Media by Associated Press – FILE – Philadelphia Phillies’ Pete Rose bats during a 1980 baseball game. Rose will make an appearance on the field in Philadelphia next month. Baseball’s career hits leader will be part of Phillies alumni weekend, and will be introduced on the field alongside many former teammates from the 1980 World Series championship team on Aug. 7. (AP Photo, File)
Everyone would probably be advised to not ask the Boston Red Sox how their weekend went. The Toronto Blue Jays opened their series by scoring a franchise-record 28 runs during a 28-5 beat down of the Red Sox. Things didn’t get better from there for Boston.
The Blue Jays, who swept the three-game series, pounded out 51 hits and won an aggregate score of 40-10. The Red Sox have now lost nine of their last ten games. Boston is now 48-48 and 17.5 games out of first place.
Pete Rose will return to Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Phillies got permission from the commissioner’s office to include 81-year-old Pete Rose in an anniversary of the team’s 1980 World Series title. Rose hasn’t been allowed in Philadelphia’s ballparks since he was issued a lifetime ban in 1989. The reason for his suspension was due to him betting on baseball games.
While Rose denied it at the time, he later admitted he had bet on games while he was the Cincinnati Reds’ manager. While Rose spent 19 years in Cincinnatti, Rose’s second-longest stop was in Philadelphia. Rose spent five years with the Phillies and collected 826 of his record 4,256 hits in the City of Brotherly Love.
Cardinals will be shorthanded
The St. Louis Cardinals will be headed to Toronto for a two-game series and not be able to bring some of their top players due to Canada’s COVID-19 rules. All-star infielders Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt won’t be able to play because they aren’t vaccinated for the virus. St. Louis also won’t have catcher Austin Romine.
All three players won’t accrue MLB service time or be paid due to a previous agreement between the league and the union.
What can’t Verlander do?
Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, who is 39 and missed last season due to Tommy John surgery, won his fifth straight start Saturday against the Seatle Mariners. Verlander also became the first MLB pitcher to reach 13 victories this season. Against the Mariners, Verlander allowed four hits in seven innings.
Verlander’s performance allowed him to drop his ERA to 1.86. His ERA total is the second-lowest in the American League behind Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan, who has a 1.71 ERA.
Back to Earth
The Seattle Mariners had rattled off 14 straight wins going into the All-Star break to get them back in contention for the AL Wild Card. One series with division-leading Houston Astros have put the Mainers back on their back football. Seattle got swept by rival Houston.
The Mariners are 51-45 and are currently in a position to grab the third Wild Card. Seattle is 1.5 games behind Tampa Bay and two games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians.
Attendance is lagging still
MLB announced the average attendance of games heading into the All-Star break is 26,409 per game. Compared to the 2019 All-Star break, the last season before the pandemic, which represents a decline of 5.4%.
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