Posts Tagged ‘New York Mets’

Cubs Crank Colon

Posted: July 20, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, post season, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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It’s a hot one in Chicago as the Cubs take on the Mets with Kyle Hendricks on the mound searching for his ninth win of the season as is Bartolo Colon. Both teams are searching for the win to take the series at Wrigley as the Cubs need this series after being swept in New York earlier this year.

Kyle would start off strong striking out the first three batters in the top of the first inning.  He would make it all the way to the top of the 7th inning giving up his first and only walk, his seventh hit of the day but gets the first out of the inning.  He would not give up a run in the game but it would be enough and Maddon would bring Carl Edwards, Jr for relief.

The Cubs would strike first and fast in the bottom of the 1st, with the bases loaded on Kris Bryant’s single and the back to back two out walks to Wilson Contreras and Jason Heyward, Addison Russell would send a line drive to left field driving in the first two runs of the game.  Cubs 2-0

After Kyle strikes out the top half of the 3rd inning, Anthony Rizzo would send a fly ball to right center field for his 23rd home run of the season.  This would put the Cubs up by 3.

Keeping with the every other inning of scoring, Kris Bryant would lead off the 5th with his 22cd double of the year.  No outs and Rizzo in the box, he takes the first pitch for a ball but gets a slider on the next pitch and takes Colon to right center field again for his 24th home run of the season.  The Cubs are now up by 6.

Carl Edwards, Jr would get Alejandro De Aza to ground out for the first out in the top of the 8th but walks Jose Reyes.  Maddon would visit the mound with the double switch, Travis Wood enters the game to get the second out of the inning.  His next two pitches to Wilmer Flores would be balls.  The third four-seam fastball, Flores would take to deep to left field for his tenth home fun of the season.  He does get out of the inning but the Cubs lead is dropped to four, Cubs 6, Mets 2.

Hector Rondon enters the 9th looking to not lose another game like he did last night, and gets off to quick start with two pitches gets the first out.  Kelly Johnson would swing on the first pitch cranking his fourth single of the day.  After a wild pitch, Juan Lagares would strike out.  Michael Conforto would foul off the first pitch.  He puts the second one into play for the third out to end the game and the Cubs take the series from Mets.

The Cubs are off Thusday and head up to Milwaukee for the weekend with Jason Hammel starting on Friday.

Dan the Man

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Mets Squeeze One Past The Cubs

Posted: July 19, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Jake Arrieta enters tonight’s game searching for lucky number 13.  He would be challenging Noah Syndergaard looking to hit win number 10.

The Cubs would open the game up giving Noah some trouble early on. He is able to hold them at bay.  The third inning would see Rizzo and Zobrist striking out.  With two outs, Wilson Contreras would smack a line drive double to right.  With Jason Heyward at the plate, Noah would throw a wild pitch, Contreras takes advantage taking third base but Rene Rivera’s throws it away allowing Wilson to snag home and the first run of the game.

Jake would help himself in the bottom of the fourth hitting a double to right.  Tommy La Stella would send a line drive t right fielder Michael Conforto, he sends it home but Jake is able to get under the tag scoring the second run of the game.  Terry Collins would challenge the call and it would be over turned in favor of the Mets and the third out of the inning.

Jake would hold the Mets to two singles and a walk through 5 innings.  The top of the 6th, Jose Reyes would send a line drive to right making it all the way to third base for his first triple of the year.  Curtis Granderson would fly out to Heyward but it would be enough for Reyes to score and tie the game at 1.

Jake would make it through 7 full inning giving up 1 run on 5 hits striking out 8.  Pedro Strop would take the 8th inning and make it quick.  Hector Rondon would enter the 9th but would immediately give up a single to James Loney, Neil Walker would force him out. Astrubal Cabrera would single pushing walked to second but with two outs, it would be Rene Rivera’s single to right that drives Walker in for the second run of the game for the Mets.

Jeurys Familia would try to keep the Cubs from winning.  He would have trouble by walking Russell and Montero.  Javier Baez would single to load the bases.   Matt Szczur would send a grounder to first, Loney throws it home for the first out.  Kris Bryant would send a grounder to third but Jose Reyes to Neil Walker to Loney ends the game for the Cubs.

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

Lester

Posted: July 18, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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The All Star Break was exactly what the Cubs needed as they opened up taking two of three from the Texas Rangers.  Jon Lester needed the break big time and with a 7 – 5 record, and a 3.38 ERA he seemed to need a small break also.   Lester is  seeking his 10th win of the season.  

Lester would go 6 full innings without giving uo a run.  The top of the 7th would see Wilmer Flores leadoff with his ninth home run of the year.  Lester would get the first two outs in the top of the 8th but gives up a single to Curtis Granderson.  That would be enough for Joel Maddon as he brings in Pedro Strop who immediately hits Yoenis Cespedes but Strop would end the inning striking out Neil Walker.  

The Cubs bats would turn it up quickly.  Javier Baez would send a line drive to left for a single and steals second base.  Kris Bryant reaches first getting hit by Steven Matz.  With one out and two men on, Anthony Rizzo steps in the gets into a 2-2 count, Matz serves a fastball belt high and Rizzo takes him to right center for a three-run home run.  

The Cubs grab a couple base runners but it would be Matt Szczur’s double that leads off the top of the 6th that gets Matz pulled from the game for Seth Lugo.  Almora would push Matt to third and it would be David Ross’s fly ball to center that scores Matt putting the Cubs up by 4.  

Seth Lugo would pitch two innings not allowing a base runner.  Erik Goeddel would enter the bottom of the 8th striking out Wilson Contreras and Addison Russell.  Matt Szczur would knock his second double of the game and would be driven in this time by Almora on his single to center but an error by Cespedes would put Almora on third.  Ross ends the inning with a fly ball.  

Carl Edwards Jr would enter the game getting the first out but gives up back to back singles that takes him out of the game for Hector Rondon.  With one out and two men on, Travis d’Arnaud steps into the box grounding into a game ending double play to put another W in the column for the Cubs and a much needed win against the Mets.  

Go Cubs Go!

Dan The Man

<a href=”http://tunein.com/radio/Sports-Time-Radio-p875750/&#8221; target=”_blank”>The Podcast</a> now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

Blame it on the Rain

Posted: July 1, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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We’re a couple days off from being half way through the season. The Cubs are looking to come back after losing late last night to the Mets.  Jason Hammel is looking for his 8th win of the season and he can, if the bats are flying tonight in Citi Field.  The Cubs hitters are facing Jacob deGrom, who is looking for just his 4th W of the season.

After a rain delay, the game got under way to a quick start for both pitchers deGrom would walk Kris Bryant in the first but strikes out 4 batters in the first 2 innings.  Hammel gets through the first quickly but gives up back to back home runs to James Loney and Asdrubal Cabrera to start the second but gets out of the inning.  As the 3rd inning starts, the rain would start lightly but begin to pour causing another delay over an hour.  Mets 2-0.

Hammel would lead off the 3rd for a quick top half of the inning. He would start the bottom half strongly getting the first 2 outs but gives up a single to Neil Walker then walks Yoenis Cespedes. Two men on for James Loney who sends a screamer to center field for a double scoring 2 more runs.  Mets now up by 4.

With one out in the 4th, Kris Bryant would launch a solo home run to the second deck to finally put the Cubs on the board.  Hammel would strikeout the first batter in the bottom of the fourth but walks Wilmer Flores, them gives up a single to Travis d’Arnaud.  Jacob moves them both up on a sac bunt.  Brandon Nimmo would launch his 1st home run of the season.  Mets up 7-1.

Hammel ends the top of 5th with a line out.  He starts the bottom half with a lead off home run to Cespedes, then a single to Loney who is now 3 for 3.  Asdrubal would bring him in with his 10th home run of the season.  That would be enough for Maddon as he brings in Spencer Patton to get out of the inning.  Mets 10-1.

The top of the 6th starts off great for the Cubs with Albert Almora getting a single then moves to 2cd on Matt Szczur’s single to left.  But with Heyward at the plate, the rain would come down again causing yet another delay.  Hopefully for the Cubs, the game isn’t called.

After the delay, Terry Collins would bring Jerry Blevins in to replace deGrom to get the next 3 batters out.  Trevor Cahill enters the bottom half giving up a single but gets out of the inning quickly.  

Hansel Robles enters the 8th, giving a lead off double to Wilson Contreras who makes it to 3rd on a passed ball.  Addison Russell brings him home on a sac fly for the Cubs.  That’s all the action, Cubs 2, Mets 10.  Cahill stays in for the 7th putting one man on but gets out of the inning.  

Jason Heyward is the only one to reach base in the top of the 8 against Seth Lugo.  Trevor Cahill stays in putting 2 runners on but gets out of the inning.  

Seth Lugo stays in the top of the 9th giving up a single to Baez then hits Russell.  Maddon would leave Cahill in to bat, watching the third strike and Almora would pop out to end the inning and the game.  

Not the best outing for Hammel going only 4 innings giving up 10 runs on 9 hits.  That’s 2 for the Mets with 2 to go.  

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

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The Gotham City Sweep

Posted: June 29, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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The Cubs are looking to avoid the regular season sweep in what many are calling the “rematch.”  Jon Lester takes to the mound against Noah Syndergaard.  Lester is looking to get his 10th win of the season.  The game would seem to start off in the Cubs direction in the first inning, starting with Jason Heyward’s double to left and scores on Anthony Rizzo’s line drive to right.  The Mets would tie it up in the bottom half with Curtis Granderson’s 14h home run of the season.

Baez would start the second inning with a single but gets picked off, then David Ross and Jon Lester would strike out to end the inning.  Wilmer Flores would start the bottom half off with a solo home run to Center.  Loney would strike out for the first out.  Matt Reynolds would belt a double to right and score on Rene Rivera’s 3rd home run of the season.  Syndergaard would reach on a walk.  Juan Lagares would double.  With only one out, Curtis Granderson’s would send a line drive to center scoring Noah.  Then Yoenis Cespedes would drive in Lagares with a single to right.  Lester them gives up back to back singles to Neil Walker and Flores driving in two more runs.  This prompts Maddon to pull Lester for his shortest outing of his career 1 & 1/3 innings putting him in position for the loss.  Spencer Patton would enter the game and get out of the second inning.  After 2, it’s Mets 8, Cubs 1.

Patton would make it through the 5th, adding a run in the 4th and 2 more in the 5th to make it 11-1, Mets.  Joel Peralta would take the 6th and the 7th adding 2 more runs in the 7th by hitting Brandon Nimmo who scores on Kelly Johnson’s home run.  Mets 13 to 1.  Maddon would go with one of his interesting moves, I can only assume to preserve the bullpen by bringing in Miguel Montero to pitch the 8th.  He loads the bases but only allows 1 run, giving the Mets 14 runs.

Logsn Verret would enter the game in the top of the 9th giving up a leadoff home run to Wilson Contreras.  This is the start of a 13 run rally as Javier Baez would double with one out.  Matt Szczur would reach on a throwing error but pitcher Montero, would flyout.  Addison Russell would single to load the bases.  Jason Heyward would step into the box with bases loaded and Logan Verret would throw a wild pitch that would score Baez for the 3rd run of the game in the Cubs rally, however Heyward would ground out to end the inning and the game completing the sweep for the Mets.  Hopefully, they can start the 4th of July with a bang in Cincinnati!

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

How was your week?

Posted: May 21, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, hockey, horse racing, sports, Uncategorized
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While it is just May as we like to say on the podcast May is coming to an end next week. When the calendar turns to June will you worry about your favorite baseball team then? I’m think if you’re a fan of the New York Mets you might want to get started a little early. The Mets are currently 23-18 and in 3rd place in the National League East just 2 1/2 games behind the division leading Washington Nationals.

Is there possible an issue with the Mets starting rotation? The team is being built around it’s young pitching and those young pitchers did get the Mets into the World Series last season. There have been some cracks in that young pitching foundation that the Mets need to keep their eye on. Steven Matz made his 7th start last night after being skipped in the rotation because of elbow soreness. Even with 11 days off Matz pitched 7 innings giving up 3 hits, 2 earned runs and striking out 8 while picking up the win in the Mets 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Matz made 9 starts for the Mets last season and 3 of those where in the post season. Matz is 6-1 this season with an ERA of 2.81 in his 7 starts, but at 241 years old will the Mets have to watch his innings as the season moves along. While there doesn’t seem to be any injury concerns with Jacob deGrom his velocity seems to be a little down in his last couple of starts; which where no decisions. deGrom did miss a couple of starts earlier this season as he left the team to attend to a medical issue with his newborn son. He’s made 3 starts since returning to the Mets and is 0-1 after winning his first 3 starts of the season. deGrom’s ERA is 2.50 on the season and you have to wonder if it’s just a case of him building up his arm strength again, but it is something the Mets have to watch. Then there’s Mat Harvey. Harvey started on Thursday night against the division leading Nationals. He lasted just 2 2/3rd of an inning, gave up 8 hits, 9 runs 6 of them earned while walking 2 and striking out 2. Harvey was boo’d off the field when Mets manager Terry Collins came out to remove him from the game. Harvey hasn’t last more than 6 innings in any of his 9 starts this season. Harvey is 3-6 and his ERA is 5.77 in his 9 starts this season. There have been no reports about any injuries, but if you remember just a few weeks back Harvey himself said he felt a little off was the term he used. Harvey had that terrible outing against the Nationals, but his start before that wasn’t much either. He pitched 5 2/3rd innings while giving up 5 earned runs on 11 hits, but struck out 6 against the Colorado Rockies. I don;t think that anyone noticed that start because it was in Coors Field and many pitchers have had trouble there. According to reports that came out on Friday Harvey will not be skipped in the rotation and is due t make his next start against the Nationals again on Tuesday, May 24th; this time the game is in Washington’s Nationals Park.Bartolo Colon and Noah Syndergaard are the other two pitchers holding down the Mets rotation. Colon has made 8 starts and is 3-3 with an ERA of 3.75, There’s nothing wrong with those numbers out of a 5th starter especially when you find out that pitcher is 42 years old. Is Syndergarrd the ace of this staff? He’s 4-2 in 8 starts, but has the lowest ERA among the starers at 2.19. 7 of his 8 starts have been quality starts and he’s struck out 65 batters while walking just 9 on the season. Syndergaard has a WHIP of 0.99 and his K/9 or strikeouts per 9 innings ratio is 10.97 this season. You’d think that talent like tis can easily get the Mets back into the playoffs and don;t forget that Zack Wheeler is due to return in a couple of weeks. Wheeler had Tommy John surgery last season and is finishing up his recovery. I am wondering if some of the struggles this young Mets staff has had reminded any long time fans of the team of the Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson, Bill Pulsipher pitching trio that the Mets where going to be built around in the late 90’s.

The Tampa Bay Lighting jumped out to a 4-0 lead last night and looked as though they’d easily even up there Eastern Conference Finals series with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 2 games apiece. While the Lighting did even up the series with the Penguins there was nothing easy about it. Tampa bay got goals from Ryan Callahan and Andrew Sustr in the 1st period t take a 2-0 lead. Callahan’s goal came 27 seconds into the game. Tampa Bay added 2 more goals in the 2nd period as Jonathan Drouin and Tyler Johnson put the puck in the net and effectively ended the night of Pittsburgh starting goaltender Matt Murray. With Marc-Andre Fleury back in goal the Penguins seem to get a little lift even down 4-0. Phil Kessel got the Penguins on the scoreboard at 1:18 of the 3rd period with a goal. Play settled down for about 10 minutes and then Evgeni Malkin scored the Penguins 2nd goal of the period. It’s still 4-2 Lighting; so there was no need for their fans to panic; yet. When Chris Kunitz scored just after the 13 minute mark of the period to make it a 1-goal game at 4-3 I’m sure Lighting fans where worried. Fleury was pulled for the extra skater with about 4 minutes left in the game, but Andrei Vasilevskiy held on in goal for Tampa Bay and they took Game 4.

Game 5 is Sunday night as the series heads back to Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.

The second leg of horse racing Triple-Crown The Preakness Stakes is today. Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist is the favorite at 3 to 5. Can Nyquist win here? There is another horse that while not the betting favorite is close. Exaggerator is going off at 3 to 1. I believe I heard that these 2 horses have matched up 4 times and Nyquist has won all 4 of those races. Will today be the day Exaggerator finally beats Nyquist or will Nyquist move on to the Belmont Stakes with a chance t win the Triple-Crown. I know everyone is just waiting for my pick since I know so much about horse racing. I decided that I’m going with Cherry Wine at 20 to 1 to win the Preakness. That of course menas stay as far away from that horse as possible.

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How was your week.

Posted: March 12, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, basketball, College Basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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It’s starting to look like shortstop will be the big injury position this season. The St. Louis Cardinals lost their shortstop Jhonny Peralta to a wrist injury last week. Peralta did end up having surgery on his injured wrist and is expected to be out until about mid-season. Then yesterday the New York Mets announced that shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera has been diagnosed with a strained patellar tendon in his left knee and appears likely to open the season on the disabled list. Cabrera will be inactive for at least two weeks. He;ll be allowed to resume some baseball activities if he is comfortable. The Mets Cabrera flew to New York on Friday to undergo platelet-rich plasma therapy at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. With only 23 days until the Mets open the season against the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals on ESPN’s Sunday night baseball; it would be difficult for Cabrera to be ready for that game. Cabrera was part of the Mets off season reworking of their middle infield. He was signed to a two year $18.5 million dollar deal to play shortstop alongside new second baseman Neil Walker who the Mets acquired by sending left handed pitcher Jon Niese to the Pittsburgh Pirates this off season. With Cabrera and Walker brought in former starters Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada moved to backup infield roles. Now Flores and Tejada should go back to handling the shortstop duties until Cabrera is returns. There was some talk that the Mets might be looking to deal Tejada and with a salary of just $3 million for this season there where some teams interested. One of the teams that where interested in Tejada was the Cardinals who looked at him as a fill in for the inured Peralta. Of course with the injury to Cabrera it seems that Tejada is far more likely to stick with the Mets for Opening Day.

Tomorrow (Sunday) the NCAA will announce the tournament field for the men’s basketball championship. With the play in games and everything there is 68 teams; I think that have a chance to win the championship. I don’t watch college basketball and we don’t spend much time of any talking about it on Sports Time Radio. At least I do catch the highlights on whatever sports recap show I happen to be watching at that time. Of course with all this being said I still plan on entering a bracket into whatever championship pool I can find. Sometimes it seems as knowing less can actually be helpful, but I’m wondering how I should pick my bracket.I know there have been multiple teams that have held the #1 ranking in the polls only to be knocked off the top. That should mean the tournament is wide open, but could a mid-major team actually go all the way? I’ve heard over and over that you need good guard play to advance in the tournament. So who’s the best guard in college basketball? or do you need a pair of gourds in your back court to have tournament success. I’ve heard that Ben Simmons of Louisiana State University (LSU) is the best player in college basketball, but there’s a chance that his team might not even make the tournament. Of course then the question becomes; how far can the best player take a team? As you can tell I really have no clue who’s going to win this thing; so I’m asking for your help. Let me know who you think will win the title or even get to the Final Four. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The NASCAR series is staying out west as they’re at the Phoenix International Speedway for the Good Sam 500. Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) showed it’s muscle in qualifying as Kyle Busch took the pole position with a speed of 138.387. Busch’s teammate Carl Edwards took the 2nd spot with a speed of 137.515 and another JGR and this seasons Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin will start 3rd and had a qualifying speed of 137.426. Rounding out the Top 5 is Kurt Busch; Kyle’s brother starting 4th and Jimmie Johnson starting 5th. The only JGR driver not in the Top 5 is Matt Kenseth who will be starting 6th on Sunday. Chris Olmstead from Beyond the Flag will join us Sunday morning to preview the race. Not only will Chris preview the race with us, but he’ll let us know which three drivers he thinks has the best chance to wind up in victory lane. Last week Chris had Joey Logano; who finished 2nd and Jimmie Johnson who finished 3rd. His third choice was Kenseth who got caught up in an accident and ended up finishing 37th. Chris should join the Sports Time Radio podcast a little after 10:00 a.m.

The NBA has another one of there marquee match up Saturday night games as the Oklahoma City Thunder are at the San Antonio Spurs. Oklahoma City is in 3rd place in the Western Conference with a record of 44-21. San Antonio is the team ahead of the Thunder in the Western Conference standings as they are 55-10 in 2nd place. Now it’s difficult to go into San Antonio and win as the Spurs are 31-0 at home this season. Oklahoma City is 6 games over .500 on the road this season at 18-12, but can they go into San Antonio and beat a team like the Spurs? If Oklahoma City could find a way to win this game it could be a statement that they’re a team to watch in the playoffs. If the Western Conference plays out like it should Oklahoma City would have to play San Antonio in a playoff series and they’d need to be able to win a game on the Spurs home court to advance. It looks like Oklahoma City will be playing without Dion Waiters who is away from the team because of a death in his family. Andre Roberson is battling a left ankle injury and it hasn’t been announced yet if he will play tonight. Of course with San Antonio you never know who is going to be getting a night off. Tony Parker does have a toe injury, but should be go to go for tonight’s game. Parker along with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili all sat out Tuesday nights game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. You would think these three players where rested so they’d be ready to play tonight against Oklahoma City, but you never know with the Spurs. On Friday’s podcast Dan the Man took San Antonio to stay undefeated at home. Do you agree with Dan or do you have Oklahoma City winning tonight?

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Looking at the Mets

Posted: November 5, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball
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The New York Mets where the surprise team in the National League this season. Not only did the Mets find a way to win the NL East they upset the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS before sweeping the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS advancing to the World Series. While the World Series didn’t go the Mets way; they lost 4 games to 1 to the Kansas City Royals, it has to be looked at as a successful season. Looking towards the off season; what do the Mets have to do to get back?

The Mets may be the only team in baseball that isn’t going to be chasing starting pitchers this off season. As a matter of fact barring an injury or a trade, the Mets will have the Top 4 in there starting rotation set for years. Matt Harvey, Jacob deGroom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz will in some order be the #1 through #4 starters for the Mets. It looks as though Jon Niese may take the 5th starter spot to round out the rotation. It’s a starting rotation that could scare the national League for a long time.

Every team is looking for some type of bullpen help and the Mets will be no different. While they do seem to have their closer (Jeurys Familia) the rest of the bullpen isn’t set. Tyler Clippard and Bobby Parnell and free agents and who knows if they’ll get anything out of Jenrry Mejía. Mejía is in the process of serving a 162 game suspension and won’t be eligible to return until July of next season. Addison Reed and Hansel Robles did well in set up roles, but someone will have to step up to fill Clippard’s role. Sean Gilmartin was a solid left-hander out of the Mets bullpen and Jerry Blevins should be back from injury to add another lefty to the bullpen. Bullpens are so interchangeable that with the exception of Familia you just don’t know who’ll be down there for the Mets in 2016.

There where some reports that the Mets will look to increase there payroll for next season, but will it go up enough to bring back Yoenis Cespedes. In 57 games Cespedes hit .287 with 14 home runs and 44 RBI’s in the middle of New York’s line up as they won the division. Of course Cespedes didn’t do it alone. He had help from a healthy David Wright; a couple of other veteran  acquisitions Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson plus the play of 22 year old outfielder Michael Conforto. Besides Cespedes 2nd base man Daniel Murphy is also a free agent. Murphy had a solid 2015 season hitting .281 with 14 home runs and 73 RBI’s while playing 2nd base in 69 games, 3rd base in 42 games, 1st base 17 times and was even the DH in 1 game. While Murphy struggled at the plate during the 5 game World Series hitting just .150 overall he had a very good post season. Murphy ended up hitting .328 with 7 home runs and 11 RBI’s in 14 games. The Mets have to decide how much Murphy is worth and it looks as though at the least they’ll extend him a qualifying offer. Uribe and Johnson are both free agents, but I don’t think either player will be back with the Mets unless it’s under a very friendly team contract. Last season it looked as though the Mets where in the market for a shortstop before Ruben Tejada took over the job. Tejada was injured by a Chase Utley slide in the NLDS. Tejada suffered a non-displaced fractured right fibula and there is a chance that he might not be ready for the open of the 2016 season. Will Tejada’s injury force the Mets to look at shortstops this off season or can Wilmer Flores hold down the position until Tejada is ready to go. The Mets have shown some interest in  Alexei Ramirez who became a free agent yesterday when the Chicago White Sox declined his option for next season. Could Ramirez be a guy the Mets can fit into their payroll?

Every team has questions going into the off season. It looks as though the Mets may be in the same spot they where before they dealt for Cespedes last season. If they can find the hitting with there starting pitching they should contend in the NL East.

@Burketime

Sports Time Radio

How was your Week?

Posted: October 31, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, football
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The New York Mets got there first World Series win 9-3 last night over the Kansas City Royals. Kansas City still has a 2 games to 1 lead in the series with Game 4 scheduled for tonight at Citi Field.

There had to be some concern from the Mets and there fans when the Royals scored a run off of Noah Syndergaard in the top of the 1st. The first pitch Syndergaard threw went over the head of Royals lead off hitter Alcides Escobar and went to the screen. The hot hitting Escobar ended up striking out in the at bat, but Ben Zobrist followed him with a double. A Lorenzo Cain infield single put Royals on 1st and 3rd. An Eric Hosmer fielder’s choice scored Zobrist and the Royals had there 1-0 lead. Curtis Granderson led the bottom of the 1st off with an infield single for the Mets. David Wright was up next for the Mets and just as the Fox announce team was going to say how bad Wright is he hit a 2-run homer to left field to not only give the Mets a 2-1 lead, but also shut up the 3-man Fox broadcast team. That’s far and away the funniest part of these first 3 World Series games. The Royals came back with 2 runs off of Syndergaard in the top of the 2nd to take a 3-2 lead. Yordano Ventura was only able to hold that lead for an inning. Syndergaard led off the bottom of the 3rd with a single and Granderson followed that with a 2-run home run to right to give the Mets a lead they wouldn’t lose at 4-3. Sybdergaard settled in as the Mets added a run in the bottom of the 4th and then out the game away with 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning. Syndergaard got the win pitching 6 innings giving up those 3 early runs on 7 hits. He walked 2 and had 6 strikeouts. Addison Reed, Tyler Clippard and  Jeurys Familia all worked an inning out of the Mets bullpen. None of the Mets relievers allowed a hit and Familia had 1 strikeout. Ventura lasted just 3 1/3rd innings in the loss. He gave up 5 runs on 7 hits and struck out 1. The Royals used 6 relievers after Ventura and Franklin Morales was the pitcher who was charged with the 4 runs the Mets added in the 6th. Granderson, Travis d’Arnaud and Wright each had 2 hits in the game. Wright had 4 RBI’s on the night as well.

For Game 4 Kansas City is going with Chris Young on the mound while the Mets turn to Steven Matz. While Matz hasn’t pitched in the series Young did come out of the bullpen in Game 1. Young actually picked up the win in the 14 inning affair pitching 3 innings. Young didn’t allow a hit, but did walk 1 while striking out 4 in the game. It was a 53 pitch outing for Young in Game 1, but it was 4 days ago and you wouldn’t think it would affect his start tonight. Matz will be making his 2rd post season start. He hasn’t lasted longer than 5 innings in either start. He is 0-1 with and ERA of 3.72 over just 9 2/3rd innings. Matz does have 8 strikeouts and only 1 walk in his post season outings. Can Matz get the Mets even? or will Young get the Royals a 3 games to 1 lead?

We got another tough to watch Thursday night football game unless you’re a fan of the New England Patriots. The Patriots easily ended the Miami Dolphins 2-game winning streak 36-7 Thursday night. Some experts thought that Miami would give the Patriots a game and some even predicted that they give the Patriots their first loss of the season, but I doubt they’d admit to that now. New England improved to 7-0 while Miami fell to 3-4. New England was up 19-0 before Miami scored there only touchdown. New England added 17 more points after Miami scored to get to the 36-7 final score.

I’m sure you did, but I hope you had your Patriots in your fantasy line up. Tom Brady was 26 for 38 for 356 yards and while he did get sacked twice he threw 4 touchdown passes. Rob Gronlowski had 6 receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown. Dion Lewis may have only had 5 rushing attempts for 19 yards he did catch 6 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. Julian Edelman led the Patriots with 7 receptions. He went for 81 yards and 2 touchdowns. Brandon LaFell even chipped in with 4 catches for 47 yards. This week LeGarrette Blount was the main running back for the Patriots. Blount had 17 carries for 72 yards and did add 1 catch for 2 yards. On the Miami side Ryan Tannehill went 28 for 44 for 300 yards. Tannehill was sacked 5 times and threw 2 interceptions. Lamar Miller scored the Dolphins touchdown on the night, but rushed for just 15 yards on 9 carries. He did add 5 catches for 19 yards as well; so he would’ve been a serviceable fantasy player. Jarvis Landry had 6 receptions for 71 yards. Rishard Matthews had 7 catches for 62 yards and tight end Jordan Cameron had 2 receptions for 34 yards. Defensively Duron Harmon and Logan Ryan had the Patriots interceptions. Ryan also led New England in tackles with 7. Chandler Jones had 2 sacks on the night while Devin McCourty, Dont’a Hightower and Rob Ninkovich each recorded a sack. Reshad Jones and Kelvin Shepard tie for the Dolphins team lead in tackles with 8. Oliver Vernon and Cameron Wake each had a sack for the Dolphins.

Not only did the Dolphins lose the game they suffered a loss along there defensive line as Cameron Wake was diagnosed with a torn Achilles and will miss the rest of the season. Wake was the Dolphins leader in sacks with 7. No other Dolphins defensive line man has more than 2 sacks on the season.

Not counting injuries who have been your biggest fantasy disappointments this season? Running backs always go high in drafts, but if you took C.J. Anderson of the Denver Broncos he has to be a bit of a let down for you along with DeMarco Murray of the Philadelphia Eagles. While Andrew Luck has struggled this season he did miss a couple of games with an injury. Most of the quarterbacks that have stayed healthy have played close to were they where predicted to, but Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson have under performed a little this season. Andre Johnson (Indianapolis Colts) hasn’t seemed to regain the form that made him one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. Mike Evans (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) has also struggled at times this season. Some expected Evans to have some issues working with a rookie quarterback, but others spent a higher draft pick on him and are waiting for him to get on track. Is there someone you went out and drafted early that hasn’t met your standards? Let me know who’s hurting your team.

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 28, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football
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I’m not sure if we could’ve gotten a better Game 1 to start the World Series off with. The scoring started off with something I never thought I would see. A inside the park home run by Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar in the bottom of the 1st inning to give the Royals an early 1-0 lead. The New York Mets came back with single runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th inning off of Kansas City starter Edinson Volquez for a 3-1 lead. With the way Matt Harvey had settled down after the home run in the 1st it looked like the Royals could be in trouble. Harvey had some issues in the bottom of the 6th giving up a double and a couple of singles that led to the Royals being able to tie the game up 3-3 after 6. Both starters exited the game after pitching 6 innings; so it became a bullpen game. With 2 outs in the top of the 8th Juan Lagares singled and stole 2nd. Wilmer Flores hit what looked like an inning ending ground ball to 1st, but Eric Hosmer made an error and Lagares came around to score. Honestly with Jeurys Familia on the mound for the Mets in the bottom of the 9th inning I really thought they where going to get a big Game 1 win in Kansas City, but with 1 out in the inning Alex Gordon hit a solo home run to center field to tie the game at 4-4. Familia got the next 2 Royals hitters and Game 1 was headed to extra innings. Neither team threatened in the 10th as all 3 Mets hitters struck out swinging and 2 of the 3 Royals hitters struck out in the bottom of the inning. Lagares led of the top of the 11th with a single and was sacrificed to 2nd, but was stranded there as the Mets went strikeout, walk, strikeout to end the inning. The Royals got an infield single with 2 outs in the bottom half of the inning, but didn’t threaten. All 3 Mets hitters struck out in the top of the 12th inning. Kansas City got an infield single by Paulo Orlando who was sacrificed to 2nd. An intentional walk put runners on 1st and 2nd. A ground out to 1st moved the runners up, but was the 2nd out of the inning and the next batter flew out to center field to end the inning. All the Mets could manage in the top of the 13th was a 2 out walk. The Royals did get a lead off single to start the bottom of the inning, but after that they had a pop out and 2 ground outs to end the inning. The Mets went down 1, 2, 3 in the top of the 14th. Escobar started the bottom of the inning for the Royals by reaching safely on a throwing error by Mets 3rd baseman David Wright. Ben Zobrist singled to right field and Escobar went to 3rd base. Lorenzo Cain was intentionally walked to load the bases for Hosmer. Hosmer was 0 for 3 as he stepped to the plate to fave Bartolo Colon, but he did hit a sacrifice fly earlier in the game to drive in a run. Hosmer hit a deep fly ball to Mets rightfielder Curtis Granderson. It looked as though Escobar would score easily to win the game for the Roayls and while he did score the game winning run Granderson made the play at home plate much, much closer than anyone thought it would be. Colon took the loss for the Mets pitching 2 1/3rd innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits and he did walk 3, but they where all intentional. Chris Young who is scheduled to start Game 4 for Kansas City worked 3 innings in relief and got the win. Young pitched 3 innings in relief walking 1 ans striking out 3. So the longest game in World Series history ends in a 5-4 win for the Royals after 14 innings.

Game 2 is tonight in Kansas City and the Mets will send Jacob deGroom to the mound to start. The Royals will counter with Johnny Cueto as they look to win both games at home. deGroom has won all 4 of his post season starts and has an E.R.A. of 1.80 over 20 innings. He has also struck out 27 batters, but has given up 2 home runs. Cueto has also made 3 post season starts, but is 1-1 with an E.R.A. of 7.88. Cueto has logged just 16 innings in his 3 starts and has giving up 15 hits. After a long Game 1 that saw the Mets use 5 pitchers and the Royals use 6 pitchers in relief you have to think that both managers would like to get into the 7th inning with there starter, but it is the World Series and if a pitcher is struggling you can’t stay wit him. It looks like the Mets have an advantage in starting pitching tonight, but this is why the Royals dealt for Cueto at the trade deadline, but will he come through for them?

Over shadowed for me by Game 1 of the World Series was the start of the NBA season. There where 3 games on the schedule; 2 of which where on national television. It started with the Chicago Bulls getting a 97-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nikola Mirotic led the Bulls with 19 points, Yaj Gibson led the team with 10 rebounds and Derrick Rose led the team with 5 assists. LeBron James led the Cavaliers in scoring with 25 points, Tristan Thompson grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the team and Mo Williams had team high 7 assists. The game you didn’t see on national television saw the Detroit Pistons beat the Atlanta Hawks 106-94. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21 points to lead the Pistons, Andre Drummond had 19 rebounds to lead the team and Reggie Jackson handed out 5 assists to lead Detroit. Dennis Schroder came off the Atlanta bench to lead the team with 20 points, Paul Milsap grabbed a team high 8 rebounds and Schroder, Jeff Teague and Al Horford tied for the lead in assists with 4. The 3rd and final game of the night saw the defending champion Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans 111-95. Stephen Curry looked to be in MVP form as he scored 40 points and handed out 7 assists to lead Golden State in both categories, Harrison Barnes led the tam with 9 rebounds. Anthony Davis scored 18 points to lead New Orleans, Davis and Ryan Anderson each grabbed 9 rebounds t tie for the team lead in that category and Ish Smith had 9 assists to lead New Orleans.

Schaumburg Stu won our pick contest for Week 7 in the NFL going 9-5. Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy tied at 8-6 and I was at the bottom going 7-7. Dan the Man held on to his 1 game lead overall at 64-41. Mr. Fantasy is 63-42 while Schaumburg Stu and I are tied at 58-47. Let;s see what Week 8 has in store for us.

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