MLB News & Notes (other than Cubs or Sox)

[Brock]

Well, Darwin Barney got the loss in todays Cleveland/Toronto game. Gave up a homer in the 19th.

I watched a little of that. 85 MPH from a position player was pretty impressive.

[rok]

The Cardinals almost blew an 8-2 lead today. Only won 9-8 over the Brewers. Our lead is down to 8 games. Wasn't it 11 games just last week?

[Butcher]

I'm sure the Cardinals smell blood.

[Kid]

I'm sure the Cardinals smell blood.

 

They've got a funny way of showing it.  After the Cardinals left Chicago, the Cubs went on their worst road trip of the season at 4-7.  The Cardinals only went 5-5.  They only gained a game and a half.  They had a legitimate opportunity to pick up 4 or 5 games.

 

To put it another way, over this 4-7 road trip, the Cardinals barely maintained the pace they would need to catch the Cubs by the end of the season.  They needed to do better than that because there shouldn't be many 4-7 stretches.

[Brock]

Apparently Jung-Ho Kang might have roofied a woman in Chicago.

[rok]

Somehow Pirates fans will find a way to blame Coghlan for this.

Stacy St. Clair and David Heinzmann of the Chicago Tribune are reporting that Chicago police are investigating Pirates third baseman Jung Ho Kang over a sexual assault allegation. The Pirates were in Chicago to face the Cubs between June 17 and 19 last month. The incident allegedly took place after the game on the 17th.


The police say Kang met a woman in Chicago through Bumble, which is a dating app that pairs users based on location, but the catch is that only women can start the conversation. Kang invited the woman to his hotel room at the Magnificent Mile, an upper-scale hotel in Chicago. The woman claims Kang served her an alcoholic drink, which caused her to black out 15 to 20 minutes later. Kang allegedly sexually assaulted her as she drifted in and out of consciousness.


Both the Pirates and Major League Baseball are aware of the situation. Major League Baseball issued a statement which said, "Our understanding is that police in Chicago are investigating this very serious matter. Major League Baseball will monitor the progress of this investigation closely and will respond fully as additional facts emerge."


Pirates president Frank Coonelly issued this statement:


"We have been made aware of the allegation that has been made against Jung Ho Kang. We take allegations of this type extremely seriously. Pursuant to the Joint MLB/MLBPA Policy on such matters, this matter is exclusively before the Commissioners Office at this time. We have and will continue to cooperate fully with the Commissioners Office. As a result of the ongoing police investigation, we cannot comment further at this time. We have also advised our staff and our players that they should not comment on the matter either. We all need to be respectful to the police investigation of a very serious allegation."


Commissioner Rob Manfred has the authority to levy a punishment whether or not Kang is officially charged with a crime by police, as we saw with the Jose Reyes situation.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local...story.html

[funkster]

Holy shit.

[Kid]

NL ASG starting lineup:

 

C: Buster Posey, Giants

1B: Anthony Rizzo, Cubs

2B: Ben Zobrist, Cubs

3B: Kris Bryant, Cubs

SS: Addison Russell, Cubs

OF: Yoenis Cespedes, Mets

OF: Dexter Fowler, Cubs

OF: Bryce Harper, Nationals

[Kid]

Arrieta and Lester also in.

[nakedman1664]

Yeah.....Russell doesn't deserve to be there. But the rest I am all for, even if there are other players that are pretty damn good (like Arenado at 3B).

[Kid]

http://twitter.com/TheCCO/status/750468936311844865

[Kid]

Rizzo leads receives the most votes among NL all stars.

 

On the other hand:

 

http://twitter.com/jaysonst/status/750471684554043393

[funkster]

As cool as it is to get so many in, I don't really care all that much.

[rok]

I would kind of prefer it if a few of them got the time off instead. This team needs a break from the game.


Also fuck Daniel Murphy.

[jstraw]

I'd be more excited about this if the team was still on a tear.