Saturday, August 13, 2011

A New York Night

Game 118, Friday, August 12, Coca-Cola Field, Buffalo, New York
Buffalo Bisons (Mets) 3, Durham Bulls (Rays) 2
Season: 67-51, Road Trip: 0-1, Home Games Remaining: 9
Wrap, Box, Wild Card, Buffalo News

The Bulls started off the game with three straight hits and scored one run off Bison starting pitcher Pat Misch. Misch then struck out the side (and struck out 9 more Bulls in his 8+ inning start).

The Bisons started off the bottom of the 7th with three straight hits off reliever Dane De La Rosa, scoring a run. A hit by pitch and a grounder added a second run, and a wild pitch scored a third run. That was enough to win the game.

Matt Moore had a good night with a solid six innings. De La Rosa had an awful 2/3 of an inning. To his credit, Pat Misch went 8 1/3 very well-pitched innings. I was not happy to see Dale Thayer come on for the last two outs of the 9th. For some reason the sight of Fernando Perez in a Bisons uniform doesn't bother me as much as Thayer.
Web World

  • Joe Posnanski has a terrific meditation on the current state of baseball in a recent Sports Illustrated, Loving Baseball. [Thanks, John]
  • Dirk Hayhurst looks at some of the cross-cultural dynamics burbling under the surface in minor league ball.
Charts


Time to take a look at the runs scored/runs allowed picture. Not bad at all. The Pythagorean Expectation for the Bulls based on these numbers is 64-54, well below the actual 67-51. The general thinking about variation with the expectation is that it's a function of luck and bullpen, i.e., the Bull's bullpen is doing a great job and they've had some luck. Makes sense to me. Our bullpen has been doing a good job ... mostly.

How about the guys who play in the bandbox by the bay? They are also on an upward trend. Their Expectation (64-54) exactly matches their actual record.

Click on charts for larger image

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