Pennant Racin', Oct. 1

Lots to talk about this morning … including a couple of blunders in yesterday’s post. So let’s get it going — but first, a big Happy Birthday to the purest of hitters, Rod Carew, the suspenders GM John Schuerholz, the lord of batting practice, Mark McGwire, the lord of the fungo, Jimmie Reese, the lord of baseball caps, Eric Gilde, Queen of the New York City Marathon Grete Weitz, the meanest guard, Conrad Dobler, and most of all, Margo, who turns 29 one more time.

Big Winners!

THE TEXAS RANGERS!
(Clinched their first playoff spot since 2016 by beating the Mariners 6-1)

It’s a funny thing about baseball. Things can get tense, really tense, super-tense, and then you score four runs in an inning with four unlikely hits off the excellent Luis Castillo, and all the tension is gone, and you breeze to victory over the Mariners, and you’re in the playoffs.

That happened in the third inning when, with two outs and a runner on first, Adolis Garcia hit a ground ball single, Nathaniel Lowe hit a ground ball single (scoring a run), Josh Jung walked, Jonah Heim hit a ground ball single scoring two, and Leody Taveras hit a broken-bat single that scored one more run.

The hit percentages on those four hits:

• Adolis Garcia: 27% (it was a slow chopper that Garcia beat out)

• Nathaniel Lowe: 43% (it was pretty hard hit but close to where a second baseman would be standing in double-play position)

• Jonah Heim: 58% (this would have been an out if the Mariners were still allowed to shift, I presume).

• Leody Taveras: 97% (he hit it only 72 mph, but he hit it in the perfect spot into short rightfield)

The likelihood of those four hits happening in a row, based on percentages, is