Aug. 11-13: Blue Jays vs. A's Series Thread

[TKB]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

44,597. I think that's about 1k shy of a sellout.

Would love to get on a plane and head to Toronto to catch a weekend series!

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by TKB

Would love to get on a plane and head to Toronto to catch a weekend series!

If I wasn't already going to SoCal next month, I would have.

And in Cleveland, Aroid kils a rally with a double play. 3 outs away!

[whosurnabby]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

An Aaron Loup sighting...

I hope he does find his stuff again. Loup was an amazing bullpen arm from 2012-2014.

[KelVarnsen]

Woohoo!

[whosurnabby]

BALLGAME! 3 more outs (for the Tribe) and Cleveland wins their game too!!!

[Resolute 14]

First team with two 10+ game winning streaks since the 77 (iirc) Royals.

[whosurnabby]

Here we go..one more out for the Tribe!

[corporatejay]

Back to back major league watching nights??? Sure, why not?

[Resolute 14]

First place!

[whosurnabby]

Didi Gregorious strikes out to end the game..The Yankees LOSE. The Yankees LOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEE! CLE 2 - NYY 1

Fun fact...Jays haven't lead the AL East this late in the season since...1993.

[SportsJunky]

12:30 ET start today. If reports true that Gray won't start...well, it could be a short outing for the new starter today.

[cavalera403]

As per the Blue Jays Twitter RHP Jesse Chavez is to make the start today

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/631823181758664704

Jesse is 6-11 this year with a 3.75 ERA 1.32 WHIP in 24 appearances with 20 of those being starts

His last appearance was August 8th where he went 7.0IP with 1 ER and 6 Hits against the Astros

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by dsavillian

Division winners make playoffs. 2 wildcard teams from each league playoff in a one game showdown for the 4th playoff spot

Most wins determines standings (no ties, no extra points). "Games behind" is just a way to display the standings in an easy to understand format. Half games might seem strange, but they are kind of like games in hand.

One thing I've never understood about MLB is why play so many regular season games (twice as many as NHL/NBA), yet have so few playoff games? Adding in another round of playoffs (and getting rid of an equal number of regular season games) would give more teams a playoff shot, help get rid of ridiculous 20+ year playoff droughts like the Jays are in, increase the number of sellout games, and increase TV ratings. That should mean a lot more money for the league and would grab the attention of a lot more casual fans like me, instead of waiting every few decades to see our favorite team in the post season

[Lil Pedro]

No Sonny Gray for the A's today due to back spasms!

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

One thing I've never understood about MLB is why play so many regular season games (twice as many as NHL/NBA), yet have so few playoff games? Adding in another round of playoffs (and getting rid of an equal number of regular season games) would give more teams a playoff shot, help get rid of ridiculous 20+ year playoff droughts like the Jays are in, increase the number of sellout games, and increase TV ratings. That should mean a lot more money for the league and would grab the attention of a lot more casual fans like me, instead of waiting every few decades to see our favorite team in the post season

MLB long predates the advent of playoffs, so traditionally followed the European model of having the team at the to of the table win the title. The World Series began when the AL and NL were separate organizations entirely and was a true interleague championship. And if one sport clings to traditions hard, it's baseball. League playoffs only began in 1969.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

One thing I've never understood about MLB is why play so many regular season games (twice as many as NHL/NBA), yet have so few playoff games? Adding in another round of playoffs (and getting rid of an equal number of regular season games) would give more teams a playoff shot, help get rid of ridiculous 20+ year playoff droughts like the Jays are in, increase the number of sellout games, and increase TV ratings. That should mean a lot more money for the league and would grab the attention of a lot more casual fans like me, instead of waiting every few decades to see our favorite team in the post season

I dont think there was ever meant to be playoffs. In the old days there were two 7 teams leagues. You played the other 6 teams 144 times (24 times each) to see who was the best. The two winners would playoff in the World Series. Im sure if we looked it up they were teams who rarely ever won the pennant.

Beaten by Resolute

[Antithesis]

Further, I think that as long as baseball organizes itself as it does right now (two Leagues, three Divisions), this is pretty much the ideal playoff setup.

- Division winners get an advantage but not a huge one
- 2 Wild Card teams get a shot at the playoffs, one game winner takes all? Sign me up!

It makes winning the division so much more important than it was previously.

[Resolute 14]

[DiracSpike]

I love the baseball playoff format. It makes the regular season so much more exciting, if you're a casual fan I really see no reason to watch any NHL regular season game. Also due to the first round being a best of five you don't have playoffs that last for 2.5 months and drag on and on and on and on....

This was the game of this series I was pencilling in for a loss because Gray is that good. The breaks just keep coming for the Blue Jays.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

The luck seems to be firmly in the Jays favour because that should have been a 2-3 run inning for the A's

dunno, bad call on the first batter should have been a strikeout and then both those balls in the outfield should have been caught, could have been a 1 2 3 innning.