— Saturday night in Anaheim, on 2nd pitch of the game, Angels’ CF Kevin Pillar made one of the best catches I’ve ever seen, totally stretched out as he dove towards the left-field fence, barely catching the ball in webbing of his glove. Just an amazing catch, made better because it was so early in the game; Pillar was ready to play.
— Reliever Mike Baumann is with the Angels now; he must be very good at packing.
Just this season…….
He appeared in 17 games for the Orioles, was traded to Seattle May 22nd.
He pitched in 18 games for the Mariners, who purchased him from the Giants July 22.
Baumann allowed two runs in 0.2 IP in his one games with the Giants.
Four days later, the Angels purchased him from San Francisco.
He’s pitched in four games for the Angels; he had a hold in their win Sunday.
— Angels have 14 players on their roster who were first round draft picks, by far the most in the big leagues.
Next highest? Royals, Phillies, Rangers all have 10 first round picks on their teams.
— When Blake Snell threw his no-hitter in Cincinnati Friday night, it was the first time in his 202 career starts that he pitched in the ninth inning. First time EVER.
— Saturday in the Bronx, Aaron Judge homered in the first inning; next time he came up, there were two outs with the bases empty, but Toronto walked him anyway, then they walked him three more times Sunday,
They better find a quality hitter to bat behind Judge pretty soon, or else he’s going to be in Barry Bonds territory when it comes to being walked intentionally.
— Teams that have used the most starting pitchers this season:
17- Milwaukee
16- LA Dodgers
15- Miami
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards- Braves, Padres, Diamondbacks
AL: Orioles, Guardians,, Mariners. Wild Cards- New York, Twins, Royals
— Famous birthdays, August 5th
Loni Anderson, 79
Bruce Coslet, 78
Patrick Ewing, 62
Jonathan Silverman, 68
John Olerud, 56
Mark Mulder, 47
Carl Crawford, 43
CJ Spiller, 37
Nick Martinez, 34
— Jonathan Tamayo won the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas last month, banking the $10M grand prize; he entered the final table in 7th place out of nine players.
— Red Sox 7, Rangers 2
Wilyer Abreu homered twice the day after his grandmother died.
Boston relievers allowed only one of 14 batters they faced to reach base,
— Twins 13, White Sox 7
Minnesota led this game 8-0 in second inning.
White Sox have lost 20 games in a row, the longest losing skid by anyone since 1988.
— Rays 1, Astros 0
Five Tampa Bay pitchers allowed only six baserunners in the shutout win.
Houston was 2-4 this week; Altuve/Bregman combined to go 8-48, with no runs scored and one RBI.
— Diamondbacks 6, Pirates 5
Pirates led 4-0 after five innings with rookie sensation Skenes on the hill.
Joc Pederson hit a 3-run for Arizona in 7th inning.
— Royals 3, Tigers 2
MJ Melendez hit a pinch-hit, 3-run homer in ninth inning.
Detroit went 2-7 on its nine-game homestand.
— Padres 10, Rockies 2
David Peralta robbed a hitter of a home run in RF, then hit a homer the next inning,
Matt Waldron got 17 outs for San Diego, allowing only four baserunners.
