April Game Thread

DaubachmanTurnerOD

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I love Mookie, but I was pulling for Bard on that one... it was hard watching Bard walk/hit those guys. Glad he pulled it together.
 

The Gray Eagle

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Agreed. It’s so stupid that a team can get up and hit a single to win the game in the 10th inning. Long extra inning games are not a reason why anyone thinks baseball is boring, the runner on second shit is just creating a problem to solve an imagined problem
Totally agree. And it will be used in pennant race games in September, which is almost as bad as using in postseason games.
It needs to be called the Manfred Rule, because he is the idiot in charge when it came into use.
 

SemperFidelisSox

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The Astros cheating scandal is really going to follow those players until the day they die. Carlos Correa got hit by a pitch, the Oakland crowd cheered, and ESPN cut to a fan in the stands with a ‘Cheaters An Elephant Never Forgets’ sign.
 

Remagellan

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I wonder how many of these comebacks today were due in part to the "reliever must pitch to three batters" rule. It definitely seemed that LaRussa left Bummer in for one batter too many in the White Sox-Angels game.

The Giants-Mariners is yet another game to go into extra innings today. It will be interesting to see if they can get past the 10th, because none of the other three games today that went into extra innings were able to.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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The problem is I could see the players favoring it. We love 19 inning marathons, but I bet they don't. And as far as the owners are concerned, they cut off beer sales at some point so no one drives home drunk, so they probably don't make much more from "bonus" baseball.
Actually, they lose money as they have to pay ushers and security and grounds crew serious overtime
 

Remagellan

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Actually, they lose money as they have to pay ushers and security and grounds crew serious overtime
I did not know that. Yet another reason why this extra inning rule is probably here to stay. If the owners lose money on extra inning games and the players don't make any more money while incurring a greater risk of injury in them, then neither side will object to the rule being made permanent...for better or worse.
 

Al Zarilla

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Impressive meltdown by the Giants in the 8th tonight.
I tuned in when it was 5-0 Giants, mainly because I like to hear Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow broadcast a game. They are the best IMO. Mike Yastrzemski (why not on the Red Sox?) Buster Posey is back. Impressive how Kruk and Kuip don't get close to going ballistic during such an epic meltdown. Many years of experience I guess. I kept imagining if it were the Sox melting down like that. Yikes!
 

nattysez

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And a bases loaded walk by Giants reliever Jose Alvarez, who walked all three batters he faced, gives the Mariners a 3-2 tenth inning walkoff win as two of the more significant recent rules changes prove decisive.
I thought this same thing as I watched it happen. I'll add that the Giants also paid for the 3-batter rule in the 8th. I suspect Kapler would've pulled both Wisler and Garcia a batter earlier if given the chance.

Early in the season when you're figuring out what relievers can be trusted in what spots, the three-batter rule is really going to bite some teams in the rear end. I didn't pay enough attention to this last year.
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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And a bases loaded walk by Giants reliever Jose Alvarez, who walked all three batters he faced, gives the Mariners a 3-2 tenth inning walkoff win as two of the more significant recent rules changes prove decisive.
So a rule meant to “speed up the game” — the three batter rule — is quite possibly responsible for games going into extra innings; that is, for making games go longer.

F*ck Manfred and his stupid new rules.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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So a rule meant to “speed up the game” — the three batter rule — is quite possibly responsible for games going into extra innings; that is, for making games go longer.

F*ck Manfred and his stupid new rules.
1 game is the definition of a Small Sample Size. PLEASE find the rule change discussion thread, skim it, and add your considered opinion to it.
 

loshjott

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This is a minor annoyance but the crawl at the bottom of the MLB Network obscures the crawl with in-game stats at the bottom of their in-game highlights. It's bad graphics.

I'm half watching Milw-Minn and I have no idea what the score is.
I think I’ve figured out my problem. The score bug on the new Bally’s RSNs is a thin line at the bottom of the screen which overlaps with MLB Network’s. It’s annoying while watching highlights.
 

sean1562

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Trevor Bauer off to a great start through 4 innings in Denver. Only 49 pitches
 

jon abbey

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I'm not sure I can deal with another season of TB winning 2/3 of their games no matter who they send out there, three run go-ahead HR in the 9th by Wendle.
 

terrynever

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I'm not sure I can deal with another season of TB winning 2/3 of their games no matter who they send out there, three run go-ahead HR in the 9th by Wendle.
I can’t watch them already. Nothing happens. Until it does. Yogi said that first.
 

Remagellan

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I'm not sure I can deal with another season of TB winning 2/3 of their games no matter who they send out there, three run go-ahead HR in the 9th by Wendle.

As much as I despise your team....nope, I can't go there. But I do hate the Rays a lot, not the least because they are wasting a MLB franchise on a city that will never support them. (C'mon, MLB, move them to Montreal.) And because they always seem to throw a bunch of odds and ends into a pot and wind up with a prize winning dish. (I'm currently watching last night's Top Chef, if you haven't guessed.)
 

LogansDad

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Second ever to do so since 1901, joining Cecil Travis in 1933.
I adore you, and can't wait until you are on TV somewhere.

As an aside, the Angels broadcast has done a really good job of seamlessly fitting advanced statistics into the game, and usually very quickly. They are on point.
 

Gdiguy

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So a rule meant to “speed up the game” — the three batter rule — is quite possibly responsible for games going into extra innings; that is, for making games go longer.

F*ck Manfred and his stupid new rules.
To give some credit here - I think that rule is less about time and more about excitement, the idea being that ‘new R pitcher - strikeout -new L pitcher - strikeout - new R pitcher - strikeout’ is the worst case. So even if it adds some time, if people are getting hits and causing comebacks, that excitement is a positive trade off
 

Remagellan

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Maybe they should amend it to have the "automatic runner on second" in extra innings count as a "batter" against the "pitcher must face three batters" rule. Because there is something distasteful about a manager losing a game with a wild pitcher who walks three batters to force in the game winning run being restricted by rule from doing anything to prevent it other than feigning an injury to his pitcher.
 

Kliq

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Maybe they should amend it to have the "automatic runner on second" in extra innings count as a "batter" against the "pitcher must face three batters" rule. Because there is something distasteful about a manager losing a game with a wild pitcher who walks three batters to force in the game winning run being restricted by rule from doing anything to prevent it other than feigning an injury to his pitcher.
Or, and I know this is crazy, the pitcher should be able to throw strikes. If a manager puts in a wild pitcher then it's ultimately his fault and he should be penalized for it.
 

Remagellan

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Or, and I know this is crazy, the pitcher should be able to throw strikes. If a manager puts in a wild pitcher then it's ultimately his fault and he should be penalized for it.
It's not always clear when a guy has it. Even if he looks good in the pen, depending on how the ump is calling the game, a pitcher might have trouble getting strikes called. Now in a normal situation, if a manager is forced to keep him in while he walks the bases full, that's not optimal, but it doesn't necessarily cost his team a game. The problem is going to come when both of these new rules come together, because neither the manager nor that struggling pitcher is responsible for the guy who magically appears on second base from the tenth inning onward.

But given how the Sox offense has struggled these first two games, maybe we'd be better off if every inning began with a runner on second base.
 

luckiestman

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Great moment in Yanks broadcast today with David Cone talking about the time he shook off a pitch out.
 

Kliq

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It's not always clear when a guy has it. Even if he looks good in the pen, depending on how the ump is calling the game, a pitcher might have trouble getting strikes called. Now in a normal situation, if a manager is forced to keep him in while he walks the bases full, that's not optimal, but it doesn't necessarily cost his team a game. The problem is going to come when both of these new rules come together, because neither the manager nor that struggling pitcher is responsible for the guy who magically appears on second base from the tenth inning onward.

But given how the Sox offense has struggled these first two games, maybe we'd be better off if every inning began with a runner on second base.
I don't get this at all. I think it is pretty simple; both teams are dealing with the same problem in extra innings. If one team has a pitcher in the game that can throw strikes, they are likely to win the game. If the other team has a pitcher that can't throw strikes, they are likely to lose the game. Managers and players should not be bailed out if they can't throw strikes.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Please tell me there was some sort of inciting incident before this. Because otherwise, what the hell is Molina (and apparently Arenado) all upset about? Looks like Castellanos was a bit bothered by the pitcher sitting on the plate and yelled about it (either that or he was just psyched to score). No physical altercation that I could see. Nothing dirty. Just a few words.

Bit early in the season for this sort of display of testosterone, no?
 

DJnVa

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Please tell me there was some sort of inciting incident before this. Because otherwise, what the hell is Molina (and apparently Arenado) all upset about? Looks like Castellanos was a bit bothered by the pitcher sitting on the plate and yelled about it (either that or he was just psyched to score). No physical altercation that I could see. Nothing dirty. Just a few words.

Bit early in the season for this sort of display of testosterone, no?
Castellanos was hit by a pitch and there was some staring at that point.
 

Catcher Block

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Castellanos got hit to get on base, and seemed to take a lot of offense to it, going as far to offer the ball back to the pitcher. Felt like an overreaction given the situation, and he carried that emotion all the way to the play the plate. As far as Molina's reaction, I'm not sure what Castellanos expected to happen when he yelled at the pitcher after the play.
 

jon abbey

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Three different Rays pitchers gave up at least three ERs tonight, each MLB veterans in their first game for TB (Hill, Archer, McHugh). That has got to be unprecedented.

(12-7 MIA going to the 9th, so presumably a 14-12 TB win)
 

Brand Name

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Three different Rays pitchers gave up at least three ERs tonight, each MLB veterans in their first game for TB (Hill, Archer, McHugh). That has got to be unprecedented.
Unless you mean first game for TB within the given season, Archer’s debut with Tampa came well before 2021. Which is likely my misunderstanding.

Makes me think of this 1921 Philly A’s game. The pitchers were Arlas Taylor, Bill Bishop, and Ray Miner, all in their MLB debuts, so no vets apply here. None would play past 1921, and it was the first and only game for Taylor and Miner. Each with 3+ ERs.
 

LogansDad

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Yermin Mercedes, who I mention last night had 5 hits in his first start (not his debut, but his first true ML start).... kicked off tonight with a home run in his first at bat.