Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category

How was your week

Posted: November 3, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

On Thursday night the San Francisco 49ers had to turn to their third quarterback of this season. Nick Mullins mad the start for the injured C.J. Beathard who had been starting in place of the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. In the end it didn’t matter who was playing quarterback for the 49ers as they cruised to a 34-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

Mullins ended up going 16 for 22 in the game for 262 yards and 3 touchdowns. Not to bad of a first start for an undrafted free agent, but I actually want to take a look at the Raiders today.

With the loss the Raiders fall to 1-7 and are currently tied for the worst record in the NFL with the New York Giants. With 8 games to go it looks as though the Raiders really only have one solid shot at getting another win. In two weeks Oakland is on the road against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals are 2-6 and while I think it would still be an upset for Oakland to win this game I think it’s the best chance on their schedule for them to get another win. As for the Giants they appear to have multiple games on their schedule that they could find a way to win.

So let’s say that the Raiders end up with the #1 pick in the draft. Now the Raiders also have the Chicago Bears #1 pick in 2019 and also 2020 from the Khalil Mack trade. Then they added the Dallas Cowboys 1st round pick when they traded Amari Cooper there. Right now those picks would come in at #13 and #22, but that should change as the season moves forward.

Unlike baseball in the NFL you can turn your franchise around in one good off season. If the Raiders can hit on two of those three 1st rounders and they need to do that; they would improve greatly. Just imagine if they somehow found three players that could contribute.

Now right now Oakland might not be a prime destination for free agents, but there is something about being a Raider has always been something that has drawn players. Maybe the top free agents wouldn’t be interested in joining a team that’s rebuilding, but the Raiders should be able to upgrade at positions of need in free agency.

So let’s say that two of the draft picks the Raiders made contribute during the 2019 season. With the addition of some key free agents I don’t think that Oakland would be a playoff team, but they could get close to .500. Then when the 2020 draft rolls around they’ll have their 1st round pick and the Bears 1st round pick. That gives them the chance to add two more top picks that can contribute.

Now this is all speculation and with Jon Gruden it’s tough to predict which direction the Raiders will go, but it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if the Raiders where contending for a playoff spot in 2020.

Now rebuilding isn’t something that’s normally done in the NFL, but if the Raiders find success with this could we see other teams try to make a quick turnaround?

It looks as though the Cleveland Indians have some concerns about their teams payroll and they’re willing to deal some of their veteran players to get that payroll where they want it.

The Indians came out yesterday and more or less said that with the exception of shortstop Francisco Lindor and MVP candidate Jose Ramirez who played 2nd and 3rd base for the Indians last season.

That means that the Indians would be willing to listen to offers or possible trade players like starting pitchers Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco. Or how about veterans like Edwin Encarnacion, Jason Kipnis or either of or both catchers Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez.

The Indians starting working on that payroll by not extending qualifying offers to Michael Brantley, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

If Cleveland had made a qualifying offer to any or all of those three players to and it had been accepted they would’ve been paid $17.9 million dollars for next season.

While the Indians wouldn’t deal all of those veteran players  some of the contracts they’re trying to move look like this. Kluber is scheduled to make $17 million dollars next season. His contract also has two options years. In 2020 he’d make $17.5 million dollars and then in 2018 his salary would be $18 million dollars. Carrasco has what has to be considered a team friendly deal as he’ll make $9.75 million dollars next season and he has an option for the 2020 for $9.5 million dollars. Kipnis will make $14,666,667 next season and he also has a 2020 option that would pay him $16.5 million dollars. Gomes is scheduled to be paid $7,083,334 next season, but there are two option years in his contract, If picked up in 2020 Gomes would be paid $9 million dollars and in 2021 his salary would jump to $11 million dollars. Perez is signed for two more seasons and has two option years on his contract. Next season Perez will be paid $2.625 million dollars in 2020 his salary will be $3.625 million dollars. If picked up his option years would pay him $5.5 million dollars in 2021 and $7 million dollars in 2022. Encarnacion has the biggest salary of all of the players the Indians would be willing to move. Encarnacion will make $21.667, 000 next season; he also has an option year on his contract that would pay him $20 million dollars if it was picked up.

It’s unclear how many of these players the Indians would be willing tp deal to get their payroll to what they consider an acceptable level, but you have to think they’ll get a lot of interest in these players; especially those two pitchers.

Kluber won 20 games last season and willing be in the running to win the Cy Young award which would be his 3rd if he won it. Kluber has three 18-win seasons as well as finally getting to the 20 number this season. You’d have to think that Cleveland is getting calls on him already.

Carrasco has had some injuries in his career, but noting that has affected his shoulder or elbow. Carrasco has won double digit games the last four season; he had 17 wins last season. With the salary he carries you have to think that Cleveland has already had some calls on him as well.

How many of these players do you see the Indians actually trading? Also how many do you think they can trade and still not have to worry to much about the other teams in the AL Central?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Look for me on Twitter @Burketime

 

 

 

How was your week

Posted: October 27, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

I had a bit of an odd Friday night. I wasn’t feeling well; so I decided to lay down and watch Game 3 of the World Series. They where going through the player introductions and it seem as though the game was just about ready to start. I’m sure you can guess what happen to me next; you’re right I fell asleep. I woke up a few hours later to use the bathroom like I do every night and the first thing that popped into my mind was that I missed the game. Then I realized that I had fell asleep with the television on and I needed to turn it off. As I dragged myself out of bed I realized that the television was not only on, but was still showing something. As my head started to clear I realized that it was the Red Sox/Dodgers game. At first I thought  maybe they where showing a replay, but after reading the television screen I noticed that it was the Bottom of the 13th and the Red Sox had a 2-1 lead. So I guess the baseball gods wanted me to see at least some of this game.

As you know the Dodgers tied the game up in the 13th inning and I got to watch 5 more innings of World Series baseball and let me tell you I thought it was a great game. Interestingly I only saw one Red Sox pitcher; Nathan Eovaldi while the Dodgers used four different arms out of their bullpen. Every position player got into the game and Clayton Kershaw even made a pinch hitting appearance. I kept wondering how long Eovaldi would pitch and with the way the announcers where calling the game it seemed as though he was the Red Sox last pitcher.

Both teams had some scoring chances in extra innings, but I don’t know if I would call them great scoring chances, Neither team was able to capitalize on any of those chances as we went through the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th inning. I believe it was almost 2:45 a.m. where I live when Max Muncy finally won the game for the Dodgers with a solo home run on the 7th pitch of the 18th inning with a 3-2 count.

Muncy had just missed winning the game I his last at bat, but his flyball down the rightfield line went foul. This time Muncy hit a no-doubter to left-centerfield for a 3-2 Dodgers win; there first win in the series.

The official game time was 7 hour and 20 minutes and I’m sure fatigue played a factor not only for the players, but for the umpires and definitely the announcers.

The players are in the best shape out of this group; so they obviously handled the longer game the best. It was the other two groups where the length of the game started to show. From where I picked the game up in the 13th inning the home plate umpires strike zone started to change. While I don’t think this had any affect on the game you could clearly see that he was calling pitchers later in the game that he wasn’t calling when I first started watching it. As for the announcers it seemed as though they had run out of things to talk about as they continued to repeat things they had said just the half inning before. How many times did you hear that Eovaldi was suppose to be the Red Sox starter in Game 4. Then they kept mentioning how the Red Sox didn’t have a starting pitcher for Game 4 and that Chris Sale would start Game 5.

I really became confused when Drew Pomeranz started warming up in the Red Sox bullpen. Now Pomeranz hasn’t appeared in the playoffs for the Red Sox this season, but he made 11 starts and pitched in 26 games for the Red Sox during the regular season. Then there’s Eduardo Rodriguez who did pitch 1/3rd of an inning in Game 3, but threw just 6 pitches. He made 23 starts for the Red Sox and pitched in 27 total games during the regular season. Are neither of these pitchers capable of starting Game 4?

Maybe Pomeranz and Rodriquez aren’t the pitcher that the Red Sox thought they’d be going with in Game 4, but they’re both proven Major League starting pitchers. Rodriguez won 13 games during the 2018 regular season. The issue with Rodriguez might be the fact that he’s didn’t pitch more than 6 2/3rd innings in any start. Pomeranz had an injury plagued 2018, but don’t forget that in 2017 he won 17 games.

I’m not sure if this is as big of a deal as everyone is making this out to be. Of course if either of these do make the start and struggle it will continue to be talked about way, way too much.

I wonder if it’s possible that will see the Red Sox use Pomeranz as the starting pitcher for Game 4 and see how many innings they can get out of him. Once he runs into trouble they could go to Rodriguez for multiple innings out of the bullpen first. Imagine if the Red Sox could get 4 innings out of Pomeranz and 4 innings out of Rodriguez before turning it over to Craig Kimbrel for an inning. do you think that could work for Boston?

It dies appear as though the Dodgers will have an advantage at starting pitcher as Rich Hill gets the call for Game 4 for Los Angeles. Hill’s 38 years old and he made 24 starts during the 2018 regular season and he almost made one relief appearance. Hill was 11-5 with an ERA of 3.66, but he hasn’t been used a lot in this post season.

Hill made two post season starts; one against the Atlanta Braves and one against the Milwaukee Brewers. He also pitched an inning in relief against the Brewers in the NLCS. You have to wonder if the fat that Hill hasn’t pitched in 8 days will hurt or help him. Extra rest can be good, but too much extra rest can be bad.

Do you think that Hill gives the Dodgers that big advantage that everyone seems to think it is? Also do you have the Dodgers evening up the World Series at 2 games apiece tonight?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen t any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 24, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

Even though the Boston Red Sox won 108 games during the regular season I wasn’t completely sold on them coming into the playoffs. To be fair I wasn’t buying all the hype about the New York Yankees; so I thought that the Red Sox would get past them, but it was the ALCS that I had concerns about them.

The Houston Astros where the defending champions and they won 103 regular season games; so they where a good team. I guess I bought into the old adage of good pitching beating good hitting. I thought that the Astros starting rotation would be the difference and that would get them past the Red Sox, but I was wrong and after getting to see the way the red Sox seem to come through with the clutch hit almost every time they need it I became a believer in them.

So yesterday on the Sports Time Radio podcast Dan the Man and I where setting up our T-shirt bet for the World Series. If you’ve listened to the podcast for any length of time you know that for the Stanley Cup Finals the last few seasons and then the Super Bowl last season Dan and I have bet a T-Shirt. this is the first time we’ve made a bet on the World Series; so I gave Dan first choice of teams.

Dan picked the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series. He has them winning it in seven games and his pick for MVP is Justin Turner. So by default I get the Red Sox to win the World Series which is the team I would’ve picked had I ben given the choice; so it worked out. I also believe that it will be a seven game series and I went with Xander Bogaerts as my MVP.

Last night my team got off to a good start as the Red Sox picked up an 8-4 win in Game 1 of the World Series.

The Dodgers didn’t score in the first inning, but the Red Sox added 2 runs very quickly off of Clayton Kershaw. Mookie Betts led off the inning with a single and stole 2nd base. Andrew Benintendi drove him home with a single to rightfield and moved up to 2nd base himself on the throw home. After a Steve Pearce pop out J.D. Martinez drove Benintendi home with a single to center giving Boston an early 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers cut the lead in half in the 2nd inning as Matt Kemp hit a solo home run to leftfield with one out. Boston didn’t score in their half of the 2nd; so the score was 2-1.

With one out in the Top of the 3rd the Dodgers used three singles by Justin Turner, David Freese and Manny Machado with Turner scoring on Machado’s single to tie the game at 2-2. In Boston’s half of the 3rd Benintendi singled, but was wiped out on a Pearce fielder’s choice. With two outs Martinez doubled to centerfield scoring Pearce and giving the Red Sox the lead back at 3-2.

After Neither team scored in the 4th inning Brian Dozier drew a walk to lead off the 5th inning. The walk to Dozier ended Chris Sale’s night as Matt Barnes took over on the mound for the Red Sox. Turner greeted Barnes with a single moving Dozier to 3rd. Freese struck out for the first out of the inning. Machado hit a ground ball that could’ve been a double play, but Turner moved up to 2nd base on a wild pitch; so instead Dozier scored on the ground out to tie the game at 3-3. After a Betts walk and a single by Benintendi moving Betts up to 2nd base Kershaw was removed from the game for Ryan Madson. After a wild pitch and a Pearce walk the Red Sox had the bases loaded for Martinez who struck out. Bogaerts grounded into a fielder’s choice to give the Red Sox the lead back at 4-3 and then Rafael Devers singled home Benintendi to make it a 5-3 game.

Both teams went down 1,2,3 in the 6th inning and after Ryan Brasier got the first out of the 7th inning, but Max Muncy singled to start a rally as Turner followed with a single of his own. Then after Yasmani Grandal drew a walk the Dodgers had the bases loaded. Machado was up next and he flew out to centerfield, but it was deep enough to score Muncy and make it a 5-4. Brasier got Cody Bellenger to fly out to end the threat. The Red Sox put the game away in the Bottom of the 7th. Julio Urias started the inning on the mound, but after Benintendi hit a ground rule double to lead off the inning he was removed. Pedro Baez sandwiched an intentional walk in between two strikeouts before he was removed from the game for Alex Wood. Alex Cora countered Dave Roberts move by pinch hitting the right handed hitting Eduardo Nunez for the left handed hitting Devers. The move paid off as Nunez iced the game for the red Sox with a three run home run to leftfield to make it an 8-4 game.

Nathan Eovaldi pitched a 1,2,3 Top of the 8th for the Red Sox and then Craig Kimbrell worked a 1,2,3 Top of the 9th to close out the Game 1 win for the Red Sox.

Kershaw took the loss for the Dodgers as he pitched 4 innings. He gave up 5 runs on 7 hits while walking 3 and striking out 5. Red Sox starter Chris Sale didn’t factor in the decision as Barnes picked up the win for Boston. Sale pitched 4 innings giving up 3 runs on 5 hits while walking 2 and striking out 7.

The teams will turn right around and play Game 2 tonight. Hyun-Jin Ryu will make the start for the Dodgers while the Red Sox will go with David Price as their starter.

Can the Dodgers get a split in Boston tonight and steal home field advantage. After tonight’s game the series will head to Los Angeles for three games; so if the Dodgers can get a win tonight if they win out at home they wouldn’t have to make a trip back to Boston.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to ay time you want at TuneIn.com

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @BurkeTime

How was your week

Posted: October 20, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

The Boston Red Sox punched thier ticket to the World Series by beating the Houston Astros 4 games to 1 in the ALCS. The Red Sox will have to wait one more day to find out who their World Series opponent will be as the NLCS is headed to a Game 7 tonight. The Los Angeles Dodgers will send Walker Buehler to the mound while the Brewers counter with Jhoulys Chacin.

I have to tell you the outcome of the ALCS surprised me a little bit. I know there where a lot of people who thought that the New York Yankees would be the Red Sox toughest challenge this post season, but I thought all along it would be the Astros. As it turned out Boston didn’t have too much trouble getting by either team and advancing to the World Series.

The reason I thought that Houston would be a difficult team for the Red sox to face was the fact that they have a line up that can match up with Boston offensively and I thought they had the better pitching staff.

Now interestingly the two best hitters in the series may have been Astros as George Springer hit .381 while Carlos Correa was the only other player in the series to hit over .300 at .316, but the Red Sox got the big hits when they counted. Rafael Devers was a nice surprise as he hit .385 and homered in the four games he played in. Devers also added 6 RBI’s in the ALCS which was the second most behind only the 9 RBI’s that Jackie Bradley Jr. had. I know, I know Red Sox fans are going to point out that Mitch Moreland hit .500 in the series, but he only had 6 at bats; so let’s not get carried away.

The Astros even out homered the Red Sox 6 to 4 in the series, but it seemed as though when the Red Sox homered it was at a crucial time in the game. Bradley Jr’s grand slam for Boston and Devers home run off of Justin Verlander may have been the biggest hit in the series.

The Astros starting rotation which appeared to be their biggest advantage coming into the series didn’t really com through for them. While Verlander did pick up Houston’s only win he had an ERA of 4.50 in his two starts and walked 6 guys over 12 innings. Gerrit Cole gave up 5 runs, 4 earned in his only start pitching 6 innings. Charlie Morton ended up being the worst of the Astros starters as he lasted just 2 1/3rd innings giving up 3 runs on 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out 2. Now I’m sure if it was a regular season game Morton would’ve been given a chance to go out and settle down, but being that this was the ALCS, the plug was pulled on him early. Dallas Keuchel ended up having the best start for Houston against the Red Sox and there where some questions on if he should’ve been left in his start longer. Keuchel pitched 5 innings; he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and walked 2 in that start. Keuchel took a no-decision in that game and I’m not sure it would’ve changed the outcome of the game had he stayed in to pitch more a few more innings.

It looked as though the starting pitching advantage swung the Astros way even more when Chris Sale was hospitalized for a stomach issue and wouldn’t be available for the Game 5 start. Instead of it being an advantage for Houston the much maligned David Price stepped in for Sale on short rest and had the best start of his post season career. We’ve all heard about Price’s post season struggles and even in his two post season starts before Game 5 against the Astros he had given up 7 earned runs over 6 2/3rd innings. So what did Price do; he threw 6 shutout inning giving up just 3 hits and striking out 9 in his Game 5 victory.

I’m not sure if that start will get the post season monkey off his back, but it was huge for the Red Sox. By pitching so well and allowing Boston to get the win and advance it gives Sale extra time to recover and be ready to go for Game 1 of the World Series. Also since the Red Sox had the best record in baseball they can return home and just try to relax as they wait for the winner of tonight’s Game 7 between the Dodgers and the Brewers.

Over in the National League the Dodgers are turning to 24 year old Walker Buehler for the Game 7 start. Buehler faced Milwaukee in Game 3 of this series and took the loss. He pitched 7 innings giving up 4 runs on 6 hits while striking out 8 and walking 1. While the Dodgers turn to one of their young arms, the Brewers are going with a veteran as Jhoulys Chacin is making the Game 7 start for Milwaukee. Chacin faced off against Buehler in Game 3 and picked up the win. Chacin pitched 5 1/3rd innings; he gave up 3 hits, but no runs while striking out 6 and walking 2.

Of course being that it’s a Game 7 you know that every pitcher is available if needed. I’m hearing a lot of talk about the fact that Josh Hader hasn’t pitched since Game 4; so he’ll be able to give the Brewers multiple innings if needed. Hader has been phenomenal this post season. In 6 games covering 7 innings Hader has allowed 4 hits, but he hasn’t allowed a run and hasn’t walked a batter while striking out 12. It’s clear that Hader is a big weapon coming out of that Brewers bullpen, but the Dodgers will have there own bullpen weapon as well. Who’s the Dodgers weapon? How about a former MVP and 3-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw pitched 7 innings in Game 5 which was on Wednesday. It’s quite possible that Kershaw could match Hader inning for inning tonight.

I’m guessing that unless the game goes deep into extra innings that every pitcher on both teams roster will be available tonight except for Hun-Jin Ryu who pitched 3 innings last night throwing 57 pitches and Wade Miley who made back to back post season starts. Miley threw just 5 pitches in Game 5, but last night he threw 87 pitches over 4 1/3rd innings last night in Game 6. I’m not sure if either guy could bounce back tonight, but you never know.

So who do you have going to the World Series out of the National League? Are you going with the Dodgers or the Brewers tonight in Game 7?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is also available for you to listen to any time you any at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

 

 

How was your week

Posted: October 13, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

The Milwaukee Brewers got to Clayton Kershaw for 5 runs over 3 innings last night, but it ended up being the run that they got off of Julio Urias in the bottom of the 7th inning that proved to be the difference as they held on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

Kershaw threw 74 pitches 53 of them for strikes in his 3 innings of work. He gave up 6 hits one of which was a home run. He struck out 2 while walking 2 and 5 of the 6 runs he gave up where earned.

The Dodgers staked Kershaw to a 1-0 lead when Manny Machado hit a lead off home run in the Top of the 2nd inning off of Brewers starter Gio Gonzalez. That was the one hit and the only run that Gonzalez allowed in his 2 innings of work as the Brewers went to their bullpen early as they’ve done through the playoffs.

Brandon Woodruff was the first of 6 pitchers to come out of the Milwaukee bullpen and not only did he throw 2 scoreless innings; striking out 4 he also tied the game with a solo home run off of Kershaw to lead off the Bottom of the 3rd inning. After the home run the Brewers loaded the bases against Kershaw with just one out. Hernan Perez gave Milwaukee the lead they’d never relinquish with a sacrifice fly to  centerfield to make it a 2-1 game. 

The Brewers where able to stretch their lead in the Top of the 4th. Kershaw started the inning on the mound, but after a walk two singles and an error that allowed 2 runs to score Ryan Madson came out of the Dodgers bullpen to replace Kershaw. Madson got the first two batters he faced out, but after Domingo Santana stole 2nd base Ryan Braun singled him home t make the Milwaukee lead 5-1.

The game stayed at 5-1 as both teams bullpen held down the others line up until the Bottom of the 7th inning. Urias came out of the Dodgers bullpen and was greeted by a home run off the bat of Jesus Aguilar to make it a 6-1 game. 

Xavier Cedeno was on the mound to start the Top of the 8th inning for the Brewers and with a 5-run lead and a bullpen that had been lights out in the playoffs it looked as though this game was a lock for the Brewers, but the Dodgers had other ideas.

Yasmani Grandal led off the inning with a singled, but was forced out at 2nd base on a Joc Pedersen fielders choice. Joakim Soria came out of the Brewers bullpen and was greeted by a Chris Taylor single before recording the 2nd out of the inning on a strikeout. Max Muncy worked a walk to load the bases and the Brewers went to the bullpen again for Jeremy Jeffress. Machado singled to drive in 2 runs to make it a 6-3 game; Matt Kemp followed with a single of his own to drive in another run and make it a 6-4 game before Jeffress struck out Yasiel Puig to end the inning.

Jeffress has been closing games for the Brewers, but Craig Counsell decided not to stretch Jeffress into a second inning and instead turned to former closer Corey Knebel to close out the game.

Knebel got the first two betters he faced in the Top of the 9th on a ground out and a strikeout. With two outs Pedersen worked a work. That was followed by a Chris Taylor triple to make it a one run game at 6-5. With the game tying run just 90 feet away Knebel was able to get the final out with a strikeout of Justin Turner to pick u the save and give the Brewers a 6-5 Game 1 win.

After a Friday night game the Dodgers and Brewers turn right around and play an afternoon game on Saturday. Today’s game is set to start at 2:09 p.m. Central time. Hyun-Jin Ryu makes the Game 2 start for the Dodgers who’ll be looking to even the series while the Brewers will use Wade Miley as their starting pitcher.

The teams combined to use 11 relievers in last nights game; so it will be interesting to see how long they’ll allow either starting pitcher to go.

Can the Dodgers even the series this afternoon or will the Brewers take the first two games at home?

Now after his start I saw some people really getting on Kershaw. I actually saw one poll about if he or David Price was the worst post season pitcher. Now this is a quick turnaround which upset fans will do considering that Kershaw is coming off an outing where he pitched 8 scoreless innings against he Colorado Rockies in the NLDS.

Kershaw has pitched 133 post  season innings and has an 8-8 record with 1 save and 1 hold. He has a post season ERA of 4.26 and has struck out 144 batters while walking 39.

The ERA is a little higher than most people would like for a pitcher like Kershaw, but he has taken a loss in four games than where decided by two runs or less. With a little offense Kershaw could have a 12-4 post season record and I don’t think people would be talking about him being one of the worst post season pitchers ever.

You’d have to think that as long as the Dodgers can win a game in the NLCS Kershaw will get another opportunity to make a post season start against the Brewers. Will he have the same struggles he had in Game 1 or will we see the Kershaw that spun a gem against the Rockies in the Division Series. You also have to wonder if the Dodgers can extend the series to seven games would we get a Kershaw start in a Game 7 on short rest?

Of course this all hinges on the Dodgers being able to beat a Milwaukee team that has won 8 games in a row to end the regular season and now have a 4 game winning streak in the post season. 

Does the Brewers streak continue this afternoon? Or will the Dodgers find a way to end it?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that you can also go over to TuneIn.com and listen to the podcast any time you’d like to.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 10, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

We’re all set for the American and National League Championship Series to kick off this weekend.

The Milwaukee Brewers will host the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS on Friday while the ALCS gets started on Saturday as the Boston Red Sox will play host to the Houston Astros.

It appears as the Dodgers are the only team that has announced a starting pitcher for Game 1 and it’s not a huge surprise that they’re going with Clayton Kershaw.

The Brewers had a bullpen game to open the NLDS against the Colorado Rockies and they got 3 shutout innings from Brandon Woodruff. Would the Brewers try to go that route again or will we see Jhoulys Chacin brought back for Game 1.

The Astros have some extra time to get their starting rotation et up for the ALCS, but which starter will they go with in game 1? Gerrit Cole had the best start of the Houston pitchers tat started against the Cleveland Indians, but it’s difficult to see Houston pass over Justin Verlander. Since the Astros swept the ALDS Charlie Morton never made a start; so their is an outside chance they’d go with him in Game 1, but you’d have to think it will be Verlander.

AS for the Red Sox you have to think that Chris Sale get the Game 1 start. Sale was planned to be the Game 5 starter in the ALDS if needed and ended up coming out of the bullpen to pitch one inning last night. Even with throwing that inning he should be just fine to make the Game 1 start as the Red Sox get three days off before the ALCS starts.

In the National League match up no matter who’s pitching they’re going to have to deal with some hot hitter from both teams. Ryan Braun hit .385 while Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas each hit .364 and while Christian Yelich hit just .250 in the NLDS he drew 6 walks in three games and stole 2 bases. Justin Turner led the way average wise for the Dodgers in the NLDS hitting .357 while Yasiel Puig hit .333. Manny Machado and Max Muncy each hit two home runs apiece in the NLDS and Muncy also drew 6 walks. Don’t worry I didn’t forget Brewers catcher Eric Kratz. He was 5 for 8 (.625) with 2 RBI’s a double and a run scored in the two games he appeared in.

Over in the American League the Astros are bringing 5 players who hit .400 or better in the ALDS. Alex Bregman led the way with a .556 batting average plus 2 home runs. Marwin Gonzalez hit .538, Tyler White hit .500 while George Springer not only hit .429 he also had 3 home runs. Josh Reddick rounds out the hot Astros hitter as he hit .400 in the ALDS. The Red Sox aren’t sporting as high averages as the Astros as J.D. Martinez was their top hitter with a .357 average and 6 RBI’s. Steve Pearce hit .333 as did Mitch Moreland, but Moreland appeared in just 2 games. Christian Vazquez hit .333 plus what turned out to be the game winning home run in Game 4 of the ALDS. Brock Holt played in just one of the ALDS games, but it was memorable. Holt went 4 for 6 in that game hitting for the cycle and driving in 5 runs.

I’m sure you’ve heard the baseball phrase “good pitching beats good hitting”. In these two series we just might find out if that applies.

We’re through fie weeks in the NFL season and here’s how we did with our picks. For Week 5 I got the win going 10-5. Dan the Man and Schaumburg Stu where both 8-7 while Mr. Fantasy had a sub .500 week at 7-8. For the season I’m in the lead at 46-32. Schaumburg Stu is in 2nd place at 44-34 with Mr. Fantasy in 3rd at 43-35. Dan the Man is still at the bottom of the pile, but he’s gotten himself back to .500 at 39-39. Who knows how Week 6 will go.

While the Jacksonville Jaquars have one of the best defenses in the NFL their running backs seem to keep getting injured. There top running back Leonard Fournette has been battling a hamstring injury and has carried the football just 20 time this season. It looked as though the Jaquars would be just fine with T.J. Yeldon as the #1 running back and Corey Grant spelling him until Fournette returned from injury. Yeldon is averaging 4.4 yards per carry and has caught 22 passes while Grant hasn’t run the football as well just 3.1 yards per carry he’s done well in the passing game catching 9 passes.

Unfortunately for the Jaquars Grant was lost for the season in Week 5’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs as he suffered a Lisfranc injury and will miss he rest of the season.

With the injury to Grant Jacksonville would need someone to pair with Yeldon until Fornette can return; so yesterday the Jaquars signed veteran Jamaal Charles to a contract.

Charles spent last season with the Denver Broncos playing in 14 games for them, but carrying the football just 69 times for 269 yards and 1 touchdown. He also caught 23 passes for 129 yards.

Charles will turn 32 in December, but had five seasons where he rushed for over 1000 yards as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2012 Charles rushed for 1509 yards and in 2013 he led the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 12; so he has a solid resume.

Now Charles himself has had his share of injury issues in his career. in 2011 he played in just 2 games, in 2015 he played in just 5 games and in 2016 he played in just 3 games due to injuries.

Charles has a similar style to Yeldon’s; so it should be an interesting backfield mix for Jacksonville until Fornette returns. It also wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Jaquars add another running back before Sunday’s game since Charles and Yeldon are the only two healthy one’s on their roster right now.

Jacksonville is currently 3-2 and tied with the Tennessee Titans at the top of the AFC South. The Jaquars are on the road this week against the struggling Dallas Cowboys.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to whenever you want at TuneIn.com.

Also you can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: October 6, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

Do you ever wonder if Major League baseball and the television networks that cover them are trying to find a way to have the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees meet I the World Series even though both teams are not only in the American League, but in the same division.

I had to work this morning, but I got home just in time for the 9:00 a.m. Sportscenter and I was surprised that they started off with highlights from the Red Sox/Yankees game. I actually found it hard to believe that they open the show with this and there was some actual coverage of it. They not only showed important highlights from the game, but then they did a breakdown of the game and it’s important moments and ever went into some analysis for Game 2.

I have to tell you I was almost in shock especially being that it was a Saturday and normally college football is the feature sport on Saturday.

Of course my surprise didn’t last very long as ESPN went right back to being the network I’m use to.

As they went into highlights of the Los Angeles Dodgers/Atlanta Braves game things got back to the way baseball is covered on Sportscenter. There where two highlights of Clayton Kershaw striking out Braves batters. Then they showed the Manny Machado home run which was caught by a kid in the stands. They replayed the home run, but instead of going into any kind of game breakdown they teased the fact that they would be having the kid who caught the baseball on live later in the show.

They moved on to the Milwaukee Brewers/Colorado Rockies game. It was more or less the same set up for this game. There where maybe two or three highlights from the game and then they showed a graphic of how bad the Rockies offense has been. That was it for that game.

Then it was time for highlights from the Houston Astros/Cleveland Indians game. Now at least they did show highlights of all three of the home runs the Astros hit. There was also a shot of an upset Corey Kluber walking in the Indians dugout, but I don’t think that counts as a highlight.

What got off to a good start quickly turned into something that I was disappointed that I watched, but it could’ve been so much more and I just don’t get it.

The first segment was insightful and one of the best baseball segments I had seen on a Sportscenter in a very long time. I just don’t understand why they didn’t give as much attention to the other three series as they did the Red Sox/Yankees series. They had an opportunity to give people a chance to see quality baseball played by teams that aren’t on the east coast, but they chose to follow the standard quo and have an east coast bias. I know baseball wants to be a national game, but unless you can get the networks that cover the game like it’s a national game it will always be looked at as a regional game.

I know there where some questions when the Dodgers made the decision to go with Walker Buehler as their starter for Game 163 over Clayton Kershaw. Then the Dodgers turned to Hyun-Jin Ryu in Game 1 of the division series.

Ryu responded with a strong outing giving the Dodgers 7 innings without giving up any runs. Ryu allowed just 4 hits and struck out 8 in his start as the Dodgers won Game 1.

Now with a game in hand the Dodgers turned to Kershaw last night and he delivered with what was probably the best post season outing in his career. Kershaw pitched 8 innings for the first time in the post season and while he only struck out 3 batters he didn’t allow any runs and only gave up 2 hits to the Braves as the Dodgers picked up a 3-0 win in Game 2.

Over the 18 innings played in this series Dodgers pitching has allowed 0 runs on 9 hits while striking out 15. The most interesting part of the Dodgers pitching stat line is the fact that they haven’t walked a batter over those first 18 innings.

Now the Dodgers aren’t the only National League team with a 2-0 lead in their National League Division Series.

The Milwaukee Brewers have won the first two games in their series with the Colorado Rockies.

It took extra innings, but the Brewers found a way to get a 3-2 win in 10 innings in Game 1. Milwaukee was in control of the game until the top of the 9th when Colorado got back into the game with 2 runs off of Brewers close Jeremy Jeffress to tie thing up and send the game into extra innings.

It only took the Brewers one extra frame to pick up a Game 1 win. Joakim Soria sent the Rockies down in order in the top of the 10th inning setting up the Brewers with a chance in the bottom of the inning. Christian Yelich drew a walk to start the inning and advance to 2nd on an Adam Ottavino wild pitch. After Ryan Braun Struck out swinging Travis Shaw was intentionally walked to set up the double play. Curtis Granderson pinch hit for Soria and grounded into a fielders choice moving Yelich up to 3rd base. Mike Moustakas singled to rightfield to drive Yelich in and give the Brewers a 3-2 Game 1 win.

Last night in Game 2 the Brewers took a 3 games to 0 lead in the series with a 4-0 win over Colorado.

It was a 1-0 game until the Brewers scored 3 runs in the 8th inning off of the Colorado bullpen. Harrison Musgrave gave up a run without being able to record an out and then the Brewers added 2 runs off of Seungwan Oh who managed to get just 1 out before Chris Rusin came in and ended the Brewers threat. Jeffress worked 2 scoreless innings to seal Game 2 for Milwaukee.

The National League series are off today as the teams travel to Atlanta and Colorado respectively for a pair of Game 3’s tomorrow.

Can the Braves and the Rockies get back into these series with home games? Or is being down 2-0 to much to over come in a best of 5 series?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on the BlogTalkRadio.com network, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 3, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

Now I’ve been a sports fan for as long as I could remember, but I have to admit it’s getting more and more difficult to watch some of them. I’m not sure what I would do if I didn’t have sports to watch, but with the way things are going I might have to find out.

If you’ve listened to the Sports Time Radio podcast you know that I am completely down on the NBA and I watch very little of it. I loss interest when the league started to make the rule changes to eliminate defense so scoring would increase and they got it. Now every night it’s a 3-point shooting contest and I don’t understand how that’s fun to watch. It wasn’t for me; so I’ve pretty much stopped watching.

The NFL is starting to make some changes that are making me watch less and less of it. In the first 4 weeks of this NFL season I’ve watched less football than I ever have. To be fair the NFL started try to eliminate defense a long, long time ago, but now it’s the rule changes that are just killing me.

The biggest plus is they seem to have simplified the catch rule even though I’m pretty sure most to the referees don’t know what a catch is. Of course that little plus doesn’t make up for the gigantic negative that roughing the passer has become. It as bad enough when they started throwing flags when the quarterback got touched anywhere around the head area; now it’s just ridiculous. I’m sure there are some out their, but I haven’t seen one legitimate roughing the passer call this season and some of these terrible calls have cost teams games. That’s when it becomes a big deal. Just imagine your favorite team missing the playoffs by one game and you can look back at that one bad roughing that passer call that a referee shouldn’t of thrown a flag on.

With the road that the NFL is on right now I don’t know how much longer I’ll be watching games.

Now if you’ve listened to the podcast or even followed the blog for a while you know that baseball is my favorite sport out of all of them, but I am very frightened that my enjoyment of the game is going to be taken away from me.

Now I’m not a fan of sabermetric or any of the analytics that have been brought into the game recently, but I heard something yesterday that scared me to death when it comes to baseball.

During one of the many pre-game shows I watched yesterday they where having a discussion about the Oakland A’s using Liam Hendricks as their “opener” for wild card game against the New York Yankees tonight. Now using an “opener” is the new fade in baseball and the A’s going that route didn’t bother me; it was the way the conversation went after that.

The panel started discussing how soon there would be no more starting pitchers in baseball and ever game would be a bullpen game. This would be the end of it for me. I just don’t understand why teams would feel the need to do this, but the panel I was listening to was pretty sure that this was going to happen and happen sooner than people think it will.

I’ve always understood that from time to time you’re going to need a bullpen game or a game is going to turn into a bullpen game if your starting pitcher exits the game early, but to use it on a daily basis tells me a lot about your organization. The biggest thing it tells me it that your organization doesn’t know how to draft a starting pitcher or develop them once you get them into your minor league system. It also tells me that your coaching staff at the major league level has so little confidence in that pitchers ability that they’re not comfortable running the guy out their for the 1st inning. What’s the difference if the pitcher who was going to start the game and comes in after the “opener” faces the top of the opponents order to start the game or in the 3rd inning.

The “opener” seems like a gimmick to me, but the Tampa Bay Rays won 90 games this season and they used an “opener” more than any other team and they had success with it; so that means other teams will follow suit.

Now when I gave up on the NBA it wasn’t that big of a deal or even that difficult for me to do. I didn’t play basketball at a very high level; so I wasn’t invested in the game that much.

Football fading away for me is a little tougher. I played quite a bit of football in my life and I was actually a decent player and while I haven’t completely let go of the game if I get to that point it’s going to be tough for me.

Now I pray that baseball doesn’t put me through this. I am attached to baseball. I started playing baseball as soon as I was old enough to join and I played it as long as I could. It was easily my best sport and I have to admit that I don’t want to give it up, but I need them to stop ruining the game for me. Sadly for me I’m not sure if they’ll be able to stop destroying the game because it allows the people who couldn’t play it because they weren’t good enough to be involved and have some control and you know they enjoy that. Man am I going to miss baseball.

I guess I still got hockey and their regular season starts tonight.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: September 26, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

With all of the playoff spots decided in the American League with the exception of where the wild card game will be played we turn to the National League for excitement with just 5 or 6 games left per team.

Now the Atlanta Braves have wrapped up the NL East, but the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers leads in their divisions are down to just 1/2 a game. It’s the Milwaukee Brewers chasing the Cubs while the Colorado Rockies are the team hot on the Dodgers heels.

The Cubs have dropped their last two games to the Pittsburgh Pirates and they have two more games against the Pirates today and tomorrow before they wrap the season up with three games against their biggest rival the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals will be playing for something themselves as they’re trying to hang on in the wild card race and you know there’s nothing more than the Cardinals would like would be to knock the Cubs out of the division lead.

The Brewers have won their last three games and five f their last six including two in a row against the Cardinals. Milwaukee wraps up their series with St. Louis tonight; they’re off on Thursday before they head home for the final three games of the season against the Detroit Tigers.

I think most of the experts feel that the Cubs are the better team out of the two, but the schedule really set up in the Brewers favor. Do you think it’s possible for the Brewers to go into the playoffs as the NL Central champions?

The Dodgers dropped their game to the Arizona Diamondbacks last night 4-3, but that was just the Dodgers third loss in their last thirteen games. The Dodgers wrap the season up on the road. They have one more game in Arizona against the Diamondbacks before they head to San Francisco for the final three games of the season against the Giants. The Giants have had a down year, but a great way to end it for them would be to knock the Dodgers out of the playoffs.

The Rockies are a hot team and their offense is hitting right now. Colorado has won five games in a row and they’ve scored 10 runs in each of their last two win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Rockies have two more games in Colorado against the Phillies before the Washington Nationals come to Coors Field for the final three games of the season.

It’s an interesting schedule set up for both of these teams and I’m not sure either one has an advantage. Both the Dodgers and the Rockies wrap up with teams that have had disappointing season, but could also be dangerous. The biggest difference is the Dodgers have to face a rival in the Giants while the Rockies wrap up against the National League East.

The Rockies currently hold the final wild card spot, but they’re just 1/2 games ahead of St. Louis; so there’s a chance that only the winner of the National League West will make the playoffs.

Who do you have winning the NL West? Do the Dodgers hang on and win it or will the Rockies get past them and take the division?

As for the Cardinals they clearly have the toughest schedule out of all the playoff contenders. After sweeping three games from San Francisco the Cardinals have dropped their last two games to the Brewers. St. Louis wraps up their series with Milwaukee tonight and then as we mentioned before they’ll head to Chicago to close out the season with three games against the Cubs.

Can the Cardinals be the third NL Central team o make the playoffs? Or is their schedule just to tough?

Is it possible that Le’Von Bell has played his last down for the Pittsburgh Steelers. There has been a lot of talk that the Steelers would be willing to trade Bell. as I’m sure you know Bell had the franchise tag placed on him this past off season, but refused to sign the contract and is holding out for a new deal. If the Steelers where to trade Bell who would be interested and what could they get for him.

Bell would fit with any team that doesn’t have a top tier running back and the New York Jets where the first team to step up and say they’d be interested in making a deal for Bell. The Jets have been in on a lot of top players, but haven’t landed any of them yet. Remember they offered Kirk Cousins  lot of money this off season in free agency, but he choose to sign with the Minnesota Vikings. The Jets where also interested in trading for Khalil Mack, but it was the Chicago Bears who ended up landing him. Could Bell be the first top player the Jets land and if they where to deal for him would he be willing to sign long term with them.

While the Jets have been the only team to formally address a trade for Bell there are some teams that he could fit in with very nicely. I’ve seen these four teams names mentioned more than any other; so what do you think about them?

How about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers are a surprising 2-1, but they’re averaging just 3.0 yards per carry on he ground an they only have one rushing touchdown. Oh; who scored that rushing touchdown, that’s right it was Ryan Fitzpatrick. Bell would immediately upgrade the Buccaneers running game and actually make it something teams would have to game plan against.

It would probably be to good to be true, but what if the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles acquired Bell. Top rusher Jay Ajayi has been injured and there probably isn’t a more perfect fit for this offense at the running back position than Bell. The biggest question the Eagles would have to address if they did make a deal for Bell is what would they do with Ajayi and Corey Clement.

Maybe the Green Bay Packers could add Bell and give Aaron Rodgers another weapon. Green Bay has an interesting trio of running backs in Jamaal Williams, Ty Montgomery and Aaron Jones, but Bell would be the full time running back they need. Montgomery could return to being a wide receiver while Jones and Williams could learn from Bell.

Finally how about Bell going to the Miami Dolphins. I knw Miami like Kenyan Drake, but Bell is the better running back. in a season where the New England Patriots haven’t looked like they’re going to dominant the AFC East the addition of Bell could make the Dolphins a contender.

Now like I said Bell would be a good fit for any of these teams and more interesting is the fact that it appears as it would just take a 3rd round pick to get him. Even if Bell turns out to be a rent a player for any team that acquires him giving up just a 3rd round pick to get him is well worth the risk.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to ay time you want at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: September 22, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
0

As I’m sure you know by now; the Cleveland Browns won a football game for the first time in over 600 plus days. Now not only did the Browns get win, but myself, Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy start Week 3 off 1-0. Schaumburg Stu was the only won who picked the New York Jets; so he’s starting the week off 0-1.

With the Browns down 14-0 nd starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor out of the game with a concussion it was time for the #1 overall pick Baker Mayfield to make his NFL debut.

Mayfield led the Browns on two drives that ended in field goals to make it a 14-6 game. Mayfield almost threw the first touchdown pass of his career, but Jarvis Landry was brought down on the 1 yard line leaving it to Carols Hyde to pound it in to make it 14-12. The Browns decided to go to 2 and it was Landry and Mayfield involved in the play, but the other way around. Landry threw to a wide open Mayfield in the end zone to convert the 2-point conversion and tie the game at 14 all. The Jets turned around with their rookie quarterback Sam Darnold and kicked a field goal to take the lead back at 17-14. Now it was Mayfield’s turn again to try and see if he could lead the Browns down the field and to that first win. Now this is Cleveland; so I’m sure everyone was expecting them to find a way to lose the game, but not this time. Mayfield did lead the Browns down the field and again it was Hyde who scored on a 1 yard touchdown run to put Cleveland ahead 21-17. Now with 2:04 left in the game the question was; can Cleveland hold on? The Jets first comeback attempt ended when Joe Schobert picked off Darnold with 1:27 left to play. The Jets had all 3 of their timeouts left and with the Browns unable to generate a 1st down Darnold and the Jets where going to get one more chance to try and win the game with 56 seconds left. The Jets drive started with a 31 yard completion to former Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor for 31 yards, but after an incompletion the Jets where down to just 15 seconds. Darnold took a shot down the left hand side of the field for Robbie Anderson, but Terrance Mitchell intercepted the pass and sealed the win for the Browns.

Mayfield went 17 for 23 in the game for 201 yards. While he didn’t throw a touchdown pass he also didn’t throw any interception, but he was sacked 1 time. He also caught the pass to complete the Browns 2-point conversion.

The Browns are now 1-1-1 on the season, but could easily be 3-0. In Week 4 Cleveland travels west to face the Oakland Raiders and the question now is; do Mayfield be the starting quarterback for that game? I don’t think that anyone was surprised when Cleveland’s head coach Hue Jackson said he wouldn’t announce a starting quarterback until next week.

This is an interesting decision because if the Browns decide to go to Mayfield under center I think they have to stay with him as their starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

I’m also sure that you’ve heard the term in football that you don’t lose your job because of injury and to be fair Taylor has been solid at quarterback in his three starts. He’s 41 for 84 (48.8%) for 462 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Taylor is also a very mobile quarterback as he’s ran the football 16 times for 125 yards (7.8 yards per carry) with 1 touchdown. Taylor is actually the Browns 2nd leading rusher.

Now Mayfield truly did look ready to take over the Browns quarterback job, but remember all the talk there was about Darnold after Week 1 when he looked so good against the Detroit Lions.

If you’re Hue Jackson what do you do? Are you starting Taylor or Mayfield in Week 4?

The Colorado Rockies went into a 3-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers five days ago with a 1/2 game lead in the NL West. The Rockies left Los Angeles in 2nd place after the Dodgers swept them in that three game series to take a 1 1/2 lead in the division.

The Dodgers have won 7 of their last 9 games and with the sweep over the Rockies showed that they are the best team in the NL West, but will they win the division?

Now Colorado is 2-5 in their last 7 games, but did get a win last night against the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Rockies look to have the tougher schedule down the stretch. Colorado has two more game with Arizona before wrapping up the season at home against two NL East teams. They’ll host the Philadelphia Phillies for 4 games and then finish the season with 3 games against the Washington Nationals. All three team the Rockies will play have fallen out of their respective playoff races, but they’re still quality teams.

The Dodgers have 2 more games against the San Diego Padres; who they lost to last night 5-3. After the Padres series the Dodgers not only go on the road, but stay in the division. The head to Arizona for 3 games before they wrap up the season with 3 games against the San Francisco Giants. The Diamondbacks are the only team over .500 that the Dodgers will play, but you have to think that if those final 3 games against the Giants mean anything that San Francisco would want to do everything they can to knock their rival out of the playoffs.

Down the stretch; who do you got, the Dodgers or the Rockies?

The NL Central is set up the same way coming down the stretch. The Chicago Cubs have a 1 1/2 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs are now dealing with an off the field distraction as their shortstop Addison Russell was placed on leave after allegations of abuse from his now ex-wife surfaced in a blog. How will the Cubs deal with the Russell situation and a pennant race?

It didn’t start off good for the Cubs as their crosstown rival the Chicago White Sox roughed them up 10-4, but the game wasn’t that close. The Cubs will close out the season with 2 more games against the White Sox. Then they’ll play their last 7 games at Wrigley field. The Pittsburgh Pirates visit for 4 games and then the season ends with a visit from the St. Louis Cardinals who might need those games to get into a wild card spot.

Milwaukee picked up some ground on the Cubs with an 8-3 win over the Pirates. The Brewers have 2 more games against the Pirates before they head to St. Louis for 3 games against the Cardinals. Milwaukee heads home to wrap up their season with 3 games against the Detroit Tigers.

Just like in the NL West; who are you going with to win the NL Central, the Cubs or the Brewers?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is also available for you to listen to whenever you want at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Older Entries
Newer Entries