Mel Antonen

As season heads into home stretch, Braves don't look so invincible

As season heads into home stretch, Braves don't look so invincible
On June 10, the Atlanta Braves beat Pittsburgh 13-7 to move into a first-place tie in the National League East. They built a six-game lead by the All-Star break and on July 15, their lead was 7 1/2 games, largest of the season. A second consecutive division title seemed inevitable. Now, as baseball enters the final six weeks, the Braves face a new reality: They aren't the same dominating team that went 20-8 in June. They aren't the team that's playing the best. Although they beat the Dodgers...
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Mel Antonen

Indians hope rotation depth will tilt balance their way in AL Central

Indians hope rotation depth will tilt balance their way in AL Central
The Indians have won three consecutive American League Central titles on cruise control. There wasn't a need to win a critical series in the final weeks. In 2016, Cleveland beat second-place Detroit by eight games. In 2017, the Indians beat the second-place Twins by 17 games. Last season, they finished 13 games ahead of the Twins. Any wonder then that Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger said the final weeks of the last three seasons have felt like glorified spring training games? No intensity...
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Mel Antonen

Mets' resurgence adds plot twist to wild card scenarios

Mets' resurgence adds plot twist to wild card scenarios
On July 12, the first day after the All-Star break, the New York Mets lost 8-4 to Miami and their record dropped to 40-51, making them a team that most thought would hit the trade market as a seller as the July 31 deadline arrived. Pitchers Zack Wheeler and Noah Syndergaard were going to be on the move. That would give the Mets a chance to make up for the disastrous offseason acquisitions of Robinson Canó, who wasn't hitting and is on the injured list, and closer Edwin Díaz, who...
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Mel Antonen

Nationals not ready to embrace computer-generated strike zone

Nationals not ready to embrace computer-generated strike zone
The Atlantic League, an independent baseball league that has a three-year contract with Major League Baseball to experiment with new ideas, says that the computer-generated strike zone has been so successful, the system will be used the rest of the season. The computerized system, called the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS), will be used in the eight-team league, which includes the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in Waldorf. The technology will debut there Aug. 2. The league used it for its...
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Mel Antonen

Nationals have chance to duplicate 2005 Astros' remarkable turnaround

Nationals have chance to duplicate 2005 Astros' remarkable turnaround
As Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt studied videos of Cardinals batters in preparation for Game 6 of the 2005 National League Championship Series - the biggest game in Houston franchise history - he got an unusual interruption. Astros owner Drayton McLane came up to Oswalt and promised to buy him a bulldozer if he could pitch the team into the World Series for the first time. The incentive worked. Oswalt pitched seven strong innings and beat the Cardinals 5-1 in St. Louis, sending the Astros to the...
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Mel Antonen

Singleton recalls All-Star Game that ended work stoppage

Singleton recalls All-Star Game that ended work stoppage
In the summer of 1981, Orioles outfielder Ken Singleton was putting up All-Star numbers in the season's first half. Then he spent a month wondering if the season would be completed. Singleton was hitting .408 on May 9 after getting three hits for the Orioles in a game at Texas. He was on a streak of getting hits in 13 of 16 games when the players decided to go on strike June 12. Singleton was averaging .340 with a .433 on-base percentage, a .978 OPS and nine home runs when the strike...
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Mel Antonen

With Midsummer Classic approaching, answers to baseball's pressing questions

With Midsummer Classic approaching, answers to baseball's pressing questions
The season's halfway point has passed. Rosters for the All-Star Game are set and the game will be July 9 in Cleveland, a city that has hosted four other games, the first in 1935. With that, here are answers to the game's most burning questions. Q: Which team is the biggest surprise? A: That would be Texas in the American League West. The Rangers are an AL version of Atlanta, meaning they have a dangerous offense and thin pitching after Mike Minor (2.40 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) and Lance Lynn, who has...
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Mel Antonen

Braves may lead NL East, but can they sustain extended run of success

Braves may lead NL East, but can they sustain extended run of success
After a 4-3 extra-inning win Sunday, the Braves lead the Nationals by 8 ½ games in the National League East. So why does it seem the Nationals have the advantage as the season's second half approaches? It's because the Nationals have a more reliable rotation. The Braves have been white-hot during June, but they are doing it with an offense that averages more than seven runs a game. Teams that win by pounding other teams with runs find that difficult to sustain. On the other hand, the...
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Mel Antonen

Examining the market for O's Trey Mancini

Examining the market for O's Trey Mancini
Last season at this time, the Orioles were gearing up to trade the likes of Manny Machado, Zack Britton, Kevin Gausman and Jonathan Schoop. This year, the question is whether likely All-Star Trey Mancini is next on the list to be traded as the Orioles continue to stockpile prospects in the second year of a rebuild. "We're not looking to part with Trey,'' Orioles general manager Mike Elias says. "That said, we are open to anything. We do have our sights set on the future. "If we end up...
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Mel Antonen

Other teams' pitching issues could help Nats climb back into NL East race

Other teams' pitching issues could help Nats climb back into NL East race
On May 25, the Nationals were a fourth-place team, 21-31 and 10 games out in the National League East. Since then, the Nationals have gone 9-4 to cut the deficit to seven games. They split four games over the weekend in San Diego. It's not easy to pick up ground on four teams in one division. But, it's only June. The NL East looks like a four-team race. Philadelphia is holding on to first place despite standing-room-only with their relievers on the injured list. The Braves have added Dallas...
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Mel Antonen

With draft comes second wave of free agent chatter concerning Kimbrel, Keuchel

With draft comes second wave of free agent chatter concerning Kimbrel, Keuchel
A second season of free agent speculation is upon us, but it's probably not going to be prolonged. Starter Dallas Keuchel and closer Craig Kimbrel are hot commodities among contenders now that the draft is here. That's because the Astros with Keuchel and the Red Sox with Kimbrel offered each of them a one-year, $17.9 million qualifying offer last winter. Each player rejected the offer and because of that, given the rules established in the labor agreement, any team that signed either of the...
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Mel Antonen

Like rebuilding Orioles, Marlins are experiencing growing pains

Like rebuilding Orioles, Marlins are experiencing growing pains
Last December, about a month before he died, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre helped his son, Mel Jr., with a decision about his job. Junior couldn't decide among several offers about what pitching-coach job to take for the 2019 season. Senior advised Junior to take the Marlins' offer because he was comfortable with team owner Derek Jeter and manager Don Mattingly, given their connections with the Yankees. Senior thought that Junior needed a challenge of building a young staff with plenty of...
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Mel Antonen

On the rebound: Checking out stellar comebacks around the major leagues

On the rebound: Checking out stellar comebacks around the major leagues
Baseball has turned into an all-or-nothing, strikeout-or-hit-a-home run game, but not all players are with the program. Check out the Dodgers' Cody Bellinger. In his previous two seasons, Bellinger has been all or nothing. In 2017, he hit 39 home runs with 146 strikeouts in 480 at-bats. The following season, the numbers were 25, 151 and 557. Now Bellinger, the son of former big league infielder Clay Bellinger, is turning back the clock. He's improved his strike zone discipline, shortened his...
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Mel Antonen

Surprise! Unheralded players are making their marks, raising some eyebrows

Surprise! Unheralded players are making their marks, raising some eyebrows
In 2011, outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. was a first-round draft pick by the Blue Jays. Then, after hitting. .268 in seven minor league seasons for the Blue Jays, he was traded March 8 to Baltimore for international slot money the Orioles weren't going to use anyway. When he arrived in spring training in Sarasota, Fla., he was projected as outfield depth on an Orioles roster that was loaded with outfield prospects making impressions. Now, six weeks into the season, Smith is one of the Orioles'...
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Mel Antonen

Nationals' issues negated by other NL East teams with their own problems

Nationals' issues negated by other NL East teams with their own problems
The Nationals' first month of the season has been mediocre, but they are lucky none of the other three teams expected be National League East contenders are playing well either. The Mets and Braves can score, but each has pitching issues, the Mets in the rotation and the Braves in the bullpen. And the Nationals' bullpen struggles are documented well, although Erick Fedde and the relievers pitched well in a much-needed victory Sunday against San Diego. The Phillies rotation is coming together....
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Mel Antonen

NL East has a bullpen problem

NL East has a bullpen problem
The Nationals aren't the only team in the National League East with bullpen issues. After an offseason of acquiring bullpen arms, NL East teams are having difficult times finding reliable relief arms. And there are still two weeks to go in April. The Nationals' Austen Williams gave up four ninth-inning runs Wednesday in a 9-6 win against the Giants at Nationals Park, meaning the Nationals went into Thursday's game with the highest bullpen ERA (8.04) in the league. The Mets were the...
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Mel Antonen

Answers to questions about early surprise squads

Answers to questions about early surprise squads
The answers to questions regarding the top five surprising teams in the early going on the season: Q: What is fueling the Tigers' first-place run in the American League Central? A: Pitching and defense. "This is about throwing the ball over the plate and catching it,'' Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said to the Detroit Free Press. "But we can't get too high on this stuff. There's a long way to go.'' The Tigers get a big test starting tonight when they play Cleveland in a series they'll...
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Mel Antonen

First week of new seasons brings unexpected twists and turns in AL East

First week of new seasons brings unexpected twists and turns in AL East
A week into the season, the Yankees are already on Plan C at shortstop. Gleyber Torres played the position Thursday against the Orioles in the Camden Yards home opener. It worked fine. Torres, batting seventh, hit two home runs in the Yankees' 8-4 victory against the Orioles. His single in the eighth inning gave him a career-high four hits. The Yankees' standing-room-only injured list is the biggest story from the American League East's first week. The Yankees knew their regular shortstop,...
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Mel Antonen

Harper's homecoming a time to remember his immense offensive impact

Harper's homecoming a time to remember his immense offensive impact
Bryce Harper will be returning to Nationals Park for the rest of his career, just not the way Nats fans were thinking. Harper, 26, will be wearing Phillies gray for three trips a year into Washington, starting Tuesday night. Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with National League East rival Philadelphia, leaving the only major league city he's called home. Harper will wear No. 3 with the Phillies after wearing No. 34 for the Nationals. Harper's jersey is baseball's...
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Mel Antonen

Phillies made their move, but so did rest of NL East

Phillies made their move, but so did rest of NL East
The offseason for the National League East was a steady stream of reinforcements, making it the most competitive division of Major League Baseball's six. Four teams have a chance to win the crown. The biggest offseason splash was the Phillies' trade for catcher J.T. Realmuto. But that was only until halfway through spring training, when they signed free-agent outfielder Bryce Harper. So, how will the Nationals be without Harper, 26, the 2015 NL MVP? And, do the Phillies have enough in their...
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