Indians have a 1/2 game lead in the AL Central after tonight's win.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
I think the Indians are getting appropriate "respect" from national media; they are 4th in ESPN's MLB power ranking behind only the Astros, Dodgers, and Yankees. The only reason Vegas might favor the Red Sox tonight is that Chris Sale is pitching. Besides, the Vegas money line in today's Plain Dealer has the Indians as slight favorites tonight (Indians are -108 and Red Sox are -102).
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Tough L last night ... I thought we were going to steal another one
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Tough L last night ... I thought we were going to steal another one
Yeah, that steal attempt by Lindor was boneheaded. 1 out, just need a base hit and you've got Santana coming up after Mercado. If he would have succeeded, we would have won as Mercado hit a deep fly ball, but still not smart base running.
Yeah, I get trying to get to 3rd but it was a risk for sure
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Mercado didn't do Lindor any favors by ducking down to give the catcher a clear path to throw. I'm sure having a RH hitter at the plate was one of the reasons Lindor thought he could make it, because it normally causes the catcher to step left or right to have a clear throw to 3rd base. The play was so close that I think its probably safe to say he would have made it if Mercado had simply stood there and forced the catcher to move around him to throw. Anyway, I would bet Mercado heard about it later.
This team is exasperating to watch. They have a successful road trip to Minnesota to take the division lead and then proceed to [bleep] the bed in front of a large home crowd in a game that was a freaking bullpen game for the Red Sox. They make the Sox bullpen pitchers look like Roger Clemens in his prime while Sox hitters are hitting rocket shots on 2-strike pitches. And I think for maybe the 10th time this year that either our pitch signs are being stolen or our pitchers are tipping their pitches. So annoying.
Tough one again today ... Boston has a great lineup. Gotta get back on track at NYY
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Good breakdown and great point on Mercado ducking. I didn’t notice that last night. Had he stood tall it may have given Frankie that extra .5 seconds he needed. Also didn’t notice him tipping off the pitcher - I assumed they knew he was going based on pitch placement of the fastball, but didn’t know how they knew. Lots went wrong on that play.
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
I have a good feeling about the Tribe this weekend
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
I can't seem to remember all of the games, but this isn't the first time we've put up more than 2 touchdowns on the Yankees. Most people remember the 22-0 drubbing we put on them in 2004, but there was a 19-1 win in 2006, a 22-4 beatdown in 2009 and a 24-6 win way back in 1928. I feel like there's another one that I'm missing too.
Indians are the playoff nightmare Yankees should want to avoid
By Ken Davidoff New York Post
August 16, 2019
The formula is basic and stands the test of time:
If the Twins are in the playoff hunt, then the Yankees should desire to play them.
Or do you think they’d rather take their chances against these Indians? These Indians who treated Yankee Stadium like their personal Xanadu on Thursday night?
By thrashing the Yankees, 19-5, the Indians remained a half-game behind the Twins — who beat the Rangers — in the American League Central, which goes down as a pinstriped negative. If the playoffs started today, the Yankees, with the AL’s best record, would face the winner of the Rays-at-Indians wild-card game, and the Twins, seeded third, would open at the second-seeded Astros.
Surely if administered a truth serum, the Yankees would admit to preferring the Twins, or the Rays, to the Indians, in the best-of-five round.
“It’s a team that presents a lot of challenges,” Aaron Boone said of Cleveland before the game. “Really good pitching staff, obviously. Really good starters to go along with the good pen, and a lineup with some star players in it. Obviously a lot of switch hitters, so they create some matchup issues.
“They’ve obviously brought in some guys in [Yasiel] Puig and [Franmil] Reyes, some right-handed thump that it gives them. So they’re a challenge.”
Cleveland’s offense, its Achilles’ heel at the season’s outset, put on quite the show courtesy of the revived Jose Ramirez, one of the switch hitters to which Boone referred, who slammed two homers, including a first-inning grand slam, and drove home six runs; old pal Carlos Santana (two homers, four RBIs); and high-profile trade acquisition Yasiel Puig (two singles, two RBIs), among others. Starting with a beatdown of opener Chad Green, who gave up five runs in one-third of an inning, the Indians smoked the Yankees so badly that Boone resorted to pitching designated-hitter Mike Ford in the eighth and ninth. The Indians have now won 44 of their past 63 games.
“This is the type of game that you remember,” Ramirez said through an interpreter. “… Hopefully we run into them or not in the playoffs, but they’re a really competitive team, and it’s a good feeling when you get a good result like today.”
“It’s nice,” Cleveland’s veteran second baseman Jason Kipnis said. “We’ve got guys who haven’t played here before. It makes it a little easier for them to relax. Obviously this can be a little bit of an imposing venue.”
The Indians can be a little bit of an imposing opponent. Starting pitcher Adam Plutko limited the Yankees to three runs in six innings, and he’s unlikely to even be part of a playoff starting rotation that should feature two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber (if he fully rehabilitates his fractured right ulna bone), Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac. The Indians’ bullpen began the day ranked third in baseball with 4.8 wins above replacement, as per FanGraphs; the Yankees, with 6.2, placed first.
Throw in Cleveland’s battle-tested manager Terry Francona and maybe even a thirst for revenge after the Yankees’ stunning upset of these guys in the 2017 ALDS, and you can understand why the Yankees would rather have the Astros deal with them while they get a less complete, less experienced October entry, especially when you factor in the success they have registered against the Twins (4-2) and Rays (12-5, with two games left).
If this sounds vaguely familiar, you’re recalling 2010, when the Yankees eased up on the gas pedal in their AL East tête-à-tête with the Rays because they didn’t mind settling for the wild card and taking on the AL Central-winning Twins instead of Cliff Lee’s Rangers. They of course have faced Minnesota five times in the postseason — the ALDS in 2003, 2004, 2009 and ’10, plus the ’17 AL wild-card contest — and eliminated the Twins each and every time.
While the Yankees can do only so much to control their first-round matchup, it wouldn’t hurt them to keep an eye on it. And to pray to the baseball gods to take them somewhere besides “The Rock and Roll Capital of the World” in October’s first week.
I agree w/that article .. the Tribe has the Yankees number. NYY hopes to play Minnesota
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
