Two days ago, the Mets creamed Philadelphia 17-0, the largest margin of victory for a shutout in team history. Asdrubal Cabrera contributed with a grand slam in the seventh, to make it 11-0. You can watch his Grand Slam when you hit the link below.
The previous record, 14 runs, was set on July 29, 1965, and on April 19, 1998. In the first of those games, Johnny Lewis, a right fielder that only played four seasons, hit two home runs and a double to contribute to a victory in game one of a doubleheader that the Mets split with the Cubs. The other time the Mets scored 14 runs, no one hit any home runs. Just like the first game, this one had an unlikely hero. Bernard Gilkey, who appeared in the movie Men In Black,scored five of the 14 runs and got three hits against the Reds.Yesterday, the Cleveland Indians clinched the American League Central Division with a 7-4 win over the team that won it 4 out of the last 5 times, the Detroit Tigers. Although Cleveland made it to the Wild Card game in 2013, they had not clinched the division in nine years. Cleveland had faced injuries all year, and yet they kept their lead since June 4. You can see the last out of the game, and part of the celebration below.
http://m.mlb.com/cle/video/v1189874083/cledet-allen-fans-maybin-tribe-clinch-al-central/?tcid=mm_cle_vid&c_id=cle
That 2007 team that was the last to clinch the division won 96 games and featured Shin-Soo Choo, Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, C.C. Sabathia, and Victor Martinez. They beat the Yankees 3-1 in the ALDS, but ran into a red-hot Red Sox team that ended up winning the World Series, and the Indians lost in 7 games. 
The 2013 squad, which was the last to make the playoffs, consisted of Asdrubal Cabrera (who was also on the 2007 team), Michael Bourn, Corey Kluber, Ubaldo Jimnez, Jason Giambi, Scott Kazmir, and Jason Kipnis. That team hosted the 2013 AL Wild Card Game, and lost 4-0, in a game where the Indians outhit the Rays 9-8.
The Indians weren’t the only team that clinched the division in these past few days. The Dodgers were trailing the Rockies 3-2 in the ninth on Sunday when Corey Seager came up to the plate and hit a game- tying home run. In the tenth, an unknown Dodger named Charlie Culberson hit a game winning home run to win on Vin Scully day. In my next blog, I will have a whole segment on VIn. You can see the home run below.
The Dodgers are definitely in the playoffs, along with the Cubs, Rangers, Nationals, Indians, and Red Sox, who have only clinched a playoff spot, and might clinch the division tonight. In the AL Wild Card race, the Blue Jays are a game over the Orioles, who are two games over the Tigers and Mariners, and three and a half games over the Astros. In the NL, the Mets are a half game over the Giants, who are a game over the Cardinals. Below is what the playoffs would look like if the season ended this morning.
Signing off for now, Andrew.
Andrew, I am thoroughly impressed! You're a great writer, and you've got so much knowledge bottled up in that big brain of yours! Where do you find all of your facts? Can't wait to read more!
ReplyDeleteAndrew!!! Wow! This is really well done. I already knew you had tons of knowledge, biut to see it in print is just.....FANtastic! I am a FAN! Love you and keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThat comment above is from Mare!
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