titanrick

I hope Lake Bachar isn't renamed for his dismal performance.

I'm guessing Murphy's thought process was that the lead was large enough to take a chance there and see if Sproat could right the ship on his own. If he can somehow reset himself, and get out of the inning, it would only help him in the future. Obviously, that didn't happen. But if Murph was taking that chance thinking we can still win the game, he was ultimately correct in that. No way he leaves Sproat in that long if the game were closer.

The 80's baseball cards give me a nice dopamine hit.

Still younger than both NL ROY candidates this year: Stewart and Wetherholt

I hate to harp on his defense, but what is Bunty doing here? He's about three steps away from the base with the ball heading directly to the base. If he stays back and lets the ball travel, we may get Suzuki before he even gets to the bag. It worked out, thank goodness. But this guy's defensive instincts are really lacking. I don't want him playing D in the playoffs at all.

This team has bounced back well before. The 22-0 shellacking didn't help us the next night against the Mariners. I don't trust Gasser, but I'm still optimistic we can split the series.

I think my graphic got cut off. I can't see PCA's name on it. I kid! I kid!

I'm a sucker for the retro-70s look...

Hard to believe Chourio (3/11/04) is a full year and a half younger than Wetherholt (9/10/02), who is the odds-on favorite for ROY in the NL. And this is Chourio's third season! I think the RISP numbers this year could be that he's pressing more in those situations. When he's chasing pitches outside the zone, the only chance he has is if the pitcher makes a mistake. When he's patient and laying off the junk, he is a real force. I think that will improve as he matures.

I just hope they ruled it a hit so I can keep hearing Vinny tell me that Hamilton has been good defensively!

Are you basing that on defensive metrics or the eye test? I have a healthy respect for analytics, but I gotta say - I watch almost every game and cringe when the ball is hit toward him. Way too many terrible throws, botches some easy plays, just seems like a wreck sometimes.

Agreed, I thought Adames was the quintessential "clubhouse leader" which is why I was somewhat worried when he left. All we've done since is have the best record in baseball. When one leader leaves, someone else steps up to fill the void. Teams have "lead by example" guys like Yeli and "rah-rah leaders" like Adames was, and Contreras seems to be now. All the top teams spout cliches constantly... we're playing for each other... we never quit... we're a family. All that is true, but it's true for almost every team that has a winning record. And as Jopal pointed out, it's not even a necessity for title-winning teams. Mostly just something for the media to write about.

There goes my theory that Sanchez wanted to pitch so he could waste our final challenge.

I'm all for giving him the QO if he finishes the season as it has gone so far. But if that's the case, he'll never accept it because someone will offer him a lucrative multi-year deal. If he slumps badly down the stretch, I think the Brewers play it safe and let him walk away feeling like we already got the peak performance year in his career.

Agreed. And with Uribe, the goal has to be that he's fully healthy for October, not for two series against the Cubs.