Dynasty
Nastiest GIFs
The List
Dynasty
Nastiest GIFs
The List
+

The Weirdest Baseball of the Week – 9/15

I'm starting to think the Marlins are going to make the playoffs.

Nathan Hursh
We Love Baseball 9/15/2020

Unbelievably, the MLB regular season is dwindling fast. We are now less than two weeks away from the scheduled end of the regular season. How makeup games are addressed has yet to be determined. I guess enough doubleheaders will be played to actually finish this thing off? If the playoffs started today, the Miami Marlins would have the FIVE seed. That is delightful.

When I first heard about the 60-game season, I thought, “Just give me any baseball, I don’t care how crazy short it seems.” And baseball has been great to watch, no doubt about it. That said, there is a certain sadness of seeing records and stats that one would normally see in May determine the outcome of a season. Once again, we knew this was going to be the case from the start.

Although I wish I could’ve seen what Fernando Tatis Jr. could have done in a full 162-game marathon this year, it has been electric to see him dominate this short season. The same goes for other younger studs like Shane Bieber, Corbin Burnes, Mike Yastrzemski, and Luis Robert. These players and other young greats make me that much more excited to see what they can do in a normal season, whenever we may get that.

Alright, let’s get to some weird baseball.

 

19-pitch at-bat

 

Last Tuesday in a game against the Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals‘ catcher Matt Wieters stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the third.

The first two pitches he saw were strikes and he was quickly down 0-2. Things seem pretty normal at this point.

He then fouled off three straight pitches. This was now a pesky at-bat, yes, but still pretty standard. Nothing crazy had happened. Wieters then saw a ball, followed by another foul ball, and then two more balls.

The count was 3-2. Nine total pitches had been thrown. This was officially a long at-bat. Both Wieters and pitcher Randy Dobnak refused to give in. Wieters would go on to foul off nine straight pitches before finally getting retired on a fly out to center. 19 total pitches were thrown in the at-bat. The jam was escaped.

 

So many runs

 

Last Wednesday, the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Detriot Tigers 19-0. The Brewers cracked 13 extra-base hits in the game, including five long balls. Tigers’ pitcher Matthew Boyd didn’t have a good time as he tossed 3.0 innings, giving up eight runs (seven earned).

On the same night, the Brewers’ 19 runs seemed inconsequential when the Atlanta Braves put up a 29-spot on the Marlins. They won the game 29-9. This was the first MLB scorigami in over 20 years. Adam Duvall had three home runs, nine RBI, and five runs scored. Ironically, nine of the Braves 11 runs scored in the second inning came with two outs. Sadly for the Marlins, some of their pitching lines are flat out horrific. Notably, Jordan Yamamoto pitched just 2.2 innings and allowed 13 runs (12 earned). Check out all of the dingers below.

Other blowouts on this night came from the San Francisco Giants beating the Seattle Mariners 10-1. The Chicago White Sox also defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-1. In comparison to the games above though, these blowouts are minuscule.

 

Chicago No-no’s

 

On Sunday, Alec Mills of the Chicago Cubs tossed the second no-hitter this season. The first came from White Sox ace, Lucas Giolito.

It is the first time in baseball history that a pitcher from both Chicago teams threw a no-hitter in the same season.

 

Kyle Lewis through the smoke

 

I’m not all that sure that baseball should have been played in Seattle yesterday. Due to the wildfires on the west coast, many games have been affected by heavy smoke. Is this safe for the players? I have no idea. I’d guess probably not. The games were still played though and provided an eerie aesthetic. Kyle Lewis of the Seattle Mariners made some exciting plays in the smoke. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Oakland Athletics, Lewis hit a dinger.

In the second game, he took away a dinger.

How he even saw the ball when taking away that home run is a mystery to me. The smoke is clearly present. The cardboard fans in the background almost look real. Classic 2020. Just another thing.

 

Eloy oh no (wait, oh yes)

 

Last night in a game between the Twins and White Sox, Byron Buxton hit what looked to be an inside-the-park home run in the top of the ninth inning. After whiffing on catching the line drive, White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez gave up on the play and put his hands up, signaling that the ball was stuck under the padded wall. I call shenanigans on Jimenez. He could have picked the ball up. That said, good for him. A ground-rule double was the call. Jimenez smartly saved a run with his lack of effort. The Twins would not score that inning.

 

Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)

Nathan Hursh

Nathan Hursh has been a baseball fan for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Pittsburgh and loves the Pirates. Don't hold that against him though, he has suffered enough because of it. Find Nathan on Twitter and Instagram at Nathan_Hursh.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Account / Login