Stumblin' Along 5/17 '26
Heat It Up
Heat It Up
- PGA Championship
- Yanks Week 8 Notes
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Midi Mafia & T-Reps’ Heat It Up.
This song was specifically made for the MLB ‘06 The Show soundtrack. Kinda fits with the North East heat we’re about to get this week. If you asked me in 2006, I coulda sworn this was Jay-Z on the chorus. Sounds just like him.
On to the sports…
Leaderboard After Round 3
Alex Smalley
Alex Smalley enters Sunday as the clear-cut leader of the PGA Championship. This is the first time in his PGA Tour career of 141 events played that he is the leader after 54 holes. Smalley’s Saturday got off to a less-than-ideal start when he began the day with 3 bogeys in his first 4 holes. He rebounded with 7 birdies from the 7th hole onward. “Obviously not the start I had envisioned, but I was able to steady the ship a little bit and took advantage of the Back 9 when the wind happened to subside some.”
Jon Rahm
After a disappointing Masters’ performance, Jon Rahm is back in contention on the Sunday of a major. Rahm is seeking to become the first Spanish player to ever win the PGA Championship. Due to his 67 on Saturday, Rahm will be paired with Nick Taylor as the 2nd to last group to tee off today. After his 3rd Round, Rahm said, “As far as I'm concerned, that was a fantastic round of golf, and I'm thrilled to be in a good position for tomorrow.” The 31-year-old Spaniard hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since The Masters in ‘23 after he left for LIV Golf later that winter.
Matti Schmid
Matti Schmid will be paired up with Alex Smalley as one of the more unlikely final pairings to finish out the Sunday of the PGA Championship. Just like Smalley, Schmid has never won a PGA Tour event, much less a major. The 28-year-old German shot a 65 on Saturday, which included 4 birdies from the 9th hole onward.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy stormed all the way up to the top of the leaderboard on moving day, combining to shoot 7 under par since the 2nd Round. He’ll enter Sunday just 3 strokes behind Smalley and is rightly so confident. “I still did enough to think I have a chance going into tomorrow…I had a really bad finish on Thursday, but at the end of the day, I was only seven back, and I thought back to last year’s Masters, where I was seven back after the first day.” Nobody took into account that he started watching The Dark Knight on Friday night. “I’ll try to finish that. That’s one of my go-tos to try to forget about things.”
Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama had the coldest GIF-able shot on Saturday on his eagle putt from just off the green. The 2021 Masters champion has two Top 5 finishes at the PGA Championship under his belt. Matsuyama will be paired up with Chris Gotterup today. Wouldn’t be a surprise if one of these two were atop the leaderboard by the time Smalley and Schmid tee off.
Scottie Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler has put together two straight one-over-par rounds since setting the pace in Round 1. The fact that he’ll get to tee off at noon, only five strokes from the lead, could put a ton of pressure on the later groups. He stated, “Going into tomorrow, it's quite literally anybody's tournament. There are a lot of guys who have a chance. Going into tomorrow, just somebody is going to have a great round, and I'm going to make sure to do my best to give myself my best shot at being the one who has a great round.” Scheffler, a massive Dallas Cowboys fan, has been dealing with Fly Eagles Fly chants all tournament.
Game 41
- Out in Milwaukee, Aaron Judge hits his 16th home run of the season in the 1st inning. The Yankees take a 2 nothing lead in the 2nd inning on Spencer Jones’ first hit and RBI. Making his regular-season debut, Carlos Rodon gets himself into trouble in the 4th inning by allowing the first three Brewers’ batters to get on base via two walks and a hit by pitch. Rodon can’t get out of the bases loaded no out trouble without giving up three runs. In the 6th inning, Jazz Chisholm doubles home Cody Bellinger to tie things at 3-3. The Yankees’ bullpen is money for 4.1 innings until David Bednar gives up a walk-off home run to Brice Turang with two outs in the 9th. Brewers sweep the Yankees.
Game 42
- Yankees begin their series in Baltimore with a Ben Rice two-run home run into the deepest part of Camden Yards in Left-Center in the 3rd inning. Ryan Weathers walked the very first Oriole he faced and then retired 18 batters without giving up a hit. After 9 strikeouts through six innings, Weathers finally gives up a hit to Adley Rutschman in the 7th. The Yankees relieve Weathers with Brent Headrick, who promptly gives up the 2-0 lead by serving up a 3-run home run. Baltimore’s bullpen makes easy work of the Yankees’ lineup in the 8th and 9th as the Yankees fall for their 4th straight game.
Game 43
- In the leadoff spot against the O’s lefty, Paul Goldschmidt takes the first pitch of the game 402 feet into the Baltimore seats. The Yankees offense goes on the attack in the 3rd inning as Austin Wells singles, Judge walks, Rice walks, Amed Rosario gets an infield hit, and Trent Grisham wraps up the 5-run inning with a 3-run homer. That is all the run support Will Warren would need as he allowed two Orioles’ runs in 5.2 innings. Yanks hold on to win 6-2.
Game 44
- Hoping to win the series, the Yankees turn to Max Fried on a Wednesday afternoon. The southpaw doesn’t look right as he keeps missing upstairs with his command. After allowing 3 runs in 3 innings, Fried is pulled from the game, and reports indicate he has an elbow issue. While the injury news is trickling out, the Yankees’ lineup with the new addition of Anthony Volpe is putrid. The Yankees don’t get their first and only hit of the afternoon until the 5th inning, as the cherry on top is a Volpe error on a routine groundball in the 8th. Yanks lose 7-0.
Game 45
- After a much-needed off day, the Yankees travel back to New York to play the Mets in Queens to play a game on Apple TV. Cam Schlittler delivers yet another excellent performance of 6.2 innings of 1-run ball while striking out 9 Mets. Yanks score 3 runs in the 3rd on back-to-back doubles from Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Their score a 4th run on Spencer Jones smashing a ball right back up the middle and into Clay Holmes’ leg. Juan Soto hits a solo shot in the 7th, but Ben Rice counters with one of his own in the 9th. Yankees win 5-2.
Game 46
- The Mets have an opener start the game before giving the ball to David Peterson to do the bulk of the work. It backfires as Jazz Chisholm Jr. doubles and Trent Grisham scores him on a single in the 2nd inning. After striking out the first two Mets in the 3rd, Carlos Rodon gives up a double to Carson Benge, walks Bo Bichette and Juan Soto, throws a wild pitch that somehow flies all the way back to him, only for him to produce yet another wild throw that allows a 2nd run to score. Down 5-2 in the 7th inning, the Yankees squander a massive opportunity when given a gift by Benge dropping a routine fly ball. They only scored one run as Luke Weaver came into a bases-loaded situation, retiring Roasio, Grisham, and Volpe in order. Dumb loss, Yanks lose 6-3.
Next
- The Yankees avoided total catastrophe as Max Fried’s elbow MRI showed only a bone bruise. With Fried placed on the 15-day IL, the Yankees have called back up Elmer Rodriguez to start in his place. The rookie right-hander will immediately get a start today against the Mets and face off with Mets’ ace Freddy Peralta.
Around the MLB
- The Rays’ Nick Martinez continues to stifle batters with a filthy changeup that opponents are hitting just .121 off of. This week, Martinez made two more starts, throwing a total of 11.2 innings with only 1 run allowed. He just tied AJ Burnett’s 2015 season-opening streak of 9 straight starts to allow two runs or fewer after the age of 35 or older.
- White Sox’s Munetaka Murakami had his first multi-homer game last night to take the lead in the AL home run race. What’s even sweeter for the Sox of the South Side is that he did it against the Cubs. Murakami’s 17 big flies this season put him on a 61 home run full-season pace, not bad for a rookie in his first 45 career games.
- Houston’s Jose Altuve couldn’t leg out a routine double-play ball as he had to leave the game in pain, holding his side. He’ll undergo an MRI, which many are speculating is an oblique injury. Such a shame.
- Kyle Schwarber has led the Phillies out of the abyss and into a .500 record. The Philadelphia slugger has already crushed an MLB-leading 20 home runs and is on an absurd 73 HR pace. The Phillies are 14-4 since Don Mattingly took over the managerial role.
- Cards’ Jordan Walker is proving that his once top prospect status was no joke as he breaks out in his 4th MLB season. Walker is batting over .300 with 13 home runs and 34 RBIs in the heart of the St. Louis lineup. The MLB doesn’t have a Most Improved Award, but if they did he’d be the decided favorite in the NL right now.
- Last night, Shohei Ohtani hit into a triple play, something that Aaron Judge has never done. Really makes you think.
