MLB - NEWS & NOTES

Well, ya never know. I'd bet Pirates fans in the early 90's didn't see their futility coming. Better hope you're right.

 

I feel like the AL Central is like watching ACC football. The Royals are good, but they simply can't lose because everyone else sucks. They're 14 games above .500 in the division (32-18) and 10 games over against the rest of baseball (36-26). For reference that's .620 in the division and .580 against everyone else.

 

Jays are half a game back.

 

This division will be interesting. The O's are tied in the 9th right now, if they win the game they'll be just 3.5 back. The Rays are just 5 back. The Yanks aren't playing great ball right now and may fall farther than 2nd place. The top 4 could finish in just about any order in that division.

 

For the first time ever home teams went a perfect 15-0 on Tuesday.

 

WTF? You had a day, wow. The pizza and socialize was the bomb... as for the rest - blow that shit up.

I cant believe it took most of the day for that 1-liner from 'Dirty Harry' to sink in... dammitt, im slow.

 

Utley cleared waivers, will probably be dealt now.

 

Blue Jays won their 9th straight. Trail Yankees by 0.5 game.

 

All 15 home teams won yesterday.

 

well they have a top 5 minor league system now, great prospects on the horizon and one playing now with the team in franco. last year's top pick aaron nola isn't too shabby in the rotation already and their owner wants to win and has deep pockets. oh and the money for ruiz, howard, lee and utley is gone in 2017. they can buy a freaking ws when the money comes off the books. that's how much they will have to spend. alas, i don't see them losing much longer.

 

Fish, the Pirates were bad because the owners didn't want to spend any money. They were making money with a losing team, so they were happy.

 

and getting good picks to boot...

 

Yeah, but they weren't always picking the best player because they didn't want to pay him. They would pick players they thought they could sign. Back then, nobody wanted to play for Pittsburgh. Now, most wouldn't mind playing here.....The difference of winning and losing.....

 

Mariners? Hisashi Iwakuma Throws No-Hitter



Beat the Orioles, 3-0.

SEATTLE (AP) -- Off the bat, Hisashi Iwakuma believed the slicing flyball was going to find its way to the outfield grass and end his dream of joining an elite pitching fraternity one out shy.

Then he saw Seattle teammate Austin Jackson sprinting with his glove extended in the air, ready to squeeze the final out and put Iwakuma's name next to Hideo Nomo as the only Japanese-born pitchers to throw a no-hitter.

"I can't find the words to express my feelings," Iwakuma said through an interpreter after the fourth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. "I'm truly happy."

Iwakuma became the first American League pitcher in nearly three years to throw a no-hitter, silencing the Baltimore Orioles in the Mariners' 3-0 victory on Wednesday.

Talented but often injured since arriving from Japan in 2012, the 34-year-old native of Tokyo didn't overpower the Orioles.

That's not his style.

Instead, Iwakuma smartly used a biting splitter and precise control to throw the fourth individual no-hitter in franchise history and become the oldest pitcher since Randy Johnson in 2004 to throw a no-no.

Iwakuma's gem ended a streak of 11 straight individual no-hitters thrown by National League pitchers, including three this season: Philadelphia's Cole Hamels - prior to his trade to Texas - Washington's Max Scherzer and San Francisco's Chris Heston.

The last AL pitcher to keep zeros across the board was teammate Felix Hernandez, who tossed a perfect game at Safeco Field on Aug. 15, 2012. And in an odd numerical coincidence, Hernandez's perfect game against Tampa Bay came on 8/15/12, while Iwakuma's no-hitter was on 8/12/15.

 

Jays alone in 1st place!

 

Cat, I think you're most likely right that the Phils won't be in the basement for too long, but I always get nervous when my team goes down that they won't quite make it back to the top.

 

mut if that idiot amaro was running the show they would be in the basement for a long ass time. macphail and middleton won't let it happen and in 2017 they will have so much free agent money it will be like christmas on the spending spree for them! i can't wait.

 

"Tomorrow Sonny Gray is going to have a miraculous recovery from his Back Spasms" Dr. Cy Young

 

I got curious and decided to look at WAR just so I could get a chuckle. 6 teams (Giants, Jays, Dodgers, Royals, Diamondbacks, Tigers) have a cumulative Wins Above Replacement above the Cardinals, who have 5 more wins than anyone else.