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Midweek musings: It’s perfectly understandable that some people might have become a bit excited about the possibility of Chicago Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta tossing a perfect game Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field. Social media did not ruin his potential gem by messaging on Twitter that he had a perfect game going. But next time, can’t those tweeting wait until at least until a guy has seven perfect innings in the books?
Playboy Playmates Deisy and Sarah Teles are Brazilian. In case you wondered.
* Arrieta did finish with nine strikeouts and zero walks in seven innings with three hits and two runs allowed. With a 2.05 earned-run average and a 4-1 record, he looms as a possibility to be the team’s No. 1 starter, if/when Jeff Samardzija is traded. Well, assuming the Cubs don’t trade Arrieta first.
* Cubs third baseman Mike Olt made a good defensive play in the team’s victory. He also went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts to lower his batting average to .146. With 68 strikeouts in 158 at-bats (whiffing 43 percent of the time), he is only 10 behind Junior Lake for the team lead. Lake has 222 at-bats. In baseball, the Mendoza Line refers to hitting less than .200. Is it too soon to think of .150 at the Olt Line? Or should we wait to see how low he can go in batting average? And is there a point at which the Cubs might send him back to the minors (meaning sometime this season)?
* The White Sox won 4-2 at Baltimore but not before the Orioles had the potential winning run at the plate. “It’s nice to get a win,” Sox manager Robin Ventura told media after the game. Heck, he’s to be commended for remembering what a road victory is. The Sox had lost eight straight away from home.
* Ex-White Sox player of the day/night: New York Mets right-hander Bartolo Colon pitched eight innings of four-hit, one-run ball in a 10-1 victory vs. the visiting Oakland Athletics (the team with the best record in the major leagues). Colon (8-5) struck out eight, walked one and lowered his earned-run average to 3.67. He also went 1-for-2 at the plate to raise his batting average to .069 (2-for-29).
* Condolences to the family and friends of WBBM sports anchor Eric Brown. He was a top-flight radio guy and human being (not in that order of importance). He will be missed.
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