We’ll close this one out with a day game against
Shane Bieber and with Detroit on deck. A win here means we avoid the split and peel 3 out of 4 off these guys – a tall order, no matter what the standings say. And we couldn’t pick a better day for it – we’ll be enjoying temps in the low 70s with an ocean breeze blowing in from the west at about 5 MPH. Perfect day for a
Mac & Jack’s African Amber, a plate of garlic fries, and a ballgame…
Oh, and one more thing… saw this on BNN this morning…
Albert Pujols Plans to Retire:
Quote:
Albert Pujols said he will miss "leading the boys into battle" after this season. At 41 years old, the team leader of the Los Angeles Angels has announced he will retire at the season's end.
"I've always tried to be a guy that leads by example and I'd like to think I've been a good leader in my career," he said. "There's a lot of things I'm going to miss about the sport, but I think most of all is the camaraderie with the guys."
Pujols boasts a lifetime batting average of .298 with 3265 hits, 668 homers, 1857 runs scored, and 2113 RBIs.
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41 of 162: Shane Bieber (4-2, 3.40) @ Marco Gonzales (4-3, 3.71)
Loss, 5-4. This one started out leisurely enough – we were out on a Sunday drive, the top was down, and the tank was full… with the game tied 2-2 after the second frame,
Bobby Dalbec hit a 2-run dinger to put us up by that same margin. From there it was, mostly, smooth sailing –
Joc Pederson went 3 for 4 with two, two-baggers, a homer, and a couple of runs, while
Marco gave us 8 innings of 5 hit baseball where he’d only allow 3 runners to plate while fanning 5. Our problems, after such a beautiful drive through the Cascades, came late when Cleveland’s
Eddie Rosario hit a 2-run dinger off Closer
David Robertson, who falls to 0-1 on the year and blows a save opportunity for the first time this season, to put the Indians up for good. I fully understand that one game does not equal a trend – I get it – but, after this travesty, it’s hard not to feel like the wheels may be falling off.
Elsewhere: Minnesota’s
Mitch Graver finished 3 for 5 with a HR, 6 RBI, and 2 runs in the Twins’ hard-earned 11-7 victory over our division rival, and our toughest competition in the AL West so far, Oakland Athletics.
3B Josh Donaldson also managed to drive 3 in and, in so doing, improved his batting average to a less than impressive .176 (69 OPS too… maybe he’ll join
Pujols at the party once this season is in the books, who knows…).
Record: 26-15
Up Next: We’ll welcome the representatives from the Motor City to Seattle for a 3-game set who, like the Lions & Pistons, aren’t very good at the sport they claim to play. If it’s true that the hottest fires make the strongest steel like that super bowl ad from way back claimed, then we won’t have to worry about the Tigers building anything solid for a long time.