Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. My palms definitely got a little sweaty watching David Bednar close out a five-out save for the Yankees yesterday afternoon.
In today’s SI:AM:
📺 ESPN-NFL deal details
🏴 Wrexham’s rise
⚾ MLB’s first female ump
The hits kept coming
The Blue Jays took full advantage of the thin air in Denver during a three-game beatdown of the Rockies this week, setting numerous franchise and MLB records in the process.
Toronto won the first game of the series 15–1 on Monday, won again 10–4 on Tuesday and wrapped up the series yesterday with a 20–1 shellacking. All told, the Jays outscored the Rockies 45–6 and totaled 63 hits, both Toronto franchise records for a three-game series. That’s also the most hits by one team in a three-game series in MLB’s modern era (since 1901) and the most runs in a three-game set since the Cubs scored 47 against the Pirates in 2019, according to MLB.com. The Jays tallied 40 more hits than the Rockies (another modern-era record) and 39 more runs (the second-largest differential since 1901, behind only that year’s Brooklyn Superbas).
Those stats come with a bit of an asterisk, though. Not only were the Jays playing in the offense-friendly environment of Denver, but they also did a lot of their damage with a position player pitching. The score yesterday afternoon was a somewhat more respectable 12–1 at the start of the ninth inning when Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer called on catcher Austin Nola to pitch.
Nola, the older brother of Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola, looped pitches toward the plate at around 60 mph and was predictably knocked around. He gave up four straight doubles to start the inning and gave up two homers later in the frame as the Jays sent 11 players to the plate and tacked on another eight hits and eight runs.
Still, the Jays are playing fantastic baseball of late. With the win, they improved to 68–48 on the year, the best record in the American League. They’re 22–10 since the start of July, during which time they’ve gone from third place in the division to having a four-game lead over the Red Sox for first. Toronto’s red-hot offense is the biggest reason for its recent success. The team has scored 206 runs since July 1, by far the most in the majors during that span. (The Brewers are next with 173.) That’s an average of a preposterous 6.44 runs per game. The Jays’ recent offensive outburst has lifted their season-long scoring average to 4.97 runs per game, tied with the Red Sox for fifth in the majors.
The three-game beatdown is also one of many low points in what’s been a nightmare of a season for the Rockies. They’ve been slightly less of an embarrassment lately after a historically bad 9–50 start to the season, but they’re still by far the worst team in the majors at 30–84. Having an opposing team come into town and knock the ball around the yard like the Jays did is especially humiliating when your own offense is so inert. Colorado only managed six runs on four extra-base hits in the series. One thing about playing at altitude is that it’s supposed to benefit both offenses, but that’s only the case if both teams are fielding an MLB-caliber roster.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- As Wrexham begins its first season in the EFL Championship, England’s second-highest soccer league, Thore Haugstad’s Digital Cover story looks at how two Hollywood actors breathed life into the dying club and allowed it to rocket up the football pyramid.
- Jimmy Traina has a good guide to everything you need to know about the NFL acquiring a stake in ESPN.
- Our college football preseason top 25 countdown continues with Bryan Fischer’s look at No. 12 Illinois. The Illini are looking to build on last year’s impressive 10–3 campaign, their first double-digit-win season in more than 20 years.
- Fischer also ranked the top 25 college football scandals of the past 25 years.
- Jen Pawol will make history this weekend as the first woman to umpire an MLB regular-season game.
- 18-year-old Victoria Mboko earned a spot in the Canadian Open women’s final with an upset victory over former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
- Shohei Ohtani notched his 1,000th career hit with a homer against the Cardinals.
The top five…
… things I saw yesterday:
5. J.P. Crawford’s glove flip for the out at second.
4. A nice diving catch by Guardians right fielder C.J. Kayfus to keep Gavin Williams’s no-hit bid alive in the seventh. (Juan Soto broke up the no-hitter with a homer with one out in the ninth.)
3. Shohei Ohtani’s eight strikeouts in four innings on the mound.
2. The most exciting balk you’ll ever see.
1. Marlins prospect Patrick Monteverde’s diving effort to tag a runner.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Blue Jays Polish Off Record-Setting Series With 20–1 Drubbing of Rockies.
