Be the Least Worst: Hutch Shuts Out White Sox
That was a pretty trying few weeks of baseball. Swept by the Astros, split a series with the Angels (which featured decent starting pitching that could’ve won more games but alarmingly anemic offense) and losing two of three to the Mariners. First game after the maddening tour of the AL West was last night’s 6-0 gem by Drew Hutchison (more on that in a moment.)
This past weekend, something I’ve been thinking about all season, when all the pissbabies of media and fandom moan about firing Gibbons and how so unbelievable not early it currently is (it’s officially been not early to these people since April 30th), was illustrated perfectly. Pete Abraham (beat writer for the Boston Red Sox) tweeting about the Red Sox clubhouse being empty post game when the press goes looking for quotes (“And really,what is there left to say?”) and a beat writer calling for the firing of John Farrell (2013 was a long time ago.) The Yankees had their asses handed to them by the Texas Rangers over the weekend and had lost nine of ten. The Orioles are sort of around, as are the Rays (current division leader.) Top (Rays) to bottom (Jays), the division is separated by 3.5 games.
THREE AND A HALF.
TERRIBLE, SOUL CRUSHING, BAD LUCK BASEBALL.
THREE AND A HALF GAMES.
Be the least worst. The American League East is terrible. And wide open. Each team has considerable strengths and massive flaws. Be the least terrible and win the division. Don’t look at the second wild card- that way leads to certain death (and the AL Central.)
Win the hell out of this sucky division.
Drew Hutchison pitched like a man possessed last night. Complete game shut out. Hutch had strikeouts mixed with ground ball double plays, induced by throwing lots of a strikes low in the zone. Four hits, no walks, eight strikeouts and 96 pitches to complete nine innings.
“I did a good job of getting ahead and had a really good sinker tonight,” Hutchison said. “Got a lot of early-swing ground balls and got double plays. That was the key to getting deep into the game and keeping the pitch count down.”
“He was sick tonight too,” manager John Gibbons said. “Sometimes you have your best games when you’re not feeling so good.”
Gibby means “sick” as in barfing. But the alternative definition (as in, “Man, that was sick yo!” applies, too. I hope to one day hear Gibby say, “Man, that was sick yo!” It would really make everything better.)
The starter ERA over the last seven games has been 2.86. Gibby means “sick” as in barfing. But the alternative definition (as in, “Man, that was sick yo!” applies, too. I hope to one day hear Gibby say, “Man, that was sick yo!” It would really make everything better.)
Be the least worst.