2020 MLB Season: Simulating NL games, May 18-21
As the novel coronavirus continues to take its toll, we continue simulating games. Today, we simulate NL games for May 18-21 of the 2020 MLB season.
The Philadelphia Phillies traveled to Los Angeles for three games with the Dodgers in a series that cost both teams ground.
The Dodgers took two of the three games in the 2020 mid-week simulation but lost a full game in the NL West when the Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Mets in New York. The Phillies, meanwhile, surrendered a half-game to the Atlanta Braves, who escaped St. Louis with an even split of their four-game series against the NL Central leaders.
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The results left Arizona a game ahead of LA in the NL West, with St. Louis a game and a half ahead of Cincinnati in the Central and Atlanta leading Philadelphia by a similar margin in the East.
The Phillies effectively lost their chance at a series victory Monday evening when Los Angeles rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth off Hector Neris. That turned a 2-1 Philadelphia lead into a 3-2 LA decision.
Joc Pederson, who had homered in the fourth for the only Dodger run to that point, doubled home Cody Bellinger to tie the game. Then Enrique Hernandez tapped Seranthony Dominguez for a base hit sending Pederson across with the winner.
Pedro Baez, 5-1, got the decision in relief of Walker Buehler.
The Dodgers rolled to a 7-1 victory Tuesday, David Price, 4-2, delivering seven innings of two-hit ball. Bellinger and Pederson both homered.
The Phillies took the final game 9-5, Aaron Nola, 4-3, allowing one run in six innings. Scott Kingery and Rhys Hoskins both homered off Clayton Kershaw, 4-2.
In series involving non-division contenders, the Padres swept three games from the Marlins in Miami, and Chicago took two of three in Pittsburgh. There were five inter-league series: Milwaukee hosting the Yankees, the Rockies playing the White Sox in Chicago, Cincinnati in Cleveland, Washington hosting Seattle and Detroit traveling to San Francisco to play the Giants.
Related Story. 2020 MLB Season: Simulating AL games, May 18-21. light
NL West
W-L Pct GB
Arizona 35-16 .686 —
Los Angeles 33-16 .673 1
San Diego 25-26 .490 10
San Francisco 18-32 .360 16.5
Colorado 16-32 .333 17.5
2020 MLB Season: Simulating NL games (May 18-21)
National League East
The Diamondbacks and Padres both took full advantage of the opportunities presented to them on the East Coast.
At Citi Field, Arizona and Ketel Marte continued their season-long hot streaks. Arizona won 5-1 Tuesday behind Mike Leake, 5-1, Eduardo Escobar, Nick Ahmed, and Kole Calhoun all homering off Marcus Stroman, 4-4.
Marte delivered a 4-for-5 performance against Jacob DeGrom, 5-4, and four relievers in a 10-5 Wednesday decision. Marte homered twice and drove in four runs, helping to make a winner of Madison Bumgarner, 4-4. Calhoun homered again as Arizona broke open a 5-4 game with a five-run seventh off relievers Justin Wilson and Robert Gsellman.
On Thursday the Diamondbacks completed the sweep, winning 9-3 behind Zac Gallen, 5-2. As on Wednesday, Arizona took full advantage of New York’s bullpen, scoring six runs off five relievers once Stephen Matz departed the scene in the seventh. Marte this time was 2-for-4; Calhoun homered for the third straight game,
San Diego found conditions in Miami equally delightful and productive. The Padres won 2-1 Monday, Fernando Tatis Jr.’s seventh-inning home run breaking a 1-1 tie. Zach Davies, 2-5, pitched seven innings, allowing just three Miami hits, and out-dueling Caleb Smith 5-3. Kirby Yates got his 12th save.
Matt Strahm, 3-1, held Miami scoreless for six innings, more than enough time for the Padres to build a 6-0 lead on the way to a 13-1 victory. Jurickson Profar homered and drove in four runs, Manny Machado added three more, and Strahm allowed just three hits,
The Padres completed the sweep with a 4-2 win Wednesday. Tatis homered and drove in two more runs and three San Diego pitchers scattered nine hits. Luis Perdomo, 2-2, got the win and Yates earned his 13th save.
2020 MLB Season: Simulating NL games, May 15-17. light. Related Story
W-L Pct GB
Atlanta 32-20 .615 —
Philadelphia 29-20 .592 1.5
Washington 23-25 .479 7
Miami 19-31 .380 12
New York 19-32 .373 12.5
2020 MLB Season: Simulating NL games (May 18-21)
National League Central
The Cardinals and Braves traded haymakers through their four games in St. Louis, neither team winding up with an advantage. St. Louis won the opener 5-2 behind Kwang-Hyun Kim’s eight innings, Yadier Molina driving in two runs.
Mike Foltyniewicz, 6-1, pitched the Braves to an 8-4 decision Tuesday with help from Freddie Freeman, who homered, doubled, singled, and drove in four runs. It was all Atlanta Wednesday, Braves batters lighting up Miles Mikolas and four relievers for 11 hits in an 11-2 rout. Travis d’Arnaud hit a three-run home run, and Marcel Ozuna drove in three more runs with a triple and single.
The one downside was the departure of starter Mike Soroka after just one inning. Soroka left reporting shoulder tightness, and Braves officials said they expect him to miss one or two starts. Touki Toussaint took over and pitched effectively into the fifth, earning his first win of the season.
Jack Flaherty’s eight strong innings carried the Cardinals to a 2-1 win Thursday. Flaherty, 4-0, allowed five hits to beat Max Fried, 6-2. Dexter Fowler’s third-inning double drove home one run, and his eighth-inning single sent the eventual winning run across. The Braves pushed across one in the ninth before Carlos Martinez shut down a late threat for his fourth save.
The Cubs, who wish they could play Pittsburgh every week, ran their record to 9-4 against the Pirates by winning two of three in Pittsburgh. Against all other competition, Chicago is 15-23.
Yu Darvish, 3-5, held Pittsburgh to one run and six hits into the sixth inning Tuesday. By that time the Cubs led 4-1; they eventually won 5-1. Chicago took Wednesday’s game 6-2 thanks to Kris Bryant’s three RBIs, two of which scored on his two-run ninth-inning home run to break a 4-4 tier. That made a winner of Rowan Wick, 2-1, Craig Kimbrel got his fourth save.
The Pirates salvaged Thursday’s game 8-1, hitting Jose Quintana, 4-6, for four first-inning runs including Jose Osuna’s home run. Joe Musgrove, 6-4, pitched six innings to get the win. Colin Moran’s three hits included a home run.
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W-L Pct GB
St. Louis 32-20 .615 —
Cincinnati 30-21 .588 1.5
Milwaukee 26-26 .500 6
Chicago 24-27 .471 7.5
Pittsburgh 16-33 .327 14.5
2020 MLB Season: Simulating NL games (May 18-21)
Stat Sheet
Marte is the runaway leader in most offensive categories, among them, batting average (.412; Fernando Tatis is second at .373), slugging average (.810), on-base average (.481), runs scored (58) and hits (87). In that last category, he leads teammate Calhoun by 18 and leads teammate Eduardo Escobar as well as San Diego’s Tatis by 21.
With 55 RBIs, Bellinger continues to average more than one per game; Marte is second in that category with 45. Bellinger’s 20 home runs is one more than Calhoun, Marte sitting third with 18.
The ERA race is a three-way battle between San Diego’s Davies (2.01), St. Louis’ Kim (2.05), and Atlanta’s Fried (2.10). All three passed Miles Mikolas,, whose beating at the hands of the Braves dropped him to sixth place at 2.44. Max Scherzer struck out five Seattle Mariners Tuesday to run his league-leading total to 96, two more than Jack Flaherty.
Related Story. 2020 MLB Season: Simulating NL games, May 11-14. light
This weekend’s National League schedule sends the West-leading Diamondbacks up against the Central-leading Cardinals for three games in St. Louis. Cincinnati hopes to gain ground on the Cards during a four-game Friday-Monday series with the San Diego Padres in Cincy, while the Dodgers host Cleveland for three inter-league games.
The Braves host the Mets for three, Miami is in Washington for a Friday-Monday series, and the Cubs travel to Milwaukee for three.
The Phillies are in Colorado and San Francisco plays a Friday-Monday series in Pittsburgh.
2020 MLB Season: Simulating NL games (May 18-21)
Team Profiles
Miami Marlins: Miami’s offense has been nothing special. The Marlins are hitting just .236 as a team, 11th best in the NL. They rank 12th in team on-base average and last in slugging at .364. They are also last in home runs, having hit just 38.
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The problem has been with some of the youngsters the Marlins were counting on to develop. Infielder Isan Diaz is batting just .127 in 102 official at-bats, while infielder Jorge Alfaro is stuck at .185.
Miami’s pitching has been better, but not good. The staff 4.43 ERA ranks 10th in the NL, and Marlins pitchers rank ahead of only Atlanta and Colorado in strikeouts. Smith has been a bright light;; the left-hander is 5-3 with a 2.78 ERA in 10 starts. Jordan Yamamoto’s 1-5 record reflects his 2.0 run support as much as his 4.05 ERA.
Cincinnati Reds: The Reds are generally known for their offense, but the pitching staff has been a strength through the season’s first third. Cincinnati has a 3.79 staff ERA, trailing only St. Louis and Atlanta. Trevor Bauer is 4-1 with a 2.97 ERA, leading a rotation that only five times this season has started a pitcher with an ERA above 4.00. Bauer and Luis Castillo have each struck out 71.
The Reds offense has been spottier. It’s averaging just .239, ninth in the NL, and just 4.7 runs per game.
Free-agent pickup Nick Castellanos has been a find, batting .316 with 10 homers and 35 RBIs. Eugenio Suarez has a team-leading 17 home runs and 37 RBIs. But production has been uneven. Japanese free agent signee Shogo Akiyama is hitting just .199, and even the usually reliable Joey Votto remains under .250 with just four homers and 16 RBIs.
light. Related Story. 2020 MLB Season: Simulating AL games, May 11-14
Colorado Rockies: The Rockies are hitting .240 as a team, ranking eighth in the NL. Their .421 slugging average, obviously advantaged by playing at Coors Field, ranks fifth.
But they’ll need to hit more than that to offset the 4.91 team ERA, 13th in the league. Colorado has a few wins as any team in baseball because German Marquez (4-2, 3.38) and Anthony Senzatela (2-4, 4.32) have the team’s only 15 starts by any Rockies pitcher with an ERA under 5.00.
Nor is the staff getting help from the veterans in its bullpen. Wade Davis and Bryan Shaw have combined for 27 appearances covering 32 innings in which they’ve allowed 29 earned runs.
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Charlie Blackmon (.289, 9 homers, 29 RBIs) has been reliable, but Nolan Arenado (.251, 10 homers, 32 RBIs) has been only OK. But those are the highlights. Arenado leads the team in both long balls and RBIs, Shortstop Trevor Story is off to a .217 start, and Ian Desmond is batting .231.