The OOTP AI Still Cheats!!!---MLB & The NY METS 2018

[rjl518]

4/17

WAS Nationals 3
NY METS 5
Citi Field

It was freezing today at the ballpark, but it didn't matter.
Aaron Judge(4,5) goes deep twice and Gary Sanchez(1) once as the Mets take this one from the Nationals.
Clayton Kershaw had a much better game as he gave up 2 runs on 7 hits thru 6 innings of work.
He had 9 strikeouts.
Aroldis Chapman took his 2nd save today.
Judge was the man tonight, going 3-4 and 2 HRs.
A few lineup changes were made as now, the pitcher will bat in the 8th spot, Sanchez will be the starting catcher and Buster Posey will be at first base.
Francisco Lindor, being a switch hitter, will now be the shortstop.
The rubber game is tomorrow night.

[rjl518]

4/18

WAS Nationals 0
NY METS 11
Citi Field

It was snowing and freezing tonight.
The Mets should play in that type of weather more often as we punished the Nationals.
Stephen Strasburg was awesome, going 6 innings and scattering 2 lousy hits.
He sent 9 batters back to the dugout.
Everyone in the lineup got a hit with Gary Sanchez (2,3), Mike Trout(5), Nolan Arenado(3) and Jose Altuve(3,4) smacking HRs.
Altuve's HR in the 1st was an inside the park dinger.
Boy!
That kid is fast!
Bryce Harper, Buster Posey, Trout and Altuve had two hits tonight.
We win our 5th straight series of the year and now head on the road for a TEN game road trip!

[rjl518]

Series Preview: ATL Braves @ Sun-Trust Park (4-Games)

We begin this very long road-trip with four games versus the ATL Braves.
They are playing very good baseball and are right behind us at 4 games back.
This team has some talent with Scott Kasmir and Julio Tehran being the hot players on the mound.
We are scheduled to face both pitchers.
Nick Markakis, Ronald Acuna and Ender Inciarte are hitting well to start the season.
I will be happy with a split of the 4-game set.
Sale, Kluber, Syndergaard and Kershaw will get the starts for this long weekend series.

[rjl518]

4/19

NY METS 11
ATL Braves 2
SunTrust Park

Who needs pitching when you can score runs like this?
The Mets score 11 runs for the 2nd straight game as they send the Braves to the floor.
Chris Sale goes 7 innings, strikes out 7 and gives up 1 run on 4 hits.
Buster Posey went 4-5 tonight while hitting his 4th HR of the year.
Aaron Judge smacked 2 HRs again for the second time in three games, his 6th and 7th!
A good way to start a key series versus an opponent who is right behind you in the division standings.

[rjl518]

4/20

NY METS 12
ATL Braves 3
SunTrust Park

For the 3rd straight game, we score 11+ runs as we give the Braves a migraine today.
Where to start?
Well, Corey Kluber did his normal job.
He went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs on 7 hits.
He also whacked a rare HR today, his 1st!
This was the 1st time this season that we have a faced a starting left-handed pitcher.
So the LHP lineup got used.
What did they do?
They all hit HRs!
Charlie Blackmon (1), Freddie Freeman(2), Giancarlo Stanton(1) and Carlos Correa(3) all joined Kluber on the dinger parade.
Everyone in the lineup got a hit.
Freeman and Buster Posey had 3 of them today.
We get our split of the series at least, but the way we are hitting the ball right now, I'm not sure that the Braves will even win one of these games.
But, we still have to play them!

[rjl518]

4/21

NY METS 4
ATL Braves 1
SunTrust Park

Our 11+ big run games come to an end, but the Mets still take out the Braves and win the series.
"Thor" just continued to be the master on the mound.
He strikes out 9 and gives up 1 run on 4 hits.
Aroldis Chapman gets the save, his 3rd.
Mike Trout breaks out of a HR slump as he hit his 6th blast on the year.
Freddie Freeman gave Buster Posey the day off and went 2-4 on the day with an RBI and a run scored.
The Braves went through their bullpen very quickly and the Mets took advantage of it.
Kershaw will be on the hill tomorrow for a chance to sweep this 4-game set.

[rjl518]

4/22

NY METS 2
ATL Braves 9
SunTrust Park

ATL Luis Gohara outduels Clayton Kershaw as the Braves avoid the sweep from the Mets.
Kershaw was awful, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits.
Andrew Miller came out of the pen and gave up 3 more runs to the Braves.
Freddie Freeman was 2-4 and Mike Trout hit his 7th HR on the year.
We have the day off tomorrow before heading to the "City of the Arch."

Interesting how the AI does not have ANY rested relievers in the bullpen, but Gohara throws 141 pitches, is exhausted and my lineup cant even get runs in this game. (AI CHEATS?)

[rjl518]

We do take 3 out of 4 from the Braves and still lead the NL East by 6 games.
The right handers are doing well, but the left handers are having issues as Kershaw and Sale have the higher ERAs.
Trout, Altuve and Posey are at the top of the batting list, while Judge, Arenado and Harper are still trying to find their way.
Still cant steal a base to save our lives and trust me, I have tried.
The Cardinals and Padres are our opponents this week.

[rjl518]

Heading into late April, lets see how the league looks.
ALE: The Red Sox, Blue Jays and Rays are neck and neck with each other, while the Yankees continue to stumble a bit, losing 4 straight.
ALC: The Twins lead the division, but the Tigers have won 5 straight.
ALW: A 6-game losing streak has put the Mariners behind the Rangers for the time being, while the Astros are on 6-game winning streak of the their own.
NLE: The Mets lead and the Nationals have lost 5 straight.
NLC: This division is still tight early as the Cubs, Cardinals and Pirates stay close to each other.
NLW: The Dodgers, winners of 6 in a row are back on top of the division, however, the Padres have lost 6 in a row and are beginning to go to the back of the line. The SF Giants, at 3-17 are the worst team in baseball.

Players of the Week (1969 Topps):
HOU Josh Reddick
NYM Freddie Freeman

[rjl518]

Page 1

[rjl518]

Page 2

[rjl518]

Series Preview: STL Cardinals @ Busch Stadium (3-games)

We face the Cardinals again for a 3-game set.
Kind of interesting as this will be the last time we play the Redbirds this season, even though we are still in April.
Travelling to Busch Stadium is always fun and the Cardinals always have the crowd going.
Tommy Pham, Dexter Fowler and Paul DeJong are the guys to watch here, while Carlos Martinez is the best pitcher on the team.
Strasburg, Sale and Kluber get the starts for this series.

[rjl518]

4/24

NY METS 5
STL Cardinals 2
Busch Stadium

Stephen Strasburg gives up no earned runs on 5 hits with 5 strikeouts.
The two runs occurred on an error by Nolan Arenado. (AI CHEATS!)
Kenley Jensen gets his 5th save.
Mike Trout and Aaron Judge have two hits tonight in the win with Judge blasting his 8th HR of the season.
Always nice to start a series with a win.

[rjl518]

4/25

NY METS 5
STL Cardinals 2
Busch Stadium

Give it up for Mike Trout(8) and Aaron Judge(9) for their HRs to allow the Mets to beat the Cardinals 5-2 for the 2nd straight game.
Chris Sale gave up 2 runs on 7 hits with only 4 strikeouts.
Aroldis Chapman gets his 4th save on the year.
Francisco Lindor got the golden bat today with a 3-4 day at the plate.
STL Adam Wainright gave it all he had against us and i thought we would not get through him.
But Trout's big HR broke it open for us tonight.
We win another series and will try to sweep tomorrow night.

[rjl518]

4/26

NY METS 4
STL Cardinals 2
Busch Stadium

We get our 20th win of the season with a series sweep over STL.
Corey Kluber did the job today with Kenley Jensen getting his 6th save.
He had 10 strikeouts, sending all those batters back to the dugout.
Mike Trout, Buster Posey and Bryce Harper had 2 hits each today as STL Miles Mikolas was pretty stubborn most of the way.
But we will take the win and now head to southern CA for a meeting with the Friars.

[rjl518]

Series Preview: SD Padres @ Petco Park

If anyone tried to tell me that the Mets would play a 16-10 Padres team in April, i think i would have asked him what he was smoking.
But that is what we are going to do,
The Padres have cooled off since the start of the season, but i do not think that this team will be taken for granted.
Manny Margot and Jose Pirella are the top batters with Dinelson Lamet being the top pitcher.
Should be an interesting series, but its still one that we should win.
Syndergaard, Kershaw and Strasburg are the pitchers for the weekend.

[rjl518]

4/27

NY METS 3
SD Padres 6
Petco Park

How about SD Bryan Mitchell with an ERA of 6.31 outdueling NYM Syndergaard with an ERA of 1.76? (AI CHEATS!)
Thor gave up 4 runs on 6 hits and only stuck out 2 batters.
Francisco Lindor(1) and Bryce Harper(3) hit a couple of HRs but it was not enough.
The Mets had some trouble with SD pitching tonight.
Lets hope Kershaw gets us a win tomorrow.

[rjl518]

4/28

NY METS 8
SD Padres 1
PETCO Park

Clayton Kershaw gets back to his old self, giving up 1 run on 5 hits thru 6 innings of work.
They say it never rains in Southern California, but it did today.
It was wet, but it didn't bother Mike Trout, who hit his 9th HR of the year and Bryce Harper, who hit his 4th of the year, which was a Grand Slam in the 9th which pretty much put the game away.
Trout and Harper both had 3 hits today, so maybe Harper is beginning to wake up this season.
Strasburg will pitch the rubber game on Sunday.

[rjl518]

4/29

NY METS 4
SD Padres 0
PETCO Park

A good pitcher's duel between Strasburg and SD Dinelson Lamet, but the Mets get the win and the series.
Stephen Strasburg goes 5 innings and gives up 4 little hits.
Luis Severino picked up a big Hold for this game as he pitched 3 strong innings.
Mike Trout and Aaron Judge had 2 hits today, but Judge smacked his 10th HR of the year.
Jose Altuve hit his 5th HR of the season, which finally broke the game open for the Mets against Lamet.
We have the day off tomorrow as we head back to the Big Apple for a 6-game home-stand.

[rjl518]

Since the Mets do not play tomorrow, we finish with a 20-6 April.
Already leading the division by 8.5 games, this is something i had no doubt about.
Strasburg, Kluber and Syndergaard lead in pitching, but Kershaw has had some early issues so far.
But i think he will get to the form i expect to see him in very soon.
Trout, Posey and Altuve are the guys leading at the plate.
However, Nolan Arenado is killing me at the end of the lineup.
Might have to sit him down and let someone else take the position.
Problem is, Nolan is my best defense at 3B.
Well, maybe he will have a good May.