Red Sox and Liverpool cheap goalkeeper jerseys
One of the great things about the baseball season being so long is that 162 games is a large enough sample size to get a clear sense of who the really good teams are. Likewise, cheap hockey jerseys canada with so many games on the schedule, it is rare that one is able to point to any single game upon which a team's entire season hinged. Entering play on the final night of the regular season, four teams stood tied for two wild card playoff spots.In the National League, the St Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves were even at 89 wins on the season, and in the American League, the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays were knotted at 90 wins. What followed was one of the single most thrilling nights of baseball in the history of the game. But just getting to this point required two hugely unlikely collapses to happen in the same season.
Consider: on 1 September, the Atlanta Braves sat 80-55 – 8.5 games ahead of the St Louis Cardinals for the lead in the NL wild card race. According to coolstandings.com, cheap hockey jerseys for sale at the beginning of the month, the Braves' probability of securing a playoff spot stood at 97.7%. They proceeded to go 9-17 and be outscored by 27 runs in September to find their comfortable wild card lead whittled away to nothing.
The Red Sox's collapse was even worse, if that can be believed. On 1 September, they owned an American League-best 83-52 record. Not only were they nine games ahead of the next closest team in the wild card race, but they held a 1.5 game lead in the AL East. cheap hockey jerseys for team With a 99.4% chance of making the playoffs, they were a virtual shoo-in. But in September, they posted a miserable 7-19 record –winning zero games in which they scored fewer than seven runs – and the Rays drew even.
Still, with one game remaining, each team controlled their own playoff destiny. A win last night would have guaranteed them at least a one game playoff, assuming the Cardinals and Rays were to win also. cheap hockey jerseys toronto The only game with playoff implications last night that wasn't a particularly tense contest was that between the St Louis and the Houston Astros. The Cardinals jumped out to a five run lead after the top of the first inning and rode a complete game shutout from their ace, Chris Carpenter, for an easy 8-0 victory.
Against the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies – who own baseball's best record at 102-60 – the Braves quickly fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first, but evened the score in their own half of the inning. In the third inning, the Braves took a 3-1 lead on a home run by second baseman Dan Uggla. Entering the ninth inning, it appeared that their three runs would be enough and they would meet the Cardinals for a one game playoff as they sent hard-throwing rookie closer Craig Kimbrel to the mound. But Kimbrel was unable to hold the lead, and the game went into extra innings, where the Braves' offense was unable to muster anything against the Phillies' bullpen. Finally, in the top of the thirteenth, cheap islander jerseys the Phillies broke through first on a softly hit RBI single off the bat of right fielder Hunter Pence. The Phillies held onto the lead in the bottom of the thirteenth, and just like that, the Braves' improbable collapse was complete.
In the American league, the Red Sox faced the Baltimore Orioles and the Rays took on the AL East-leading Yankees. On paper, these matchups certainly favored the Red Sox. Indeed, prior to last night's games, coolstandings listed the Red Sox playoff odds at 59.1%.
Early in these two contests, it looked as if things would play out according to the statistical models. After the fifth inning, the Rays found themselves in a daunting 7-0 hole and, cheap jerseys amazon according to Fangraphs.com, had a 1.8% chance of winning the game. The Red Sox, meanwhile, clung to a slim 3-2 lead after five. Things soon took a strange turn, however.With the Red Sox game in a rain delay, the Rays rallied for six runs in the eighth inning, capped off by a three run home run by superstar third baseman Evan Longoria to cut the Yankees' lead to just one. In the bottom of the ninth with no one on base and two outs, Dan Johnson – one of the worst hitters in the league this year – incredibly hit a line drive home run off of the right field foul pole to tie the game.
In Baltimore, play resumed after a one-hour, 26-minute delay. Entering the bottom of the ninth inning, cheap jerseys and shoes the score held at 3-2 and the Red Sox went with their reliable closer, Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon struck out the first two batters he faced to raise the Red Sox win probability in the game to 95.3%. But two doubles later and a single to shallow left field later and the Red Sox had shockingly lost. In fact, it was the first game they lost this season when leading after eight innings.
A thousand miles away in Tampa, Rays-Yankees rolled on into its twelfth inning. As news of the result of the Red Sox game began to trickle in, the stadium erupted and the Rays celebrated in the dugout knowing they would live to see at least one more day. Just moments after the game in Baltimore had gone final, cheap jerseys australia though, Evan Longoria struck a deep line drive to left field that just barely cleared the wall to end the game. Fangraphs keeps a stat called win percentage added (or WPA) that tracks how much an individual player contributes to his team's chances of winning a game. Evan Longoria's WPA in last night's game was .504. For his game-tying home run in the ninth, Dan Johnson contributed a WPA of .490 – in other words: on one play, he improved his team's chances of winning by 49% In many ways, the comeback was an apt microcosm for the Rays' season: all but dead, a late push, drew even at the last possible moment, and snuck away with the win.
In all, it was one of the most dramatic nights of baseball I have ever experienced, and the sheer unlikelihood of the confluence of events that were required to make it possible is staggering. While it is true that fans can take a certain amount of comfort in the fact that the length of the baseball season ensures that the outcome of any one game is unlikely to determine a team's fate, as we saw last night it is nevertheless a thrill when we do get to see 161 games of work come down to that final one.
Consider: on 1 September, the Atlanta Braves sat 80-55 – 8.5 games ahead of the St Louis Cardinals for the lead in the NL wild card race. According to coolstandings.com, cheap hockey jerseys for sale at the beginning of the month, the Braves' probability of securing a playoff spot stood at 97.7%. They proceeded to go 9-17 and be outscored by 27 runs in September to find their comfortable wild card lead whittled away to nothing.
The Red Sox's collapse was even worse, if that can be believed. On 1 September, they owned an American League-best 83-52 record. Not only were they nine games ahead of the next closest team in the wild card race, but they held a 1.5 game lead in the AL East. cheap hockey jerseys for team With a 99.4% chance of making the playoffs, they were a virtual shoo-in. But in September, they posted a miserable 7-19 record –winning zero games in which they scored fewer than seven runs – and the Rays drew even.
Still, with one game remaining, each team controlled their own playoff destiny. A win last night would have guaranteed them at least a one game playoff, assuming the Cardinals and Rays were to win also. cheap hockey jerseys toronto The only game with playoff implications last night that wasn't a particularly tense contest was that between the St Louis and the Houston Astros. The Cardinals jumped out to a five run lead after the top of the first inning and rode a complete game shutout from their ace, Chris Carpenter, for an easy 8-0 victory.
Against the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies – who own baseball's best record at 102-60 – the Braves quickly fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first, but evened the score in their own half of the inning. In the third inning, the Braves took a 3-1 lead on a home run by second baseman Dan Uggla. Entering the ninth inning, it appeared that their three runs would be enough and they would meet the Cardinals for a one game playoff as they sent hard-throwing rookie closer Craig Kimbrel to the mound. But Kimbrel was unable to hold the lead, and the game went into extra innings, where the Braves' offense was unable to muster anything against the Phillies' bullpen. Finally, in the top of the thirteenth, cheap islander jerseys the Phillies broke through first on a softly hit RBI single off the bat of right fielder Hunter Pence. The Phillies held onto the lead in the bottom of the thirteenth, and just like that, the Braves' improbable collapse was complete.
In the American league, the Red Sox faced the Baltimore Orioles and the Rays took on the AL East-leading Yankees. On paper, these matchups certainly favored the Red Sox. Indeed, prior to last night's games, coolstandings listed the Red Sox playoff odds at 59.1%.
Early in these two contests, it looked as if things would play out according to the statistical models. After the fifth inning, the Rays found themselves in a daunting 7-0 hole and, cheap jerseys amazon according to Fangraphs.com, had a 1.8% chance of winning the game. The Red Sox, meanwhile, clung to a slim 3-2 lead after five. Things soon took a strange turn, however.With the Red Sox game in a rain delay, the Rays rallied for six runs in the eighth inning, capped off by a three run home run by superstar third baseman Evan Longoria to cut the Yankees' lead to just one. In the bottom of the ninth with no one on base and two outs, Dan Johnson – one of the worst hitters in the league this year – incredibly hit a line drive home run off of the right field foul pole to tie the game.
In Baltimore, play resumed after a one-hour, 26-minute delay. Entering the bottom of the ninth inning, cheap jerseys and shoes the score held at 3-2 and the Red Sox went with their reliable closer, Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon struck out the first two batters he faced to raise the Red Sox win probability in the game to 95.3%. But two doubles later and a single to shallow left field later and the Red Sox had shockingly lost. In fact, it was the first game they lost this season when leading after eight innings.
A thousand miles away in Tampa, Rays-Yankees rolled on into its twelfth inning. As news of the result of the Red Sox game began to trickle in, the stadium erupted and the Rays celebrated in the dugout knowing they would live to see at least one more day. Just moments after the game in Baltimore had gone final, cheap jerseys australia though, Evan Longoria struck a deep line drive to left field that just barely cleared the wall to end the game. Fangraphs keeps a stat called win percentage added (or WPA) that tracks how much an individual player contributes to his team's chances of winning a game. Evan Longoria's WPA in last night's game was .504. For his game-tying home run in the ninth, Dan Johnson contributed a WPA of .490 – in other words: on one play, he improved his team's chances of winning by 49% In many ways, the comeback was an apt microcosm for the Rays' season: all but dead, a late push, drew even at the last possible moment, and snuck away with the win.
In all, it was one of the most dramatic nights of baseball I have ever experienced, and the sheer unlikelihood of the confluence of events that were required to make it possible is staggering. While it is true that fans can take a certain amount of comfort in the fact that the length of the baseball season ensures that the outcome of any one game is unlikely to determine a team's fate, as we saw last night it is nevertheless a thrill when we do get to see 161 games of work come down to that final one.
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