Rangers destroyed the Astros tonight, the Astros are 50-56 since April and may be on the way out.
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was rooting for the Stros this yearComment -
Montreal to host exhibition games in 2016
According to ESPN's Gordon Edes, the Red Sox and Blue Jays will play games at Montreal's Olympic Stadium on April 1 and 2, 2016. More than 96,000 fans saw the Reds and Blue Jays play exhibitions in Montreal this past April.Comment -
Unbelievable! To say I'm sick to my stomach is an understatement!
PITTSBURGH -- Pirates shortstop Jung Ho Kang suffered an injury to his left knee and left Thursday's 9-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Kang is out for the season with a torn MCL and a fractured tibia. He needs surgery...Comment -
On this day in 2004, Barry Bonds hit his 700th career home run.
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What a roller coaster of a season. Just bouncing from team to team right now.
Dodgers designated RHP Mat Latos for assignment.
To stay that Latos wasn't the impact addition that the Dodgers hoped to acquire at the trade deadline would be an understatement. The veteran hurler went 0-3 with a 6.66 ERA and 1.52 WHIP before getting demoted to the bullpen and now cut. He could attract interest elsewhere for the league minimum.Comment -
Edwin Encarnacion hit his 33rd HR last night, which gave him 100 RBI on the season. The Blue Jays now have 3 players with at least 30 HR and 100 RBI this season: Encarnacion, Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson.Comment -
It would be nice, but which existing team would you replace Montreal with? Tampa Bay?
Or does MLB expand to 32 teams? Montreal and one of Portland, Charlotte, Nashville, or Brooklyn even?Comment -
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Two straight losses for the first time since the middle of August. Before that, they hadn't lost two straight since July. 
1(2)2 
You don't want to go down the wire with this team. They are 74-1 when leading after eight innings. They also won eight of their last 12 and have crawled to within striking distance of the Cardinals. They just took two of three from them in St. Louis and get them three times in Pittsburgh during the last week of the season. The Pirates are 50-23 at home this year. 2(4)3 
They've lost eight of their last 12 and these are the subjective power rankings, not the standings. Are they actually a better team than the Blue Jays or Pirates right now? On the flip-side, the Cardinals are starting to get healthier on offense and there's time to turn things around. Maybe this moderate two-game winning streak is the start. I won't be surprised if they are back at their customary top spot next week. 
2(1)4 
Corey Seager man-crush status: Activated. 1(5)5 
Though they are in no danger of losing a playoff spot, this month so far has to be troubling. They're 5-10 in the last 15 games, looping back to include an Aug. 31 loss. The good news is there's still time to get things together before October. 2(3)6 
In 89 games before the All-Star break, the Mets scored 310 runs. In 56 since the break, they've scored 311. 2(8)7 
The Cubs haven't had a 20-game winner since Jon Lieber in 2001. Jake Arrieta's going for 20 on Wednesday night. While we're here, the Lieber thing is a good trivia question. 1(6)8 
The only AL team that has been better since the All-Star break is the Blue Jays. 2(10)9 
Masahiro Tanaka's been stellar his last two times out, and this past start came against the offensive juggernaut Blue Jays. This bodes well for a possible wild card game. 2(7)10 
It feels like only a matter of time before Madison Bumgarner throws a perfect game, doesn't it? 1(11)11 
I remain in awe of Evan Gattis' nine triples. He had one in his career before this season, has zero stolen bases in his career and only had six triples in 869 minor-league at-bats. Don't talk about the ballpark, because he has four on the road this year. 2Comment -
expos have had so many awesome players where their uniformsComment -
Also... Had some great players come through their organization...
Tim Raines, Larry Walker, Vladimir Guerrero, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson just to name a few.Comment -
Amazing, Maddon woke this kid up.
A resurgent Starlin Castro has been key to Cubs' recent success
By Matt Snyder | Baseball Writer
September 18, 2015 5:55 pm ET
Starlin Castro's roller coaster of a season may have hit its high point Friday, when the Cubs beat the Cardinals, 8-3, behind two homers and six RBI off his bat. Here's the second homer, a three-run shot that put the Cubs out of reach:
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The first homer by Castro broke a 3-3 tie, putting the Cubs up 5-3. So it wasn't just the numbers. Castro's home runs were the difference in the game -- not to mention his first-inning RBI single -- and the win could (pending Pittsburgh's game Friday) move the Cubs to within one game of the Pirates for the top NL wild card.
What a roller coaster of a season it has been for Castro. From lightning rod to punching bag to benched to part-timer to morphing into perhaps the best version of himself he's ever been.
Castro entered the season as a 25-year-old shortstop who had already been to the All-Star Game three times. He was coming off a very good 2014 season (.292/.339/.438, 33 2Bs, 14 HRs). He had also long been a polarizing figure among Cubs fans and media, thanks to some past mental breakdowns and one bad season out of five.
Through Aug. 6, Castro's dissenters were winning. He was hitting just .236/.271/.304 with mostly sub-par defense at short, and he looked pretty lost at the plate, specifically hitting lots of weak grounders.
Then came the pivotal decision by first-year manager Joe Maddon. He moved rookie Addison Russell to short and benched Castro. Castro wouldn't see action again until Aug. 11 and didn't start again until Aug. 14.
Some might say Castro got a wakeup call, but it's not like he wasn't trying or didn't care before. Some might argue he needed a break to stop pressing, which is probably reasonable. Perhaps he was going to bounce back anyway.
Whatever happened (my contention: He was pressing and needed a mental break), Castro is back and probably better than ever.
Since that benching, Castro is hitting .356/.366/.589 with six doubles, five homers and 14 RBI in 93 plate appearances. Small sample caveats apply, but he's definitely got the look of that guy who stormed on the scene as a rookie and then led the NL in hits at age 21.
Less than six weeks after being benched, Starlin Castro is on fire. (USATSI)It's not just the offense. He's adapted pretty well to second base. That much is on display in this highlight from Wednesday night, sending the game to extra innings (where the Cubs would eventually win):
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The season line is up to .257/.288/.355 with 17 doubles, 10 homers and 60 RBI. That's far from stellar, but it's pretty remarkable when viewed through the lens of where he was just five weeks ago.
With Addison Russell the shortstop of the future, Javier Baez looking great so far in his second go-round and likely Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant at third base, the Cubs have plenty of options in the 4-5-6 infield positions. Castro's return to form has created a pretty nice problem with a surplus of high-upside players. It might be addressed in the offseason, but that's beside the point now.
The point? Starlin Castro is once again a good baseball player, while the Cubs are now 25 games over .500 (86-61) for the first time since 2008.Comment -
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Not to mention Randy Johnson who started out with Expos. Why is the Washington Nationals logo the same as the Walgreens logo?Comment -
The first of many wins. Excited to see what Finnegan will do next season. Hoping for a long term starter.
Brandon Finnegan emerged victorious in his first major league start on Friday, limiting the Brewers to one run on three hits over five frames.
The hard-throwing southpaw punched out four on the night while walking two. The only blemish on his debut was a solo homer off the bat of Khris Davis in the second inning. The 22-year-old now sits at 4-0 on the season with a 2.38 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. The prize of the Johnny Cueto deal, Finnegan should get another opportunity to prove himself on Wednesday against the Cardinals in St. Louis. He's worth a look as a streaming option in mixed leagues.Comment -
Randy JohnsonComment -
Get the Rays out of Tampa and ship them to Montreal.Comment -
Despite loss, Cardinals become first team to clinch playoff berth
By Dayn Perry | Baseball Writer
September 19, 2015 8:38 pm ET
The Cardinals on Saturday fell to the Cubs (CHC 5, STL 4), but because the Giants also lost (ARI 6, SF 0) the Cardinals at 92-56 became the first team in 2015 to clinch a postseason berth.
At this writing, the Cardinals lead the NL Central by 4 1/2 games over the Pirates and 5.0 games over the Cubs. While, obviously, there's still time to squander the division lead, the Cardinals have, at worst, secured a spot in the NL wild card game. This marks the fifth straight year that the Cardinals have made the playoffs.
While the Cardinals have the best record in baseball at the moment and are on pace for 101 wins, they're just 7-10 in September. There's of course no predicting the playoffs in baseball not matter what anyone says, but there's real concern in St. Louis that some of the young arms in the rotation -- especially Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha, who haven't logged full-season starter's workloads in their careers -- may be wearing down. Even so, this remains a deeply balanced club that, unlike recent St. Louis editions, also features a strong bench, at least when the roster is healthy.
If paces hold, the Cardinals would face the winner of an NL wild card game that would pit the Cubs against the Pirates. The Cardinals have made it to at least the NLCS in each of the last four seasons. This marks the Cardinals' 28th playoff appearance all-time.Comment -
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Big future ahead of him in Chicago. A really great season with some ups and downs. Finishing strong.
Carlos Rodon pitched beautifully in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Indians, yielding just one run on six hits over 7 2/3 innings.
Rodon struck out four and walked one in the dominant outing. Only a fourth-inning Yan Gomes sacrifice fly prevented the shutout. The 22-year-old southpaw held an unsightly 5.00 ERA as of August 5, but he hasn't allowed more than two runs in any of his last seven starts. For the season, he holds a 3.78 ERA and 1.43 WHIP. The youngster's clearly trending in the right direction. He'll look to continue sending that ERA into a tailspin when he heads to the bright lights of New York City to take on the Yankees in his next start.Comment -
Agree 100%. I can not believe the non-support from their fans even when they are in the play-offs.
Montreal would support a team much better... Shit Buffalo would be better then TB.Comment -
Mark Melancon beats the all time Pirate Save record
later Mike WilliamsComment -
Joe Maddon: 'Vigilante' Cards 'insane' to hit Anthony Rizzo on purpose
By David Brown | Baseball Writer
September 18, 2015 8:48 pm ET
In a rivalry-defining moment for both sides, Cubs manager Joe Maddon called the Cardinals "vigilantes" for hitting Anthony Rizzo with a pitch on purpose in retaliation for St. Louis slugger Matt Holliday getting beaned earlier in Chicago's 8-3 victory Friday afternoon.
Clearly angry, at moments rambling, yet still crystal clear with his feelings, Maddon put on a masterful show in a postgame press conference at Wrigley Field following the first of a three-game set. He defended the Cubs, asserted the Cardinals were acting like bullies and made sure to keep on the good side of the umpires.
Maddon says that Cubs right-hander Dan Haren "absolutely" did not intend to hit Holliday on purpose in the top of the fifth, and that it was "insane, ridiculous and wrong" for Cardinals righty Matt Belisle to retaliate by hitting Rizzo in the bottom of the seventh.
Maddon laid it on thick, prefacing his comments by saying he loved former Cards exec and Hall of Famer Branch Rickey. Maddon said he was disappointed in how the Cardinals of today operate, and that he didn't read the imaginary book they wrote regarding how to play baseball -- even if, Maddon believes, they act like they wrote one.
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"I have no history with the Cardinals, except that I used to love them as a kid growing up," Maddon said. "That showed me a lot today in a negative way. I don't know who put out the hit. I don't know if Tony Soprano's in the dugout, I didn't see him in there. We're not going to put up with that, I'm just going to say that, from them or anybody else."
Via MLB.com, Belisle said hitting Rizzo had nothing to do with retribution, revenge or anything vigilante."I have to pitch inside," said Belisle, who was making his second appearance since June. "I was mostly away, and I have to pitch in. It's part of my game, and part of being successful up here."Maddon figured the Cardinals might say something like that.
"Of course not," Maddon said when asked if Belisle's pitch could have been an accident. "Of course not. That is ridiculous. I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear about pitching inside. I don't want to hear any of that crap."
Holliday left the game after being hit, but said later he's "fine" and reportedly passed concussion protocols. Maddon repeated that Haren's 86-mph fastball was a mistake.
"It was just a mistake, it just happened, it was awful," Maddon said. "We hated it, we all hated it in the dugout. I'm happy that he's fine, absolutely.
"But you don't do that (what the Cardinals did in response) under those circumstances. We don't start stuff, but we will finish stuff."
Maddon also repeated that bit -- about the Cubs finishing "stuff" -- six times. He said the Cardinals were playing by an out-of-date code if they thought hitting Rizzo on purpose was the right way to play.
"I'm really disappointed in what the Cardinals did right there," Maddon said. "We did not hit their guy on purpose at all. That was an absolute mistake. There was no malicious intent there whatsoever on Dan Haren's part. None. So to become this vigilante group that all of a sudden wants to get their own pound of flesh, that's absolutely insane and ridiculous and wrong. And furthermore, we don't start stuff but we will stop stuff. We will end stuff. That's their call. That was their moment right there."
Maddon might have wanted to, but said he didn't "cause a ruckus" on the field because he appreciated how the umpires handled the hit batters. Both teams were warned after Holliday was hit -- so umpire Dan Bellino, at least, believed there was a possibility Haren's wayward pitch was on purpose. Rizzo, who leads the league in getting hit by pitches, had been plunked earlier in the game.
"I just want people to know, just because we didn't go out there in that particular moment, it's not a sign of weakness," Maddon said. "I want them to know this: We're not going to take it. Very simple."
And as for the book the Cardinals supposedly wrote?
"All of that has changed," Maddon said. "You can take that book, and you can read it yourself, because I don't give a crap about that book. I want everybody there to understand that. We don't start stuff but we will stop stuff."Comment -
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Yankees-Blue Jays series starts tonight, hopefully the Jays can take at least 2/3 from them. Coming off a couple tough losses against the Red Sox.Comment -
i'm with Maddon
F the CardsComment
