Posts Tagged ‘baseball’

An important reminder to all those who watched the Democrat Debate.

The Democrat nominee will be decided by the Superdelegates on the 2nd ballot at the convention. I still think it will be Biden because by then they’ll figure out there is almost no chance to win and he’s the best shot for helping some down ballot races

You heard it here 1st


The expose of what’s going on at CNN by Project Veritas is having a lot less bang that you might normally expect. This is mainly because those of us on the right, particularly those of us who have watched and covered CNN, particularly during the Trump years already knew this was the case and those on the left who have become obsessed with removing the president by impeachment are happy to see Zucker demand all impeachment all the time and would consider this a feature.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s good journalism but it would be a real shock if any of it surprised anyone. Still it’s nice to have it on the record as to why they do what they do. I always thought it was the water


Beto O’Rourke’s treat to compel compliance by force to comply with a “buyback” program reminded me of bit of this quote from Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

If we ever owned the land we own it still, for we never sold it. In the treaty councils the commissioners have claimed that our country had been sold to the Government. Suppose a white man should come to me and say, “Joseph, I like your horses, and I want to buy them.” I say to him, “No, my horses suit me, I will not sell them.” Then he goes to my neighbor, and says to him : “Joseph has some good horses. I want to buy them, but he refuses to sell.” My neighbor answers, “Pay me the money, and I will sell you Joseph’s horses.” The white man returns to me and says, “Joseph, I have bought your horses, and you must let me have them.” If we sold our lands to the Government, this is the way they were bought.

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce indians

It doesn’t surprise me that younger people never heard this as high school & college don’t teach history anymore but I’m shocked Elizabeth Warren didn’t make this objection.


Nancy Pelsoi has stated there will be no vote to formally begin an impeachment inquiry in the house. This makes a lot of sense for her as such a formal vote will only cause trouble for the phony moderates that she needs to keep the gavel. Ideally any such vote on impeachment or even an inquiry would take place when it’s too late to primary any Democrat who votes against it.

Given how will this strategy worked in saving the “moderates” who voted for Obamacare I suspect it’s not going to make all that much difference but I suspect her odds of keeping seats are better with this crowd than with crew generated primary opponents in the general.


Finally The Washington Nationals after shocking the LA Dodgers made short work of the St. Louis Cardinals and are now going to their 1st World Series since they entered the league as the Montreal Expos in 1969. Of course there have been other Washington Teams the Texas Rangers were the expansion Washington Senators from 1961 to 1971 before moving to Texas and the original Washington Nationals moved to Minnesota and became the Twins, who were bounced by the Yankess in three straight in the 1st round.

The last time a Team from Washington went to the World Series was 1925 and the last time they won was the year before, both times the ace of the squad was Walter Johnson one of the best pitchers who ever lived and one of the charter inductees in the baseball hall of fame. They don’t have Johnson this time around but they do have a pitching staff that are worthy successors to him. It has the potential to be a really great world series no matter who they face.

Vikings 3 Washington 1

Max Scherzer gave up 4 hits over nine innnings and scored a run as King Ragnar’s Vikings outlasted Washington 3-1.

With the excepton of Anthony Rendon (2-4 2 2b) Scherzer (W 3-1) kept Washington batters off ballance and even when they managed a bit of a rally such as in the 6th when Trevor Story doubled with two outs and Josh Reddick walked he was able to bear down and end the inning without damage.

His counterpart Sean Newcomb (L 0-2) for a time managed to do the same, pitching out of a man on 2nd no out situation in the 1st, a bases loaded two out jam in the 2nd and another bases loaded jam in the 4th until he finally cracked in the fifth. Juan Segura and Kentel Marte walked to start the inning and Eduardo Escobar singled to left scoring Segura for a 1-0 game. Wilson Ramon singled to right loading the bases and after Ramon Laureano K’d Elias Diaz hit a ball back to the mound that Newcomb was able to stop but couldn’t make a play on. That single socred Marte and made it 2-0 befor Newcomb retired Rizzo and Scherzer to stop the bleeding.

Those two would be all Max would need as he killed another potential rally with a pickoff of Billy Hamilton after a leadoff walk in the 7th and by the time Washington finally got on a board with a solo Shot by Josh Reddick to start the 9th the Vikings had already added a run off of reliever Brad Hand on a two out Whit Merrified double scoring Scherzer making it too little much too late.

Notes: Scherzer walked twice along with a hit raising his batting avg to .300 this season. Bobby Poyner came out of the game after 2/3 of an inning of perfect relief complaining about arm soreness and was subsequently sent to the minors. The Vikings went 4-15 with runners in scoring position while Washington went 0-6. It will be Noah Syndergaard (0-2) vs Carlos Martinez (1-0) for Washington to finish.

Rivertown 6 LA 2

Rivertown struck for 3 in the 1st and Chris Sale struck out 10 in 9 innings as Rivertown defeated LA 6-2.

Clayton Kershaw (L 1-3) troubles began right away with a leadoff double to Lorenzo Cain followed by a one out walk to Paul Goldschmidt. After Nelson Cruz forced Goldschmidt Marcell Ozuna fly to left carried just far enough to clear the fence and Rivertown was up 3-0.

LA got one back of Christ Sale (W 3-1) David Freese singled and Kike Hernandez was grazed by a sale fastball. With one out Matt Kemp delived a single to left scoring Freese and sending Hernandez to 2nd. It looked like a big inning was brewing but Max Muncy’s liner was right at Ozuna and Chris Taylor’s fly to left was just a few feet short of the wall so the game remained 3-1.

In the 3rd Rivertown struck again. Goldschmidt walked again and this time Cruz drove a ball to left center scoring him all the way from 1st. After a pair of gournd outs Yadier Molina doubled almost to the same spot scoring Cruz from 3rd easily and Rivertown was up 5-1.

Kiki Hernandez struck back at once in the bottom taking Sale deep to left center to make it 5-2 but that would be as close as they would get as LA would only manage two hits and one walk for the rest of the game off Sale whose fastball and changeup baffled LA’s bats to the point where Matt Carpenter’s 6th inning single scoring Lorenzo Cain who doubled with two outs off Ross Stripling was just window dressing.

Notes: Dodger Ace Clayton Kershaw’s 5 earned runs in 3 innings raised his ERA to 6.64. The team has a winning record in games he hasn’t started. Ozuna’s homer was his 1st of the season. Dodger Reliver Stripling came to the plate for the 1st time this season and singled off Sale Lorenzo Cain went 4-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. The Dodgers will throw Walker Buehler (0-1) in the finale He will face Aaron Nola (2-0 )

Juneau 8 NY 1

Mookie Betts hit two home runs and Miles Mikolas went all the way as Juneau crushed the NY Yankees 8-1 for their fifth straight win.

Luis Severino (L 1-2) Got deep in a hole three batters in. Andrew Benintendi led off the game with a triple Andrelton Simmons singled to drive him in and Mookie Betts hit the 1st fastball he saw 478 feet to right center and the score was 3-0

The Yankees couldn’t answer till the 4th Gleyber Torres singled to start things off and was erased on a force play on Aarond Judge. Didi Gregorius singled to right and Judge raced to 3rd ahead of the thow allowing Gregorius to reach 2nd and giving the Yanks two men in scoring position with only one out and the tying run at the plate. Alas for the Yanks while Giancarlo Stanton’s grounder to short scored Judge, Miles Mikolas (W 1-2) struck out Neil Walker to keep the lead 3-1.

It didn’t stay that way long, Benintendi walked to start the fifth, Simmons singled and Mookie Betts Doubled to left scoring Benintendi and getting Simmons to 3rd with nobody out but Shohei Ohtani fly to center turned into a double play when Brett Gardner’s bullet to the plate beat Simmons keeping the score 4-1.

This was Boston’s big chance and it looked like they would take advantage of it. With one out in the bottom of the fifth Austin Romine doubled and Greg Bird singled to right sending him to 3rd. Once again the tying run was at the plate with only one out and once again Mikolas came through k’ing Aaron Hicks and coaxing a force out from Torres to end the inning.

They might have come back but with Matt Chapman on 3rd (single) and Harrison Bader on 2nd (walk) and two outs their defense failed him. Torrez booted a grounder that Benintendi hit off Zach Britton scoring Chapman and sending Baider to 3rd and Britton and Romine allowed a passed ball scoring Bader making it six to one.

At that point it didn’t matter Mikolas would retire the last 12 in a row so solo shots by Betts and Othani were just afterthoughts.

Notes: In addition to his solo shot Ohtani stole his 1st base after a walk in the 7th. Yankees relieveers Dellin Betances (Ohtani) and Zach Britton (Betts) both gave up solo shots for their only earned run Betances ERA went up to 0.66 but Britton’s DROPPED to 16.20 Benintendi and Betts combined for 4 hits 4 runs 4 RBI’s 2 walks 2 homers and a double. The series ends tomorrow with David Price (1-0) against J.A. Happ (0-1)

Texas 5 Boston 4 (10 innings)

Michael Brantly hit an extra inning homer and Keone Kella pitched two scoreless innings for the win as Texas won for the 3rd time in four extra inning games with a 5-4 victory against Boston.

The Thunder stuck in the 1st off of Justin Verlander who after striking out the 1st two batters gave up a single to Mike Trout, a double to Freddie Freeman which scored Trout and a Triple to Javier Baez scoring Freeman to make it 2-0.

In the 2nd Boston came back Alex Bregman singled. Corey Kluber retired the next two the 2nd on a fielder’s choice that replaced Bregman with Ronald Acuna Jr. for J.T. Realmuto who took a ball over the green monster to tie things up.

In the 3rd the Thunder hit Verlander again, Trout walked with one out and with two outs Javier Baez doubled him in and Francisco Lindor followed with a Triple and it was 4-2 while in the bottom of the inning Christian Yelich hit a solo shot to center and the lead was 4-3.

There it stayed until the eighth when again with two out Alex Bregman hit a shot out to center off of Raisel Iglesias tying things up at 4 and taking Verlander off the hook. Verlander retired the 1st two in the 9th before giving way to Brandon Morrow L (1-1) who would retire the final man in the innings before giving up that shot in the 10th.

Notes: Keone Kela (W 1-1) retired all six men he faced for the win. Verlander struck out 15 fifteen texas batters in his no decision. 8 of the games nine runs were scored with two outs. This was Texas’s 4th extra inning game this season. Texas has played as many extra inning games as any other two teams in the league combined this season. It will be the battle of the even records in the finale as 1-1 Zach Grenkie of Texas faces the 1-1 Blake Snell.

Texas 12 NYY 10 (11 innings)

Michael Brantley 10th inning single off of reliever Masahiro Tanaka made a loser out of Aroldis Chapman and a winner out the the Thunder as Texas edged NY in a wild game by the score of 12-10 in or the 2nd time.

For four innings it seemed we would have a pitchers duel between Yankees lefty C. C Sabathia who would give up a solo shot in the top of the 3rd to Francisco Lindor and Kyle Freeland who after a walk to Greg Bird to start the bottom of the inning and hitting Adeiny Hechavarria with two out gave up a single to Giancarlo Stanton which tied it up.

But the Wheels started coming off in the 5th for both pitchers. Sabathia started the inning hitting back to back batters (Jackie Bradley JR and Lindor) and then turned an infield single by Yuri Gurriel into disaster when he rushed a throw to 1st in the vain hope of getting him. Bradley & Lindor scored and Gurriel ended up on 2nd. After a Nolan Arenado single sent him to 3rd she scored on a fielder’s choice that erased Arenado and put Mike Trout on 1st. He would go to 2nd when CC hit Freddie Freeman (the 3rd man hit in the inning) and would score on Ryan Brawn’s single to left making it 5-1. That was enough for the Yanks who brought in Zach Britton who closed out the 5th before the rout was on.

Freeland gave one of the four back in the bottom of the inning on a two out single by Glyber Torres that send Mike Judge who had doubled and gone to third on Hechavarria’s single but Britton gave it back when Freddie Freeman (K) would be the only man he would retire out of the seven he would face in the sixth letting Bradley JR (HBP) Lindor (Single) Gurriel (Homer 3 BI) Arenado (single) and Trout (Double) before getting that 1st out. Once Javier Baez singled in both Arenado and Trout it was 10-2 and David Robertson came in with the expectation of saving the bullpen in a rout.

That expectation vanished as having been given a 8 run lead Freeland seemed determined to give it back. Like Briton he would face seven batters in the sixth and like Britton it would be a disaster. Miguel Andujar started it with a homer and Aaron Hicks followed with a single. After Bird k’d Romine singled and Judge walked loading the bases. Heckavarra fielders choice got Judge Freeland his 2nd out (Judge) and NY its 3rd run (Hicks) but Giancarlo Stanton’s single drove in Romine and chased Freeland. Jonny Venters came in with a five run lead needing only one more out to strand the runners and preserve a five run lead.

He couldn’t He hit Torres to load the bases for Luke Volt whose grand slam turned an inning that started as a 10-2 laugher into a 10-9 battle.

He nearly lost that battle hitting Andjar and walking Hicks before Bird who k’d for the 1st out of the inning made the last with a grounder to 2nd.

Now facing a squeaker instead of mop-up time David Robertson came through retiring Texas in the sixth and when Austin Romine doubled off of Keone Kela (B1) to start the seventh and Pinch Hitter Didi Gregorius doubled him in with one out to tie the game he had the chance to be the pitcher of record for a win, but it was not to be. Kela k’ed pinch hitter Walker and retired Torres to perserve the tie if not the lead.

It would stay that way as the teams which had scored 20 runs already could only manage one hit and three walks (one intentional) through the 8th, 9th and 10th. Then in the 11th Aroldis Chapman (L 0-1) Hit Freeman with one out. Baez singled and after a fielders choice erased him and put Ryan Braun on 1st Tucker Barnhart walked to load the bases. Masahiro Tanaka came in to relieve Chapman and Michael Brantley came in to relieve Bradley Jr and poked a single into center field scoring Freemana and Brawn giving Texas a two run lead which would Felipe Vazquez (W 1-0) would hold for the win.

Notes. Other than an intentionanl walk in the 10. Felipe Vasquez would retire all six men he faced the final five by strikeout. A total of six men would be hit by pitches in this game, three by each team and Freddy Freeman twice. Both teams would go 6-16 with runners in scoring position. Texas has played in 3 extra inning games going 2-1 It’s Lance Lynn (1-1) for NY vs Mike Clevinger (2-0) in the finale.

Senators 4 Dodgers 0

DJ LeMahieu and and Corey Dickerson’s solo shots were all that Washington needed as Jose Quintana and Bobby Poyner combined on a four hit shutout blanking LA 4-0 in game of of their two game series.

LeMahieu’s shot of Hyun-Jin-Ryu (L 2-1) put LA behind to start but Ryu and the defense would keep it close spoiling repeated Washington rallies in the 2nd 3rd and in the 7th with some help from Pat Vendette. that would be more than enough as Jose Quintana (2-0) confounded the Dodgers though most of the game

LA’s best chance to tie came in the 2nd. With two out Austin Barnes drove a ball to center. Delino DeShields in his 1st start since being called up playing deep rushed in and dove for the low line drive he missed the ball, Barnes ended upon 2nd and DeShields ended up having to be helped off the field. Cody Bellinger and Ruy walked loading the bases but David Freese grounder ended the threat.

After Dickerson’s solo shot in the 5th LA next best threat came in the sixth. Machado led off with a single, went to 2nd on Christian Vasquez’s passed ball. Matt Kemp walked putting runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out, but Quintana retired Chris Taylor on a fly and k’d Yasmani Grandal and Barnes to finish it. He would pitch 8 innings only being pulled in the 9th for a pinch hitter Nick Markakis with Billy Hamilton on 2nd after a walk and stolen base. Barnes would muff Markakis grounder which gave Corey Dickerson the chance to single home Hamilton and Rendon the chance to single home Markakis to give Washington a four rather than a 2 run lead to protect in the ninth which was more than enough.

Notes: Delino Deshields was sent for an MRI after the game and even before the results were it was announced that he would be heading for the DL. The only question is if he will be back before the September callups. Martin Maldonado was reactivited from the DL and should be able to start in tomorrow game. With two centerfielders (DeShields & Marte ) on the DL expect to see Kevin Kiermaier called up from the minors to back up Hamilton. With Maldonado becoming the 4th catcher expect to see either Matt Wieters or Christian Vasquez of Blake Swihart sent down to make room for him. Tomorrow LA will throw Alex Wood (0-1) against Washington while the Senators will answer with Reynaldo Lopez (1-0)

Rivertown 4 Vikings 3

Rivertown came back from two deficits and held off a 9th inning Viking assault to come away with a 4-3 victory over King Ragnar’s men for their sixth straight.

the Vikings stuck 1st in the 1st against Jack Flaherty (W 2-0) Whit Merrifield singled to right and immediately stole 2nd and 3rd allowing him to score on Geraldo Parra’s fly to left making it 1-0.

In the bottom of the 3rd Rivertown came back. Jack Flaherty singled to center and was replaced at 1st by Lorenzo Cain on a fielder choice. Cain who had been caught stealing in the 1st was more successful the end time around stealing 2nd and scoring on Paul Goldschmidt’s single to tie things at 1.

They didn’t stay tied for long in the top of the 4th Juan Soto singled, stole 2nd and moved to 3rd on an Anthony Rizzo grounder. After a Ramos walk Eddie Rosario singled to right scoring Soto and sending Ramos to 2nd. Mallex Smith replaced Ramso at 2nd but the Vikings could have saved the swap because Flaherty stuck out Escoba and Segura’s hard shot went right to the shortstop to leave things at 2-1.

In the 6th the Raiders broke through on Garret Cole (L 2-1) David Peralta Tripled in Jose Ramirez who walked and took 2nd on an errant pickoff throw by Cole to tie the game. Nelson Cruz followed with a single of his own and Rivertown was up 3-2. A Yadier Molina single and a Paul DeJong walk loaded the bases for Pitcher Flaherty who would face reliver Vizcaino. With the bases loaded and one out Rivertown surprisingly choose to let Flaherty bat. With everyone running he laid down a bunt in front of the plate, rather than taking the sure out at 1st Diaz dove toward Cruz with the ball but he dodged the tag with a perfect hook slide and the based remained loaded with the score 4-2 and only one out. Rivertown was unable to capitalize further. Cain’s fly to left wasn’t deep enough to score Molina and Matt Carpenter stuck out swinging to end threat. There it stayed till then 9th when Closer Edwin Diaz (S5) gave up a one out gopher to Eduardo Escobar to make it a one run game but Segura lied out and pinch hitter Ramon Laureano stuck out swinging to end the Vikings’ last chance:

Notes: The Vikings stole three bases against Flaherty and Molina while Rivertown managed only one along with a caught stealing. Every stolen base resulted in a run. Flaherty had a single to go along with his rbi fielders choice getting him to the mendoza line. Paul Goldschmidt continues hit hot streak going 2-3 with a walk and a RBI hitting .381

Juneau 5 Boston 4

German Marquez lasted just long enough for Brock Holt’s pinch hit shot to give Juneau the edge as the Muffin Men won their 3rd straight with a 5-4 win over Boston.

Juneau got started early when Jhoulys Chacin hit Andrew Benintendi to start things off. Andrelton Simmons follwed with a single to send him to 3rd and one out later Shohei Ohtani beat out a potential double play ball allowing Benintendi to score the 1st run. Two innings later Juneau again scored on an out, when Simmons grounder drove in Salvador Perez who had doubled and moved to 2nd on Benintendi’s single but once again Chacin was able to get out of the jam without further damage.

In the bottom of the 3rd Boston struck back. J.T. Realmuto led off with a single and Nick Ahmed doubled to right to send him to 3rd. German Marquez (W 1-1) managed to stike out Jose Altuve but Ben Sobrist singled to right scoring both Realmuto and Ahmed and just like that it was 2-2.

In the 4th Boston stuck again. Rhys Hoskins shot a one out single and was replaced on the bases by Ronald Acuna Jr. on a fielders choice. This was key as with two out Realmuto doubled to left and the speedy Acuna Jr motered home from 1st to give Boston a 3-2 lead but the lead didn’t last as Andrew Benintendi connected with a Chacin curve with two out in the fifth and the game was once again knotted at 3.

In the bottom of the 6th Hoskins gave Boston and Eduardo Rodriguez who spelled Chacin the lead again with a towering shot to left over everything but with two outs Benintendi was hit for the 2nd time and Rodriguez was pulled for Collin McHugh (L 0-1) and Juneau countered with Brock Holt for Andrelton Simmons whose shot while not quite as deep as Hoskins came with a man on giving Juno that 5-4 edge. Mookie Betts followed with a double but Ohtani ground out to end the threat.

Joakim Soria came in and retired six straight before walking Alex Bregman to start the 9th. Josh Hader (S1) came in to relieve Soria and with the go ahead run at the plate struck out the side for his 1st save.

Notes: Andrew Benintendi was hit twice and scored both times. Despite going 2-3 with a Home Run Manager LaFlam pinch hit for Rhys Hoskins with Kris Bryant in the 9th. The 1-3 hitters for Juneau went 7-12 with 4 runs scored and 4 RBI’s while the 4-9 hitters only manged one hit in 22 at bats. It will be Dallas Keuchel (1-0) for Boston against Jose Berrios (1-0) for Juneau.

Red Sox 7 Yankees 6

Boston managed 12 hits and Brandon Morrow held a lead when no other reliever could giving Boston a their 4th straight win and NY their fifth straight loss by a score of 7-6.

NY starter JA Happ proved hapless in the 2nd as JD Martinez singled to right and went to 3rd on Aaron Judge’s error. Alex Bregman followed with a single to center sending Martinez to 3rd. He came home on Kris Bryant’s single to left. After Ronald Acuna Jr. walked to load them up JT. Realmuto drove in both Bregman and Bryant on a single to left and Sending Acuna to 3rd where he would score on a Nick Ahmed double play making it 4-0.

After pitching around another error in the 3rd Happ was tagged again. Acuna singled and Realmuto walked. Another fortunate double play left Acuna on 3rd with two outs but Jose Altuve double to left making it 5-0.

Meanwhile Jameson Taillon pitched 5 strong innings before getting into trouble in the 6th. Aaron Hicks singled and Gleyber Torres followed suit but Hicks went for 3rd and Acuna gunned him down leaving Torres on 2nd with one out. That would be critical as Aaron Judge would take the next pitch over the left field wall making it 5-2 instead of 5-3. Taillon would load the bases with a pair of walks surrounding a hit batsman and a K before getting Austin Romine to fly out keeping the defect at 3.

In the 7th Greg Bird would chase Taillon with a leadoff blast to right making it 5-3. Corey Knebel (W 1-0) could come in and walk Hicks and Torres before surrendering a one out Blast deep into the seats beyond the bullpens in right making it 6-5. The Yanks had a chance to do more damage as Giancarlo Stanton followed with a walk and Brett Gardner did the same with two outs but Romine struck out swinging keeping the lead at 1.

They would again miss that run as Jonathan Holder (L 0-1) wasn’t up to the task of holding a lead either. he gave up a lead off double to Altuve and then with one out a Double to Christian Yelich to tie the game. while he managed to get the dangerous JD Martinez Bregman would follow with a two out single driving in Yelich and Boston was back up 7-6.

That when Brandon Morrow (S1) came in and did what no other reliever to that point had done, hold a lead he would retire the side in order in the 8th and while he allowed a one out walk to Gregorius fanned Stanton and coaxed a game ending grounder from Neil Walker to earn the Save for himself and the win for the Sox.

Notes: 3 of the Yankees seven hits and all of their runs came on home runs. None of the Redsox 12 hits left the yard but six of them came with runners in scoring position out of an incredible 17 chances. Only Ben Zobrist went without a hit or a walk for Boston (0-5). Despite Boston and NY combining for 3 errors in the game all of the runs were Earned. NY finally heads home to open against the Texas Thunder while Boston’s long homestand continues as they welcome the Juneau Muffin men.

Juneau 10 Texas 1

Bryce Harper had his 3rd homer in 2 two games and David Price gave up only run run in 6 2/3 as Juneau won it’s 2nd straight over Texas 10-1.

Juneau started right were they left off the previous day against Zach Greinke (L 1-1) with two outs Mookie Betts doubled and Shohei Ohtani drove him home with a single, not that it would matter as Bryce Harper would take a Greinke curve 418 feet to right for a 3-0 lead.

Yuli Gurriel would answer with a solo shot with one out in the bottom of the inning but it would be the only answer they would have all day as David Price (W 1-0) kept the Texas off balance most innings while taking advantage of fine defense like plays like Harrison Bader’s rocket throw that nailed Mike Trout at 3rd in the 4th when he tried to tag up on a fly to the warning track.

Meanwhile Juneau in general and Harper in particular continued to feast off Texas pitching in the 6th with Simmons on 3rd (HBP) and Ohtani on 1st (Single) Harper drove in his 3rd run of the game. Matt Chapman followed with a triple driving in Ohtani and Harper and scored off of Kolton Wong’s two run shot off of Jonny Venters making it 8-1 Ohtani’s one out double scoring Benintendi (single) and Betts (HBP) in the 9th gave Juneau it’s 2nd straight 10 run game and made Ryan Braiser’s 2 1/3 perfect innings a mere formality.

Notes: Ohtani and Harper both scored two runs while driving in 3. Ohtani on a 3-5 day Harper on 2-4 Despite sweeping Texas Juneau gave up 4 home runs in 2 games and have given up a home run in each of their last 5. Texas was 0-5 with runners in scoring position while Juneau was 5-10. Texas travels to NY for a rematch of their opening series while Juneau heads for Boston.
Meanwhile the

Rivertown 3 Washington 2 10 innings

Washington’s Bullpen wasted an excellent start by Carlos Martinez to blow a 9th inning lead and a single swing by Paul Goldschmidt finished the job as Rivertown swept Washington with a 3-2 win.

It was a game of pitching and close calls as Patrick Corbin for Rivertown and Carlos Martinez dueled. Corbin relying on the K striking out 10 Senators and Martinez aided by great defense

In the 1st DJ Le Mahieu turned a Jose Ramirez Liner that would have put him on 1st and Lorenzo Cain (HBP) on 3rd into an inning ending double play.

In the 4th with men on 1st (David Peralta walk) and 2nd (Jose Ramirez single and stolen base) with nobody out Ramirez struck out Goldschmidt and Before another LeMahieu turned a 2nd double play perserving a 1-0 lead.

That lead came in the top of the inning when Josh Reddick after a two out single beat a wild throw to the plate From Peralta on Anthony Rendon’s double off of Corbin. But over 6 2/3 innings that would be all he would yield.

Meanwhile the defense kept making the big play for Washington. In the sixth with one out Peralta singled and Goldschmidt doubled. Peralta held out of respect for the arms in the DC outfield. With one out and nobody on 1st the infield came in on Matt Carpenter who hit a shot toward first but despite being drawn in Jesus Agular dove to glove the ball in the air and managed to get the ball to LeMahieu before Goldschmidt could get back.

In the 7th the defense would do it again. After a Nelson Cruz single and one out Jeurys Familia came in relieving Martinez. He struck out Paul DeJong but Diego Castillo drove a changeup to left. Cruz didn’t hesitate for moment but neither did Corey Dickerson who fielded it and threw in a single motion nailing him at the plate.

In the ninth the Senators would add some offense Diego Castilo in his 3rd inning of work put a fat pitch over for Josh Reddick that the crosswind just blew into play for the 1st out. Rendon followed with a double and moved to 3rd on Billy Hamilton’s grounder and scored on Agular’s single. The lead was 2-0 Reliever Brad Hand had shut down a Rivertown rally in the 8th with a pair of K’s and Seranthony Dominguez (BS 1 L 0-1) was warned and ready to come if needed. It looked like it was all over.

It wasn’t. Nelson Cruz singled off Hand and was pulled for pinch runnier Ender Incirte. After Yadier Molina was retired on a foul ball Trey Turner walked and when Jose Martinez was announced as a pinch hitter Mgr Ingemi went to the mound. Dominguez was ready but Ingemi decided to stick with Hand. Martinez singled loading the bases and Dominguez came in to face Lorenzo Cain. Cain worked the count to 3-2 and Dominguez threw a ball that most batters in the league would chase, Cruz didn’t and it was 2-1.

With a stikeout pitcher on the mound and fearing a game ending two run single the infield remained back but Washington which had turned so many key double plays that night could only manage one on Ramierz grounder. Turner scored and the game was tied.

Jose Alvarado (W 1-0) came in unwarmed from the pen with a new defense behind him but it didn’t matter, Dominguez, LeMahieu and Dickerson all went down on strikes in the 10th clearing the way for Paul Goldschmidt to win the game with a single swing.

Notes: Rivertown only managed to go 1-11 with runners in scoring position but the senators only had four chances (1-4) None of Washington’s pitchers were pinch hit for in this game while Rivertown sent 3 pinch hitters to the plate (1-3).  Washington travels to LA for a pair while Rivertown will host King Ragnar’s Vikings

Dodgers 6 Vikings 4

Kike Hernandez and Chris Taylor went back to back and the four LA pitchers were able to hold onto the lead they gave them to earn a split of their series with King Ragnar’s Vikings 6-4.

The Long ball came early for the Dodgers as Manny Machado took Ryan Stanek (L 0-1) yard with two outs in the top of the 1st. Jean Segura came right back with a one out blast against Rich Hill (W 1-0) to tie the game before Hernandez and Taylor’s back to back blasts to start the 2nd making it 3-1 The Vikings got on back in the bottom of the 2nd on a Juan Soto single followed by a Eduardo Escobar double with nobody out. When Hill retired Rosario and Culberson the Vikings took a chance and pulled Stanek for pinch hitter Mallex smith Hill coaxed a grounder to keep the game 3-2.

Hill helped his own cause in the 4th off Craig Stammen in the 4th by drilling a two out double to the gap in left center driving in Taylor who walked with one out making it 4-2 and after after a pair of singles by Soto and Escobar put two in in the bottom of the inning again struck out a pinch hitter batting for the pitcher stopping the rally which was key because in the fifth Whit Merrifield’s took him over the left field wall to make it 4-3.

That wasn’t much breathing space for Hill but with one out Justin Turmer pinch hit for him driving a single to left. Cody Bellinger followed with a double and Matt Kemp Crushed a fly ball to center that stayed in the part but was deep enough to score Turner to get the lead back to 5-3.

It looked like LA would break the game open in the 8th off Arodys Vizcaino when after a Yasiel Puig double and a Yasmani Grandal single, Hernandez drove a sinking liner to left but Merrifield made a diving stab that while allowing Puig to tag up for a 6-3 lead kept Grandal on 1st and Hernandez off back allowing Vizcaino to get out without further damage.

That would matter when Jean Segura doubled to start the bottom of the inning and was driven in by a one out double by Wilson Ramos getting the lead back to two and putting the tying run at the plate without on and a man on 2nd off Josh Fields. Pat Venditte came in and walked Soto before Escobar hit into a fielders choice for the 2nd out putting men on 1st and 3rd. Kenley Jansen (s4) came in and retired Matt Kemp to preserve the lead. While he would give up a Whit Merrifield two out double in the 9th he followed it by striking out Segura to perserve the win and the save for LA.

Notes: the Dodger victory evened their record at 6-6. Viking pinch hitters went 0-5 in the game. Machado’s RBI puts him one behind Paul Goldschmdit of Rivertown with 15 while Jansen save ties him with Rivertown’s Edwin Diaz in that category. The Dodgers head home to play the Senators while King Ragnar Vikings head to Pittsburgh to raid Rivertown.