
Tyler Alexander maximizes the Ks
Two games, two losses. Much strangeness. So it goes for 2020.
Record Number One: Tyler Alexander, who came on in relief after Rony García only made it through 2 innings in the first game, matched and set a Major League Baseball record. With 9 strikeouts in a row, he matched the AL record for all pitchers (shared with Doug Fister, so this is a very Detroit record), and set the new record in consecutive strikeouts for relievers. This feels weird and fluke-y, but it’s definitely a good thing, so congrats to Mr. Alexander. Thanks for doing a good baseball.
Record Number Two: Due to the vast amount of shenanigans occurring at this moment in time, doubleheaders now consist of two games of 7 innings each. Like, that’s the actual rule now. The rain-out yesterday meant that the Tigers had a doubleheader today. This is apparently the first doubleheader where both games were shorter than 9 innings since 1912, and the first 7-inning doubleheader ever in Major League Baseball. There will be many more, but wet miserable midwestern weather made sure that the Tigers got there first. Hooray.

the shortened-game doubleheader
What a weird freaking day of baseball.
Next up are the Cardinals, although 6 of their players are down with the sickness right now, so is this the beginning of the end?? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Baseball vs. The Hubris of Man.
It is simply a bizarre season. The Tyler Alexander performance is a metaphor for the weirdness. If you had been asked to name the AL pitcher likely to strike out 9 in a row this season, Tyler Alexander would not have been in the top 100.
“Baseball vs. The Hubris of Man”. That about sums it up.
This whole season is sorta-baseball. It bears some resemblance to the real thing, but 7-inning games with no fans are not what we spend all winter dreaming about.
All 2020 is kind of strange