Duren, Duren

If Rengifo tightens up his defense he's making a strong case to start. 

Bad luck, not scoring from third on a wild pitch. Bad rebound, like the boards in hockey.

Some good wood on the ball but no clutch hits. 

Something needs to be done about these horrible early innings from multiple starters. Pitching coach has to focus on this problem. Or are most of these starters just not very good at executing their strategy and controlling their pitches? 

The smartest relief pitcher ever was Mike Marshall. He became a professor of kinesiology at Michigan I believe when he retired. He threw the screwball, which was the most damaging on the arm. He micromanaged and perfected  his pitching  technique and won a Cy Young while pitching big innings. 

Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver also had great technique and relied on powerful lower bodies to anchor their deliveries. And were easy HOF pitchers who were workhorses who threw tons of innings. Without serious arm injuries. 

My point is that technique is critical. The motion, drive,  delivery, finish have to be perfected and in sync. Of course no matter what there still is strain, wear and tear and injury risk. Especially with some of the more demanding pitches. Stuff pitching coaches and trainers need to work on individually with each pitcher. There are important dynamics beside velocity and shaping pitches. 

A real savvy baseball mind. Led some Cardinal teams further than many expected. Also one of the first baseball cards I found in a Topps pack when I was a kid. I recall he had a crewcut and a big wad of chewing tobacco bulging from his cheek. I actually have his autograph on a piece of paper, also signed by Roger Maris, who was a close lifelong friend. I think they both played for the old Kansas City A's early in their careers. The Maris auto is part of a display I have along with the entire 1961 Yankees team. My favorite team as a small kid, but who I despised since Steinbrenner. 

.500 slowly slipping away. It'll be hard making progress when they can't win games like this that were very winnable. 

Ugly, depressing  way to lose. Glad I didn't watch the whole game. 

Two easy outs and then totally lost.

Fullmer looked good until he didn't.

I had no idea the game was still on or what happened. I was going to my PVR listings to start watching and caught a glimpse of live action on that channel. I've just tuned it in. So they have the lead and need to protect it. 

Adell obviously was/is incredibly raw all around. His fielding was a disaster. His at bats were mostly futile. Now his base running is being exposed. But at least he's on base more than in the past. 

Give him credit for working on his fielding and at bats. Still a work in progress after multiple years of apprenticeship. Hopefully the new coaching staff helps him with his base running. But a lot of that is instant recognition/reaction. 

Anyways, I have to make a choice in my TV viewing. The Angel game, the final game of the season for my (still rebuilding) Montreal Canadiens, and the last ever game for the Arizona Coyotes all are on within the same general time frame. So I will watch hockey live, flipping/pausing/recording between games when on simultaneously. Different time zones means only a partial overlap. And I'll record the Angel game and watch it as my nightcap. Once the NHL playoffs start I may have to do similar juggling though not having a favorite team in it makes it less of a priority. As long as Toronto doesn't win the Cup I'm fine with any other result. 

I've been in eBay for 24 years. Bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of stuff. But it has become a nightmare now in some ways. Especially for Canadians.

A five dollar postage item now costs around twenty five bucks to be mailed from the U.S. to Canada. Instead of just going from one address to another it's sent to a sorting center in Illinois. And takes triple the time to arrive. As well I've had two purchases lost there, even with tracking, in the last month. 

And I'm dealing with a deadbeat buyer who makes excuses over and over for the last two months for not returning an item I refunded him. Which I didn't have to because he misread the ad. But now it's almost impossible to dig through the automatic 'help' templates they use instead of talking to real people. I finally waded my way through and did speak to someone who was clueless and just told me to keep contacting this guy. Just on principal I'm going to continue digging through this. The item isn't very valuable, but I will not let this situation fade away without a fight. 

So once I saw that Ippei was involved with eBay I knew something shady was going on. 

I just watched it on PVR. A few observations.

Solid work from Sandoval. He could have blown up but hung in there. 

Thais had the big hit. One of the few times multiple runs were driven in without a homer. 

Moore wasn't sharp but got away without big damage. 

Sano is a pleasant surprise. He has as good plate discipline as anyone. 

Rendon actually producing steadily. Maybe the worst is over. 

Trout and Ward add to their leaderboard stats. 

Tomorrow will be a challenge on the mound. 

His numbers overall career wise aren't bad. But we're talking about the present and recent trends. 

Still early this season. But the optics aren't great. He's swung and missed, taken for strikes  or fouled  off quite a few hittable pitches in or near his comfort zone. Especially with men on base. When you would assume the pitcher is focussed more intensely on getting the out. Without me on base pitchers can challenge more, based on score and game situation. 

Not a big concern yet but something to watch. And maybe having more productive help from the rest of the lineup would help. 

Still too dependent on the home run. Marginal difference in a more aggressive philosophy from Washington. Though the roster at present  doesn't provide for a lot of versatility. Too many slow players. And few who rarely try to use all of the field. 

Things don't change overnight, but I thought after they hired Washington that they would tweak the roster more to suit his style. 

You could see in his first at bat that Trout wasn't sharp. He missed a mediocre straight pitch waist high down the middle for a K. Left a man on base. 

And even worse to end the game.

All his homers were solo shots.

There is a real argument to be made about his clutch production. Especially the last few years of his career. 

Should have kept Cimber in. Relief pitching has become so micromanaged and specialized that it's become automated. Regardless of the actual stuff a pitcher shows in the game. 

Suarez, right on cue blows the game open for Boston. 

Frustrating game. Just not making the key plays.

Anderson runs out of gas. 

Got to stay close and come from behind. 

Too bad they missed chances to add runs earlier. 

Turned into a pitchers duel. 

Middle of the lineup, back to back Ks with men on base. Not productive at bats. 

Hicks is clueless. 

Drury finally connects. 

Anderson can't throw those pitches over the middle of the plate and not get hurt. Another lousy first inning. 

Trout missed a fat pitch right down the middle, waist high.