TWiB Notes - May 6 thru 12

[Frayed Knot]

Philly finished up a four-game wrap-around series with San Fran this afternoon with their 10th win in the last 11.
Combine that with the Dodger sweep of the Braves out in La La Land this past weekend and the Phils are
currently sitting on a 3.0 game lead in the NL East.

We'll be playing both teams starting Friday: ATL x3 [H] then PHI x4 [2H/2A]

[Frayed Knot]

Gary is cribbing off my notes ... and not for the first time I might add!!

[Edgy MD]

TWiBcribbing is the worst.

[Edgy MD]

I'm not clicking through to the box, but looking at the scoreboard, and Verlander is getting creamed tonight.

[Frayed Knot]

3 HRs allowed for JV.
Astros now 0-5 vs Yanx this year.

[Edgy MD]

The Mets sent a lot of money with him, but ... it's hard to argue with that at this moment.

[Frayed Knot]

It occurred to me last night that I can barely name anyone on the current Red Sox. THE RED SOX!!
For most of this century I knew their positions players, their starters, at least a couple of their relievers,
and, hell, half their backups too. But they've done a big house cleaning/turn-over in recent years and
I've totally lost touch.

Their starting lineup from last night:
Jarren (no, not Warren Mr. Spell Check) Duran - CF ???
Rafael Devers 3B -- OK, him I know
Tyler O'Neill LF -- he's that muscular dude from Canada who was with StL the last few years
Wilyer Abreu RF - ???
Dom Smith DH -- recent addition
Garrett Cooper 1B -- good when he's healthy tho not always healthy and therefore well traveled [MIA, NYY, SDP, CHC] and new to Sawx
Reese McGuire C -- he's actually their backup to Connor Wong who I don't know either
Ceddanne Rafaela SS -- ???

Pitchers: Cutter Crawford, Brennan Bernardino, Greg Weissert, Justin Slaten

[Frayed Knot]

Phils phinally lose thanks to a nice game by Chris Bassitt and Toronto.
It breaks their 7 game win streak which also ran to 11 of 12 and 18 of 21
This plummets their record to a paltry 26-12

[Benjamin Grimm]

Holy cow! I live in the Philly metro area and I had no idea the Phillies were doing so well.

It's comforting to know how well I've been able to tune them out.

[MFS62]

Holy cow! I live in the Philly metro area and I had no idea the Phillies were doing so well.

It's comforting to know how well I've been able to tune them out.

The Phillie fans haven't been too vocal about their success because they've been too busy eating their young.
Later

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Paul Skenes gets the callup to Pittsburgh. He's probably the hypest starting pitching prospect since Strasburg.

Has a fun delivery, his right arm delivers the pitch, then does a second rotation just to slow down.

[Frayed Knot]

He was the #1/1 pick out of LSU just last June and is now slated to start on Saturday vs CHC
And his girl friend is internet star LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne so there's a bit of a lower-case Taylor Swift kind of deal going on here.

Pirates have had a number of highly drafted pitchers in the last 20 years but, really, only Gerritt Cole has worked out, and only for a
while so there are still plenty of ways this thing can go.

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx are 6-0 vs Houston with one game to go and have out-scored them 40-18 so far this season.
The Astros now sit in last place at 12-24 overall with a -35 RS/RA differential.
Houston, you have a problem.

[Frayed Knot]

Houston salvages the final game vs the Yanx and possibly even a tiny bit of their dignity.
They scored 3 in the top of the 1st and then hung on for a 4-3 win to go 1-6 in the season series.

[MFS62]

And his girl friend is internet star LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne

Livy Dunne kindled my interest in women's gymnastics. The funny thing is, the LSU team was on ESPN and Livy wasn't good enough to be a starter for them. She is also the TV spokesperson for Vuori, a brand of workout clothing.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Paul Skenes gets the callup to Pittsburgh. He's probably the hypest starting pitching prospect since Strasburg.

Has a fun delivery, his right arm delivers the pitch, then does a second rotation just to slow down.

Will get his first start on Saturday (4:05) at home vs Cubs

[Frayed Knot]

The Yanx managed to hold Tampa bats at bay in the opening game of their series [2-0], something our guys failed at miserably [20 RA in 3 games]

[Frayed Knot]

Paul Skenes in his ML debut, gave up his first run on a HR to Nico Hoerner with one out in the 4th.
He then got pulled after giving up hits to the first two batters in the 5th and eventually got charged
with those runs as well. So 3 ER on 6 hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks and a rather hefty 84 pitches.

Pirates had a 6-1 lead. It's now 6-6 and in a rain delay.