The NL East is Between the Braves and Mets

The New York Mets once had a 10.5-game lead in the NL East. Depending on when you read this their lead was whittled down to four games. The loss of Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer is contributing to this. The lack of true run producers is another issue. Buck Showalter’s latest bullpen gaffe cost them. 

What About the Braves and Phillies?

The Atlanta Braves have run off a 14-game winning streak. They got some great pitching and Ronald Acuna Jr. was back and Matt Olson started hitting, and third baseman Austin Riley may be a superstar, so the Mets are in trouble. It’s the second-longest winning streak in Braves’ franchise history.

The Philadelphia Phillies bats have woken back up and went on a mini tear as well. Once 12.5 behind the Mets, they are now 8.5 sitting a game over .500. They had a managerial change, and that’s mostly gone well with Rob Thomson, but let’s see how he does the pressure gets turned up after the All-Star break.

The Dodgers Are Rolling

Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tyler Anderson, now 8-0, just missed pitching a no-hitter with one out in the ninth inning. A triple by Angels’ superstar, Shohei Ohtani ended it. Still, the Dodgers won the game and are the second-best team in the National League. The Dodgers have the second-ranked pitching staff in the majors behind the Yankees. Check the mound. I’ve always felt it was a little higher than the others.

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When Did Immaculate Innings Become a Big Deal? 

We’ve started to see more about this in the past few years. In a recent Houston Astros game, it happened twice. Is this a function of great pitching or bad hitting? It’s both. If you want to track this stat, fine. But if you’re going to start saving baseballs to send to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, then you need to try and get some from other points in history when this happened.

Are we 100% sure it’s never happened twice in a game before? Rube Waddell was the first to do it in 1902 for the Philadelphia Athletics. I was at the Hall about four years ago and never saw an exhibit. 

Baseball-Reference says there were none between 1929-1952. That’s amazing, but again, if we are going to treat it this way, I hope the Hall of Fame lists all who have done it. B.J. Ryan did it. Do you remember him? His career numbers were 21-28 mostly with the Baltimore Orioles. When I checked his Wikipedia, it’s not even listed.