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Hello and happy Friday.
There are new rules galore in baseball in 2020, and on Thursday another one was added. Starting on Aug. 1, all doubleheaders will have seven-inning games. That’s both the front and back half of the doubleheader.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have agreed to stage seven-inning doubleheaders starting Aug. 1, sources familiar with the situation tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2020
The rules comes into place because MLB is expecting to have a lot of doubleheaders. The Miami Marlins have had a serious coronavirus outbreak, and it’s led to a bunch of suspended games across the league.
It sounds like the league and Players Association are both OK with some teams not playing all 60 games, but in order to make up as many as possible they’ll have to resort to many doubleheaders. While this rule will be odd to see, it’s a rather sensible thing to do to make this all work out.
Did Barry Bonds hit a home run today?
Yeah. He did.
July 31, 1994: Against the Colorado Rockies, Bonds hit a solo home run in the 5th inning off of Jim Czajkowski. It gave the Giants a 7-4 lead, Matt Williams would make it back-to-back home runs, and they would win 9-4. It was his 32nd homer of the year.
July 31, 1996: Against the Chicago Cubs, Bonds hit a solo home run in the 7th inning off of Steve Trachsel. It cut the Giants deficit to 2-1, and they would lose 4-2. It was his 28th homer of the year.
July 31, 1999: Against the Cincinnati Reds, Bonds hit a pair of home runs off Ron Villone. A 3-run shot in the 1st inning scored F.P. Santangelo and Bill Mueller, and gave the Giants a 3-0 lead. A 2-run blast in the 3rd inning scored Charlie Hayes and pushed the lead to 5-0. The Giants would win 11-1. It was his second straight game with 2 home runs, and they were his 15th and 16th of the year.
July 31, 2002: Against the Philadelphia Phillies, Bonds hit a solo home run in the 5th inning off of Mike Timlin. It tied the game 6-6, but the Giants would lose 8-6. It was his 29th homer of the year.
Giants links
- Grant Brisbee on if Mike Yastrzemski will be on the next great Giants team (The Athletic, subscription required)
- Podcast: Grant Brisbee and Andrew Baggarly look back on the stellar game on Wednesday (The Athletic, free)
- John Shea on the Giants optioning Jaylin Davis (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- Alex Pavlovic on the best Kruk and Kuipisms from the last 30 years (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- Mark W. Sanchez on Evan Longoria being not fully healthy but healthy enough (KNBR)
- Alex Pavlovic on Gabe Kapler’s explanation for reassigning Jaylin Davis (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- Michael Nowels learns McCovey Dave’s secrets (Mercury News)
- Alex Pavlovic on how Donovan Solano is earning an everyday role (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- Dalton Johnson on Carl Yastrzemski thinking the Giants are the perfect team for his grandson (NBC Sports Bay Area)
Have a wonderful Friday!