Guardians Force Game Five…It’s Back to Cleveland We Go…

The Cleveland Guardians staved off elimination for the second day in a row with a dramatic

six-run top of the sixth, and then kept the White Sox in check for a 9-5 victory.

The White Sox took the early lead in the bottom of the third. Colson Montogomery led off

with an infield single. Chase Meidroth doubled to left sending Montgomery to third. Miguel

Vargas walked, loading the bases. Munetaka Murakami also walked scoring Montgomery.

Sam Antonacci hit a sac fly to right filed scoring Meidroth. 2-0 Chicago.

Cleveland took the lead in the top of the fifth. Patrick Bailey led off with a home run to right

field. With one out Steven Kwan singled to center and came around to score on Jose

Ramirez’ homer to center field. 3-2 Guardians.

Chicago took back the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Walks to Chase Meidroth and Miguel

Vargas plus a single by Sam Antonacci loaded the bases. Sam Antonacci was hit by a pitch

sending Meidroth home. Vargas then scored on a sac fly from Brenton Doyle. 4-3 Sox.

The Guardians took back the lead with a vengeance in the top of the sixth. With one out

Angel Martinez was hit by a pitch. Travis Bazzana doubled to right sending Martinez home.

Patrick Bailey then singled to left scoring Bazzana. Brayan Rocchio walked, as did Steven

Kwan, loading the bases. Jose Ramirez ran out an infield single scoring Bailey. Chase

Delauter then singled to right scoring Rocchio. Jo Adell singled to right as well scoring

Kwan and Ramirez. 9-4 Cleveland.

The score stayed the same until the Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth. Miguel

Vargas led off the inning with a deep home run to left field. Munetaka Murakami walked.

Sam Antonacci singled to center. Andrew Benintendi struck out. Kyle Teel hit into a force

out at second. And then Braden Montgomery lined out to left field. Too little, too late.

Game over…Cleveland 9 and Chicago 5.

This is the first time since the new playoff format began in 2022 that the home team lost

their first two home games in a five-game series.

Stat of the game: both teams combined to use fifteen pitchers.

Game five this Saturday in Cleveland at 7:30 ET.

Dave’s Dime…NFL Refs Ruining the Game

The big controversy four weeks into the NFL season has to do with the number of penalties

being called by the league’s referees.

Through week four of the season, there have been 963 accepted penalties, which

computes to about 17 flags per game. This is the second highest weekly total in the

modern era of the NFL. That modern era started in 1933.

Seventeen touchdowns were called back because of penalties so far this season. Last

year at this point in the season only five TDs were overturned. That’s crazy.

More penalties are being called in the red zone (inside the opponent’s 20-yard line) than in

any other year ever. Ever!!!

So, what types of penalties are being called, you ask. It seems that defensive penalties are

down a little bit from last year. It’s the offensive that’s getting the flags. Offensive holding,

false starts, delay of game, stuff that should be taken care of during practices.

False starts drive me crazy. All you have to do is wait until the ball is hiked before you move.

How tough can that be? Of course, I haven’t played football since my brief stint on my high

school team. I actually played offensive tackle. But I was no good. Not mean enough.

And delay of game…just saying that reminds me of George Carlin who made a name for

himself by dissecting all the inane and stupid things in life. Like delay of game. Do the refs

realize that when they call a delay of game penalty, they delay the game?

What’s really funny is the reason given as to why referees are calling more penalties: sloppy

play. This sloppy play can be traced back to the fact that thirty-seven percent of Week One

starters did not play even one snap in the pre-season. That lack of repetition leads to a ton

of “dead-ball penalties” like false starts and the dreaded delay of game.

Then I hear that two NFL referees were suspended last week for unprofessional conduct.

One ref got a two-game suspension for supposedly yelling “f—k you” at a player disputing a

penalty call. The other ref was suspended for one game after shouting and pointing at a

player who had knocked him down during a play on the field and then tried to help him

back to his feet.

The NFL Referees Association is, of course, protesting these suspensions. It’s getting a

little too tense out there on the field, guys.

Could all this have something to do with the massive uptick in legal sports betting? Some

of these conspiracy theorists are trying to make us think something is up. But most

insiders and analysts think it’s just referees being told to focus on certain infractions and

then over-doing it just a little bit.

Ah, why can’t the world be filled with joyful people who get along with others and just enjoy

the time we have on this planet? That’s a rhetorical question…you know that, right?