Went to Saratoga race track with my cousins Wednesday; was a fun day shooting the breeze on a perfect day weather-wise. Some quick observations:
a) If you’re smart, you park in people’s yards, pay less than $10 and walk a little further than people who park in the bigger lots.
b) It costs $10 to get in; they get 18,000 people there, they’ve already banked $180,000. You don’t pay to get into a casino, and casinos are more fun. Kind of a ripoff.
c) They don’t take cash, except at the betting windows; you need a credit/debit card to get in the freakin’ place, and to buy food.
d) Food is expensive, but good. High grade for the hot dogs.
e) There is a big screen by the paddock; good place to put your lawn chair, find a shady spot and relax all day, Betting windows and food are close by.
f) Only eight races Wednesday; is there a shortage of horses? Only a couple of the races had more than eight horses in them.
g) All in all, a good experience. Fun day.
— Astros 3, Angels 2
Houston bullpen got 16 outs, didn’t allow a run.
Jeremy Pena fouled a pitch off his hand, left the game early.
Astros are 64-63, lead the AL West by two games.
— Nationals 6, Rangers 0
Andres Chaparro scored three runs, had three RBI
Cade Cavalli allowed three hits, struck out 11 in six IP.
Texas is 62-65, half-game out of the last AL Wild Card slot.
— Rays 7, Blue Jays 6
Drew Rasmussen won his sixth consecutive start.
Bryan Baker earned his 25th consecutive save.
Tampa Bay led 7-1 in 4th inning, held on for dear life.
— Diamondbacks 7, Red Sox 6 (10)
Nolan Arenado had the game-winning hit in 10th inning.
Mickey Gasper homered for the third game in a row.
Red Sox have a 5.5-game lead for the second Wild Card slot.
— Pirates 4, Tigers 3
Brandon Lowe had a walk-off homer in the 9th inning.
Rafael Flores tied the game with another 9th inning homer.
Paul Skenes now has a 5.05 ERA in his last sixteen starts.
— White Sox 3, Cubs 0
Jose Urquidy allowed two hits in 6 IP as the bulk reliever.
Miguel Vargas had two hits, scored two runs.
White Sox had lost their last eight games at Wrigley Field.
— Mets 4, Padres 2
Mets are 11-4 in their last fifteen games.
Carson Benge hit his 15th homer, a two-run shot.
Padres have a one-game lead for NL’s last Wild Card slot.
— Famous birthdays, August 20th:
Peter Horton, 73
Quinn Buckner, 72
Mark Langston, 66
Tom Brunansky, 66
Andy Benes, 59
Todd Helton, 53
Amy Adams, 52
Mitch Trubisky, 32
— American League Wild Card race:
New York WC#1
Red Sox WC#2
Twins —
_____________
Rangers 0.5 games out
Blue Jays 1 game out
Guardians/Orioles/Tigers 1.5 games out
Mariners 2.5 games out
— National League Wild Card race:
Cubs WC#1
Phillies WC#2
Padres —
_____________
Diamondbacks 1 game out
Cardinals 3 games out
Marlins 4 games out
— Giants 1, Guardians 0
Adrian Houser pitched five innings as the bulk reliever.
Victor Bericoto knocked in the game’s only run.
Cleveland is 61-66, but only 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.
— Mariners 7, Brewers 5
Dustin May gave up seven runs in two IP.
Dominic Canzone scored twice, had two RBI
Josh Naylor had three hits, had two RBI.
— Reds 5, Cardinals 4
Sal Stewart hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning.
Jordan Walker hit his 25th home run for St Louis.
St Louis is three games out of the NL playoffs.
— Twins 6, Braves 4
Braves go to Minnesota and get swept three games.
Kody Clemens had two hits, three RBI.
Taj Bradley pitched five innings, giving up only two hits.
— Only four NFL exhibition games this weekend have spreads higher than 3.5 points. Sounds like more regulars are going to play this week.
