Game #160

If you were like me you were starting to wear out the "previous" button on your remote last night between the Rays/Yankees game and the Orioles/Red Sox.

They says defense wins championships when they talk about basketball and football. At least the coaches do. But for the most part, even the coaches aren't convinced of that in baseball. But Joe Maddon isn't most coaches.

The defense-to-win correlation is grossly underrated in MLB. Pitching is another and the Red Sox and Yankees undervalue both. In the games I watched last night the two plays that stick out in my mind were both defensive hinges to their respective games. Desmond Jennings made an awesome catch on a Jeter would-be gapper. On the other channel the game changed on a two-out Jacoby drop at the fence that allowed three runs to score on the inside-the-park homerun.

Forget about pitching and defense. This year's Sox team just wants to outscore you. Digest this stat - in the month of September the Red Sox are 2-19 when they don't score at least 12 runs (they have scored 12 runs four times this month and won all four). Lets hope the O's give themselves a good chance tonight by holding Boston under 12. On second thought, who cares what Boston does? All we have to do now is win.

Rookies Rule

Welcome to the future. I like what I see.

The Rays had a day game today so I missed it but that is why they invented mlb.com so I am made aware that a couple of rookies took care of business today.

After going down a run in the top of the 10th, Desmond Jennings homered to tie it up again.

After going down a couple in the 11th, Robinson Chirinos tied it up with a single in the bottom of the inning.

After finally getting through the top of an inning unscathed, Chirinos ended the game with a walkoff in the 12th.

We can't afford to pay the hefty salaries of the established stars so we know the farm system has to continue to churn faster than most and the future looks bright.

Go Rays!