Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends, and welcome to a live blog for a game that probably will not be as much fun as yesterday’s game.

Jeff Sullivan: Joining me, in theory, will be David Temple. That will be swell!

Jeff Sullivan: And there he is!

David Temple: Oh, hello.

Jeff Sullivan: For those who will be reading the transcript later, know that it cuts off before the end, and that’s a Cover It Live RSS issue, and there’s nothing we can do about it. So the transcript will be incomplete, missing the most dramatic moments. Too badsies 🙁

Jeff Sullivan: I will be back in just a few minutes. David will be back RIGHT NOW

Dave Cameron: One Wild Card game down, one to go. We’ll talk playoffs, off-season, or Bud Selig succession plans. The queue is now open.

Dave Cameron: Going to start about five minutes late.

Dave Cameron: Sorry, guess it was more like 10 minutes. We’ll make it up on the back end.

Comment From JEB
% of chance that tonight’s Wild Card game is equally as entertaining as last nights?

Dave Cameron: The game itself wasn’t particularly great. That crowd really made it awesome.

Dave Cameron: So, not very high.

Dave Cameron: It’s playoff time in PIttsburgh. The last time anyone said that… okay, you’ve probably had enough of those today.

Dave Cameron: But welcome back to the postseason, Pirates fans.

Dave Cameron: This should be fun.

Dave Cameron: Whoops, name added now.

Comment From TimA
good on you Pittsburgh!

Comment From bucs_lose_again
I’ve thrown up twice already. These next three hours are going to be hell.

Jeff Sullivan: Hey guys, and welcome to this chat.

Jeff Sullivan: In this chat, I will attempt to express more opinions than usual!

Jeff Sullivan: Come get some!

Jeff Sullivan: First opinion: these pancakes are delicious.

Comment From Bob
1 minute off? That’s pretty impressive.

Jeff Sullivan: And only because I couldn’t open my kitchen window for a moment.

Eno Sarris: I’ll be here at the top of the hour!

Comment From JEB
I’ll top your hour!

Eno Sarris: hmm feisty

Eno Sarris: Lyrics of the day dedicated to division leaders

We’re not happy til we’re running away
Clouds in your eyes
We’re nothing but the foggiest day

Comment From Ceetar
Best Brown Ale you’ve had recently?

Eno Sarris: Can’t remember anything but Moose Drool and Turbodog. I’ll keep thinking.

Comment From juan pierres mustache
Verlander is officially a no. 2, right? 200+ innings is a big sample.

Dave Cameron: No, it’s not.

Comment From Zach
Anecdotally, it seems like we’ve seen an uptick in fantastic seasons by RPs (Kimbrel, Jansen, Holland, Uehara, etc.). Do you think it has anything to do with the concurrence of two factors 1) these are high-K specialists and 2) hitters are more tolerant of Ks? Basically, the highest-K pitchers separate themselves from the rest of the pack when hitters are striking out more often overall. This could be ridiculous. I just thought of it 10 seconds before I typed it.

Dave Cameron: I think we’ve seen a huge uptick in velocity in MLB, and now we have a whole bunch of guys who can throw 100.

Comment From Jason
What will Choo and Pence get in FA?

Dave Cameron: I’ll guess 5/75 for Choo, 6/90 for Pence.

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

The Nationals took a lot of the drama out of the pennant race by losing last night. But we’ll still crank up the intensity to 10 tonight anyway. Get us at with some questions, and we’ll see you at 9 pm ET! In the meantime, I’ll get some polls rolling (poll results at bottom of transcript).

Paul Swydan: Guys, I have to restart my computer real quick, so you probably won’t be able to post questions for a few minutes. FYI.

Paul Swydan: Back.

Paul Swydan: Hi everyone. Jeff and I are here, so let’s do this thang.

Comment From Henry
How are wOBA scales determined? (I don’t mean the linear weights, the actual number titled “wOBA scale”)

Paul Swydan: One for Jeff right off the bat.

Jeff Sullivan: Hey guys!

Jeff Sullivan: Late!

Jeff Sullivan: It’s not late when late is normal

Jeff Sullivan: All right, finally managed to tweet this out. Now then

Comment From Jason
What is more depressing to you, the Mariners or that there is only one episode of Breaking Bad left?

Jeff Sullivan: I’m ready for Breaking Bad to be over. Aren’t you? It’s been too difficult to watch. Phenomenal, yes, but, it’s time. I’m pleased that the series is over this weekend.

Dan Szymborski: There’s a spider
he’s deep in my soul
he’s lived here for years
he just won’t let go
he’s laying around
he’s got a new bit
now he’s ready to fight

Comment From GSon
or throw a hissy fit?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t need your trophies or your gold.

Comment From Dan
Blood for Ba’al! I mean Zips for Yusmeiro Petit…

Comment From JT
Even though the Blue Jays year blew up in their faces, they did do what was right last off-season, right? Better to have love and lost….

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, they aggressively improved their team. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees.

Eno Sarris: phew. here at noon! having some internet issues..

Eno Sarris: Okay so I know nothing about this artist for the lyrics of the day, and the clip I listened to actually quoted another artist for the first part (one that I like), but that makes this hard to google, and the name of the song is relevant today. So that’s why.

You can find some time to be someone
Like a valentine for a lonely soul
You can treat me like a fool
And hate-

Some love brings me down
Some love turns me round and round
and round and round
and round and round and round and round and round

Comment From AJT
Just wanted to say that I loved the Trout piece. Nice work!

Eno Sarris: I don’t think it was my best work actually. I wish I could have gotten him to open up more. But! I really do love the idea that Mike Trout is Joey Votto plus centerfield D and elite speed on the basepaths.

Comment From Matt
Ubaldo or Cole today?

Eno Sarris: I’m going with Cole. Houston can run into a few homers and Cole is the better pitcher right now.