Well, the Braves like home cooking I guess. Last night they won over the Dodgers 6 – 5. It was more convincing than that looks, neither team scored after the 6th.
So anything can happen but the Braves still face elimination today against the Dodgers.
Braves will send out Mike Foltynewicz (R, 13 – 10, 2.85 ERA). He pitched previously in this Series, losing Game 1. He threw 2 Innings allowing 4 Runs on 3 Hits and 2 Home Runs issuing 3 Walks. Because he didn’t pitch long fatigue is probably not a factor. He throws Fastballs and Sliders almost exclusively.
Rich Hill (L, 11 5, 3.66 ERA) faces him for the Dodgers. In 2017 he had 4 games with no decision in any of them and threw 17.2 Innings during which he allowed 5 Runs on 13 Hits and 3 Home Runs with 8 Walks and an ERA of 2.55). He throws Fastballs and Curveballs- that’s it.
I expect that’s the last time I’ll get to play that clip this Season. The Indians are facing elimination down 2 – 0 and while the Braves got their miracle last night, the Rockies did not.
The Indians are going to start Mike Clevinger (R, 13 – 8, 3.02 ERA). In 2017 he made 2 appearance in the Divisional Series lasting a mere 1.1 Innings counting both. He allowed 3 Runs on 2 Hits, a Walk, and a Home Run ending with a whopping 13.50 ERA. He throws Fastballs and Sliders.
The ‘Stros will send Dallas Keuchel (L, 12 – 11, 3.74 ERA) to the mound. Last year he made 5 appearances in the Playoffs with 2 Wins an 2 Losses. He pitched a total of 27.2 Innings and allowed 12 Runs on 25 Hits and 2 Home Runs for an ERA of 3.58. He pitches, Fastballs, Cutters and Curves.
I fully expect the ‘Stros to finish the sweep. The real question is if Clevinger lasts more than an Inning.
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungoverwe’ve been bailed outwe’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
Deadly fires scorch Chicago and other parts of Upper Midwest; Communist Poland bans labor groups; Alexander Solzhenitsyn wins Nobel Prize for Literature; Don Larsen pitches ‘perfect’ World Series game.
Dean Brooks grasped on to the shopping cart, suddenly unable to stand or breathe.
Later, at a California emergency room, a nurse with teary eyes delivered the news, telling his wife, Deborah, to hold out hope for a miracle. It was December 2015 when they learned that a blood cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) was rapidly attacking the man’s body and immune system.
By July 2016, Dean was dead. Deborah gets emotional recounting the gruesome final chapter of the love of her life. But in recent months, she has had reason to be hopeful again.
In an historic verdict in August, a jury ruled that Monsanto had caused a man’s terminal cancer and ordered the agrochemical corporation to pay $289m in damages. The extraordinary decision, exposing the potential hazards of the world’s most widely used herbicide, has paved the way for thousands of other cancer patients and families to seek justice and compensation in court.
The world’s leading climate scientists have warned there is only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.
The authors of the landmark report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released on Monday say urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to reach the target, which they say is affordable and feasible although it lies at the most ambitious end of the Paris agreement pledge to keep temperatures between 1.5C and 2C.
The half-degree difference could also prevent corals from being completely eradicated and ease pressure on the Arctic, according to the 1.5C study, which was launched after approval at a final plenary of all 195 countries in Incheon in South Korea that saw delegates hugging one another, with some in tears.
“It’s a line in the sand and what it says to our species is that this is the moment and we must act now,” said Debra Roberts, a co-chair of the working group on impacts. “This is the largest clarion bell from the science community and I hope it mobilises people and dents the mood of complacency.”
Policymakers commissioned the report at the Paris climate talks in 2016, but since then the gap between science and politics has widened. Donald Trump has promised to withdraw the US – the world’s biggest source of historical emissions – from the accord. The first round of Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday put Jair Bolsonaro into a strong position to carry out his threat to do the same and also open the Amazon rainforest to agribusiness.
The world is currently 1C warmer than preindustrial levels. Following devastating hurricanes in the US, record droughts in Cape Town and forest fires in the Arctic, the IPCC makes clear that climate change is already happening, upgraded its risk warning from previous reports, and warned that every fraction of additional warming would worsen the impact.
So the Braves are looking for home cooking to change things around.
Unfortunately for the Braves I don’t think they’ll find it any better than road food. The Dodgers continue to look like the team to beat despite the Yankee win last night.
Sean Newcomb (L, 12 – 9, 3.90 ERA) pitched 2 scoreless Innings as a Reliever in Game 1 so the Braves will be sending him out on short rest. He throws Fastballs, Changeups, and Curves
The Dodgers respond with Walker Buehler (R, 8 – 5, 2.62 ERA). He’s not quite a Rookie, he appeared in 8 games in 2017, but he has no post-Season experience. His favorite pitch is the Fastball with a few Curves and Cutters.
I won’t be watching the first part because I’m binging Dr. Who. Without spoiling it let me say I thought it was pretty good (no “Blink” mind you) and the cast seems to be working out. I thought there were a few rough edges in the writing and I had 1 big problem with the plot. They do introduce a new alien and it’s a terrifying reveal.
Here’s an interesting fact, of the 8 teams in the Playoffs, only 1 has managed a road win this this year. Of course this means that 3 teams are facing elimination, among them the Rockies. While they looked pretty good against the Brewers in the first game the second one was hopeless. They’re just attempting to squeek through to a Game 4 when they can pitch their ace, Kyle Freeland.
Tonight the Rockies’ will start German Marquez (L, 14 – 11, 3.77 ERA). He’s never pitched in the post-Season and throws Fastballs with some Curves and Sliders mixed in.
The Brewers will send out Wade Miley (L, 5-2, 2.57 ERA), equally untested. He likes Cutters and adds Changeups and Curves as often as Heat.
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungoverwe’ve been bailed outwe’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s one of the enduring mysteries of life in New York City: Just how many squirrels live in Central Park?
There could soon be an answer.
Counters started roaming the 840-acre park on Saturday for its first ever Squirrel Census .
Organizers of the two-week count tell The New York Times they’re looking to learn more about squirrel behavior and urban green space.
Jamie Allen led similar censuses of Atlanta’s Inman Park in 2012 and 2016. He says the projects are filling a data void on squirrels and exposing patterns in how they live.
The Atlanta results helped inform a paper on the spread of the West Nile virus.
The Central Park counters are tracking squirrels’ activities, such as running and foraging, coat color and sounds they make.
Well, not quite the result you had hoped for if you’re a Yankees fan, if on the other hand you’re part of Red Sox nation you should be satisfied but not excited, it was close. Without that initial blast from Martinez the Bullpen looks extremely shaky which is too bad because I 75% expect the Red Sox to advance and they don’t seem as if they can make it all the way.
The Red Sox will start David Price (L, 16 – 7, 3.58 ERA). Last year he pitched 6.2 scoreless Innings to a No Decision with only 2 Walks allowed. His off speed pitches are Cutters and Changeups.
The Yankees send Masahiro Tanaka (R, 12 – 6, 3.75 ERA) to the mound. Tanaka Won 2 and Lost 1 last year with only 2 Runs and 3 Walks in 20 Innings pitched. He has a Split-Finger and Slider that he uses more than Heat.
In real life the Indians are down 1 – 0 to the ‘Stros which is significant in a short Series like a Division Championship but not unexpected for an away game.
The ‘Stros will send Gerrit Cole (R, 15 – 5, 2.88 ERA) to the mound. The last time he appeared post-Season was in 2015 when he was with the Pirates where he racked up a loss allowing 4 Runs, 2 Home Runs, and 1 Walk for an ERA of 7.20. He throws Curves and Sliders in addition to Heat.
Indians wil counter with Carlos Carrasco (R, 17 – 10, 3.38 ERA). Last year he pitched 5.2 scoreless Innings in the Division Series, issuing 3 Walks in the process. He’s a Fastball / Slider guy.
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungoverwe’ve been bailed outwe’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat assassinated; Yom Kippur War breaks out in Mideast; Top U.S. arms inspector reports on Iraq’s WMD; Actress Bette Davis dies; ‘The Jazz Singer’ heralds talking pictures.
WHEN DONALD TRUMP signed a huge corporate and upper-income tax cut into law in December, it seemed like there was one small bright spot. With the GOP-backed bill projected to increase the national deficit by $1.9 trillion over the first decade, at the very least the Democrats could finally quit saying that an increase to the national debt — the vice that trapped so much progressive legislation — was per se political suicide.
In fact, as many Democrats reckoned at the time, if they reclaimed power, they could then repeal those Republican tax cuts and redirect the revenue to new social programs.
But this month, despite the sky decidedly not falling from the Trump tax cuts, Nancy Pelosi confirmed her intent to bringing back the “pay-go” rule, which requires all new spending to be offset with budget cuts or tax hikes. Pelosi first instituted the rule in 2007, effectively barring Congress from taking up progressive legislation that would increase the national debt.
This stark contrast between Republicans and Democrats was front-and-center at the second annual Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) conference, held last weekend at the New School in New York City. The MMT movement, started in the 1990s by a few heterodox economists, has since grown into a vocal and eclectic mix of academics and activists, trying to change the way we think about government spending.
In a nutshell: MMT proponents believe that the government can safely spend far more money than it currently does, and increasing the federal deficit is not a bad thing in and of itself — a public deficit is also a private-sector surplus, after all.
While typically we hear rhetoric that our political leaders must first “find” money through new taxes or budget cuts in order to pay for new programs, MMT proponents say that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of how money works. In so-called fiat currency systems (meaning societies in which money isn’t backed by physically valuable commodities like gold or silver) governments literally create the money and tax it later to control for inflation and keep it in demand.
Inflation is still a risk, MMT advocates say, but it’s a much more remote risk than mainstream economists let on, and it’s one that can be addressed down the line if it arises, without so much pre-emptive austerity.
From 2 teams I have some admiration for to 2 teams I don’t like at all. Braves / Dodgers resumes with the Dodgers leading the Braves 1 – 0.
Tonight the Dodgers send Clayton Kershaw (L, 9 – 5, 2.73 ERA) to face Aníbal Sánchez (R, 7 – 6, 2.83 ERA) of the Braves. Kershaw was nearly flawless in last year’s post-Season going 3 – 0 while allowing only 14 Runs, 8 Home Runs, and issuing 10 Walks for an ERA of 3.74 (yeah, those are unimpressive numbers but he got the Ws). He relies on Fastballs and Sliders with the occasional Curve.
Sánchez hasn’t pitched in the post-Season since 2014 when he had 2 Innings of work for the Tigers but put up nothing but Zeros. He throws nothing but junk with Changeups and Cutters being favored but Curves and Sliders contributing. His Fastball averages 91 mph.
I suppose I should view this with greater anticipation but I’ve been watching Yankees / Red Sox all year (19 Games!). The sad thing is that these are the only two teams in post-Season I care about even a little.
The Red Sox will start David Price (L, 16 – 7, 3.58 ERA) against the Yankees’ J.A. Happ (L, 17 – 6, 3.65 ERA). Happ was 1 – 1 during his last post-Season in 2016 for the Blue Jays, giving up 3 Runs, 1 Dinger, and 2 Walks for a 2.70 ERA. Price had no wins or losses last year in 2 appearances pitching 6.2 Innings and an ERA of Zero. Price rarely throws Curves relying on Cutters and Changeups. Happ throws Fastballs (ok, sometimes Sliders and Changeups).
