Unsere Gaeste - Ecke » 4.99 ERA is on pace to be a career

WASHINGTON (AP) — The game between the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals was postponed Friday night after two rain delays totaling more than four hours. It was scoreless in the top of the second inning when it was called.The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 3:05 p.m.A thunderstorm delayed the start of the game 81 minutes http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-mauer-jersey , but the rain had stopped when play began. Heavy rain and lightning returned with two outs and nobody on in the top of the second inning.The rain eventually stopped as midnight approached, but the game was called after a wait of 2 hours, 55 minutes.The rain spoiled the return of Washington Nationals pitcher Joe Ross, who was making his first major league start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July of 2017. The 25-year-old Ross, whose fastball reached 97 mph, allowed a hit, hit a batter and had a strikeout.Jon Lester tossed a scoreless first inning for Chicago, giving up one hit.Earlier in the day, Cubs manager Joe Maddon was hopeful the teams would get the game in.“We want to play. We don’t want rainouts Glen Perkins Jersey ,” Maddon said. “It’s supposed to rain here for three days. We can plow through. We’ve done that already this year so many times.”“We’d rather plow through this than a doubleheader and a makeup game. We’re going through 23 in a row, so we need to play this,” he said.The NL Central-leading Cubs are 12-5 in the first 17 games of 23 games in 23 days without a day off.Washington has lost three straight games and is 2-5 on their 10-game homestand against NL Central teams.TRAINER’S ROOMCubs: RF Ben Zobrist was scratched from the lineup due to neck stiffness.Nationals: LHP Sean Doolittle (stress reaction, left foot) was reinstated from the disabled list. The Nationals closer missed 54 games. . RHP Jeremy Hellickson (right wrist sprain) threw a 50-pitch simulated game and will throw a bullpen session Sunday.UP NEXTCubs LHP Cole Hamels (4-0, 1.00 with Chicago) and RHP Max Scherzer (16-6, 2.28) were scheduled to duel for the second time in a month in Saturday night’s game. Neither got a decision on Aug. 12 when David Bote’s grand slam off Ryan Madson in the bottom of the ninth won it for Chicago 4-3. Hamels is 16-9 with a 2.63 ERA in 36 career starts versus Washington, while Scherzer is 3-1, 2.45 in seven starts against the Cubs. The Toronto Blue Jaysannouncedthey had traded closer Roberto Osuna to the Houston Astrosin exchange for veteran reliever Ken Giles and minor league pitchers Hector Perez and David Paulino on Monday.The Athletic's Ken Rosenthalfirst reported the deal. Ryan Fagan of Sporting News shared comments from Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow on the trade:Ryan Fagan ryanfaganJeff Luhnow on trading for Roberto Osuna ... VDmCGNmsnAUSA Today'sBob Nightengalereported earlier in the day the Blue Jays were experiencing trouble attempting to trade Osuna, with his 75-game suspension a hurdle in negotiations. The suspension will end Sunday.ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reported Osuna was one of many Blue Jays players on the block ahead of Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET non-waiver trade deadline:Jerry Crasnick jcrasnickThe #BlueJays deadline trade conversations are focused on Roberto Osuna Harmon Killebrew Jersey , Aaron Loup, Tyler Clippard, John Axford and Curtis Granderson. Theyre all in play. Josh Donaldson is working out inDunedin and expected back in August. Deal could be revisited next month.Osuna waseligibleto start his rehab assignment July 14 and has since pitched six innings for Toronto's Rookie League, High-A and Triple-A affiliates. During that time, he hasn't allowed a run and struck out seven batters.The 23-year-old right-hander had posted a 2.93 ERA with nine saves in 15 appearances for the Blue Jays this season.Osuna hasn't appeared on the mound for the Jays since their 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on May 6. Two days later, authorities in Torontoarrested himand charged him with assault.Hepleadednot guilty to the charge, and hisnext court appearanceis scheduled for Wednesday.When he's eligible to pitch again, Osuna will join what is already one of the best bullpens in baseball. Astros relievers are collectively first in FIP (3.07), second in strikeouts per nine innings (10.86) and fifth in WAR (4.8) Paul Molitor Jersey , per FanGraphs.With Giles leaving, Osuna could potentially become Houston's regular closer, though Hector Rondon has also thrived in the role.Giles is a solid return for Toronto, and The Athletic's Eno Sarris argued the Blue Jays' rationale for the trade:Eno Sarris enosarrisSomething really weird happened to Ken Giles鈥?slider this year. It鈥檚 obvious why Toronto is doing this: find the slider again, get a top 15 reliever in K-BB since 2015. The Astros side... G0loYsbti9Through 34 appearances, Giles' 4.99 ERA is on pace to be a career high. However, his 2.28 FIP is a much better indicator as to his performance in 2018, per FanGraphs. Ten of his 17 earned runs came over three games as well, which skew his ERA.Giles should benefit from a change of scenery. The Astros optioned him to their Triple-A affiliate earlier this month after he appeared to say http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-tony-oliva-jersey , "F--k you, man," to manager A.J. Hinch following his exit from the team's6-5 win over the Oakland Athletics on July 10.That proved to be Giles' final appearance for the Astros.Even if the Blue Jays aren't any closer to playoff contention over the next few years, they could potentially flip Giles if he can rediscover his old self. He's under team control for two more seasons, which gives Toronto some flexibility regarding his long-term future with the franchise.