive last night and considering how the rest of the team is I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a different uniform before the season is over.

Game 2 is tonight, but I'm guessing it won't happen if it rains like it's supposed to.

I just wish the Tigers picked up a World Series ring during their run. But oh well, at least they went to the WS during their run. As for KC, I'm amazed Ned Yost hasn't been fired yet with how they've been lately. That's the real surprise to me.
 
Until after the All-Star.
Then we'll realize that we're Minnesota.
We can't have nice things.
:lol:
Don't worry- The Twins won't lose many spots in the division rankings. Detroit, KC, and Chicago won't be able to do anything after the All Star break anyway. :lol:
 
Until after the All-Star.
Then we'll realize that we're Minnesota going to play the Yankees in the playoffs and get swept.
We can't have nice things.
:lol:
FTFY. (Note, this will happen even if the Yankees miss the playoffs.)
 
Every day is Mother's Day and Father's Day to me. But if you insist, Happy Father's Day!

The city of Toronto is still celebrating their Toronto Raptors of the NBA defeating the Golden State Warriors for their first ever NBA championship. Could Toronto's baseball team do some damage in Houston? The summary of a GTPlanet rivalry- JohnBM01's Houston Astros and Barra333's Toronto Blue Jays- is as follows:

GM1 TOR at HOU: (15-2; Houston)
GM2 TOR at HOU: (7-2; Houston)
GM3 TOR at HOU: (12-0; Toronto)

Barra333 said this series was going to be ugly, and all three games decided in blowouts. Sadly, while the Astros won the series, it wasn't in a sweep. I don't know what the heck happened on Sunday- I was asleep with the miserable rainy weather here in Houston. I do wish Cavan Biggio well in Major League Baseball. Maybe he'll someday become as much as superstar as daddy Craig Biggio. But again... it's 2 out of 3 for the Astros and end this home stand getting wrecked and blanked. Another GTP inner-forum rivalry complete.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... another inner-forum rivalry! I consider Dolph Drago a friend. Well, for about three days starting on Monday, we're enemies. The Astros will go up to beautiful Cincinnati to entertain the Cincinnati Reds in another NL Central family reunion. Yep. Astros and Redlegs. Southwestern Ohio. Beautiful Great American Ball Park. Three games. Back-to-back GTPlanet rivalries for me. Then after that, it's a four-game weekend series at the New York Yankees.


Congratulations to all other series winners and those who won today. Though misery loves company, one of those wins include the Atlanta Braves wrecking the Philadelphia Phillies 15-1; but at least the Phillies scored, unlike my Astros today.
 
Well, your Reds should feel good wrecking the Texas Rangers earlier today. So SOME reason to be optimistic about the Redlegs.


Actually, a bunch of other teams got wrecked today besides the Astros and Rangers. Some of those teams...

* The Detroit Tigers got blanked 8-0 in MoTown hosting the Cleveland Indians. It was a win for Trevor Bauer for CLE and a loss for Spencer Tumbull for DET.

* The Washington Nationals delivered 15-5 punishment to the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks. Anibal Sanchez was the winning pitcher for the Washington Nationals. For ARI, Archie Bradley was the loser.

* 15-1 was the score in Atlanta as the Braves demolished the Philadelphia Phillies. The boys of Hotlanta saw Vince Velasquez win. Mike Foltynewicz for the fightin' Phils.

* Yanks vs. Sox! ...White Sox, of course. The Yanks picked up the win 10-3 in the south side of Chicago. Tab James Paxton for the win for NYY. Losing this one for CHW was Ordisamer Despaigne.

* Finally, the aforementioned Texas Rangers had to take an 11-3 beat down today. A good day for a change in Cincinnati. Cincy's winner was Sonny Gray. The Rangers tabbed the loss to Ariel Jurado.


And again- congratulations to all other winners, including San Diego winning an offensive slugfest at the Colorado Rockies.


[OMISSION] Houston now 48-24 on the season, leading the AL West by 9.5 games. Also, we now have the best record in baseball over Minnesota (MIN has 47 wins). We'll maintain the best record in baseball if the Los Angeles Dodgers lose tonight hosting the Chicago Cubs.
 
Well, your Reds should feel good wrecking the Texas Rangers earlier today. So SOME reason to be optimistic about the Redlegs.
What's incredibly frustrating is that they will have a game where they put up a stupid number of runs and absolutely blow out their opponent. But those games are surrounded by games where they score maybe 3 runs at best, usually fewer...and lose by either 1 or 2. Yeah, they scored 11 runs today, but they only scored 1 run in game 1 and 3 runs in game 2. Funnily enough, they outscored Texas 15-14 for the whole series, but still lost 2 of 3. :banghead:
 
What's incredibly frustrating is that they will have a game where they put up a stupid number of runs and absolutely blow out their opponent. But those games are surrounded by games where they score maybe 3 runs at best, usually fewer...and lose by either 1 or 2. Yeah, they scored 11 runs today, but they only scored 1 run in game 1 and 3 runs in game 2. Funnily enough, they outscored Texas 15-14 for the whole series, but still lost 2 of 3. :banghead:
I hear ya. If it wasn't for Vlad Jr and the Raptors, Toronto would be very depressed right now.
 
Your predicted Houston Astros sweep isn't going to happen because we failed tonight 3-2. Heck, the Reds COULD sweep the Astros. A long weather delay happened tonight in Cincinnati. And what do you know- another one-run game, but the Reds on the winning end of a one-run game.

Suit up and go again tomorrow night.
 
Let's play ball, Cincinnati Reds! You and my Astros! Series summary from another GTPlaneteer forum rivalry:

GM1 HOU at CIN: (3-2; Cincinnati)
GM2 HOU at CIN: (4-3; Cincinnati)
GM3 HOU at CIN: (3-2; Cincinnati)

Remember Dolph Drago predicted an Astros sweep, and then I predicted the Reds could sweep the Astros after losing Game 1? Well, the latter happened. So the Houston Astros are stuck on 48 wins as the Reds go from losing a series to the Texas Rangers to sweeping the Houston Astros. All one-run games. And sadly... the ASTROS on the losing end of one-run games. Almost as if the Astros and Reds switched uniforms. Mad as hell about getting swept, but out of sportsmanship, congrats to Dolph Drago's Cincinnati Reds. Y'all did REAL good. Oh, and did I mention the Redlegs are no longer in the NL Central basement? The current last-place team in the NL Central is now the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Houston Astros are still stuck on 48 wins, and have now lost four straight since getting annihilated by the Toronto Blue Jays back on Sunday. Our record after getting swept at the Reds is now 48-27. We still lead the AL West, but the lead is now 8 games over the Texas Rangers.

Next for the Houston Astros... to prevent this road trip from being a losing one, we need to sweep our next series- at the New York Yankees for a four-game set starting tomorrow in the Bronx. Yay.


Congratulations to all other winners from today/tonight as well as recent series winners. Maybe next time for my Astros...
 
Have you heard that Major League Baseball has given permission for the Tampa Bay Rays to explore other ballpark options? Word has it that they could split their home game locations from playing the first half of their home schedule in Tampa Bay, then the second half in... wait for it... Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Yep. So there's a possibility there could be TWO Canadian MLB teams. Both *American League* teams in Canada. Both of Florida's teams- the Tampa Bay Rays and the Miami Marlins- both rank at the very bottom in attendance. Heck, even Michael Wilbon of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" says MLB baseball doesn't even deserve to be in Florida considering the woeful attendance. Again- his words, not mine.

I read that the New York Mets did a real fire sale of their coaches, including their bullpen coach and pitching coach among others. Blitz24's New York Mets are currently 35-39, 4th in the NL East as of the time of this post. They and the Washington Nationals currently have the same number of wins currently- 35.

That other New York City team? Yeah- my Houston Astros got a four-game weekend series at the New York Yankees. The Astros could have maintained the best record in baseball had we not get swept in Interleague play at Dolph Drago's Cincinnati Reds. The Astros and Twins have the most wins among AL teams with 48 each, but the Los Angeles Dodgers are the first team to 50 wins, as they have a 50-25 record. Dodgers with the best record in baseball right now. And the worst record in baseball (in case you're wondering)? That would be the 21-53 Baltimore Orioles. Miami has the worst NL record at 26-46.


Enjoy the new series! Good luck to all of your favorite teams.
 
Astros and Yankees- one last time this [regular] season. Can the Houston Astros finally snap their losing streak? Can the Yankees maintain their winning streak? Here's how the Astros did in The Bronx against the Bronx Bombers...

GM1 HOU at NYY: (10-6; New York Yankees)
GM2 HOU at NYY: (4-1; New York Yankees)
GM3 HOU at NYY: (7-5; New York Yankees)
GM4 HOU at NYY: (9-4; Houston)

We didn't win a single game all of last week. That includes Toronto smashing us 12-0 at home on Father's Day. The losing funk continued being swept at Dolph Drago's Cincinnati Reds. Now dealing with Ken's New York Yankees, the Astros avoided getting swept. A big factor in the Game 4 victory was in Tyler White's Grand Slam in the Top of the 4th. We call Tyler White "The Great White." José Altuve and George Springer returned to the lineup for the Astros on Sunday after some rehap assignments with AA Corpus Christi. In the end, we won the season series against the New York Yankees 4-3.

The Houston Astros are now 49-30 on the season and still atop the AL West. Now, though, the lead is 7 games ahead of the Texas Rangers. The New York Yankees are now 49-28 and lead the AL East by 5 over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we're heading back to Houston and will do more Interleague play in hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Buckos from the Steel City will come on down to H-Town to play starting on Tuesday.


Congratulations to all recent series winners as well as those who won on Sunday. That even includes Barra333's Toronto Blue Jays smacking up the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park today.
 
The Houston Astros Baseball Club returns to Minute Maid Park after scoring a grand total of one win in their sevan-game road trip. This, even in getting George Springer and José Altuve back in the lineup. So how did things go when the Pittsburgh Pirates- another former NL Central foe, came to H-Town? Here's what happened:

GM1 PIT at HOU: (5-1; Houston)
GM2 PIT at HOU: (14-2; Pittsburgh)
GM3 PIT at HOU: (10-0; Pittsburgh)

So the only good news is that we knocked down our golden (50th) win of the season. Bad news... the Astros are now starting to lose with regularity. It may not be too much longer until the Astros may go from AL West leaders... to being an AL Wild Card contender... to even missing the playoffs entirely. If the Astros are going to keep playing like trash, then they'd better hope everybody else keeps losing. Misery loves company, as I always say. For now, we still lead the AL West but now with a record of 50-32, currently 4.5 games ahead of the Texas Rangers.

Up next for the Houston Astros... more important business than Interleague play- the Seattle Mariners are coming to Houston for a three-game weekend series. The Astros don't have to sweep, but they need to keep winning to make sure they can help their cause for this season. This is the final game of their home stand before heading out for a quick two-game Interleague set at the Colorado Rockies.


Congratulations to all recent series winners and others who won on Thursday. Oh, and as of June 27... happy birthday, Yordan Alvarez!
 
The Houston Astros have had three of its players selected to the 2019 MLB All-Star Game. George Springer, Alex Bregman, and Michael Brantley were all selected by fans and in that fancy voting deal. The 2019 All-Star Game happens July 8 from Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

This weekend should be interesting if you are a fan of the New York Yankees and/or the Boston Red Sox. Not just because of the rivalry itself, but where it will be played this weekend. The Yanks and Red Sox will play in London, England, United Kingdom this weekend starting on Saturday for a two-game series. FOX will air the Saturday game, and ESPN will air the Sunday game. I have no idea how popular baseball is in Europe (let alone the UK). All I know is, we're giving the UK some USA baseball for the weekend.


Enjoy your baseball this weekend! Good luck to all of your favorite teams. Oh, and congratulations to all other players who were selected to compete in any All-Star activities this season, including the Home Run Derby.
 
Not surprisingly, no Reds position players made it. Pitching wise, I'm sure Luis Castillo will be chosen, though. And maybe Amir Garrett.
 
I just remembered that today is when Craig Biggio hit his 3000th hit on this day in 2007. That was a big story, but bigger was how Carlos Lee hitting a walf-off Grand Slam in extra innings to defeat against the Colorado Rockies.


The Astros' futility continues as of the time of this post, down 1-0 to Seattle in the Bottom of the 7th.
 
The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox took their rivalry to London, England, United Kingdom. The London Series is the first-ever regular season contest played in Europe. Crazy game so far! Both teams are tied at 6 after the first inning! Same score as of right now, now Top of the 3rd.

By the way, my Houston Astros won last night's game 2-1 against the Seattle Mariners. Full summary to come when this series concludes.
 
That first game between NYY and BOS ended up being a 17-13 win for the New York Yankees! Let me give you the box score:

NYY: 17 runs, 19 hits, 0 errors
BOS: 13 runs, 18 hits, 0 errors

Sadly, one of the Yanks went down with an injury. Man- the Yankees can't buy a break with their MASH unit of injured players. If Sunday's game matches the insanity of Saturday's game, it's going to be nuts watching the Yanks and Red Sox go at it on Sunday! There were over 59K+ in attendance for this game. Having 59K is larger than most MLB stadiums! It took 4 hours and 42 minutes to complete this game. It was clear with a temperature of 92°F in London.

I just wanted to share that insight on this game with you all. It was interesting to follow.
 
Last series saw the Houston Astros lose another Interleague series when the Pittsburgh Pirates came to H-Town. Now let's see what happens when the Astros returned to Division play, taking on the last-place Division Seattle Mariners...

GM1 SEA at HOU: (2-1, 10 innings; Houston)
GM2 SEA at HOU: (6-5, 10 innings; Houston)
GM3 SEA at HOU: (6-1; Houston)

We managed to sweep the Seattle Mariners at home. This is much needed for the Astros after a recent swing of futility. Probably wished we'd put away the Mariners in nine innings in Games 1 and 2, but whatever it takes. Seattle started Game 3 with a solo jack, but six unanswered runs by the Astros put them ahead for good.

The 2019 Houston Astros will head into July with a 53-32 record and still leading the AL West. The lead is currently 6.5 over the Texas Rangers. And believe it or not, we currently have the same number of wins as the Minnesota Twins, but it is the New York Yankees with the best record in the AL now at 54-28. Best record in baseball still goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers at 56-29.


Elsewhere...

* The Texas Rangers fell 6-2 at the Tampa Bay Rays. Blake Snell was the winning pitcher at The Trop today. Jesse Chavez was TEX's losing pitcher.

* The New York Yankees swept their rival Boston Red Sox in the London Series with a 12-8 victory. BOS blasted three homers in the 1st inning. The Yanks hung nine on the Red Sox in the 7th inning to sink the boys from Boston. The winner of this one was Adam Ottavino. Marcus Walden was BOS' loser.

* The Cincinnati Reds won 8-6 hosting the Chicago Cubs. Eugenio Suarez of the Reds banged one 457 feet their win over the Cubbies today. That 457-foot bomb is the longest hit by a Red since 2016. The Redlegs back in the NL Central basement, but they got some talent taking down the 2nd Place NL Central Cubs. Remember- the Reds swept my Astros earlier this month. The win for CIN goes to Anthony DeSclafani and a Save for Raisel Iglesias. For CHC, the losing pitcher was Jon Lester.

* MoTown has been singing the blues all 2019 season. Washington didn't do the Detroit Tigers many favors, as they lost today 2-1 in Detroit. Max Scherzer was the winning pitcher for WAS, putting up a good number of strikeouts. Sean Doolittle did a lot to get the Save for WAS. Doolittle picked up his Joe Jiménez was the losing Detroit pitcher. Worst of all- the Detroit Tigers are now in the basement of the AL Central at 27-52. Kansas City used to be in the AL Central basement but are now 29-55 and 4th in the AL Central. Speaking of KC...

* The Royals downed the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 in Toronto. The winner for KC was Brad Keller along with a Save from Ian Kennedy. Aaron Sanchez picked up the loss for Toronto.

* The Milwaukee Brewers won 2-1 in Milwaukee against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Brew Crew saw Jeremy Jeffress win the game along with a Save from former Astro Matt Albers. It was a loss for Kyle Crick for the Pirates.

* The New York Mets will host the Atlanta Braves tonight, but they have been on the skids HARD of late. I think I read something about the Mets having back-to-back months of blowing eight or more Save opportunities. Mets currently have lost seven straight games. The 2019 New York Mets are currently 37-47, 4th in the NL East.


Congratulations to not only all other series winners and winners from Sunday, but also all who made the MLB Home Run Derby and MLB All-Star Game.
 
Halfway through the calendar for 2019- welcome to July! I will be doing another one of these by the All-Star Break, but for now, let's get a Standings Update to determine who all are doing well... and not so well. Find your favorite team(s) and maybe chat about how they are doing so far:

--- AMERICAN LEAGUE ---
AL EAST: New York Yankees (54-28), TB (48-36), BOS (44-40), TOR (31-53), BAL (24-59)
AL CENTRAL: Minnesota (53-30), CLE (45-38), CHW (39-42), KC (29-55), DET (27-52)
AL WEST: Houston (53-32), TEX (46-38), OAK (46-39), LAA (42-43), SEA (37-51)

--- NATIONAL LEAGUE ---
NL EAST: Atlanta (50-35), PHI (44-40), WAS (42-41), NYM (38-47), MIA (32-50)
NL CENTRAL: Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee (45-39 each), STL (41-41), PIT (39-43), CIN (38-43)
NL WEST: Los Angeles Dodgers (57-29), COL (44-40), SD (42-41), ARI (43-43), SF (36-47)

And in case you're wondering...

--- CURRENT WILD CARD TEAMS ---
CURRENT AL WILD CARD: Tampa Bay and Texas
CURRENT NL WILD CARD: Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee

And there you have it heading into the July games. Currently the Los Angeles Dodgers with the best record in baseball as well as in the National League. The New York Yankees, meanwhile, have the best AL record. The Baltimore Orioles have the worst record in all of baseball as well as in the American League, and the Miami Marlins have the worst NL record. Tampa Bay and Texas hold the AL Wild Card at present. Tied in their division, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers hold the two NL Wild Card spots at present. Still a long ways to go before we really get down to discussing playoff teams.


With the full rosters set for the MLB All-Star Game next week, six of those All-Star members are Houston Astros. Here is the full list of All-Star players, courtesy of Yahoo! Sports: https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-all-star-rosters-2019-222920172.html .


Well... good luck to your favorite teams as the season continues. And by the way, my Astros are off today. We begin a two-game Interleague series starting tomorrow at the Colorado Rockies in our next series.
 
Not sure what happened, but I want to offer my condolences in loving memory of Tyler Skaggs. He was part of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and was scheduled to play a game at the Texas Rangers tonight. That game has since been canceled. Skaggs was 27 years old.
 
Let's do some more Interleague baseball! My Houston Astros paid a visit to one of their NL foes- the Colorado Rockies. Here's how my boys did in the Mile High City:

GM1 HOU at COL: (9-8; Houston)
GM2 HOU at COL: (4-2; Houston)

Unlike the last road Interleague series, the Houston Astros actually won. We also swept our opponent this time (unlike getting swept ourselves). The Colorado Rockies could have easily won either game in this series. Still, we managed to survive against the boys from Mile High. We are now 55-32 on the season after this quick two-game road series. Still leading the AL West, but now ahead by 7.5 games against not the Texas Rangers, but the Oakland Athletics now.

Up next for the Houston Astros... we'll take Thursday off and get ready for a three-game weekend series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I am still stunned and shocked to learn of the death of Tyler Skaggs for LAA. It's our final series before the All-Star Break.


Elsewhere...

* The Texas Raners couldn't stop the Los Angeles Angels, falling at home 6-2. Jaime Barria was LAA's winning pitcher. Ariel Jurado was the loser for the Texas Rangers.

* The New York Yankees' home run streak ends at 31 games, but they still took down Blitz24's Mets 5-1 in Flushing. They took tonight's game in this Subway Series. Winning for the Yanks was Domingo German. Losing for the Mets was Jason Vargas.

* Did Dolph Drago's Reds do good tonight? Well, how does a 3-0 Reds victory over the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers in Cincinnati sound to you? Sonny Gray got the win and a Save from Raisel Iglesias. Losing for the Brew Crew was Jhoulys Chacin.

* The Detroit Tigers played a Doubleheader today at the Chicago White Sox. The first game was a 7-5 win for the White Sox. Dylan Cease was the winner for CHW along with a Save from Alex Colome in Game 1. Daniel Norris was Detroit's loser in Game 1. The second game was a Tigers' loss in 12 innings by a score of 9-6 at the Chicago White Sox. The Chicago South side boys saw Jose Ruiz win in Game 2. Nick Ramirez was Detroit's loser in Game 2.

* Baltimore ain't never scared of no Rays. Baltimore got their silver (25th) win of the season with a 9-6 victory at Tampa Bay. BAL won with Mychal Givens and a Save from Shawn Armstrong. The loser for TB was José Alvarado.


Congratulations to all other series winners and winners from Wednesday.
 
AL West action in H-Town! This is what happened when the Angels and Astros went at it...

GM1 LAA at HOU: (5-4; Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
GM2 LAA at HOU: (4-0; Houston)
GM3 LAA at HOU: (11-10, 10 innings; Houston)

I disliked the Astros seemingly get scored on so much when they draw closer or have a lead in this series. A Grand Slam in Game 3 was a huge difference in the win for the Houston Astros. After all we've done, the series was still taken by the Astros. The Angels left Houston with a 45-46 record and 4th in the AL West. The Houston Astros, meanwhile, head into the All-Star Break leading the AL West with a 57-33 record and 7.5 games ahead of the 2nd Place 50-41 Oakland Athletics.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... some Astros will play in the All-Star Break. When the bands get back together, we have back-to-back AL-west four-game road series. So on Thursday, we got four games at the Texas Rangers, and then four games at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.


Congratulations to all recent series winners and those who won on Sunday.
 
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