Two Game Sweep of the Asterisks

We cannot summarize the two game series against the Asterisks without reengaging about Joe Kelly.     Let’s look at the pitch to crybaby Correa to get his mouth going and get Kelly “taunting”.    

Joe Kelly strikes out Carlos Correa. Pleasantries are exchanged … then we get our first socially-distanced bench clearing altercation of the season.https://t.co/dmQElWppqd

— SI MLB (@si_mlb) July 29, 2020

Was Correa really upset about a breaking ball high and tight that went to the backstop to put runners in scoring position? I doubt that was Kelly’s plan.  Was he complaining about the pitch to Bregman?  No he was embarrassed because he let Kelly get to him and make him look silly striking him out. 

Let’s not forget that it was mouthy Correa that insinuated that Houston did not cheat in the 2017 post season, and popped off to Belli:

“When [Bellinger] talks about that we cheated for three years, he either doesn’t know how to read, is really bad at reading comprehension or is just not informed at all,” Correa told The Athletic. “The commissioner’s report clearly says that all those activities were conducted in 2017. 2018 nothing happened. 2019 nothing happened. It was just talented players, playing the game of baseball with passion and winning ballgames.”

He then went on to claim that Houston earned their 2017 World Series title against the Dodgers, insisting that the Astros didn’t intercept LA’s signs. He said teams don’t use “easy” signs to decode in the World Series because those games are “too important.”

The other culprit in mouthing off last winter was Alex Bregman.

“The commissioner came out with a report, MLB did their report, and the Astros did what they did, meaning they made their decision on what they’re going to do. I have no other thoughts on it.”

I am not going to minimize the danger of head-hunting by a wild, hard throwing pitcher.  But if you slow down the pitch you can see that the pitch goes over his numbers.  Bregman almost ducked into the pitch.  There is no doubt that it scared the *** out of Bregman.  But if the pitch would have hit Bregman, it would have hit him in the upper back.

https://twitter.com/AsteriskTour/status/1288310632090079238?s=20

Of all the lame apology attempts by the Astros in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal, Bregman’s and Correa’s were the worst.  Neither Correa nor Bregman gave anything close to a sincere apology.  Is it any wonder why they would be the two batters who might have been exploited?

Then there is there no class hypocritical manager who complained about Kelly.

Dusty Baker likes to pop off about Joe Kelly comments but makes no mention about his comment to Kelly from the Houston dugout after getting spiked by Michael Brantley at 1B…”Just get on the mound MF.”  That of course was okay for Dusty. 

I am convinced had it not been for Correa’s comments and actions after his strikeout, Kelly would not have been suspended.  Kelly is not the only pitcher that has thrown behind a batter, and I will go out on a limb and guess that not every pitcher who threw behind the batter was suspended.

Now for the rest of the series.  The Dodgers got off to yet another slow start in Game 1.  They then strung together 5 singles, 2 walks, a fielder’s choice & error, into 5 runs.  And that was their offense.  Mookie did come back and get his first extra base hit with a double in the 8^th.  A.J. Pollock had a three hit night and Mookie and Corey both had two hit nights.

Walker Buehler threw one bad pitch in the first 3.2 IP; a hanging slider that Correa punished.  After two quick outs in the 4h, he suddenly lost it.  A single to Brantley, a walk to Gurriel, and a single by Correa to give the asterisks a 2-0 lead.  Adam Kolarek came in to face Josh Reddick who hit a screaming line drive to Corey Seager who made a good play to retire Reddick. After that, Bazooka Graterol, Joe Kelly, Caleb Ferguson, Blake Treinen, and Kenley Jansen finished off the Cheaters with KJ getting his first save in 2020.

When asked after the game if he was tiring in the 4^th, Walker Buehler made no excuses and just said that he lost command.  He has some inconsistencies that he needs to work on before his next start. 

In Game 2, the Dodgers were facing a pitcher, Cristian Javier, who started the year in A ball in the Carolina League  and progressed to AA and AAA before he season was over.  He made his MLB debut last weekend with a perfect inning in relief.  He made his initial MLB start and completely shut down the Dodgers except for one pitch to Corey Seager who hit his 1^st HR of the season.  Javier struck out 7 of the first 10 batters he faced (8 in total), and then retired 12 consecutive batters after Seager’s HR before he walked Austin Barnes on 4 pitches.

Dustin May started for the Dodgers, and after an impressive 1^st inning, he had a rough 2^nd inning.  Threw way too many pitches and failed to get off the mound quick enough to cover first on a ground ball that Muncy made a good play allowing the tying run to score.  It looked to me that May was afraid to throw inside to RH batters.  Was it poor command, or by design?  May only went 3.1, and the bullpen that was hoping to get a break after 5.1 innings on Tuesday and an unknown need for Thursday, needed to go even more innings on Wednesday.

With runners on 1^st and 2^nd and one out, Jake McGee got Reddick to pop up to JT and struck out Myles Straw to get out of the 4^th.  McGee came back out in the 5^th, got the first out before giving up a single.  Dylan Floro finished up the 5^th.  Baez, Ferguson, Treinen, and Jansen shut down the asterisks as their pitchers did the same to LAD hitters.  In the 8^th, A.J. Pollock delivered a PH double for his 4^th hit in the series, got to third with one out, and Bob Geren sent in Terrance Gore as a pinch runner hoping to score on contact.  But alas, Austin Barnes struck out and Max Muncy hit a weak grounder to 1^st to end the inning.

Both teams failed to score in the 10^th with some good pitching by Osuna and Scott Alexander. The Dodgers broke through in the 11^th on a Mookie Betts double.  Houston scored the tying run on a pair of singles by Gurriel and Correa off Scott Alexander, before Dennis Santana struck out George Springer looking to end the 11^th.

As good as Seager has hit this year, he failed in two situational ABs trying to move JT over to 3^rd with one out.  JT might have scored on the weak ground ball hit CT3 in the 12^th, but he did not get the chance.  Dennis Santana got Tucker and then got hosed by a bad call by the umpire to Altuve for Ball 4.  After getting Bregman to hit a weak fly ball to Belli, Santana got to face Jack Mayfield instead of Michael Brantley.  In all of Dusty’s wisdom, he pinch ran Mayfield for Brantley to start the 11^th on 2B.  Why PR for Brantley?

In the 13^th, Edwin Rios said forget about this situational hitting nonsense and blasted a 2 run HR off Cy Sneed to take a 4-2 lead.  After walking the leadoff hitter putting the tying runners on base, Dennis Santana got Correa to ground into a 6-4-3 DP and struck out Dustin Garneau looking to end the game.  As poorly as Santana may have pitched Saturday against the Giants, he was outstanding in extra inning jams.  He inherited two runners in the 11^th and pitched the 12^th and 13^th with a runner starting at 2B, and nobody scored. 

The Dodgers may have found two outstanding setup pitchers in LHRP Caleb Ferguson and RHRP Blake Treinen.  This was Ferguson’s 3^rd game in 6 played, and he has not allowed a base runner with 5 K’s. Blake Treinen may not have been as dominating, but it was also his third outing, and he has allowed 1 hit and 1BB with zero runs.  Overall, the bullpen gave up 1 unearned run in the last two games over 15.0 IP.  Starting pitching looks thin, but the bullpen looks  locked in.

It may not have been pretty, but the Dodgers completed the 2 game sweep against the Cheaters in Houston.

One rule change that MLBPA has requested and MLB is considering.  The MLBPA has requested that the 30 man roster stay intact for the entirety of the season.  Just too many unknowns.

A couple of sad notes to report.  Long time MLB manager, John McNamara passed away at 88.  And a very sad day for me as former USC Trojan infielder and longtime coach, Mike Gillespie, has passed away at the age of 80.  He is one of only two who have played for and coached NCAA championships.  He was on the 1961 national championship team and coached the 1998 national championship team, the last for the Trojans.  He coached 30 future ML players including Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior.  Gillespie later went on to coach the UCI Anteaters to five NCAA regional and one WS appearance. Gillespie retired after the 2018 season.  College baseball has lost a GREAT ONE.  I know I will miss him.