The Astros now have Jose Altuve, George Springer and Collin McHugh back. Carlos Correa is ready to come back today, but will be held out until after the All Star break. BTW, he says he'll play in the All Star game if he's selected, but manager A.J. Hinch says, "Not so fast".

On top of that, we've added Jordan Alvarez, who's set major leagues records with his power hitting.

In other news, the Reds gave up a leadoff inside-the-park homerun, and then let a guy score from second base on a sacrifice fly. I'm not sure which of those two things is more rare.



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[Edited 6/26/19 7:52am]

HERE WE GO!

Kumar Rocker was all that and a bag of chips last night, pitching 6 1/3 innings and striking out 11.

Vanderbilt won a wild game 4-1. Their first run was classic small ball, and the next two runs came on wild pitches to back-to-back batters. The Vanderbilt Country Clubbers added a home run for good measure.

Tonight's game is for all the marbles.

Will Vanderbilt maintain the momentum? Can the Michigan Cinderellas overcome the loss of leadoff hitter and DH Jordan Nwogu and become the first Big Ten team to win a CWS in 53 years?

Tune in to ESPN, 6 PM CDT tonight and find out!

Congratulations to the Vanderbilt Vanderbilts for winning the College World Series!

Vandy just had too much but dang! You really have to tip your cap to the Michigan Cold Guys, because their entire run was extraordinarily magical. Well done, brothers from the tundra!

I've been joking with their names, but again - congratulations to the Vanderbilt Commodores and Michigan Wolverines on great seasons.

Go Ole Miss!

Here we are at the All-Star break. For my money, baseball's All-Star break is the best in sports; in fact, I think it's the only one worth watching. I highly recommend going to an All-Star game and the surrounding festivities if you ever get the chance.

The Astros enter the break having won 5 out of 6, including yesterday's incredible comeback against the Angels. Yuli Gurriel is the hottest player in baseball, having hit 9 home runs in his last 11 games, including a game-tying grand slam yesterday. I haven't seen a guy this hot in years. I hope the break doesn't cool him off!

A word has to be said about the Yankees. They've lost something like 9,301 player games due to injuries and they're STILL leading the East. If these guys get fully healthy, maybe not even a team full of Yuli Gurriels might stop them!

The Dodgers appear to be the class of the National League, but I wouldn't sleep on the Brew Crew. They're built to mash, and baseball is built for mashing these days. Plus, it remains to be seen if Dave Roberts has figured out how to not over-manage the Doggers.

Speaking of mashing, the Twins are still doing it. This is going to be interesting. I posted a month or so ago about how a team that had hit X numbers of home runs had never won the World Series. This year, the MLB record is on pace to be broken by a few teams, including the Twins and the Astros. Will history repeat itself?

It's going to be fun to watch!

Brendan said:

It should be pointed out that the Minnesota Twins, with a record of 56-33, 2.5 games out of having the best record in baseball, have hit more home runs by the All-Star break than any team in Major League Baseball history. Of course the ball explains why more home runs have also been hit this year in total by all teams than at any point in MLB history. However, the Twins are usually in the bottom half of the league with regards to out-of-the-park power. Everyone uses the same baseballs. 2019 Home Runs (1) Twins 166 (2) Mariners 160 (3) Brewers 155 (4) Yankees 149 (5) Dodgers 146 (6) Oakland 145 (7) Atlanta 143 (8) Houston 142 (9) Chicago Cubs 140

It's definitely the balls, plus guys swing more for the fences now.

There have been a couple games this year where Justin Verlander gave up, say, three hits but all of them were home runs. There have been several more where Verlander only gave up seven or eight hits but two or three were home runs.

It's weird.

sexton said:

I would think on a Prince fan site, the most important baseball news is the Minnesota Twins have the best record in the major leagues!

They hit eight home runs in a game TWICE this season.

Nah dude there are far more here that are interested in music than sports. The correlation

of Prince being from Minnesota has nothing to do with interest in the sports teams there as

Prince.orgers are scattered over the U.S and even abroad.

phunkdaddy said:

sexton said:

I would think on a Prince fan site, the most important baseball news is the Minnesota Twins have the best record in the major leagues!

They hit eight home runs in a game TWICE this season.

Nah dude there are far more here that are interested in music than sports. The correlation

of Prince being from Minnesota has nothing to do with interest in the sports teams there as

Prince.orgers are scattered over the U.S and even abroad.

I was being facetious.

RodeoSchro said:

Brendan said:

It should be pointed out that the Minnesota Twins, with a record of 56-33, 2.5 games out of having the best record in baseball, have hit more home runs by the All-Star break than any team in Major League Baseball history. Of course the ball explains why more home runs have also been hit this year in total by all teams than at any point in MLB history. However, the Twins are usually in the bottom half of the league with regards to out-of-the-park power. Everyone uses the same baseballs. 2019 Home Runs (1) Twins 166 (2) Mariners 160 (3) Brewers 155 (4) Yankees 149 (5) Dodgers 146 (6) Oakland 145 (7) Atlanta 143 (8) Houston 142 (9) Chicago Cubs 140

What's even more amazing about the Twins is they play in an open-air stadium in cold temperatures during the first couple months of the season, and the ball never travels well in cold temps.

Three home games in March and eleven in April, yet they still are hitting homeruns at a record pace.

When little Christian Vazquez hits 15 homers in just 76 games after hitting just 10 homers in his previous 291 career games, you know something is definitely up in MLB. Not sure if it's the ball, or if the players have found a new "supplement".

Braves have been amazing since Memorial Day. Most of their wins are due to how well they have been batting and pitching in the last three innings, which held true again this weekend in their road sweep of the Padres. Even in their heyday, they didn't win so many near the end of the game.

gandorb said:

Braves have been amazing since Memorial Day. Most of their wins are due to how well they have been batting and pitching in the last three innings, which held true again this weekend in their road sweep of the Padres. Even in their heyday, they didn't win so many near the end of the game.

There's a player on the Braves nobody talks about, but who is really good. His name is Nick Markakis and he plays outfield. Look him up, he's having a fine season.

So last night in Yankee Stadium was one of the best games of the year. A backup catcher, dumped earlier this year by the Mets, then traded after just 5 days with the Dodgers, hit THREE HOMERUNS in the game. Including a gamewinning 3-run homer in the 9th with 2 outs and 2 strikes while trailing by 2 runs ... off all-star closer Chapman. It was the first time in 50 games that the Yankees blew a 9th-inning lead to lose!

Pokeno4Money said:

gandorb said:

Braves have been amazing since Memorial Day. Most of their wins are due to how well they have been batting and pitching in the last three innings, which held true again this weekend in their road sweep of the Padres. Even in their heyday, they didn't win so many near the end of the game.

There's a player on the Braves nobody talks about, but who is really good. His name is Nick Markakis and he plays outfield. Look him up, he's having a fine season.

So last night in Yankee Stadium was one of the best games of the year. A backup catcher, dumped earlier this year by the Mets, then traded after just 5 days with the Dodgers, hit THREE HOMERUNS in the game. Including a gamewinning 3-run homer in the 9th with 2 outs and 2 strikes while trailing by 2 runs ... off all-star closer Chapman. It was the first time in 50 games that the Yankees blew a 9th-inning lead to lose!

Yes, I love how Markakis plays. Great beard too .

I wish I had seen the Yankees blow a lead in the 9th inning.

RJOrion said:

^^and they still lost to the mighty N.Y. Yankees, 14-12..the Twins had an 11 game division lead at the beginning of June and its down to 2 games...even if the Twins manage to hold on to the division lead (they wont) or get a wild card spot, they will surely lose to the Yankees or Astros in the playoffs, because after Jose Berrios, the Twins pitching is horrible...especially their bullpen...Yankees scored 30 runs in a 3 game series in Minneapolis, lol... [Edited 7/25/19 0:34am]

The "mighty" Yankees?

What's better, 30 runs in 3 games or 29 runs in 2 games?

Making predictions is kinda silly, especially before the trade deadline. You have no idea who each team will acquire, nor do you know which players will get injured or healthy.

One thing we do know, Boston's 1-4 hitters are the best in MLB.


Another thing we know, Sale-Price-ERod is better than any three current Yankee starters.

If Boston gets some relief help, they will be just as dangerous as last year's 108-win team.

The pitching matchups heavily favor them today and tomorrow. If they win both, it's down to a 7-game lead with two months to go. Anything can happen, should be fun!

[Edited 7/27/19 5:43am]

9-5 = 8