A 5-run 2nd inning sent the Texas Rangers up for good, as they defeated the Kansas City Royals 9-6.
Derek Holland pitched 7 innings for the Rangers, giving up 6 runs on 7 hits. Only 3 of the runs were earned, as Texas committed 3 errors on the day.
Prince Fielder had a 3 hit day for the Rangers, driving in 3 in the process. Texas pounded 14 total hits, 13 of which came off of Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie gave up all 9 runs in only 6 innings of work.
After the White Sox pounded their way to a 4-0 2nd inning lead, it seemed that the Cubs would take their 4th loss of the season to their cross-town rivals. Instead they came back with 7 runs over the next 3 innings, overpowering the Sox 14-4.
The Cubs were good for 4 home runs on this day, chasing Sox starter Erik Johnson in the 6th inning after giving up 8 runs. Kris Bryant drove in 4 runs, while Jorge Soler and Miguel Montero each drove in 3.
For the White Sox, Trayce Thompson went 1-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI.
We’ve completed Gameday 8 here at the Ten-acious Baseball League. It’s actually been completed for a week now. I neglected to post a recap of the action from Gameday 8 here on the blog. The reason was because I created a video recap and then completely forgot to post it here. Here is the recap over at our YouTube Channel:
I would love it if you’d subscribe to our YouTube channel. There will be at least 1 gameplay video each Gameday, barring some extenuating circumstances that arise in the future. I’d also like to start coming up with some other types of video posts to help keep the channel fresh and moving with ideas.
Unfortunately, I only made hard copies of the Gameday 8 statistics. If the desire hits me right, I may scan those in and post down the line.
The TBL continues to chug on, be on the lookout for Gameday 9 updates later today or early tomorrow. We’ll be moving into the 4th (of 18) series very shortly.
In the meantime, here’s another gameplay video from Gameday 8 that I failed to post. It’s an I-94 showdown between the Brewers and Twins.
As seen on our YouTube channel, home runs from Adrian Gonzalez, Chase Utley, and Joc Pederson helped the Los Angeles Dodgers improve to 6-1 on the season with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Cubs.
Zack Greinke pitched 7 1/3 innings for the victory, giving up only 3 hits to the Cubs. Dan Haren, pitching for Chicago, was hurt by having 3 of the 4 hits surrendered fly over the wall.
Miguel Montero also homered for the Cubs, who lost for only the second time this season.
In other action:
Provided below are the current standings and statistics for the TBL. Be on the lookout for more gameday video.
TBL Standings And Stats (7G)
Individual Batting Stats (7 Games)
Individual Pitching Stats (7 Games)
TBL Team Statistics (7G)
After succumbing in their previous game, the Cubs and Dodgers both returned to their winning ways leading up to an approaching showdown.
Los Angeles benefited from Clayton Kershaw’s second start of the season in shutting out the White Sox 6-0. The lefty held Chicago to a meager 2 singles on the day. Starting in center field against lefty Jose Quintana, Enrique Hernandez drove in 3 runs on the day to provide the necessary offense for the Dodgers.
In Dallas, the Cubs rode their ace as well to the 3-1 triumph. Jake Arrieta pitched a complete game, giving up only a run on 6 hits with 9 strikeouts. Backup catcher David Ross doubled in Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo in the 7th inning to break the 1-1 tie. Yovani Gallardo was the losing pitcher for the Rangers, conceding 2 runs on only 2 hits in a disappointing result for their top starter.
In other action:
(Editor’s Note: Since I am a tad behind in the reporting of games on this blog, I will not provide the box scores for Gameday 6 or the upcoming pitching matchups for Gameday 7. Instead, here are the current standings, statistical leaders, individual stats, and team stats for the Ten-acious Baseball League through 2 series of play:
TBL Standings And Stats (6G)
Individual Batting Stats (6 Games)
Individual Pitching Stats (6 Games)
TBL Team Statistics (6G)
Continue to check back for more coverage of the league, including game videos and more recaps as we make our way through the season towards the playoffs.)
The Rockies were cruising along in the 8th inning, leading host Milwaukee 9-2. Then the Brewers bats woke up. They erupted for 8 runs in the final 2 frames to steal a victory from the visitors.
Colorado rode Nolan Arenado’s first 2 home runs of the season, setting up starter Chris Rusin for what looked like an easy win. But Scott Oberg and John Axford were unable to put away the Brew Crew.
After Khris Davis cut the lead to 9-7 on a solo home run, the wheels fell off for closer Axford. A DJ LeMahieu error, a single, and a walk loaded the bases for Hernan Perez. The Venezuelan third baseman grounded out, forcing home a run. Then pinch-hitter Scooter Gennett hit a gapper which completed the improbable comeback. The win was Milwaukee’s first of the season.
In other action:
Los Angeles 9, White Sox 3
W: Wood (1-0, 1.45 ERA)
L: Danks (0-1, 12.5 ERA)
HR: LAD Van Slyke (1), Puig (1), Guerrero (1); CHW LaRoche (1)
Milwaukee 10, Colorado 9
W: Blazek (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
L: Axford (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
BS: Axford (1)
HR: COL LeMahieu (1), Arenado 2 (2); MIL Davis (3)
Cubs 7, Texas 5
W: Hammel (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
L: Lewis (0-1, 8.44 ERA)
H: Grimm (1), Russell (2)
S: Rondon (2)
HR: CHC Bryant (3), Soler (1); TEX Beltre (1), Moreland (2)
St. Louis 7, Detroit 2
W: Cishek (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
L: Alburquerque (0-1, 22.5 ERA)
BS: Alburquerque (1)
Kansas City 3, Minnesota 0
W: Ventura (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
L: Pelfrey (0-1, 5.40 ERA)
H: Davis (2)
S: Madson (1)
Los Angeles (Bolsinger, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Chicago White Sox (E. Johnson, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Colorado (Butler, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Milwaukee (Lohse, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Chicago Cubs (Hendricks, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Texas (Holland, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Detroit (Simon, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at St. Louis (Martinez, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Kansas City (Guthrie, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Minnesota (Hughes, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Additional Information
TBL S1 After 4 Games
TBL S1 Team Statistics After 4 Games
The Brew Crew hung tough, but couldn’t quite pull out their first victory of the TBL Season.
With the score tied at 5 in the 7th inning, Jimmy Rollins tripled and scored the deciding run as the Los Angeles Dodgers outlasted Milwaukee 7-5. Rollins went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI’s for the Dodgers, who improved their record to 3-0 after the first series. Kenley Jansen worked the 9th for his 2nd save. Brewers’ left fielder Khris Davis smacked 2 home runs and drove in 4 in the loss.
The Chicago Cubs also remained undefeated, completing the sweep of Minnesota by way of a 3-2 road victory. All of the Cubs’ runs were scored in the 6th inning, capped off by Anthony Rizzo’s 2-run home run to put them ahead 3-1. The Twins got one back on an Eduardo Escobar single, scoring Shane Robinson. But Hector Rondon closed out the game for Chicago to preserve the win for starter Jon Lester.
The Cardinals salvaged a game in their series with Colorado, 3-1. Starting pitcher Jaime Garcia pitched 8 scoreless innings, conceding only 2 hits while striking out 8 Rockies. Matt Carpenter provided the big bat, crushing a 1st inning 2-run home run off losing pitcher Kyle Kendrick. Carlos Gonzalez took St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal deep with 2 ours in the 9th. But Rosenthal got Nolan Arenado to pop out to end the ball game.
Texas scored 5 runs in the first 3 innings to overpower the Chicago White Sox 6-2. Shin-Soo Choo and Prince Fielder cranked homers in the 1st inning, while Mitch Moreland hit a 2-run dinger in the 3rd to shell Jeff Samardzija early and often. The Ranger pitching trio of Martin Perez, Tanner Scheppers, and Anthony Bass combined to limit the Sox to 4 hits.
Finally, at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals held off a late charge by Detroit. The 4-3 victory was led by solo shots from Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales, though the deciding runs were scored with small ball by a Drew Butera squeeze and a 2-out single from Christian Colon. Danny Duffy picked up the victory, and Greg Holland got the save.
Los Angeles 7, Milwaukee 5
W: Baez (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
L: Peralta (0-1, 8.53 ERA)
S: Jansen (2)
HR: LAD Pederson (1); MIL Davis 2 (2)
Texas 6, Chicago White Sox 2
W: Perez (1-0, 2.70 ERA)
L: Samardzija (0-1, 7.11 ERA)
HR: TEX Choo (1), Fielder (2), Moreland (1)
St. Louis 3, Colorado 1
W: Garcia (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
L: Kendrick (0-1, 3.52 ERA)
S: Rosenthal (1)
HR: STL Carpenter (1)
Chicago Cubs 3, Minnesota 2
W: Lester (1-0, 2.70 ERA)
L: Santana (0-1, 3.86 ERA)
S: Rondon (1)
HR: CHC Rizzo (2)
Kansas City 4, Kansas City 3
W: Duffy (1-0, 4.05 ERA)
L: Sanchez (0-1, 6.0 ERA)
S: Holland (1)
HR: DET J.D. Martinez 2 (3); KAN Hosmer (1), Morales (1)
Los Angeles (Wood, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Chicago White Sox (Danks, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Colorado (Rusin, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Milwaukee (Garza, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Chicago Cubs (Hammel, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Texas (Lewis, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Detroit (Boyd, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at St. Louis (Wacha, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Kansas City (Ventura, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Minnesota (Pelfrey, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
(Note: I will spotlight the most interesting game of the day in the headline of these updates. I realize this is the second Dodgers headine, but there is no intended bias in that choice. Additionally, I will post updated Standings after each day, and periodically I will add a download that will contain some statistical leaders and such. This post contains such an update. I don’t know how often I’ll be able to provide such updates.)
After blowing a 4-0 lead in the 9th inning, the Texas Rangers used a walk-off Delino DeShields single to finish off the Chicago White Sox in the 15th inning. Leonys Martin led off the inning with a single and took second on a steal. DeShields obliged with a drawn-in outfield, finding the gap with a line drive. Earlier in the game, Elvis Andrus doubled home 2 runs to stake the Rangers to a 4-0 lead.
Yet while Cole Hamels worked into the 9th, the Rangers ran into trouble after handing the ball off to Shawn Tolleson. The closer gave up a 3-run home run to Jose Abreu to tie the game. After extending the game, the White Sox only mustered 3 further hits and Carlos Rodon picked up the loss.
Other Action
Los Angeles 3, Milwaukee 1
W: Greinke (1-0, 1.13 ERA)
L: Jungmann (0-1, 2.57 ERA)
S: Jansen (1)
HR: LAD Turner (1)
Texas 5, Chicago White Sox 4 (15 innings)
W: N. Martinez (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
L: Rodon (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
BS: Tolleson (1)
HR: CWS Abreu (1); TEX Napoli (1)
Colorado 6, St. Louis 3
W: Bettis (1-0, 1.29 ERA)
L: Lynn (0-1, 6.35 ERA)
Chicago Cubs 9, Minnesota 3
W: Haren (1-0, 3.00 ERA)
L: Milone (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
HR: CHC Bryant 2 (2), Jackson (1)
Detroit 7, Kansas City 2
W: Norris (1-0, 2.25 ERA)
L: Cueto (0-1, 4.77 ERA)
HR: DET J.D. Martinez (1); KAN Moustakas (1)
Los Angeles (Anderson, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Milwaukee (Peralta, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Chicago White Sox (Samardzija, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Texas (Perez, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Colorado (Kendrick, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at St. Louis (Garcia, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Chicago Cubs (Lester, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Minnesota (Santana, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Detroit (Sanchez, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Kansas City (Duffy, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Strat-o-matic Baseball is an enjoyable, realistic baseball simulation. It involved cards, dice, and a game board that you don’t really use once you’ve gotten the hang of it. If you buy the full current game set, you receive 27 player cards for all 30 Major League Baseball teams, plus some traded player cards and some other odds and ends. Where you go from there is often simple: follow the basic rules, get a few games under your belt, and then shoot for the stars.
That’s what the Ten-acious Baseball League is for me. I play this game solo, since my kids have yet to catch the baseball bug. I wanted to find a way to simulate a major league season without the sheer number of games. So my idea was to pick 10 teams (hence, Ten-acious) from the 2015 set and, well, “let it roll.”
Rather than pick the top 10 teams based on record, I thought it would be more fun to make it a random choice. I enlisted Random.org to juggle all 30 names into an unordered list, and I grabbed the first 10 teams. They are:
Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, and Texas Rangers.
As might be expected, there is a decent diversity in terms of the good (top regular-season record St. Louis & World Series champion KC), all the way to the “ugly” end (Colorado & the Brew Crew).
Each team will play the other 9 teams in two 3-game series (one home, one away), amounting to a 54 game season. At the end of the season, the top 4 teams will be seeded into 7-game series to anoint the Ten-acious Champion. The league will use the designated hitter exclusively.
With respects to the idea of AB/IP limits, I don’t think that makes complete sense. If a Strat player likes to replicate seasons, it’s understandable. In this case, a team like Colorado probably stunk because Justin Morneau only played in 49 games due to injury. My expectation would be that Strat-o-matic would increase the likelihood of Morneau getting injured, thus limiting his appearances. We’ll see I guess.
Tenacious Sports 