One of the things my mother use to say when I was growing up was that if it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all. Oddly it seems like this is something I’m dealing with right now.
If you’re a FanDuel player I’m sure you’ve participated in the Home Run Derby they’ve had going on this baseball season. It’s a free contest; so why not play. It’s a simple contest to get in on. You select three players you think are going to hit home runs and the person who’s three man team hits the most home runs wins.
When the contest first started I actually went the first week without hitting a home run. I was trying to find the best match us or the ballparks that seem to allow the most home runs and it just wasn’t working out for me; so I decided to make a change.
About 10 to 12 days ago I switched up my strategy. I decided that as long as they where available I’d use Bryce Harper and Mike Trout as two of the three players I’d enter in the contest. Now my co-host on the Sports Time Radio podcast Dan the Man took it one step further. He uses Harper, Trout and Mookie Betts everyday if they’re all available.
Here’s the humorous thing about this. Since we’ve been doing this none of these players has hit a home run during the contest. Now these three players haven’t been available to pick every contest as FanDuel use night games during the week, but they are available the majority of the time.
Now I’m not sayin that we’re the cause of these players not hitting home runs, but Trout was actually in the longest hitless streak of hit career going into last nights game. Trout was 0 for 19 heading into the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays last night. Trout went 1 for 3 last night an his hit was his 13th home run of the season; so maybe the streak is finally over. Even with Trout’s home run the Angels lost 8-3 to Tampa Bay last night.
Let’s hope that Trout’s home run gets him going and for our sake that Harper and Betts join in.
The Las Vegas Golden Knights are just one win away from being the first expansion team in NHL history to make it to the Stanley Cup finals in their first season.
The Golden Knights defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in Game 4 of their Western Conference finals series last night.
Las Vegas has been trying to set the tone in their playoff games and one of the ways they’re doing that is by scoring first and they did that again last night.
Just 2 minutes and 25 seconds into the game William Karlsson scored the first goal of the game for the Golden Knights on the power play. Karlsson was assisted by Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault.
Karlsson’s goal was the only one of the 1st period as the Golden Knights went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.
In the 2nd period it was Winnipeg’s turn to cash in on a power play opportunity. 9 minutes and 29 seconds into the 2nd period Patrik Laine evened things up for the Jets at 1-1 with a power play goal. Laine was assisted by Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien on his goal.
The tie game didn’t last long as less than 50 seconds later at 10:12 of the period Tomas Nosek gave Las Vegas the lead back at 2-1 with a goal. Nosek was assisted by Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Luca Sbisa on his goal. Nosek was actually the Las Vegas player who was penalized when Winnipeg tied the game.
The 2nd period ended with Las Vegas holding a 2-1 lead.
Early I the 3rd period the Jets had a power play opportunity that they where unable to cash in on, but with 5 minutes and 34 seconds gone in the 3rd period Tyler Myers tied the game up at 2-2 with a goal. Myers was assisted by Jack Roslovic on his goal.
With the game even at 2-2 neither team wanted to make a mistake that the other could take advantage of. Unfortunately for Winnipeg that mistake came in the form of a Dustin Byfuglien give-away. With a little over 13 minutes gone in the 3rd period Reilly Smith took advantage of that give-away and scored an unassisted goal that put the Golden Knights up 3-2.
Marc Andre-Fleury made Smith’s goal stand up as he stopped 35 of Winnipeg’s 37 shots on goal as the Golden Knights picked up a 3-2 win in Game 4. Connor Hellebuyck was solid in goal for Winnipeg as he stopped 26 of the 29 shots Las Vegas threw at him.
With the win the Golden Knights have a 3 games to 1 lead in the series and will and will have a chance their first chance to close out this series and advance to the Stanley Cup finals Sunday in Winnipeg. That game has a puck drop time of 2:00 p.m. Sunday. The game will be shown on NBC.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are 25-19 and are currently in 1st place in the NL West, but they’re not without their issues.
Jake Lamb has played just 5 games for the Diamondbacks this season before he went on the disabled list with a sprained acromioclavicular joint in his left shoulder. Lamb came off the disabled list last night; going 1 for 4 as the Diamondbacks suffered their 8th defeat in 9 games 3-1 to the New York Mets. Arizona has been struggling offensively and they’re hoping Lamb’s return will help turn that around.
The Diamondbacks hope that Lamb can help replace some of the offense they lost when A.J. Pollock went on the disabled list with a broken left thumb. Pollock broke the thumb trying to make a diving catch and is expected to be out anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks.
With Paul Goldschmidt off to a slow start this season Pollock has been the Diamondbacks offensive leader. Pollock leads Arizona in batting average at .293, home runs with 11 and RBI’s with 33. Hopefully for Arizona the return of Lamb along with Goldschmidt picking up his pace can off set the loss of Pollock.
Arizona has had some pitching injuries as well. Robbie Ray has started throwing off of flat ground and the Diamondbacks are hoping he’ll be able to return from his oblique strain by the end of the month. Ray returning soon will help boost the Diamondbacks starting rotation, but they’re still looking for someone to take the place of Tajuan Walker in the rotation. Walker is out for the season. Walker suffered a torn UCL in his right elbow and has already under gone Tommy John surgery.
Arizona has tried a couple of pitchers in the 5th spot of their rotation, but haven’t landed on someone they want to keep there.
Kris Medlen made a start, but lasted just 4 innings giving up 7 runs on 9 hits while walking 4 and striking out 4. Medlen was sent back to triple-A after his start.
Troy Scribner also made a start which was his major league debut. Scribner pitcher 3 2/3rd innings in his start giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, but he walked 6 while striking out 4. Scribner was also sent back to Triple-A after his start.
So where do the Diamondbacks turn now? How about Clay Buchholtz.
Buchholtz has made 5 minor league starts this season, 1 in Double-A and 2 in Triple-A for the Kansas City Royals before being released by Kansas City. Buchholtz has made 2 starts in Triple-A for Arizona and his numbers look good. In those 5 starts Buchholtz is 1-1 with an ERA of 2.93. He’s pitched 27 2/3rd innings in those 5 starts with 19 strikeouts and 12 walks.
Buchholtz spent 10 seasons with the Boston Red Sox before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies last season. Buchholtz pitched just 7 1/3rd innings for Philadelphia before an injury ended his season. Buchholtz has pitched in 208 major league games with 190 of them being starts. He is 81-62 with a 4.01 career ERA. Could he be the Diamondbacks answer until Ray returns?
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