Category: Baseball

When you look at Jose Tena, you do not see a huge physical presence. He is a pretty unassuming guy, listed at 5’10 195 pounds. You would guess Tena was a speedy, contact oriented player if you had not seen him play before. However, his defining trait is how hard he hits the baseball and how much force he generates from his small frame.

This season, Tena has seen a huge spike in his bat speed. It has gone from a below average 70.8 MPH to a well above average 73.5 MPH. After yesterday’s game, I asked Tena how he has improved his bat speed. He told me that he was working on getting stronger, especially in the core area. Tena also said that working with the Nats hitting coaches has helped as well.

The added bat speed has resulted in a ton of hard contact. His average exit velocity is 93.2 MPH this season, which is easily a career high. Over the past couple weeks, he has been absolutely torching balls. In the past 10 days or so, Tena’s average exit velocity is 97.7 MPH. That has him sandwiched between Kyle Schwarber and Drake Baldwin on that leaderboard. 

Seeing Tena next to those two hitters when it comes to exit velocities is pretty crazy when you look at him. We all know that Kyle Schwarber is an absolute unit, with a 5’11 230 pound frame built for power. Drake Baldwin is another powerful athlete, who is listed at 225 pounds. Tena is at least 30 pounds lighter than those guys, but has been packing a similar punch.

The thunder in Tena’s bat is resulting in a ton of extra base hits. Tena is not really a guy who hits a ton of flyballs to the pull side, so most of those extra base hits have been doubles. However, as we saw last night, he has the ability to hit balls out. Tena went to James Wood territory and hit a ball into the left field bullpen off of Nolan McLean.

Nine of Tena’s last 10 hits have gone for extra bases. That sort of impact is why Blake Butera has been giving him a lot of reps at the DH spot and hits him towards the top of the order at times. For the season, Tena has a .748 OPS and 109 wRC+.

There are still areas of Tena’s game that could improve though. He has been striking out a lot this season. His K rate is hovering around 30% for the season, which is a big jump from his 22% K rate in 2025. He is taking big hacks, and there are times where he comes up empty. We saw some frustrating strikeouts from him in the first game of the Mets series.

Tena has some chase in his game and does not walk a ton either. However, he does not chase an egregious amount. His 30% chase rate is pretty close to league average. This profile does mean Tena has to do damage to have success. He has been doing just that this year.

The Nats lead all of baseball in doubles, and Tena plays a role in that. Blasting rockets into the gap is a massive part of Tena’s game. A perfect example of that is the RBI double he hit the other day that drove in Joey Wiemer. It was a 108 MPH liner right into the gap.

Jose Tena is showing that you do not have to be a huge guy to hit the ball hard. If you are strong and have good swing mechanics, you can hit the ball hard. Honestly, Dylan Crews is another example of this and is fairly similar to Tena as a hitter. Seeing Crews at his locker yesterday, I was surprised at how small he was.

When you see guys like Crews and Tena on the field hitting rockets, they appear to be bigger guys than they actually are. Not all power hitters have to look like James Wood or Aaron Judge, and that is pretty cool to see. Every time I see the unassuming Tena hit a 110 MPH rocket into the gap, I am always slightly taken aback even though I have seen it plenty of times now. 

CJ Abrams and James Wood are the engines of this Nats offense, but you need more than two guys to be an elite offense. The contributions of players like Tena, Curtis Mead, and even the recently demoted Joey Wiemer are what pushes this offense from good to great.

Texas Rangers lineup for May 20, 2026 against the Colorado Rockies: starting pitchers are Jack Leiter for the Rangers and Kyle Freeland for the Rockies.

The Rangers take on the Rockies in an afternoon rubber match for their three game series. They are facing Kyle Freeland. On the one hand, Freeland has been bad this year, with a 7.22 ERA in 33 innings over 7 starts, with a 5.42 xERA and 5.40 FIP. On the other hand, Freeland is a lefty, which means that the Rangers are running out a lineup that everyone is going to be mad about.

The lineup:

McCutchen — DH

Foscue — 2B

Nimmo — RF

Jung — 3B

Duran — SS

Burger — 1B

Helman — CF

Higashioka — C

Haggerty — LF

2:10 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -120 favorites.

On Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the St.Louis Cardinals 9-6 in 10 innings. That was the ninth extra inning game of the season for the Pirates, which is second in the league right behind the New York Mets, who have 10.

The Bucs now have a record of 3-6 in extra inning games. Those six losses are the most extra inning losses by any team in the Majors. In the last four games, the Pirates have had two extra inning games. In both games, Pittsburgh blew a late-game lead. 

One of the main reasons for the Buccos extra inning struggles is their bullpen. Tuesday night’s game we saw Mason Montgomery blow the game allowing a three-run, 410-foot home run by Ivan Herrera. 

The bullpen has been an overarching issue for Pittsburgh early in this season. The Pirates don’t have a single guy that is dependable and reliable in late game situations. A lot of people thought that Dennis Santana could be that guy, but Santana blew the game in the Pirates 11-9 loss to the Phillies in 10 innings on May 15. 

Gregory Soto was also supposed to be a dependable reliever for the Bucs, but in that same game, Soto allowed three runs in the ninth inning to give up the lead. 

In the last couple of games, the starting pitching is also starting to struggle, which is just awful news for Pirate fans. Now that both the starting and relief pitching is struggling, that puts a lot of pressure on the offense to step up and produce. 

The Pirates are now on a four-game losing streak and are now last place in the NL Central. The Bucs have a record of 24-24 and are just 3-7 in their last 10 games. 

The extra inning struggles is a big deal because it shows that this is a team that cannot finish. If the Pirates want to get back to winning ways and be a playoff team, they have to start finding ways to finish out close games and they need to find their guy they can rely on in the bullpen.  If they can’t do those things, it will be a long next couple of months for the Pirates.     

Bunting in Major League Baseball is the ultimate tool of confirmation bias, stretching from the most anti-analytics “he’s got a great swing” truthers to those who watch baseball on a spreadsheet — all of them can love the bunt.

Traditionalists will enjoy the old-school approach of bunting as a way to advance runners into scoring position. Some who hate the pitcher-dominant game will delight in the refusal to indulge the swing-and-miss world by just not swinging. Others, who love analytics and Moneyball, will point out that bunting in 2026 could be the ultimate edge in a world that has embraced strikeout-embracing power hitting. There’s something for everyone with the bunt.

But is that something actually there? With the 2026 MLB Bunting Revolution very much taking place, we must investigate if the success of the American League-leading Tampa Bay Rays is actually due to a statistically significant increase in bunts, or if the Buntassiance is actually a Bunt Mirage. In short: I’m team Bunt Mirage.

First, some rudimentary statistics about bunting in our postmodern society: bunting has increased overall this year, though it would be incorrect to say teams are bunting more across the board. Plenty of MLB teams have actually been bunting less than in 2025, including some powerhouses like the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves and the sport’s hottest team: the Philadelphia Phillies. All three essentially never bunt. Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres, who were the MLB’s top bunting team last year at .30 sacrifice bunts per game, have cut that down by two-thirds amid their bid to win the National League West over the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is, however, true that the Tampa Bay Rays are bunting more than any team since pitchers stopped hitting in 2021 and the most period since the 2017 Colorado Rockies. 

As of this writing, the Rays are 32-15, and hold a three game lead over the bunt-avoidant Yankees in the American League East. This has led to some discussions about if high-contact teams that skimp on power might be the next thing, and it has been heralded with much rejoicing by the bunt community. But I am supremely skeptical. 

First and foremost, we are talking about 17 bunts here. Tampa Bay is fourth in the MLB in hits with 416, so right off the bat (pun moderately intended) we are hit with a sample size problem: any suggestion that bunts are correlated with wins relies on a problematically low number of events relative to other data we could be using. Saying “bunting” is why the Tampa Bay Rays are winning is like saying you and your neighbor’s lawn signs specifically swung the local school committee race. Like … maybe, but there were probably more powerful forces at work.

Using data that is sufficiently large, the Rays simply do not have the underlying analytics of the best team in the American League. Offensively, they have the largest positive difference between expected and actual average, slugging, and contact quality. Their pitching has enjoyed similar aberrations, with the best of those expected versus actual metrics from opposing hitters save for slugging, in which they are second-best. 

That’s a mouthful, but all any of that really means is that the Rays have been hitting far better and their opponents have been hitting far worse than the data suggests they should be. In short, they’ve been lucky with whatever cosmic, intergalactic soup controls how baseballs fly on any given day. None of those metrics are influenced significantly by their 17 sacrifice bunts, which do not actually count against the hitters on base percentage for some completely unknown reason. 

As for bunting itself, I’m not breaking new ground here when I tell you that bunting is almost-always bad for your baseball team. Using fancy-schmancy, albeit a tad-outmoded run-expectancy metrics, we find that all but the most specific sacrifice bunts reduce your chances of scoring runs. When Brad Pitt said “no bunting whatsoever” in Moneyball, that’s what he was talking about. 

Using slightly more in-moded win probability metrics and this wonderful thing call the Game Strategy explorer on BaseballSavant.com, we discover that there are sacrifice bunts that increase your win probability, but only hyper specific ones: if there is a runner on second with zero outs and the game is tied in the bottom of the 8th, top of the 9th, bottom of the ninth or bottom of the 10th inning, a sacrifice bunt increases your probability of winning. That is it. It is literally never good when you are winning, it is literally never good if you are losing, it is literally never good anytime before the 8th inning or with more than zero outs, heck it is literally never good when the game is tied in the top of 10th inning. And all of that still implies that the bunt is successful, which is by no means a guarantee. Are you starting to see where I’m coming from?

Most notably, the beloved “bunt with a man on first with no outs” is never a good idea under any circumstances, but I think it’s better to unpack this one intuitively rather than just tell you it’s bad. Why would a manager bunt with a man on first? Because it puts a runner in scoring position roughly 65 percent of the time (the success rate of your average sac bunt attempt). Seems good right? Sure, but that also implies there is a radically better chance of getting an RBI hit in the next at bat rather than the current one, often why you see nine-hole hitters bunt to bring up the top of the order. 

And perhaps there is, under extremely specific circumstances, an opportunity to raise your chances of an RBI hit by five to eight percent by bringing up a hitter with a better batting average. But it does not raise your chances of scoring a run, just that of an RBI hit in the next at-bat. And that is not, under any circumstances, worth an entire out. Bunting with a man on first with no outs is an effort by managers to control a game that often feels like a progression of random events. But no data or intuitive explanation supports that strategy. 

Much has been written about the specific situations when bunting is good (tied, man on second, no outs, late innings), but just because those situations exist does not mean bunting is broadly a good strategy. In the big picture, laying down these ultra-specific bunts is too rare an occurrence to suggest they are the reasons for wins and losses. It’s just too small a data set and too specific an ask. 

I concede that the Rays are constructed basically to ignore power hitting in favor of making contact to keep runners moving, but I do not concede that has anything to do with bunting now being a good idea. The argument for bunting put forth by Rays Manager Kevin Cash that “hitting is (bad word) hard” does not mean bunting has somehow gotten easier — sac bunt success rates has improved since pitchers stopped hitting, but only marginally. 

There are specific instances when bunting is good, but I do not believe those instances are common enough nor statistically significant to suggest that bunting is somehow the great edge in Major League Baseball and everyone needs to follow the Rays to bunting Valhalla. It can be surprising and even effective if it results in a bunt-hit, but the skill set required to do that is so rare and esoteric that it is never worthwhile to invest in. I’d rather my hitters just swing the bat, which is cooler, more exciting and, wonderfully, just analytically better. 

Some time recently on Bluesky, I saw someone make a comment that resonated with me. They said that the thing about the Orioles this year is that it feels like every loss is going to lead to a ten-game losing streak and every win is merely a temporary reprieve. I’ve forgotten who said it; if it was you, good job.

It does feel that way about the 2026 Orioles. A segment of people, myself included, are primed to feel this way after what we experienced in April and May of last year, with the attached disappointment of the second half of the 2024 season as well. One game of a helpless pitching staff, one game of a helpless offense, it all can seem like any win is just an accident and they’ll be right back to losing the next time. They are going to have to rip off an extended stretch of good baseball to ward off this feeling. They haven’t been capable of that for quite some time.

Winning today certainly would not be enough to do it, because even if they explode for like 20 runs, that will mean nothing unless they can sustain the effort into the weekend’s series and beyond. Even so, it would be nice if the Orioles win today, because it’s more fun when they win than when they lose, you know? This is especially true for each day’s game recapper here on Camden Chat. That’s me today. So come on, Orioles. Win one for yourselves, win for your position in the standings, and also, you know, maybe win for me?

Orioles lineup

1. Taylor Ward – LF
2. Gunnar Henderson – SS
3. Adley Rutschman – C
4. Pete Alonso – 1B
5. Tyler O’Neill – RF
6. Samuel Basallo – DH
7. Jeremiah Jackson – 2B
8. Weston Wilson – 3B
9. Blaze Alexander – CF

This is the lineup in support of Shane Baz, who, as you likely already recall, was acquired by the Orioles from the Rays. Nine games into his Orioles career, Baz has two games where he has pitched well and seven games where the sum total of what happened in them is that Mike Elias looked like an idiot for trading four prospects and a draft pick for this guy and then giving him a contract extension before he ever threw a pitch for the team.

Rays lineup

1. Chandler Simpson – LF
2. Junior Caminero – 3B
3. Jonathan Aranda – DH
4. Ryan Vilade – 1B
5. Richie Palacios – 2B
6. Jonny DeLuca – RF
7. Cedric Mullins – CF
8. Hunter Feduccia – C
9. Taylor Walls – SS

Steven Matz is the Rays starting pitcher. It’s weird that Matz is on the Rays. He has a 3.86 ERA through seven starts, and will cost less over his two-year contract than Chris Bassitt will cost for one year.

David Wells turns 63 today.

David Wells was born in Torrance, California. Stories claim his mother was a ‘biker chick’ with five children from four fathers, and that he was raised by Hell’s Angels. True or not, it adds color to his background.

The Blue Jays picked him in the second round of the 1982 draft. Barry Bonds went nine picks later, and Bo Jackson and Barry Larkin were also picked in the same round.

A 6’4” left-hander, Wells was known for his size and fondness for beer, not fitness. Despite doubts, he pitched in the majors until age 44.

He had Tommy John surgery while in the minors. I read that he was the third pitcher to have it.

In 1987, Wells was called up to the Jays from Syracuse at the end of June, made two terrible starts, and then was sent back down. They brought him back to Toronto as a September call-up and pitched well as a reliever. He earned a spot in the Jays’ bullpen out of spring training in 1988 and made 41 appearances, saved 4 games with a 4.62 ERA. He was sent down to Syracuse in early July and then recalled late in the season.

1989 was David’s first full season with the Jays, and he had a heck of a year, pitching in 54 games, all in relief and finishing 7-4 with a 2.40 ERA. He started the season as a long reliever, going three or more innings several times, but he was used more as a setup man as the season went on. After the All-Star break, he was 5-0 with a 0.90 ERA. He had one appearance in our ALCS loss to Oakland.

In 1990, Wells started in the bullpen but moved to the rotation in late May, after Mike Flanagan was released. And Wells stayed there the rest of the season. He made 25 starts and 18 relief appearances; he was 7th in ERA at 3.14, going 11-6.

Boomer started in 1991 in the rotation but moved to the pen in September, after a bad stretch of 5 starts, all losses. He had an 8.89 ERA in those games. The Jays went to a four-man rotation down the stretch. He had an excellent season, going 15-10 with a 3.72 ERA in 28 starts and 12 relief appearances. He also led the league in picking off runners first, 13, a total that was higher than any other team. In our five-game loss to the Twins in the ALCS, Wells had four relief appearances and a 2.45 ERA.

In our first World Series season, 1992, Wells started the rotation and made two starts, but Stieb returned from injury, and Boomer went back to the pen. He returned to the rotation to make 12 starts from the end of July to the end of August, when Todd Stottlemyre went down with an injury and then went back to the pen again when the Jays picked up David Cone. Wells didn’t have a great season, going 7-9 with a 5.40 ERA, though his ERA was ruined from a game on August 20 when Cito Gaston left him in the game to allow 13 earned runs to save the bullpen. He pitched in 4 games of our World Series win over Atlanta, giving us 4.1 shutout innings.

In spring 1993, the Jays released Boomer, reportedly due to a poor relationship with manager Cito Gaston. Instead of trading him for value, personal differences led to his release.

The Detroit Tigers quickly signed him and made him a full-time starter. From Detroit, he went to the Reds, then the Orioles, and then to the Yankees. He had two good seasons with the Yankees, going 34-14, and winning a World Series ring. He also became the 15th pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game.

After the 1998 season, the Yankees traded Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd to the Jays for Roger Clemens. At the time, I wasn’t too happy about it, as even though Wells had pitched well in two of the previous seasons before the trade, but not at the level Clemens had. Add in that Wells was 36, and since he didn’t take care of himself, I thought he wouldn’t end well. But Boomer was terrific for us, and Roger wasn’t as fantastic for the Yankees.

In 1999,, Wells went 17-10 for us with a 4.82 ERA while setting career highs in innings pitched (231.2), leading the league, and strikeouts (169), a club record at the time for a lefty. He also led the league in complete games with 7, as well as hits allowed. But with his excellent control, he could allow many hits and still be an effective pitcher, and in 1999, he walked only 2.41 batters per 9 innings.

2000 was even a better season for David, finishing 20-8 in 35 starts, with a 4.11 ERA. He finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting, and he started the All-Star game, pitching two shutout innings. He also received MVP votes. He tied Tim Hudson for the league lead in wins, was 6th in ERA, 2nd in innings pitched, 1st in complete games and shutouts, and in walk rate, walking only 1.21 batters per 9 innings. He was also the first Jay lefty to win 20 games.

After the season, Gord Ash, showing why he shouldn’t have been GM, traded Wells and Matt DeWitt to the White Sox for Mike Sirotka, Kevin Beirne, Brian Simmons, and Mike Williams. Sirotka was injured and never pitched in the majors again. Ash didn’t make the trade contingent on a medical examination, and MLB ruled against the Jays and upheld the trade. The Jays soon fired Ash.

After pitching a season for the White Sox, Boomer continued his tour of major league teams, taking a second tour with the Yankees, then playing for the Padres, Red Sox, and finally, the Dodgers. A fellow whose idea of working is a series of 12-ounce curls, he had a long career, pitching 21 seasons and pitching in the majors till age 44. He made it to post-season play with six different teams.

He finished with a 239-157 record in 660 games, 489 of them starts. The Jays started his career as a reliever, which is an excellent way to get a pitcher into the big leagues and learn to pitch in low-leverage spots, but the Jays couldn’t seem to put David into the starting rotation and leave him there. Partly because Cito didn’t like him, and likely some of Cito’s dislike was because he didn’t feel the need to keep himself in shape.

He was a big pitcher with great control, a great curve, an above-average fastball early in his career, not so above average later, a slider, and a changeup. Since he pitched into his 40s, it is hard to say he would have had a better career if he had kept himself in better shape. But then he has been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, so there are other reasons to stay in shape.

Wells has an ‘autobiography’ called ‘Perfect I’m Not: Boomer on Beer.’ Among other things, it said he pitched his perfect game while hungover. He later said he was misquoted in the book, a strange claim for an autobiography.

Boomer, married with two sons, is a cult hero for middle-aged men who don’t fit the typical athletic mold. He shows that athletes can succeed without traditional fitness standards.

Wells is married and has two sons. He has done commentary on the YES Network and TBS. He does charity work for diabetes research.

He’s number 9 on the teams all-time list in pitcher bWAR and number 6 in wins.

Todd Stottlemyre turns 61 today. I don’t know why that makes me feel older than Wells turning 63. I guess I still see Stottlemyre as the young guy he was when he joined the Jays.

Todd’s most memorable moment came in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series, when his inexperience as a base runner led to an awkward, chin-scraping slide into third base and an easy out. The NL didn’t use the DH in those days, but the AL did. World Series games used the rules of the home team.

During that series, Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell boasted he could hit Stottlemyre. Todd joked he’d strike the mayor out, later telling him to ‘kiss my ass’ at the Jays’ victory rally.

Stottlemyre was born May 20th, 1965, in Yakima, Washington. The Blue Jays drafted Todd in the first round (3rd pick) of the 1985 Amateur Draft, June Secondary phase, out of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is the son of former Yankees pitcher and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, a 5-time All-Star and brother of Mel Jr, who pitched in 13 games with the Royals in 1990. So he had the bloodline and the raw talent to be a good prospect. His father’s book, Pride and Pinstripes, is a good read.

A 6’3” right-hander, Stottlemyre was a durable, league-average pitcher famous for his intensity on the mound.

Todd’s rookie season was 1988. He made 16 starts and 12 relief appearances and finished with a 4-8 record and a 5.69 ERA in 98 innings pitched. He walked too many (46) and gave up way too many home runs (15).

In 1989, Stottlemyre helped the Blue Jays reach their first playoffs, starting in the ALCS but taking the loss in Game 2.

In 1990,, he became a full-time starter, making 33 starts with a 13-17 record and a 4.34 ERA over 203 innings. How he ended up with a losing record despite the 2nd-best run support (5.81 runs/9 innings) in the league, I have no idea. His strikeout rate dropped to 5.1 per 9 innings.

In 1991, Stottlemyre posted a 15-8 record and a career-best 3.78 ERA as the Jays reached the playoffs, though they lost to the Twins in the ALCS.

1992 was our first World Series win. Todd went 12-11 with a 4.50 ERA in 27 starts, but in the playoffs, he pitched out of the bullpen, as we had a pretty loaded rotation that season with Jack Morris, Jimmy Key, Juan Guzman, and late-season pickup David Cone. He had 1 appearance in our 6-game ALCS win over Oakland, and 4 shutout appearances in our 6-game World Series win over Atlanta.

The 1993 championship season saw Stottlemyre struggle in the regular season and playoffs, but the Jays still won the title.

Stottlemyre’s last season with the Jays was shortened by the lockout/strike that led to the World Series. He started 19 games and had 7 more relief appearances that year, with a 7-7 record and a 4.22 ERA. With the Jays, his strikeout-to-walk rate was never great, but it improved after leaving the team.

After the 1994 season, he signed as a free agent with the A’s. He pitched there one year, then they traded him to the Cardinals. In the third season, they moved him to the Rangers at the trading deadline. After the 1998 season, he signed a 4-year, $32 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. They didn’t get much for their investment; he only made 39 starts over those 4 seasons because of arm troubles.

His 14-year career ended in 2002 with a 138-121 record and a 4.27 ERA. Never really a star, but he had a nice career. In his seven seasons as a Blue Jay, he was 69-70, with a 4.39 ERA in 206 games, 175 starts.

Todd is married and has five children. He now works as a life coach and has written two books.

We talked to him a few years ago, when his first book, Relentless Success, came out. The interview is in two parts: part one and part two. He was amiable, a very nice interview. As I mentioned, he wore his emotions on his sleeve. I asked, What advice would he give a 19-year-old Todd Stottlemyre:

Todd: Wow. Great question. Well, I tell people all the time that number one, it takes time. And success isn’t gonna happen overnight, and the focus should be every single day getting a little bit better. And you have to come to a place of resolve, where ‘quit’ is never an option. So I would probably start there, with me at 19. And I probably would’ve told myself at 19, instead of speaking or acting on all my emotions, I probably would’ve told me, Todd, pour all those emotions out on paper, in a journal, and that’ll keep you out of a lot of trouble.

In his book, he talked a lot about his relationship with his dad. His dad pitched for the Yankees in the 1960s and 70s. He had a streak of nine seasons with more than 250 innings. Unfortunately, at age 32, he had arm issues (not a surprise). The strange part was that they sent him to have his arm radiated as treatment, which didn’t work. I’m not sure if a direct line exists, but his dad battled cancer for years, and it finally killed him in 2019.

I asked Todd about some advice his dad gave him:

I was frustrated because it was my second time being sent down in the second consecutive year. I remember calling my father and I was frustrated, aggravated, complaining. I remember my dad letting me pour it all out, and when I was done, and at the time he was the pitching coach for the New York Mets, and he said “You know Todd, we’d love to have you as a starting pitcher here in New York.” And then he kinda took a breath, and then he says “But not the way you’re pitching today.” And it was kind of that wake-up call that I needed.

In his book, Todd also tells a story about being arrested with Dave Stewart in Dunedin for battery on a policeman. As Todd tells the story, a policeman was unhappy with Stewart, feeling he was disrespectful or something. There had been some dispute about a $3 entry fee at a bar. Stewart said he paid for it but didn’t want to wear a wristband. Todd got jumped by the police. Todd says he and Stewart were taken somewhere other than the police station and held there. He felt the police were using the time to get their story straight. An officer claimed that Stewart punched him. Stewart said, “If I close-fist hit anybody, you can believe that they would get more than just a gash.” They were found not guilty of all charges.

Todd is tied for 18th on our all-time list in bWAR for pitchers and 8th in Wins.

Jayson Werth turns 47 today.

Werth was a first round draft pick by the Orioles in 1997. We traded John Bale for him in 2000. He played parts of two seasons for the Jays (41 games in all) before we traded him to the Dodgers for Jason Frasor.

Jayson played for 6 major league teams over 15 seasons. In all, he played 1583 games with a .267/360/455 batting line and 229 home runs. He made one All-Star teams and received MVP votes four time

Happy Birthday David, Todd and Jayson.

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Undervalued underdogs highlight our favorite MLB picks for Wednesday's schedule, as our baseball experts have found two moneyline plays that show a ton of value at Polymarket.

See why you should tail our baseball experts in backing the ChiSox and Brew Crew... as well as an Under in Jays/Yankees in a showdown between two aces.

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Josh Inglis: CWS ML	+133
Jon Metler: MIL ML	+104
Joe Osborne: TOR/NYY u8.5	-133

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Josh Inglis' expert pick: White Sox moneyline

Price: 43¢ (+133) at Polymarket

The Chicago White Sox project as one of the best moneyline values on the board today at +133, with a fair price closer to -102. Years of losing have softened the market on Chicago, but THE BAT is extremely high on them in this spot. They grinded out a 2-1 win last night in Seattle, behind a combined one-hitter, and could catch a Mariners team looking ahead — Seattle has to pack up after a two-series homestand and travel to Kansas City for tomorrow, while the White Sox stay on the road and remain on the West Coast.

It’s a favorable schedule spot for Chicago, and Seattle could also be forced to navigate without its closer and setup man after both worked on back-to-back days.

Jon Metler's expert pick: Brewers moneyline

Price: 49¢ (+104) at Polymarket

The Milwaukee Brewers are trading as 49-cent underdogs in their NL Central matchup against the Chicago Cubs, but I make Milwaukee closer to 54-cent favorites in this spot.

Edward Cabrera draws a difficult matchup against a Brewers lineup that can stack as many as seven left-handed bats. That’s significant because Cabrera’s curveball loses some of its effectiveness against lefties, as it breaks into their barrels instead of away from them, but the bigger concern is command: Cabrera has always battled inconsistency in the strike zone, and this matchup could make him even more hesitant to attack hitters aggressively.

That’s dangerous against Milwaukee because the Brewers can pressure pitchers in multiple ways. They have speed throughout the lineup and can force mistakes on the bases, and Cabrera has historically been slow to the plate. If he starts handing out free passes, Milwaukee has the profile to capitalize quickly.

Joe Osborne's expert pick: Blue Jays/Yankees Under 8.5

Price: 57¢ (-133) at Polymarket

Everything points toward a low-scoring game tonight between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Both teams send dominant starters to the mound, with Cam Schlittler being the early AL Cy Young favorite after allowing one earned run or fewer in eight of his 10 starts this season, while Trey Yesavage has been nearly as sharp, bringing a 1.40 ERA into the matchup.

In 14 combined starts for Schlittler and Yesavage, only four have gone Over the game total. Both offenses have also struggled badly against right-handed pitching lately, ranking a surprising 26th and 28th in OPS over the last two weeks.

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The Cleveland Guardians will be searching for their fifth straight victory tonight as they take on the Detroit Tigers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET at Comerica Park.

While Tanner Bibee has had bad luck this season, I’m eyeing Cleveland to deliver another high-scoring win in my Guardians vs. Tigers predictions. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Wednesday, May 20.

Who will win Guardians vs Tigers today: Guardians moneyline (-117)

The Cleveland Guardians are 7-3 in their last 10 games, notching four consecutive victories on the road. 

Tanner Bibee owns an 0-6 record, but his 4.15 ERA is respectable, and the right-hander has improved lately. He’s only surrendered four earned runs across his last two starts, lasting at least six frames in each. 

The Guardians are currently flourishing offensively. The Detroit Tigers haven’t announced who will pitch here, but it’ll likely be an opener.

Regardless of who’s on the bump, Cleveland should continue to produce. They’ve scored 29 runs across the last four games. 

COVERS INTEL: The Guardians are sixth in wRC+ (107) over the last two weeks. 

Guardians vs Tigers Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 (-112)

Although Bibee has been better over the last few weeks, he’s still struggled on the road, and the Tigers are scoring more runs at home overall, averaging 4.13 per contest.

Bibee won’t get lit up, but he’s also not going to throw a scoreless gem, either.

As for Detroit’s pen, they own an ERA just under 4.00. The Guardians are averaging 7.33 runs per game across their last three, making the most of their offensive opportunities. 

With a total this low, there’s clear value in the Over. 

Guardians vs Tigers odds

• Moneyline: Guardians -117 | Tigers +113
• Run line: Guardians -1.5 (+144) | Tigers +1.5 (-150)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-108) | Under 7.5 (+104)

Guardians vs Tigers trend

The Guardians have hit the Moneyline in 22 of their last 35 away games (+13.95 Units / 37% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Guardians vs. Tigers.

How to watch Guardians vs Tigers and game info

Guardians vs Tigers latest injuries

Guardians vs Tigers weather

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Since joining the San Diego Padres at last year’s trade deadline, closer Mason Miller has appeared in 44 games, and had scoreless appearances in 41 of them. The Dodgers accounted for one of the other three games in Tuesday’s win at Petco Park, helped in large part by Miller’s errant pickoff throw to first base that moved Alex Call to first base with only one out.

That provided a prime scoring opportunity for the Dodgers, with Andy Pages at the plate. He fell behind 0-2 to Miller but kept battling. Here are the pitches in that plate appearance:

1. Slider (87.2 mph), foul (the errant pickoff attempt came after this pitch)
2. Fastball (100.8 mph) foul
3. Fastball (101.9 mph) ball
4. Fastball (101.8 mph) foul
5. Slider (89 mph) ball
6. Fastball (101.4 mph) ball
7. Slider (87 mph) foul
8. Slider (87.4 mph) foul
9. Fastball (101.5 mph) sacrifice fly to right field

Miller has thrown 80 pitches this season registering at least 101 mph this season, about 21.6 percent of this total pitches thrown. Just 11 of those 80 super-fast pitches were put into play. Only 20 of those 80 pitches were fouled off, with Spencer Torkelson the only other player to foul off two in the same plate appearance, on March 28 in the ninth inning. Tokelson worked a walk, but was stranded.

Pages fouled off three of those 101-mph pitches, plus another 100.8-mph pitch, part of his six fouls in a nine-pitch battle that ended with a game-winning sacrifice fly on another 101.5-mph fastball.

From manager Dave Roberts, per Senji Torrey at Dodger Insider:

“I think, at the end of the day, it was just fight,” said manager Dave Roberts. “It’s just me versus you. And it was him versus Mason Miller, and he wasn’t gonna lose that battle. Mason’s the best in the game right now. And Andy, he willed himself to do something productive in that at-bat.”

Freddie Freeman, who homered twice earlier in the game, had high praise for Pages, per Jack Harris of the California Post:

It was a different moment, however, that had the 17-year veteran so mesmerized.

Andy Pages, he declared, had just taken “one of the greatest at-bats I’ve ever seen in person.”

“We were all just like, ‘Wow,’” Freeman added.

…

“That at-bat,” Freeman reiterated, “was incredible.”

Judging by various Instagram story reshares Tuesday night of this clip, several other Dodgers were impressed, too.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, ranked first in the NL West with a 30-19 record, face the San Diego Padres, who are second in the NL West with a 29-19 record. The Los Angeles Dodgers are favored with a -190 moneyline compared to the San Diego Padres' +154. Starting pitchers are Shohei Ohtani for the Dodgers, with a 0.82 ERA, and Randy Vásquez for the Padres, with a 2.68 ERA.

How to watch Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres

• Date: Wednesday, May 20

• Time: 8:40 p.m. ET / 5:40 p.m. PT

• Where: PETCO Park, San Diego, CA

• TV Channels: Padres.TV Presented by UC San Diego Health, SportsNet LA

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Los Angeles Dodgers: 30-19 (first in NL West)

• San Diego Padres: 29-19 (second in NL West)

Odds

• Spread: Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5

• Moneyline: San Diego Padres +154 / Los Angeles Dodgers -190

• Over/Under: 7.5

Starting pitchers

Los Angeles Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani (3-2, ERA: 0.82, K: 50, WHIP: 0.82)

San Diego Padres: Randy Vásquez (5-1, ERA: 2.68, K: 45, WHIP: 1.11)

Series: Game 3 of 3 (series tied)

Weather: 75°F at first pitch

In taking Tuesday night’s game over the Philadelphia Phillies in 4-1 fashion, the Cincinnati Reds have set themselves up for a chance to win a road series for the first time in a month. The last time they accomplished such a feat came on April 21st when they wrapped up a victory in the second game of a three-game set in Tampa, having won the opener the night before.

Since then, though, it’s been a bit of a horror show for the Reds outside of Great American Ball Park. So, a victory today would go a long way towards reestablishing some sense of ability to put up Ws in their road grays, and would do so as they head into a two-week stretch where they’ll be home almost exclusively.

Andrew Abbott will toe the rubber for today’s rubber match, and he’ll do so opposite veteran righty Aaron Nola. Cincinnati has made a number of lineup alterations on the day, including Spencer Steer getting a start at 2B, Matt McLain playing SS, Elly De La Cruz getting a day at DH, and an outfield of JJ Bleday in LF, Will Benson in RF, and Blake Dunn in CF as TJ Friedl sits again.

Ke’Bryan Hayes, mercifully, is out of the starting lineup, too.

First pitch is set for 1:05 PM ET. Here’s how both clubs will line up to start, with Philadelphia once again without Kyle Schwarber (illness):

There’s been more than a few songs written about baseball.  I wrote a more expansive piece several years ago, but for this essay, I’ll just concentrate on a few selections.

There are classics like “Take me out to the ballgame” which has been a 7^th inning staple for decades.  Some ballparks have taken to playing “God bless America” while the Red Sox have made “Sweet Caroline” their 8^th inning staple. 

Most players have a walk-up song, and many relievers have a walk-in song.  My favorite was Trevor Hoffman entering a game to “Hells Bells”.   I mean, who doesn’t love ACDC?  I’m thinking about having my kids play this at my funeral.  If they won’t, I’m getting up and walking out.

The mid-1980’s were a fruitful, and cringe worthy, time for baseball songs with John Fogerty’s 1985 hit “Centerfield” and Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 “Glory Days”.  Peter Paul and Mary got into the act in 1986 with their song “Right Field”.   I never cared for that trio of songs, but like anything else, someone, somewhere surely liked them.  An old-timer once said to me, “Kid, there’s an ass for every seat”.   Yes, there is. And there’s a song for every set of ears.

One baseball song I did like was Section 36’s 1980 regional hit, “Go Joe Charboneau” a paean to Cleveland’s irrepressible rookie star.  Everyone liked Joe Charboneau. How could you not like him?  The guy drank beer through his nose.  He did his own dental work and fixed his broken nose with a pair of pliers.  Before the 1980 season, a crazed Mexican fan stabbed him with a pen knife.  The blow was stopped when it hit a rib.  The assailant was arrested and fined 50 peso’s, to which Charboneau replied, “that’s $2.27 for stabbing a person”.  He captivated Cleveland and the baseball world by hitting home runs and doing outrageous things.  He was a runaway winner of the Rookie of The Year.  Then injuries and hard living took hold and by 1983, he was out of baseball.

Those really were the days, back before the internet, cable TV and the 24/7 news cycle.  A time when you had to rely on various sources of information, often outdated, to hear what the latest phenom was doing.  That lack of information allowed players like Fernando Valenzuela, Charboneau and Mark Fidrych to develop reputations that whetted the appetite of baseball fans anxious to get a glimpse of said player.  We relied on daily newspaper box scores, radio sports reports, The Sporting News and 30 second clips on the evening news to catch a glimpse of them.  If we were lucky, you’d see them in the Baseball Game of the Week.  Don’t get me wrong.  It’s great today, to be able to watch any game, any time of the day.  It’s great to have advanced stats at your fingertips, updated with each at-bat or pitch.  But it does take away from some of the suspense and the myth building.  We gained something and we’ve lost something.

Another baseball hit during the 1980’s was Terry Cashman’s “Talkin’ baseball”.   Cashman is a prolific writer who had several modest hits prior to Talkin’ Baseball. 

I didn’t care much for the song when it first came out.  One of our local radio stations, probably KSAL, would play it a couple times a day that summer, but I wrote it off as a hokey novelty song.  Plus, it didn’t fit my genre, which arced more towards deafening hard rock.  ACDC, Molly Hatchett, The Outlaws, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen.  You get the idea.

I stumbled back upon “Talkin’ Baseball” a few weeks ago, gave it another listen to, and you know what, it’s not bad.  In fact, it’s a bit of a rhyming masterpiece, how Cashman gets all the names to fit together.  Writing a song is a very special skill, getting the music and lyrics to fit.  I admire those who have the ability to do that.  Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I liked the song this time around. 

The Royals are featured prominently in the song.  George Brett gets a nice line, “and Brett is the greatest”.  Dan Quisenberry gets a mention:

“I’m talkin’ baseball, like Reggie, Quisenberry

 talkin’ baseball

Carew and Gaylord Perry”.

The structure of the song reminds me a bit of Dave Frishberg’s 1969 song, “Van Lingle Mungo”, in which Frishberg recites the names of various ballplayers in a rhyming fashion set to a Bossa Nova beat.  Frishberg was a terrific jazz pianist whose name may ring a bell for some of you who had small children that watched Schoolhouse Rock.  He wrote the children’s classic, “I’m just a bill”.   

I can remember my father, a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, talking about Mungo.  I thought he was pulling my leg with the name.  Van Lingle Mungo?

Mungo was a flamethrowing, albeit wild, righthanded pitcher who won 120 games over a 14-year career that was worth almost 33 WAR.  He was also a colorful character, who often clashed with his teammates, managers and a few disgruntled husbands. 

Mungo and Frishberg appeared together on the Dick Cavett show, where Frishberg sang the song.  Before the taping, Mungo asked Frishberg if there was any money in it for him.  Frishberg replied with this zinger, “No, but you might make some money if you wrote a song called Dave Frishberg”.   Roy Campanella is the only player mentioned in both songs.

Baseball remains a fertile ground for musicians.  What are some of your favorites?

When guessing who we thought the most consistent pitcher for any affiliate would be this season, few, if anyone, would have guess 18th round pick Aiven Cabral would anchor the Augusta pitching staff. Even as a reliever he has been the player they can rely on for consistent innings, and so far he has recorded the win in six of his seven starts this season. Augusta had a big offensive explosion led by two hits and five stolen bases from Tate Southisene, who has 12 stolen bases in his last eight games.

(26-20) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (23-23) Charlotte Knights 5

Box Score

Statcast

• Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-5, 2B, RBI, .296/.401/.415
• Nacho Alvarez Jr., 3B: 2-4, 2B, BB, RBI, .238/.327/.329
• Rowdy Tellez, DH: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .248/.346/.504
• Austin Gomber, SP: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 9.00 ERA
• Rolddy Munoz, RP: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0.47 ERA

The Stripers trailed for most of this game, and Austin Gomber could not stop giving up home runs to the Charlotte Knights. A Jacob Gonzalez long ball off of the CoolRay Field berm opened up the scoring for the game in the second inning, and piece-by-piece the Knights kept putting up runs by putting balls over the wall. Gomber allowed the only non-home run run off of a Braden Montgomery double the next inning, then went right back to giving up nukes. The Knights went back-to-back off of Gomber in the next inning, the latter of those home runs full clearing the bullpen and sailing into the apartments. The fifth inning got started with another no doubt shot to right field, the fourth Knights home run of the game and a 5-0 lead that would seal the game in favor of Charlotte. The Gwinnett bullpen had loads more success than Gomber and split four scoreless frames between Javy Guerra and Rolddy Munoz, and Munoz had a strong day on the mound. He was able to throw tons of strikes and the Knights were having trouble with his slider, and though he only struck out one batter he got tons of weak contact and stayed ahead in the count.

The Stripers weren’t snoozing at the plate while Charlotte was going off, but without the aid of home runs they came up empty in the early innings. They didn’t have any extra base hits and had a couple of double play balls, so despite getting runners on base in every inning it took until the fifth for them to finally come up with some life. Luke Williams tripled to spark the first Gwinnett run of the game, and slowly they would start creeping back and play their way into the contest. Rowdy Tellez opened up in the sixth inning with a double and was advanced on a single from Brewer Hicklen, giving the Stripers their first inning with multiple hits and a big chance to rally with no outs. Brett Wisely chased the left fielder back to the warning track to give Tellez enough time to come and score on a sacrifice fly, but they failed the score further runs that inning. In the seventh they kept it rolling with doubles from Williams and Nacho Alvarez, and when Tellez snuck a single up the middle to score Alvarez from second base the Stripers found themselves with a huge chance to tie the game. An infield single would move Ben Gamel, pinch-running, up to second base with still only one out in the inning, but the rally fizzled out from there. Two fly outs failed to advance any runners further, but Gwinnett wasn’t out of time to score just yet. With two outs a single from Williams opened a glimmer of eighth inning hope, and when Jim Jarvis made an appearance and shot a double into the corner the chance grew bigger still. Alvarez was walked intentionally to load the bases, putting Gamel in the biggest spot of the game where he would strike out. In the ninth inning Aaron Schunk stood at second base after a Wisely hit, a force out, and a wild pitch, and with two outs Dashawn Keirsey Jr. was the final hope for Gwinnett. Keirsey was able to punch a line into shallow left field for a hit, but Jacob Gonzalez made a scoop off of the hop and fired home where Schunk was out by a mile on the throw to end the game.

Swing and Misses

Austin Gomber – 12

Javy Guerra – 6

Rolddy Munoz – 5

(19-20) Columbus Clingstones 1, (20-20) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3

Box Score

• Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 1-3, BB, .297/.420/.550
• Patrick Clohisy, RF: 1-4, 2B, .266/.333/.422
• Jack Dashwood, SP: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 7.61 ERA
• Luis Vargas, RP: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 4.44 ERA

It’s tough to find a whole lot to say about this one, where the Clingstones offense took the day off and the pitching staff even with a solid collective effort didn’t really run out any particularly interesting prospects. Columbus did hold a lead early in this game, and of course it was Lizandro Espinoza getting it done at the plate and on the bases which made that possible. Espinoza drew a walk and then stole his way around to third, putting him in position where a Luke Waddell double broke the seal with two outs in the top of the first inning. That was the high point of the game. Espinoza still had a good day, adding a hit and another stolen base in the third inning, but Columbus was stifled in the series opener and only had one hit after the third inning. In total the team struck out eight times in four innings against the Blue Wahoos bullpen, sealing a quiet loss.

After a stretch of rough outings Jack Dashwood was due for a good day on the mound, and even though he didn’t have great control he was able to fill innings effectively and keep Columbus in position to win the game. Unfortunately for him the offense had different plans, but Dashwood did his job well. Luis Vargas came in to replace Dashwood with a runner on base in the fifth inning, and a stroke of good fortune got his outing off on the right food. With a runner on second Vargas gave up a liner up the middle, but Cal Conley was shifted over made a terrific leaping play to snag the liner and save a run. Conley was able to turn that into an inning-ending unassisted double play, and Vargas found himself quickly out of a scoring chance. Vargas pitched quite well in his inning in the sixth inning. His stuff was sharp and he was locating fairly well, striking out two batters in the inning. Unfortunately for him a bloop single and an inside out grounder down the right field line turned into a run against him and charged him with a loss for the game.

Swing and Misses

Jack Dashwood – 5

Luis Vargas – 4

(22-18) Rome Emperors 0, (22-17) Hub City Spartanburgers

Box Score

• Isaiah Drake, RF: 0-3, BB, .284/.362/.477
• John Gil, SS: 1-3, BB, .275/.376/.444
• Eric Hartman, CF: 0-4, .308/.390/.643
• Colin Daniel, SP: 6.2 IP,7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 4.66 ERA

The Emperors were flailing against Hickory starter Aidan Curry, swinging and missing 23 times and striking out nine times in six scoreless innings. Three walks drawn sort of salvaged some decency from the game, especially from Isaiah Drake and John Gil at the top of the order, but it was really not a great game at all. Drake struck out in all three of his non-walk plate appearances, and Eric Hartman added an 0-4 with two strikeouts. In addition Rome went 0-3 on stolen base attempts, capping off a lousy day. Gil did have a hit and a walk to give one of the big bats a good performance for the series opener, but Gil is still on a pretty ugly slump since his two home runs game. Gil is 3 for his last 24 with eight strikeouts, which is as bad a stretch as we’ve ever seen him have making contact.

For Colin Daniel, it had to be a frustrating day to pitch so well and not have any shot of winning. Daniel kept Hub City pounding the ball into the ground, and worked an efficient 6 2/3 innings in which he only allowed one earned run with no walks. Daniel did give up a long home run to Malcolm Moore in the sixth inning after matching Curry for the first five, but otherwise hard contact was hard for the Spartanburgers to come by. Unfortunately for Daniel an error in the seventh inning prolonged the frame long enough for Hub City to notch two more unearned runs, burying this game and settling that he would end up with a loss despite a good line. Leading into this game Riley Frey had been phenomenal out of the bullpen for Rome, posting a 1.42 ERA with one walk to 12 strikeouts and no home runs allowed. Those numbers took a major hit when he allowed four runs to Hub City in this one, pushing his ERA to 3.86 on the season.

Swing and Misses 

Colin Daniel – 8

Riley Frey – 3

(22-18) Augusta GreenJackets 8, (18-22) Columbia Fireflies 1

Box Score

• Tate Southisene, 2B: 2-4, BB, 5 SB, .276/.418/.483
• Alex Lodise, SS: 1-4, BB, RBI, .251/.330/.395
• Luis Guanipa, CF: 1-5, RBI, .313/.357/.520
• Logan Forsythe, SP: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 4.96 ERA
• Aiven Cabral, RP: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 2.06 ERA

This is the game we have been waiting for, the matchup with by far the biggest intrigue out of Tuesday’s slate. Columbia and Augusta played a tight battle throughout that was marked by dominant pitching, until suddenly the GreenJackets broke out and lapped the Fireflies in the late innings. For the second straight week Logan Forsythe was chased from the game early due to poor command and an inflated pitch count, but he managed to escape the first inning with only a single run allowed and that is where the game would stay. Jaylen Paden pitched two scoreless innings of relief before turning the ball over to Aiven Cabral, who came into this outing having earned the win for each of his past five appearances on the season. All Cabral did was put up his best performance to date, carving through the Fireflies offense to the tune of six one-hit innings and eight strikeouts. Unfortunately for Cabral the offense couldn’t come up with anything major, so for the first half of his outing he still tended to a 1-0 deficit. However the bats woke up late, obviously, and Cabral once again was the pitcher of record taking his sixth win in a row. In this span Cabral has pitched all but one game in relief, but paired with the inconsistent Forsythe he has taken on a huge onus and responded. In these six wins he has 32 innings pitches and a 1.97 ERA to go along with 29 strikeouts and only seven walks.

Tate Southisene was the man to help lead the offense, and he took advantage each of the three times he reached base in this game. Southisene had two hits and a walk and everytime he got out there he ran wild, going 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts in the game and scoring two runs. Southisene has been efficient on the basepaths on his way to 32 stolen bases already this season, and in his past eight games he is 12-for-13 on stolen base attempts. With one out in the seventh inning Southisene struck out, but even when he made an out he was able to reach on the wild pitch then advance on a walk and steal third base. This allowed him to tie the game by scoring on a Luis Guanipa ground out, and Alex Lodise followed closely behind on a Juan Mateo single to give Augusta their first lead. In the next inning he got the rally started with a stinging two-out single into center field, then stole second and third base before scoring on a swinging bunt single from Lodise. Finally in the eighth inning Augusta officially broke the game open, with a Dallas Macias home run doing major damage and ballooning the lead to 6-1. Michael Martinez’s first hit as a GreenJacket went for two, scoring a runner on a line drive into the left field corner for the fourth run of the inning. Martinez would then score on an error, capping off the big inning for Augusta.

Swing and Misses

Aiven Cabral – 17

Jaylen Paden – 5