The Field of Dreams Game takes the spotlight on August 11, as we have only eight games on the card and just two night games. The Cubs and Reds will play in the cornfields this year. I’ll give my thoughts on that game at the end, but here’s a look at what’s going through my mind across the rest of MLB.
Reds/Mets: The Mets just kept right on rolling with a 10-2 win over the Reds, who have probably just spent the week looking forward to tonight’s game in Iowa. They trailed early and it only got worse in the three-game sweep. T.J. Zeuch gave up six runs over the first three innings and the bullpen gave up some insurance runs. Only three Mets had hard-hit balls, but Pete Alonso had four and Tyler Naquin had three.
Nationals/Cubs: I couldn’t lay -155 with the Cubs, but I mentioned yesterday how I didn’t understand the Josiah Gray money that comes in on a regular basis. Well, Gray went 6.1 innings and allowed two runs on seven hits, but everything fell apart in the seventh and the Cubs picked up a 4-2 win. Gray only had eight whiffs on 43 swings. I get that there’s some potential there, and he did limit the hard contact allowed, but I still don’t really see why steam comes in every time he pitches.
Giants/Padres: Even when the Giants scored seven runs, the bullpen and the defense lets them down. Jake Junis also didn’t pitch very well, but this defense is extremely bad and the Giants allowed three unearned runs yesterday. Of greater concern, it was another rocky start for Sean Manaea, whose ERA is up to 4.76 now. The Padres need to figure out what’s ailing him and get it fixed. He did only allow one hard-hit ball, but the stuff just hasn’t been sharp for a while now.