soccer10k

Two run homer. 6-3 Tigers.

Tigers down 3-2 in the 7th with 2nd and 3rd with no out. If they don’t at least tie the game, it’s going to be super annoying. They should take the lead also. ETA: Jeimer with a two run single on a 0-2 pitch! 4-3 Tigers.

The first guy swung at a 2-0 pitch at the top of the zone for some reason. High enough that it might have been called a ball. Might not have mattered but he shouldn’t have swung.

Braves are up 22-8 on the Marlins in the 5th.

This is a April/May 2019 Darvish inning.

St Louis has two more games against Detroit that they’d make up on the Monday after the season ends if necessary. There are no tiebreaker games so ties are resolved by H2H, then your division record them record in the last 20 games.

I was looking at the schedule the other day and it got me to look at the other teams in the division. Cubs: 2 vs. Cin, 3 @ Mil, 2 vs. Cle, 3 vs. Min, 4 @ Pit, 3 @ CWS Cards: 2 vs. Det, 3 vs. Cin, 5 @ Mil, 4 @ Pit, 1 vs. Pit, 3 @ KC, 4 vs. Mil, 1 @ Mil, 2 @ Det Brewers: 1 @ Det, 3 vs. ChC, 5 vs. StL, 3 vs. KC, 3 @ Cin, 4 @ StL, 1 vs StL Reds: 2 @ ChC, 3 @ StL 4 vs. Pit, 3 vs. CWS, 3 vs. Mil, 3 @ Min If we're just looking at making the playoffs, 30 wins could be enough. Right now the Marlins and Giants the 7 and 8 seeds at .500. So let's say 31. Division is probably more, so let's say 33 or 34 to be safe, though this could be 31 or 32. I'm not worried about the Reds at all for either one. They're already at 24 losses so to get to 30 wins, they'd have to go 12-6. Now, unless they only lose to StL and Mil but roll the other 12 games (unlikely since 8 are against us, ChW and Min), them getting to 30 wins would also likely give StL and Mil a loss or two. Mil and StL I'll group together for obvious reasons. Playoffs-wise, probably the best thing for the Cubs is that these two teams play 10 times. Because for the Cubs to miss the playoffs, both of these teams would have to pass the Cubs (assuming the Reds don't go nuts), and the Cubs could still finish 3rd and still get in. if StL goes 6-4 in those games, Milwaukee would have to go 8-2 just to get to 30. We'll obviously have a better idea of what to root for after this weekend when those two teams play. Considering the Cubs have had 75 chances to put the Brewers away since Sept 2018 and haven't done it, the irrational part of me is assuming Mil will win 2 of 3. But if, IF, the Cubs win the series, we'd probably want Milwaukee to at least win 5 games to maximize our division odds. Cubs winning 2 and Mil going 5-5 vs. StL puts them at 29 losses. StL does have a weaker schedule but all those DHs are going to matter. Next week they play 8 games in 5 days. If we're just looking at what the Cubs need to do, it's simple, pound the Pirates and don't get swept in the other series. If you give the Cubs 1 in each remaining series including Cincy (so win 2 of 3 in this one), and 3 of 4 vs. Pittsburgh, that's 33 wins, which is a playoff lock and probably gets the division. At the very least, it's second place. If they can't do that, well, they don't deserve a top-3 seed. For the playoffs it's even easier - 1 win per series gets you to 31. As far as the actual playoffs go, there's a decent chance we end up playing the Cards or Brewers in the first round. The Cubs are more likely to be the 3 seed if they win the division since Atlanta has a softer schedule. That means they'd end up playing the worst #2 seed. The Pads are pretty much locked into the 4 seed so we'd draw either the East or Central #2. Conversely, if the Cards win the division, they'd probably also be the 3 seed so the Cubs, if 2nd, would either be the 5 or 6 seed. Would be nice to go on a bit of a run and get that 2 seed though.

Yeah, 3 of 5 obviously would have been better but considering the Brewers lost 2 of 3 and the Reds split with the Pirates, its not the worst outcome. I’m not happy with it though.

The rest of the NL sucks/is average, get lucky and hope someone bounces the Dodgers early and we have a shot. They very likely lose round 1 or 2 but whatever. This is a weird season, but they still will be playing playoff baseball and that’s exciting enough for me whatever the format and regular season record. Yup. Padres are legit now too, though still way worse than the Dodgers. Every other contender is in the same boat as us or worse. The Braves rotation is basically Fried and pray for rain. The Phillies' rotation is similar to ours but the bullpen is still trash even post reinforcements. The Mets have been ravaged by injuries and opt-outs. We know what's wrong with all the Central teams. No reason to pack it in, when for as historically great as the Dodgers are it's still fairly likely they get crapshooted before we would even face them I am pretty pessimistic about going for it next year, but that's obviously a thing you don't worry about 'til November. There’s a good chance they’ll be on the soft side of the bracket also, assuming MLB doesn’t reseed after the first round. Dodgers will for sure be the 1 seed and the Padres will probably be the 4, which means they’re on the same side. If they Cubs win the division, they’ll be the 2 or the 3. If they finish second, it’s either 5 or 6. Third place and you’re either 7 or 8. So if you want to avoid LA, being seeded 2, 3, 6 or 7 gets you there.

Off to a bad start.

Was the division in their lap last year? Biggest lead was 3.5 games. This year is a similar team. They’re flawed. Pitching staff is average. Starters slightly above and pen is slightly below. Offense is pretty average also. Average offense plus average pitching leads to a pretty average team. What were you really expecting coming into the year? They won 84 games last year and didn’t make any noticeable improvements. If the Cubs started 10-14 and were on a 13-3 run right now, you would be singing a different tune. ETA: Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely annoyed that had the Cubs just split today, they'd still have a 4.5 game lead. But they could easily win the next two days and that 4.5 game lead is restored. It's not like the Cards are all that great either.

They got swept by the Pirates 9 days ago. I knew someone would find one I mainly remembered it because the brewers were swept the same day and we picked up a game on both despite not playing.

St. Louis never ever losing doubleheaders and often sweeping them could be a problem They got swept by the Pirates 9 days ago.

Cubs in the second inning had bases loaded no outs and couldn’t score. Cards have bases loaded one out in the third and get two runs. Margin of victory? 2 runs.

Walkoff dong please, Rizzo.

Were the Cards playing the infield back for the Souza AB?

Lol Cubs.

Uh oh. Bases loaded no outs. Our kryptonite.

Split the DH and we’re in good shape for the series.

Bucks blowing it in the 4th. ETA: outscored 36-13 right now.

Cubs shouldn't lose to the Pirates then They’re 5-1 against the Pirates this year.

Great ending to Bos-Tor. Glad Toronto won just to make it a series.

Ask and you shall receive apparently. Can't speak about Ross since I wasn't able to watch much of the game, but the Cubs delivered for us. In that case, please finish off the sweep, Cubs. GO CUBS!!!

Boy did OKC ever screw up the end of that game. Dort takes a 3 that's blocked with 5 seconds left after a disjointed possession. He was 6-12 from 3 today but was at 18% from 3 in the series and 30% for the regular season. Then they get the ball back down 2 with 1.1 seconds left. Can't get the ball in the first time and are forced to call a time out. Second time, they also can't get the ball inbounds and have to try to throw it to Steven Adams outside the 3-point line to avoid the 5 second violation. The ball gets deflected and they lose.

Well that wasn't quite as easy as it should have been. However: Please don't mess around in this one, Cubs (I'm looking at you, Ross).