5. Hall of Fame Game
I'll be honest, I watched the 1st two series of this game and that was it. I know, I know you're saying 'Jason you were touting that the NFL is back!!'. That's correct, but since I was out and about all day being a good DC tourist I missed the Olympics so that is what I watched. The Saints drove down the field for a touchdown behind Darren Sproles and Mark Ingram which signified the end of the night for Drew Brees. It wasn't that pretty for the Cardinals as Kevin Kolb threw a wounded duck of a pass that got intercepted on his 1st drive. He also bruised/cracked some ribs last night so there's that as well. Full slate of games start on Thursday as everyone in Washington will be glued to see RGIII.
4. Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays
7 runs. That's all that was scored in this series. By both teams. Combined. Each game was a shutout with the Orioles much maligned staff winning the series with two of the shutouts. I guess the old axiom that bad pitching beats horrible hitting is true. Baltimore and Tampa Bay continue their game of leap frog as the Orioles are now a game ahead of the Rays in the standings, but still 6.5 out in the A.L. East and a game out of the Wild Card behind Oakland and Detroit. With the Yankees and Detroit playing each other and the Angels and Athletics playing each other the Rays (vs. Toronto) and Orioles (vs. Seattle) have a chance to make up ground against bad teams.
3. Los Angeles Angels at Chicago White Sox
No worries about a lack of scoring when you involve to really good offenses and no aces are pitching. The White Sox out slugged the Angels in a very competitive series. The Angels are in the middle of a very difficult stretch of games (13 straight against Tampa Bay, Texas, Chicago and Oakland) and are 4-6 in their last 10. Each week I have become more and more of a believer in the White Sox. They can hit with anyone and their pitching has been remarkably better than I thought it would. Chris Sale has had back to back bad starts and that is worrisome as he has entered uncharted territory in innings pitched and I don't know how reliable he'll be down the stretch.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds
I guess it took Clint Hurdle getting ejected on Saturday night to wake the Pirates up in this series. After dropping the first two games in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh was saved with another stellar outing by Cy Young candidate (favorite even??) A.J. Burnett. The series opened with the Reds shutting out the Pirates behind Mat Latos throwing 7 1/3 innings and hitting a two run home run to help his cause. Saturday saw the drama that comes with a pennant chase as the Reds hit Josh Harrison (without intent it seems), but the home plate umpire felt the need to warn both benches, eliminating the chance for the Pirates to respond if they wanted to. Clint Hurdle (the Pirates manager) took exception and tried to fire his team up by arguing, but they still fell a run short. The lead for the Reds may sit at 4.5 games and they may have the easier schedule on paper, but the Pirates have 32 home games left to the Reds 25 home games so it still may get tight again.
1. The Summer Olympics
It was another great weekend of competition. Michael Phelps stole most of the headlines with him winning gold in his final race and subsequent retirement announcement, but the U.S. as a whole did really well in the numerous swimming events. Andy Murray did what he couldn't do in Wimbledon by winning on his home court against Roger Federer for gold. Track and Field started and Jamaica was the big winners as they swept the 'fastest woman' and 'fastest men' titles in the 100m race. This means Usain Bolt joined American Carl Lewis as the only repeat winner of gold in the 100m in Olympic history. That in itself is impressive. That he has done it rather easily is another feat all into itself. The United States is looking to take gold in women's soccer and beach volleyball and the men's basketball team survived a scare as it inches closer to playing for medals.
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I can't make it through the weekend without mentioning the Washington Nationals can I? They once again dipped into their AAA farm system, the Oakland Athletics, and traded for Kurt Suzuki. As the longest tenured member of my favorite team it was sad to see him go, but his offensive skill level had diminished vastly over the last two years that it just didn't make sense for Oakland to keep paying him $6.5 million a year. They had already acquired a younger, better hitting, not nearly as good defensive catcher in Derek Norris from Washington (in the Gio Gonzalez trade). So why not keep with the plan of shedding salary and getting younger? The Nationals have used about 36 catchers this season and while he may not hit, Kurt Suzuki immediately solidifies the position, gives veteran leadership and will continue to mold the Nationals young pitching staff as he did with countless young pitchers in Oakland.
This is another win/win trade between my two favorite teams. I'm very happy that they continue to shuffle talent back and forth to help each franchise. It's much better than losing players to Boston (oh BTW how's Andrew Bailey doing for you, you Boston douches?) and New York.
World Series 2014 Washington vs
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