— 70 years ago today (Wednesday), my parents got married; I’m guessing my dad is up in heaven, relieved the Mets won Tuesday. I had a good childhood because of them; for that I’m grateful.
— Green Bay Packers’ QB Jordan Love tore a ligament in his left (non-throwing) thumb, had a procedure to fix it. Green Bay’s general manager said that Love shouldn’t miss any regular season action.
— So far in NFL preseason games, over has gone 14-2, which is surprising.
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won the NFC South the last four years; 2020 Saints were the last champs, other than Tampa Bay.
— I’m guessing that in organizational meetings within pro sports teams, there are spirited talks between guys who played the game, and nerdy/analytics guys who are more number oriented.
Was reading an article about an analytics guy who believes that a team should go for two points after every touchdown; an ex-player was ridiculing him, saying that teams only have one or two plays they use in those situations.
The analytics guy replied that they should have more two-point plays; the former player didn’t sound amused. Hopefully Hard Knocks can catch one of these conversations.
— Monday night, LA Chargers’ coach Jim Harbaugh was at the Dodgers-Angels game with his family in Anaheim; they said on TV that Harbaugh has caught 22 foul balls in the stands at major league games.
Apparently he declined the Angels’ offer to sit in a suite; he prefers to sit in the stands, where another foul ball might come his way.
— As of now, New England Patriots are favored in 11 of their 17 games; last summer at this time, they weren’t favored in any games. In the summer of 2023, they were favored in 3 of 17 games.
— Seattle P Brian Woo has pitched 6+ innings in all 23 of his starts this season, the first major league pitcher to do that since Clayton Kershaw in 2019.
— Famous birthdays, August 13th
Kevin Tighe, 81
Gretchen Corbett, 80
Andre Thornton, 76
Danny Bonaduce, 66
Elvis Grbac, 55
Dallas Braden, 42
DeMarcus Cousins, 35
Taijuan Walker, 33
Randal Grichuk, 32
Patrick Queen, 26
— Brewers 14, Pirates 0
Christian Yelich was 3-for-3 with three RBI.
Freddy Peralta tossed six scoreless innings for Milwaukee.
Weird thing about this game; Milwaukee used a position player (Anthony Seigler) to pitch the ninth inning, when they were winning. Dodgers have done that a couple of times, too.
Brewers are first time since the 2015 Blue Jays with two win streaks of 11+ games in the same season- this was their 11th win in a row.
They’re 10th team since 1969 with two win streaks of 10+ games in the same season; of the other nine teams, three of them won the World Series that year.
— Mets 13, Braves 5
Pete Alonso homered twice, became the Mets’ all-time home-run leader.
It was Alonso’s 25th two-home run game.
Mets won for only second time in their last 13 games.
— Angels 7, Dodgers 6 (10)
Angels are now 5-0 against the Dodgers this season.
Shohei Ohtani hit his 43rd homer in the ninth inning.
In the sixth inning, Ohtani lined into a triple play.
— A’s 6, Rays 0
Jacob Lopez struck out nine guys in his 7 scoreless IP.
A’s have eight shutouts this season, most in the major leagues.
A’s are also 12-6 in their last 18 games.
— Padres 5, Giants 1
Padres are now tied for first place with the Dodgers in NL West.
Iglesias/Merrill homered for San Diego.
Giants have lost 12 of their last 13 home games.
— Mariners 1, Orioles 0
George Kirby allowed three hits in seven IP.
Seattle has now won eight games in a row.
Mariners move into a first-place tie with Houston in AL West.
— Red Sox 14, Astros 1
Boston led this game 2-0 after the fifth inning.
Alex Bregman homered against his old team for the second night in a row.
Wilyer Abreu doubled twice, knocked in three runs.
— New York 9, Twins 1
Giancarlo Stanton went 4-for-5 with a home run.
This season, Stanton has 34 RBI in 42 games.
— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, LA/SD. Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Hst/Sea. Wild Cards: Hst/Sea, Red Sox, New York
