scenario

Game 2 GF leading 6-1 late in the game.

Game 1 - Friday night Great Falls lost 5-3

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 10, 2010 -> 10:28 PM) 4 shutout innings for Jacob Rasner to close out the win. He got out of a huge jam in the bottom of the 10th too. One he helped create, but still... Gutsy performance. --------------------------------------------- Kinston Bottom of the 10th * Donnie Webb singles on a line drive to center fielder Jose Martinez. * Justin Toole out on a sacrifice bunt to first baseman Seth Loman. Donnie Webb to 2nd. * Jacob Rasner intentionally walks Bo Greenwell. * Jeremie Tice strikes out swinging. * Chun-Hsiu Chen walks. Donnie Webb to 3rd. Bo Greenwell to 2nd. * Kyle Bellows strikes out swinging.

The reason I don't want to trade a starter is that I don't believe Peavy will be ready to go. I want proof of health before I would consider moving another quality starter.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 10, 2010 -> 12:19 PM) 36 but most people think I look 35 and 11 months. I think we ought to change your name to OldSqwert.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Sep 10, 2010 -> 10:14 AM) Oh, come on. The whole benefit of left-handed hitters is that most of the league's pitchers are right-handed. He's a 5 WAR/year player. He doesn't have huge power, but he consistently gets on base. Say whatever you want. The numbers are what they are. And since on average he's faced lefties in approximately 1/3 of at-bats over his career (and 37% of the time this year), I thought his struggles were noteworthy. Think about it. People complained like hell when Thome faced lefties... thought he was worthless in those at-bats. Well... Choo has similar struggles against lefties. Just thought I'd point that out. Great OBP. Good pop against righties. (20 homeruns his top power season so far at age 28). Very nice player. But I wouldn't drool over him like some posters are.

I've seen lots of Choo love lately... Something to keep in mind... He kills righties... career OPS > .900 But his career average against lefties is very Kotsay-like... .268/.347/.395/.742 And this year his numbers are below his average... .267/.337/.341/.678

Link Winston-Salem rode a tremendous performance from starting pitcher Dylan Axelrod to a 2-0 Carolina League semifinal series lead Thursday night. Axelrod allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings as the Dash topped the visiting Kinston Indians, 2-0. The right-hander matched a career high with nine strikeouts while walking one and retired 19 batters in a row between the first inning and the eighth. "I don't remember a stretch like that since junior college," Axelrod said. The top team in the league during the regular season with an 81-58 record, Winston-Salem roared into the postseason with eight wins in its final 10 games. Axelrod was on a tear as well. The 25-year-old White Sox prospect had allowed five earned runs over 46 2/3 innings in his final seven starts of the regular season. He struck out 48 and walked four during that stretch. Overall, he was 8-3 with a 1.99 ERA in 23 outings for the Dash this season. "I moved into the rotation in the second half of the season, which gave me a chance to throw and develop all my pitches," said Axelrod. After yielding a two-out single to Kinston first baseman Jeremie Tice in the first inning, Axelrod was all but unhittable. The Cal-Irvine product set down the next 19 batters through the end of the seventh. "I was spotting my fastball pretty well and my cutter. My changeup was working pretty well too," he said. Axelrod (1-0) gave up a double and a walk to open the eighth, but reliever Brandon Kloess kept Kinston off the board by fanning two and inducing a groundout. Closer Tyson Corley notched his second save in as many nights, allowing one hit in a scoreless ninth. "I felt good -- the adrenaline was going -- I just left the ball up [on the double]," Axelrod said. "[Kloess and Corley] really picked me up. They pitched great." The Dash scored both of their runs in the fifth on Kyle Shelton's single. Kinston starter Austin Adams (0-1) took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five. The Indians held Winston-Salem to a season-low-tying three hits, but were unable to solve the Dash pitching staff. They'll head home for a do-or-die Game 3 at Grainger Stadium on Friday night.

Dash wins 3-2!!!

Per the Trib Wednesday morning... Beckham says injured hand 'OK,' hopes to play September 8, 2010 10:39 AM Staff report White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham is coping with lingering pain from being hit on his right hand by a pitch last week in Cleveland. Beckham was scratched from the Sox's lineup Tuesday, but is hopeful of being able to play against the Tigers in Detroit on Wednesday. "It's OK," Beckham told "The Danny Mac Show" on WSCR-AM 670. "Obviously, I haven't taken any swings or anything yet, but it does feel a little better than it did yesterday. I guess it'll just have to be a game-time decision whether I can go or not, but it was pretty bad yesterday." Beckham, who complained that the pain seemed to be "jumping around" in his injured hand, said he had it X-rayed again before Tuesday's game. "The doctor came in and said it's not broke, it's fine," Beckham said. "He gave me kind of the reason why (the pain is) jumping around. All the muscles in the hand are connected so when one goes haywire it's going to affect every other muscle." Beckham said the hand felt OK when he woke up Wednesday morning, but he wouldn't be able to assess his playing status until he got to the ballpark. "It's funny because it didn't really hurt until I picked up a bat and just holding a bat bothered my hand," he said. "It's one of those things that's really frustrating because I want to be in there but I cannot push it." Asked if there was a chance he could play Wednesday, Beckham said, "I told Joey Cora I'd try to be as upfront and honest with him as I can and let him know how I'm feeling and hopefully I'll be in there, but like I said if it's bad I'm not going to be in there."

As of this morning, the Twins magic number is 20.

QUOTE (Cali @ Sep 8, 2010 -> 10:56 AM) What a weird and kinda shady system that is....you can call up a guy who hasn't played for you all season long, and put him on the playoff Roster? I'm not complaining though, the more AB's for him the better... He's a September call-up. And not nearly as shady as Boston sending Dice-K down last year to pitch in A-league playoffs as a rehab assignment.

Playoff preview Winston-Salem (South Division first-half/second-half champions; 81-59) vs. Kinston (South Division second-half runner-up; 73-65) Winston-Salem won the season series, 13-7 Game 1 at Winston-Salem, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. ET Game 2 at Winston-Salem, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. ET Game 3 at Kinston, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m ET Game 4 at Kinston (if necessary), Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. ET Game 5 at Winston-Salem (if necessary), Sept. 12 at 5:05 p.m. ET Winston-Salem steamrolled to win both halves of the South Division en route to its third straight playoff berth, while Kinston won nine straight games late in the year to help clinch their first postseason appearance since 2007. You like offense? The Dash led the Carolina League in runs scored, home runs, RBIs, total bases, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. You prefer pitching? K-Tribe hurlers were tops in ERA and shutouts and second in strikeouts while yielding the fewest hits and fewest runs. Winston-Salem won 13 of the 20 games played between the clubs, including nine of 10 at home. The Dash took the first nine games between the clubs in Winston-Salem this year before Kinston ended a 17-game drought. "It's their good starting pitching against our real good hitting. So far, our hitting has won out," said Dash reliever Tyson Corley. The trio of Indians right-hander Joseph Gardner (12-5, 2.69 ERA) and lefties T.J. House (6-10, 3.91) and T.J. McFarland (11-5, 3.13) make it tough on opposing hitters. But Winston-Salem boasts third baseman Jon Gilmore (.316, 80 RBIs), outfielder Brandon Short (.316, 15 homers, 79 RBIs) and first baseman Seth Loman (.290, 24 homers, 85 RBIs). "If we can get a few runs early ... it's a lot easier for our pitchers," Corley said. "That's what we want to do -- jump out early and let our pitchers work." The Dash also have two-time Manager of the Year Joe McEwing and a secret weapon -- an impressive home record in its first year at BB&T Ballpark, where Winston-Salem's 47-21 mark is among the best in the Minor Leagues. Because they won both halves, the Dash would get the fifth game of the series at home. "We've had tremendous crowds all year -- even on weekdays, which is hard to do in Minor League Baseball. It's nice to play in a stadium that's full. That makes it so easy," said Corley. So does the motivation of last year's first-round ouster at the hands of Salem, something that's been in the Dash's collective minds. "We're pretty cocky. We're very confident. We expect to win the whole thing," Corley said. "We're not in the playoffs to get swept in three games like we did last year. We're going to win, and we're not going to settle for anything less."

Helluva finish... scoring the game's only run in the bottom of the 9th to walk off with a 1-0 win. Very nice.

Didn't they x-ray it the night it got hit... and didn't find any breaks?

Actually, I remember many posts where people railed on PK... "he's too old... on the downward slide of his career... can't get more than B prospects for him... worst hitting 1B in MLB... dump his contract..." People who willing to ship his keister out of town to the first available taker and replace him with Nick Johnson, Lyle Overbay, and endless other alternatives. But... that is basically how most fanship works... "what have you done for me today?"... because yesterday only matters if it was bad.

Fans on Twins boards seem to be surprised and a little nervous that they've won 8 of 10... pulling games out of their ass... and still lost a 1/2 game in the standings to the Sox.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 6, 2010 -> 03:32 PM) Way too little time to catch up to the Rays IMO. They would have to fall on their faces and tank these last few weeks. Yeah, I wouldn't count on them tanking but... they do have 7 games against the Yankees in the next two weeks.

I've been afraid that EJax is due for an ugly outing.

Charlotte's last game is today, so Viciedo will be another option for 1B soon. He's finishing the season down there on a strong note... gotten hits in 8 of his last 10 games (.302), including 4 multi-hit games, and 3 homeruns.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 5, 2010 -> 12:06 AM) Huge 2-run homer for Uribe in the 9th tonight (Saturday). Padres are falling apart. You cannot stop him. You can only hope to contain him. The Dodgers intentionally walked Uribe twice on Sunday... and when they finally pitched to him, he hit another homerun... his 19th of the year in a Giants 3-0 victory.

I'm getting really close to closing this thread.

Most hard core fans of MLB teams think their manager is an idiot.

A time-elapsed view of posts from innings 7-9

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 3, 2010 -> 07:58 PM) About Sale or the ranking? The ranking