Wild Card Game Thread -- Non Pro-MFY Version

Sox and Rocks

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As the resident Rockies fan, I feel relatively good about this game. Greinke is tough, obviously, and their lineup is good, but many of the Rockies players have hit Greinke well (admittedly with a small sample size in some cases), Gray has been good, and I don't expect the environment to be too tough. In fact, I expect there will be a significant contingent of Rockies fans there.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Sep 9, 2008
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I have it 5-4 or 5-3 D-backs. I think the home crowd will actually be pretty good.

Not sure why I feel that way. The game seems right on a razor's edge. I wouldn't be surprised to see either team win, nor would I think either of these teams would be much intimidated by the Dodgers.

Edit: On the ESPN preshow just a little bit ago, they had a fascinating segment where they asked the Rockies' players their favorite emojis. Now that I've seen that, I may change my prediction.
 
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DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
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Dec 22, 2005
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I'm here. Kurt Warner just threw out first pitch lol. #dbacks
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
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Dec 22, 2005
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This game is not sold out. Lots of open seats in upper decks. Unreal.
 

Hank Scorpio

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Anyone have a compelling case for which team I should root for tonight?

Neither team seems hateable to me. Best cases I can come up with is "Go D-Backs, because they once beat the Yankees in the World Series", or "Go Rockies, because 'Sox and Rocks' seems nice enough".
 

jon abbey

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Anyone have a compelling case for which team I should root for tonight?.
I'm rooting for Arizona because they swept the Dodgers in both of their final two series, because the Greinke against LAD story line is interesting, and because Robbie Ray had 53 Ks in 5 starts against the Dodgers.
 

Al Zarilla

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San Andreas Fault
Anyone have a compelling case for which team I should root for tonight?

Neither team seems hateable to me. Best cases I can come up with is "Go D-Backs, because they once beat the Yankees in the World Series", or "Go Rockies, because 'Sox and Rocks' seems nice enough".
Even the managers, Lovullo and Black, are good guys, good managers.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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So, to follow up, the Dbacks are apparently going to reduce seating in the upper decks along the baselines to make the stadium less cavernous. I guess maybe in preparation, they aren't selling any season tickets up there and in the postseason (at least the wild card and the NLDS) they have not put on sale the upper deck above about row 20 along the baselines. But the tickets they sold did sell out.
 

Van Everyman

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I'm rooting for Arizona because they swept the Dodgers in both of their final two series, because the Greinke against LAD story line is interesting, and because Robbie Ray had 53 Ks in 5 starts against the Dodgers.
Re. the bolded, I have completely lost track of which teams Greinke has been on.
 

jon abbey

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Re. the bolded, I have completely lost track of which teams Greinke has been on.
Well, the LAD story line is particularly interesting because he had one of the best seasons ever for LAD in 2015 (19-3 with a 1.66 ERA), and everyone expected the deep pockets Dodgers to re-sign him, but then the Diamondbacks came out of nowhere and gave him a deal that was too rich even for the Dodgers, 6/206, this is year 2 of that.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Same thing happened when the Sox and Dbacks played in the 07 NLCS. It's pathetic
I don't know why I'm defending the D-Backs, but they reduced seating capacity so that they don't sell the seats that are empty any more. They haven't decided what to do with the space -- they want to do something like what the Rockies did when they reduced seating and added their party plaza. But it hasn't been decided yet. The capacity, even without the seats up there being sold, is still 48,000 and they sold out this game in 2 hours.
 

E5 Yaz

Transcends message boarding
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espn: Before the game, Colorado manager Bud Black says that even in a short-leash game such as the wild-card contest, you can't draw any conclusions until at least 30 pitches or so.
 

Don Bradman

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May 20, 2010
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Anyone have a compelling case for which team I should root for tonight?

Neither team seems hateable to me. Best cases I can come up with is "Go D-Backs, because they once beat the Yankees in the World Series", or "Go Rockies, because 'Sox and Rocks' seems nice enough".
Not an answer, but I'd love to see whoever wins go far just to see Blackmon/Arrenado or Goldschmidt/Martinez, plus several other big hitters, in big stage/bright lights situations in "normal" ballparks. But, not sure COL has the pitching to go far however, if they win tonight.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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That was fun to watch. It was Maddux like. Greinke was totally throwing the ball exactly where he wanted it and was trying to figure out where the ump needed it to call it a strike, and then he sat him down with a hook.
 

Brand Name

make hers mark
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Moving the Line
Only one time in postseason history has a team won a playoff game with its SP going 1.1 IP, 4+ ERs: 10/13/79, WS Game 4, by Dennis Martinez of the Baltimore Orioles, of the prior 13 instances of such a game.