It's just a work of art every time David Price pitches for the Blue Jays. He did it again Monday night as Dave and the Jays defeated the Yankees, 4-2 before 47,648 at a packed out, raucous Rogers Centre. It's just a fun place to be right now. The Jays ended up taking two of three from the Yankees to extend their AL East lead to three games over the Bronx Bombers. The Jays are now 87-65 as they host the Tampa Bay Rays for a three game home series this weekend. David will be on the hill tomorrow against Chris Archer, a very fine young pitcher for the Rays. Chris looks at Dave as his mentor as Chris was in the rotation with the Rays when Dave was finishing up in Tampa.
The KC Royals are at 89-63, so they have a two game lead over the Jays for the best record in the American League. It would be awesome, first to win the division, and overtake the Royals for the best record in the AL. That would mean home field advantage all the way to the World Series as the American League beat the National League and this year's All-Star game at Cincinnati thus securing home field for the Series. Stud shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has been out the past two weeks with a crack in his left shoulder blade after a collision with center fielder Kevin Pillar as both were running to catch a pop fly. Tulo has a good chance of being back for an October run. He was throwing and catching three days ago and the next step is to do some fielding and some hitting. He throws and bats right handed. Not positive Tulo will be back for October, but there is a good chance. I'm sure he will do everything he can to get back, because like DP, Joey Bats, Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Donaldson, he is hungry for a World Series title. All the Jays and their fans are because they haven't even been to the playoffs since 1994, though they did win back to back World Series titles in 1992 and '93.
David moved to 17-5 on the season with a 2.34 ERA, as he pitched seven against the Yankees, threw 114 pitches with 87 for strikes and 27 for balls, an amazing 3.5 to 1 strike to ball ratio, he gave up only two hits, no runs with one walk and seven K's. It really was what baseball players refer to as a "Rembrandt." Dave was hitting the corners and the low zone with his fastballs, he was clocking 95, his change up at 85 has become a go to, and his split fastball (splitter) comes in at 90-91 MPH and is downright filthy. He has developed a pretty darn good curve ball that he throws at 80 MPH with good bite on it. I'm starting to look at the AL Cy Young Award winner here if this keeps up tomorrow and in his last start Thursday against Baltimore. David and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros look to be battling it out at this point. Keuchel's ERA is 2.51 and his record is 18-8 and his WHIP is 1.02. David's is 1.07. But it's neck and neck. David's WAR (wins above replacement) is 3.5 and Keuchel's is 6.8 which is something I don't understand because David's record at Toronto is 8-1 with a 1.95 ERA. David has 46 walks on the year and 219 strikeouts. Keuchel has issued 47 walks on the year and struck out 203. Keuchel and Dave have both given up 16 homers this season. But if David wins his next two impressively and the Jays win the division and capture the best record in baseball, the Cy Young should go to Dave. Keuchel pitches Sunday at home versus the Rangers. Heck if David pitches well and the Jays win the division and Houston finishes as a wild card or doesn't make it, David should get it. But it's too be determined. Keuchel's last game will be Saturday at the Dbacks, so it'll come right down to the wire. The Astros are at 80-73 and presently three games behind the Rangers and host the Rangers this weekend in a huge series.
Proud of what David is doing. This could be his year to capture his first World Series title and second Cy Young. David won the Cy Young with the Rays in 2012. He's like Tom Brady. He just gets better with age. At 30 years old (David turned 30 on August 26th) he's at the pinnacle of the game. Proud for him. Know Corbs is, too.
Pedro was hugely clutch for the Pirates yesterday as he hit a three run tomahawk shot in the top of the 8th to pull the Pirates up from their bootstraps. The Bucs were down 4-2, until Pedro hit a fastball on a rope over the right central field wall. It was probably 12 feet above the ground, but it was crushed. The Bucs won 5-4 because of Pedro.
He's now hit 26 homers and has 75 Ribeyes. Pedro and the Bucs in a critical three game series at Wrigley this weekend versus the Cubs. The Bucs are at 93-60 and having a spectacular season and the Cubs are at 89-63 and also having a tremendous season under Joe Maddon's superb leadership. The Bucs are 4.5 back of the Cards and the Cubs are 7.5 back. The Bucs are 3.5 up on the Cubbies in the Wild Card standings which is hugely important for home field in the win or go home wild card game. If the Bucs can have really good success against the Cubs, the wild card home field could be in good shape and then the Redbirds come to the Steel City for a three game set Monday through Wednesday. The Pirates will have Thursday off, then close out the season hosting the Reds Friday through Sunday. If the Bucs and the Cubs face off in the wild card game, I would bet that Gerrit Cole would start for the Bucs and the awesome Jake Arrieta would start for the Cubs. Arrieta is 20-6 with a 1.88 ERA 48 walks, 220 K's and an 0.90 WHIP. He's outstanding, but so is Gerrit. Arrieta will face cagey veteran A.J. Burnett for the Pirates Sunday night on Sunday Night baseball on ESPN at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT. Gerrit pitches today against Jon Lester. Gerrit is 17-8 with a 2.64 ERA, with 42 walks and 192 K's and a 1.10 WHIP. Lester is 10-11 with a 3.46 ERA, 47 walks and 192 K's and a 1.17 WHIP. Pedro not in the starting lineup today against Lester, a left hander. That really ticks me off. Hurdle starts Michael Morse, a sizzling .236 hitter with with five home runs and 17 RBIs. Makes total sense Hurdle. 2:20 PM ET/1:20 PM CT for first pitch. Pedro will probably pinch hit later. It's hard for me to like Hurdle. It really is.
Derek leads the team into Oxford for a tough matchup against the No.3 ranked Ole Miss Rebels, which are 3-0 and on a roll. 7 PM ET/6 PM CT kickoff on duh U (ESPNU). The guys are coming off a 47-7 victory over Austin Peay in a game in which Johnny McCrary 28-of-33 passes for 368 yards, two TDs and no ints. Johnny played an awesome game. Trent Sherfield played a brilliant game catching 16 passes for 240 yards and a seven. Trent wears Earl Bennett's number 10 and plays like him though Trent is a little faster. Earl was a 4.55 guy and Trent looks like a 4.45 guy. Defense played well, the oline played well. Need to run it well against that tough Ole Miss front led by the awesome Robert Nkemdiche. They've got some studs on defense and studs on offense. Ralph Webb, Dallas Rivers, Darrius Sims, and even Josh Crawford, if he plays and Derek is not redshirting him, need to have good games, Johnny needs to pass AND run well, to give us a shot against the outstanding Rebels. The Rebels are coming off a huge 43-37 victory over the then No.2 ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Maybe we're going to catch them napping and take advantage. A lot of things will have to go right for us to have a shot, but need to be optimistic. We'll have to defend Chad Kelly and that prolific passing game of the Rebels with standout receivers Laquon Treadwell and Cody Core and some others. Will be a major challenge, but I'm glad will be in this arena. Proud of the team for last week. We're getting better and better.
No news on football recruiting. We have 10 commits and the guys are all doing well in their senior years. Deuce Wallace is tearing it up at quarterback. Zaire Jones, a four star safety out of Mississippi, along with Joejuan Williams, a four star cornerback out of Hendersonville, Tn are major targets. Trevor Speights, a high three star running back, has us on his radar. We need some running backs. Tre Harbison, a high three-star UVA running back commit is still on our radar. Would love to snatch Tre away from Virginia; get some more payback from baseball, though we handled them last year in the CWS and we'll handle them next time. We have some other guys who have us listed with very interested, so I'll keep you posted.
Basketball recruiting is going very interestingly. We have a commit from 89 three star 6'4" point guard Payton Willis out of Fayetteville, Ark, and we have prioritized James Banks, a 97 four star 6'10", 230 pound center out of La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. Braxton Blackwell, who has been our major target in this class for the last three years and is a 97 four-star and one heckuva player, is still being heavily recruited by us, but it seems that James is even more of a priority now. Jesse Johnson of Vandy 247 still believes that Braxton will come to VU ultimately. Jerry Meyer, the recruiting coordinator for 247 sports, has crystal balled Braxton to Texas and Shaka Smart, and there are a couple of other CB's to Alabama and Avery Johnson. But Jesse is confident Brax, who is playing at basketball power Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia this year and is a native of Nashville, will come our way if he makes up his mind sooner than later. Clevon Brown, a 6'8", 215 four-star power forward is very interested in us. Clevon is from San Antonio. And Richard Freudenberg, a 94, four star small forward out of Munich, Germany, is also interested. My daughter is in Munich this weekend at some music festival as she is studying in London, so I'll have to get her on the horn with Richard. We need him.
OK, will have more as things develop. Feel really good about DP and Pedro, the football team has a tough test, but I believe strongly that we'll play well, and basketball recruiting is going very well, and our 2015-16 team should be spectacular. Baseball just keeps on trucking with Corbs. The recruiting is through the roof good. Corbs has the No.1 class for 2015, the incoming freshman according to Perfect Game, we have the number 2 class in 2016 and the number one class in 2017. Will have more on Corbs' happenings next week. Sonny's been struggling some lately. He pitches tonight against the Giants at Oakland. Sonny is 13-7 with a 2.72 ERA 57 walks 162 strikeouts and a 1.08 WHIP. He's been getting hit lately. The A's have been a disaster this season, and I think Sonny is just burnt out from all the losing. Hopefully, general manager Billy Beane can improve this team and if he sticks with Bob Melvin, Melvin can get this team back where they're accustomed to being, in the thick of things in October. I hope that for Sonny. He's got a couple of more years with the A's before he becomes an unrestricted free agent, so Beane really needs to improve this team. They've gotten a lot of stud minor leaguers with all the trades Beane made at the deadline, so maybe they can pull a Cubs and turn it around next year.
JMatt and the Eagles in a must win game this weekend at the Jets in the Meadowlands. Eagles are 0-2 and have to have this one. Jay Cut on the shelf right now with a hamstring injury. Should be back in two weeks. Bears 0-2 as well. Need to get a W at Seattle this Sunday if possible. Will have more on Casey Hayward and Sean Richardson of the Packers and Andre Hal with the Houston Texans next week. All three are playing well. Will find out more about Wesley Johnson and Kenny Ladler and some other guys who are still trying to make it in the National Football League.
Ready for Coach Mason and the team to do some work tomorrow night in Oxford.