04/23/24
September 25, 2016
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Update to the above, 2 more Rays went down on strikes in the 9th to bring the total to a major league record 21. The game is tied 2-2 after 9 innings.
posted by Howard_T at 04:41 PM on September 25, 2016
Correction to the above: Because the game went into extra innings, 21 strikeouts is not a record. Once the extra innings are started, a 9-inning record is meaningless. It is a franchise record for Boston, and the number of strikeouts by the staff in a single season for the franchise was broken today. The final count of Rays put down on strikes was 22, final score was 3-2 Boston - their 11th win in a row - and the winning run scored on the strangest play at the plate I have seen, major league, minor league, high school, middle school, or even Cal Ripken League baseball. I cannot describe it adequately, but on a 2-base hit by Ortiz, Pedroia attempted to score from 1st base. The throw to the plate was accurate and in plenty of time. Pedroia tried to evade the tag with a series of contortions, was actually tagged, but the ball came out of the catcher's mitt and rolled away. Strange.
posted by Howard_T at 05:27 PM on September 25, 2016
K K K K K K K K K K K
Boston pitchers have struck out 11 consecutive Tampa Bay batters from the 4th through 7th innings today. The total for the game is so far 19, and Rays are batting with one out in the 8th. The 11 straight is a major league record. The announcers have been saying all day that plate umpire Sam Holbrook's strike zone is extremely wide today, and the bit of the game I have seen confirms this analysis.