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burntblueberrywaffles · 6 months

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My 2023 recap (but it's through all my favorites posts I've made this year)

I started this in december and intented the post it a bit earlier but life got crazy busy;; anyway finally posting part 1! there will be a part 2 because this got a bit more out of hand than expected, and tumblr has a 30 images cap per post RIP

post are under the cut, they've all been dated and linked ❤️

Jan 22nd

Me: please send me asks! I want to get them! I’ll answer them for sure!

Also me when I actually receive an ask:

Jan 28th

Fev 1st

Fev 7th

Me every time I hear a song that slightly reminds me of my ship:

Fev 7th

I love when my mutuals talk about themselves in the tags, like oh, new bit of lore just dropped

Fév 19th

Me when I see Game Changer clips but I don’t have dropout:

Mar 27th

Apr 2nd

Apr 5th

Apr 7th

My problem is that whenever I enter a new fandom, I binge read a ton of incomplete fanfics, subscribe to all of them, and then when I get a chapter update for one of them I just

Apr 9th

Me listening to drinking song for the socially anxious:

Apr 10th

Apr 13th

may 12th

Netflix stop cancelling my favorite shows after 1 season challenge

June 6th

June 7th

Me seeing porn bots following my account again:

June 7th

Watching spiderverse 2 like

June 20th

I'm not gonna add a video to this post cause it's too much of a hassle, but this is the Hyde stick figure edit, that you can find here :3

June 21st

Me before: I don’t know if I should tell people that I’m autistic, what if they judge me

Me when I meet new people now:

June 22nd

The delicate balance between protecting your peace and being a nosy bitch

June 24th

June 26th

How am I supposed to touch grass in these conditions

July 2nd

Whoopsie! Your anxiety manifested itself as distrust and now everyone hates you

July 2nd

Someone: Um actually if you look at the books/comics/other tv shows it’s canon that-

Me:

July 2nd

guess what i did today

July 5th

July 8th

July 10th

July 14th

What they don’t tell you about the autism diagnosis is that soon enough you’ll constantly be looking at characters of tv shows and movies like

July 17th

Some very specific memes about my comic con weekend

July 19th

Me every day of my life

July 27th

when you see one of your mutuals reblog something from another one of your mutuals, when they had no previously known relation

#burntblueberrywaffles #end of the year recap #2023 recap #going through all my old posts to make this was pretty fun hehe #I truly am so smart witty and funny 😌

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naradreamscape · 2 years

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Hey! Just out of curiosity, are the VHS rips you've been uploading on YouTube from your personal collection? What's that process like? I'm impressed by how you know the exact date of each, half the tapes my family recorded were never labeled lol

Oh yeah, all these rips are from tapes I’ve personally acquired from thrift stores/estate sales, or bought for my own collection! It can take a LONG time to sort through the tapes, if I don’t know what’s on them and where it is on the tape...my capture device doesn’t really allow for fast-forwarding or rewinding, and if I do it too much while capturing a tape, it can put the audio out of sync. I'm always scared of fast-forwarding/rewinding too much through some of the older tapes, just in case they get damaged.

Dating the commercials and TV broadcasts isn’t too hard once you get the hang of it! When going through a tape, things to note are movie trailers, news reports, premieres, etc., which help to put a recording at least within a month-year bracket.

Like, on one of my latest uploads, I was able to pinpoint it as being from June 14th, 2002 because 1. it advertised Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone being “now available” on video, so it couldn’t be any earlier than June 11th, its original release date, 2. it had bumpers for the TBS Super Weekend but also ads for upcoming programs on Saturday and Sunday (which narrowed it down to Friday), and 3. had a few commercials with offers ending on July 1, 2002, so it couldn’t be any later than June 30th. I was really able to pin it down once one of the promos said Minority Report was coming out “this Friday”, which immediately placed the recording date on a certain week. It’s sort of like one of those logic grid games, and I always liked those as a kid.

#crabcrabcrabmeat

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messinamerica · 7 years

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What I've been on. After distancing myself from the church I felt relief. Over the course of the next few months I found myself more observant. I couldn't indulge as much. I felt distance between people in front of me. There was a disconnect, feeling outside of myself most days. This went on for weeks. I asked my older brother to meet and catch up. The conversation went on about 3 hours and the topics varied. Love, relationships, my home life, perspectives, business, and God. Most notably God. It was the most reoccurring topic, it seemed everything we talked about somehow brought itself back to this. We scheduled to meet every other Friday. By the 3rd Friday I knew this was therapy for me. Something powerful had happened each time, but nothing close to what I found July 14th. We had been sitting at the table in Starbucks for all of 10 minutes before a man sat down at the end of the table. He looked about 30 with longer greasy hair, tattoos on both arms and a scarf in the summer. Who wears a scarf in the summer. We continued our conversation. "Just so you know, a lot of nerdy stuff is about to go down" I watched him pull a chess board. I could tell he was really good at it. A woman walked up and sat in front of him, his victim I guessed. She was very similar to him. White, tatted, dark hair, weird. I could see why they were friends. It didn't bother me because chess is a quiet game. My brother and I continued our conversation, we were taking about love and relationships. 15 minutes of conversation had passed before greasyhair interrupted again, but this time his demeanor had changed. "You know the best advice I could give you on relationships?" Please, greasyhair, tell me about love. "God." I sighed internally. Although surprised hearing it from someone with Gages in their ears, this was nothing I hadn't heard before in church. The cliché response to everything. He went on to tell us about his previous marriages. He had been with his first wife for 10 years and by the end of his second marriage he had no interest in relationships or love. He explained that at his lowest point a woman came into his life, and by their second week they were so deep in their love the rest of the world was a place they visited on occasion. 5 months and two weeks later the love of his life left, with no reason. Greasyhair hit rock bottom and kept going. He turned to drugs to hold him over but eventually tried to kill himself. Being put in a mental hospital, his estranged father had to come get him out. He hadn't spoken to his parents in two years. In the following weeks staying with his father he found God for himself. He also found a new relationship with his family. A few weeks after that, the woman who had left came back into his life. Similar to his father, there was no discussion of the past. There was forgiveness. Genuine forgiveness. This woman was now his wife and chess opponent, sitting right across from us. What was missing in their relationship was the spiritual. They were strong emotionally and physically, but the spiritual gap was big enough to break their relationship. This broke his marriage of 10 years and his second of 4. He explained that God had ripped love from him, to put him in a place so low he had no choice but to acknowledge him. In doing that he found God for himself. Not through a church, not through a person, but in his own life. And in this I envied him. All my life I was raised in the church, but I never knew God. The answer to my failed relationships was in front of me, every weekend going to church. I didn't know God, and because of that, there was no spirituality in my relationships. But now I understood. I had never picked up a bible and took insight from it until he showed me a verse that night. I felt it in my soul. Not metaphorically but physically, I felt a shift in my soul. I got a hint at what knowing God felt like, and I needed to understand more. This man, greasy hair, tatted up, exactly the kind of man a church would shun showed me God in a way I had never experienced I'm 19 years at church. I didn't know what to think, so I met with him the next morning. By the end of the conversation I felt relief. A relief I can't really explain, but I felt a shadow that had been over me for months, that had followed me for years, was gone. He gave me this bible he's owned for 15 years. And I've been reading it since. Everytime I open it I find an answer to a question I have been asking for years. I never understood how people could read the Bible so intently but now, I guess I'm one of them. So now I'm here. Still figuring things out. Still learning. But for once, I know exactly the path I'm on. His name is Erie Waters by the way. Not greasyhair.

#unfollowcarter #summer17

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autumnbeachy · 6 years

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Every Kid Wanted to be an Astronaut

9:30 p.m. Houston time. July 20, 1969. My face was just inches away from the screen. Black and white pixels hurried around buzzily and unorderly, but when I leaned just slightly back, I could see them gather into the shape of a man in an astronaut suit. A film of static blanketed the television screen, so when my older brother yanked me away, the static still stuck to my nose and hands.

“Hey, you’re not the only one watching it, Doug!”

My fingers scratched at the quilted rug, nails pulling out orange, green, blue, red fibers. My bare knees chafed on the rough fabric as I shifted back and forth.

“Well gosh darn it!”

I whip my head around suddenly, ripped out of my trance by my mother’s abrupt almost cuss words. A puff of dark gray smoke tumbled quickly out of the oven as my mother waved her arms in the air back and forth, and flapping her yellow checkered apron, frantically chasing the smoke out into unknown destinations where it could then dissipate.

“I guess this wasn’t the best night to cook a roast... I just can’t keep my eyes off that screen.”

“The goddamn moon landing...” My dad’s words came out in an almost whisper scream. This didn’t phase me, it was okay when dad cussed. I turned back around quickly to see the man on the moon.

1975

It was my 14th birthday. And lucky enough for me, not only did my birthday fall on a Saturday, but also happened to be that month’s launch day.

The moon landing was unlike anything the world had ever seen before. But then things really boomed from there. If you had asked nine year old me if our boys at NASA could go beyond putting a man on the moon, I would have said “Why sure, they can do anything now!” And yet I, and everyone else, was still stunned when they sent a crew of 15 men to take a spin around Mars just one year later. And now, in the course of 6 years, Houston had become 1 of 12 bases around the world that was dedicated to space exploration. They were still working on frequent, almost daily, moon research. Discovering what alien elements could be exploited for us here on Earth, video-bots recording what goes on in the shadows of the deepest craters. Simultaneously, Houston was sending human beings in giant space proof metal vessels, to map out our solar system.

Along with all the wonderment of discovering the farthest corners of the universe and searching for alien intelligent life, came the very human wonderment of the town carnival. It was set up once every month, for just one weekend, to commemorate whatever the day’s galactic mission may be. This time it was pretty big. Men were going to Mars to officially try out the new and improved weather and heat proof gear. The carnival was bigger than ever, people were coming from all around the state. I went with my gang from the neighborhood, plus my brothers. My parents told me I could go without parent supervision, as long as I made an effort to accompany my kid brother, Thomas.

The Houston Space Fair was a pretty swell place for a 14 year old boy to spend his birthday. There was a ferris wheel, a mirror maze, bumper cars, cotton candy, hot dogs, games with prizes. And a spectacular view of the launch bay on the other side of the government’s fence. Every kid back then, especially those growing up in Houston, wanted to be an astronaut. While high school was approaching with the nearby fall, ever closer was my chance to apply for a trade school. My dad told me to look into something practical, like shuttle mechanics or a ground operator. Everybody wanted to be an astronaut, so I might as well not get my hopes up. But the Houston Space Fair still let me be a kid with kid dreams for just another day.

The end of summer brought heat waves and dust bowls and sporadic downpours. Making the earth smell like what I imagined mars to smell like. Making the spinning carnival ride with a big neon Martian on the side look like a real UFO. We could be astronauts for a day, as the real ones rose into the sky and disappeared into the clouds right before our very eyes. I took a huge bite of my cotton candy as I saw the last trail of smoke from the rocket’s engine disappear. I ran to join my friends in line for the ferris wheel. So when I got to the top I could see what it was like to look down on all the other carnival goers like tiny little ants. But for the astronauts, we here on the ground weren’t ants. We were just people. Because astronauts knew how awfully small people are already. My kid brain full of kid dreams had an idea of how big the universe was, but the lights of the fair rides and the laughter of children and the smell of hot buttery popcorn and the strange contorted image of my own face in a funhouse mirror made me feel like people were pretty big and important too, even if the most of us will never leave the atmosphere.

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democratsunited-blog · 6 years

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The Abolish ICE Debate Is a Test for Powerful Democrats – Rolling Stone

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=5198

The Abolish ICE Debate Is a Test for Powerful Democrats – Rolling Stone

Donald Trump acts as though “persecution” and “prosecution” are the same word. This is why he has been exploiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE. Under his influence, ICE has embraced its capacity for jackboot thuggery, enforcing white supremacy as much if not more than any immigration law. Trump has taken an agency that ostensibly was meant to keep Americans safe and used it to act out his personal cruel desires. Facing increasingly loud calls for ICE’s abolition, Trump’s empty bravado and capacity for lying have been on display these past few weeks.

The president has falsely claimed to have witnessed ICE agents “liberate towns from the grasp of MS-13,” the violent gang he wants us to believe is lurking on every street corner and in the soul of every toddler he incarcerates. The latest of many tweets on this topic arrived Tuesday morning.

How can the Democrats, who are weak on the Border and weak on Crime, do well in November. The people of our Country want and demand Safety and Security, while the Democrats are more interested in ripping apart and demeaning (and not properly funding) our great Law Enforcement!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2018

Trump has good reason to be flustered about this. There were more than 700 demonstrations last Saturday protesting ICE and the administration’s family separation policyl the one in L.A. was the largest. Some 70,000 people flooded the city’s streets with an anger and determination to match their numbers, demanding the reunification of immigrant children and their parents – and quite a bit more. “This is a city that stands up for immigrants, a place where 63 percent of us are either immigrants or the children of immigrants,” Mayor Eric Garcetti told me as the rally began in Grand Park, about two blocks from City Hall. “But when the federal government fails, we pick up the pieces. This policy has taken a hammer to a broken system.”

Garcetti has admitted to considering a presidential run in 2020, and, during the course of our conversation, I realized that he never once mentioned Trump’s name. Celebrities, politicians and regular citizens alike at the march grasped that we have bigger things to worry about than one man. “We have lost our humanity on a cultural level,” actress Laura Dern told me as thousands began to abandon the staging area to march several blocks to a federal detention center where immigrant children were being held. “This is not a political issue.”

Constance Wu, star of the immigrant-focused sitcom Fresh Off the Boat and the forthcoming film Crazy Rich Asians, visited the tent camp for children in Tornillo, Texas, last month to help lead protests there. Still, she felt encouraged. “From the top down, it seems like it’s getting worse, but bottom up, it’s getting better. We’re getting more people activated, more people aware,” Wu told me, holding a sign that read “CRUELTY IS NOT STRENGTH.”

Yes, there were some mentions of the president and his sadism – on signs, on clothing and in rhetoric from the stage. A good number of those had the word “fuck” preceding his name. However, the chants of “abolish ICE” outnumbered any denunciations of Trump himself.

A policy that was a hashtag a little more than a year ago had a prominent place on the platform of newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, the Democratic Socialist from New York’s 14th District who defeated incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in the state’s primary last week. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand are seconding her calls, along with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. California’s Kamala Harris, who spoke at Saturday’s L.A. rally, said she wants to see the agency “re-examined.”

There is a vocal contingent of establishment Democrats and pundits, however, who behave as though they agree with Trump’s claim that a progressive stance on ICE means that “they’ll never win another election.” On Sunday morning, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois managed to toss water on that fervor and on the energy behind Ocasio-Cortez. “If you abolish ICE now, you still have the same president with the same failed policies,” she told CNN. “Whatever you replace it with is going to still reflect what this president wants to do.” Duckworth – who made history recently by bringing her newborn to the Senate floor – is also worried that going “too far to the left” would ostracize Midwestern voters. She shrugged off Ocasio-Cortez’s stances as “the future of the party in the Bronx, where she is.” (Never mind the fact that the Bronx-born Ocasio-Cortez is running to serve the people of Queens.)

Protesters carry signs during a rally in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in downtown Los Angeles.

Naysayers like Duckworth – including her colleagues in the senate Amy Klobuchar, Richard Blumenthal and Bernie Sanders – are failing to see the forest for the trees here. Neither Duckworth nor her fellow critics can possibly know how the call to end ICE will play out with Democratic voters in November – let alone in 2020. The movement has just begun inching toward the mainstream, and yet there seems to be a particular urgency to nip it in the bud. I don’t know if abolishing ICE is the answer. I do know that it is strange to see Democrats telling us not to even bother considering the question.

By echoing House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s haughty take on the Bronx native, Duckworth used conventional assumptions about Midwestern voters even as more than 50,000 people were on the streets of Chicago this past weekend to protest ICE. As an Ohio native myself, it is sad to see a politician of color, in particular, be this short sighted. Too many at the heart of the Democratic base, particularly African American and Hispanic voters, have seen the system fail them, long before Trump was president. Those Democrats who urge a singular focus on the bogeyman in the Oval Office ignore their base’s demands for systemic change. If the DNC truly wants investment from the voters it needs the most later this year, it needs to stop being so cautious.

The Democratic establishment could learn a lot from coastal communities like Los Angeles, which has the highest population of Central American migrants per capita in the nation. Here is where a person like Jose Luis Garcia, a lawful Mexican immigrant, is scooped up by ICE and detained for weeks or even years at a time. Angelenos are precisely the people Democrats should be listening to on this issue. “We’re the heart of the values, but we’re also practical,” Garcetti said, citing a lengthy list of community benefits to embracing immigrants. The coasts are not the redheaded stepchildren of the DNC apparatus, valued when it is convenient and dismissed when there are moderates to pursue.

Here’s the thing: Abolishing ICE might not even be that revolutionary. While Duckworth is right to note that ICE is being used differently under Trump, that doesn’t mean Americans need it. ICE is an outgrowth of the expansion of the national security industrial complex that sprouted up after 9/11, replacing the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It should take more than 15 years for something like ICE to become an irreplaceable institution of American jurisprudence. I have yet to see any of these Democratic defenders make a convincing argument for why we must have ICE.

Nineteen ICE agents wrote a letter last week to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen suggesting that the agency be dissolved and reorganized into two separate entities so that they may resume paying attention to the many law enforcement priorities unrelated to Trump’s crusade against undocumented migrants. That alone should bolster calls to rethink ICE, and not to – as Duckworth suggests – maintain it and wait for a new president who we trust not to exploit its obvious weaknesses.

The greatest trick that Trump pulls on the American public daily is to be so extreme that we can’t imagine someone else like him. He has made a joke of our politics, but he has only done so more colorfully than a Mitch McConnell or a Jeff Sessions. There will be others in Trump’s wake who are even more competent at exploiting the weaknesses of this nation’s government and its various agencies. Other than trying to win in November, the DNC needs to start thinking less like politicians and more like repairmen.

That’s why these attempts to silence the “abolish ICE” conversation are flawed. November may be the most significant midterm election in years, given that it is possible that the Democrats could win the 24 seats they need to regain House control and the 28 they need for the Senate. The latter may prove essential should the current Senate minority manage to slow or block Trump’s choice to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court if a replacement is not yet confirmed by then. Voters surveyed strongly prefer a Congress that can hold Trump in check, to the degree that is possible. But as we all saw this past weekend, shackling the president isn’t all Americans want or need.

There will be plenty who show up to cast a ballot this fall for governor, state rep or Congress based purely on the fact that it will be a middle finger to the president. But Ocasio-Cortez and the Democrats who have joined her call to abolish ICE are not acting as mere reactionaries in a political moment that grows more partisan by the day. If they truly want to win in November and not just signify how civil they are, Democrats should adopt or at least be willing to discuss positions that already have their voters marching in the streets.

Read full story here

#Democrats

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othersportsnews-blog · 7 years

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Angels gain momentum for Mike Trout's second playoff appearance - SweetSpot

New Post has been published on https://othersportsnews.com/angels-gain-momentum-for-mike-trouts-second-playoff-appearance-sweetspot/

Angels gain momentum for Mike Trout's second playoff appearance - SweetSpot

It was Edgar Martinez weekend in Seattle as the Mariners retired No. 11, but the Los Angeles Angels did all the celebrating. They completed a four-game sweep with a 4-2 win Sunday, crushing the hopes of the Mariners right as Seattle had gone into the lead for the second wild card. The Angels climbed three games over .500 for the first time since they started the season 6-2 and climbed into prime position in the topsy-turvy wild-card race.

Here’s how the series unfolded, with some guy named Mike Trout playing a big role:

Thursday: The Mariners scored three in the eighth to tie it 3-3, but the Angels scored three of their own in the ninth when Trout cleared the bases with a two-out double off Edwin Diaz.

Friday: The Mariners led 5-1, but the Angels scored four in the seventh when Trout walked to load the bases with two outs, Albert Pujols followed with a two-run single and C.J. Cron and Andrelton Simmons added RBI hits. Trout scored the winning run in the ninth when he walked with one out and scored on Jean Segura‘s error.

Saturday: The Mariners led 3-1 when the Angels scored twice in the seventh and three times in the eighth. Luis Valbuena hit a game-tying two-run homer, and Pujols’ two-run double (Trout walked ahead of him) put the Angels ahead.

Sunday: The Angels scored three in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie. That rally started with … a Mike Trout walk.

Trout had just three hits in the four games, but the fear of pitching to him played a vital part in all the key rallies. He drew six walks, scored four runs and had the big double in the first game. Walks aren’t sexy, but they’re one reason Trout is so valuable: He’s getting on base and scoring runs, even if he isn’t driving them in. He’s hitting .341/.468/.690 with 57 runs and 55 RBIs in 74 games.

A four-game road sweep of the Mariners, a six-game win streak and possession of the second wild-card spot. Will we finally get Mike Trout in October again? Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Still, his excellence alone hardly explains how the Angels are here. After all, they’re last in the American League in scoring, with 4.29 runs per game. Their best starter has been JC Ramirez, who is 10-10 with a 4.26 ERA. Their two other regular starters have been Ricky Nolasco and Jesse Chavez, who are a combined 11-22 with ERAs over 5.00 (Chavez is now in the bullpen). The Angels’ projected top two starters, Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker, have combined for just 15 starts. The closer has been Bud Norris, who has a 4.60 ERA and has lost the job (Keynan Middleton got the save Sunday, Cam Bedrosian on Friday and Saturday).

Despite those numbers, the Angels are fourth in the American League in runs allowed. Parker Bridwell, a cash purchase from the Baltimore Orioles in April, is now 7-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 11 starts after a win Sunday. Let that sink in: The Orioles didn’t want this guy. The Angels’ bullpen depth has also been key; they even traded David Hernandez to the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline — in part because they were 51-55 on July 31 and 5.5 games back of the Royals and didn’t look like contenders. Now they are.

As for that second wild card, maybe we need to stop writing about it until the final 10 days or so because it seems unlikely that any of these teams is good enough to pull away. It’s really a bunch of mediocrity. Check out the changes in the past week as the Angels passed five teams.

Sunday: Royals, +0.5 (Angels 3 back)

Monday: Rays, Royals tied, +1 (Angels 3 back)

Tuesday: Mariners, Rays, Royals tied, +1.5 (Angels 2 back)

Wednesday: Mariners, +1 (Angels 2 back)

Thursday: Mariners, Rays tied, +0.5 (Angels 1 back)

Friday: Twins, +0.5 (Angels 0.5 back)

Saturday: Angels, +0.5

Sunday: Angels, +0.5

Five teams held the second wild card at some point during the week. The Angels now hold a half-game lead over the Twins. The Mariners, in sole possession Wednesday, are now two games behind. Maybe Trout can carry his team into the wild-card game. That would make all this mediocrity worthwhile. (Of course, I’m still rooting for a five-way tie.)

Another day, another Giancarlo Stanton home run. Straight to the highlight, as Stanton hit his 42nd home run and 21st in 33 games. At that pace, he’d hit 103 over 162 games.

Giancarlo Stanton’s 250th career homer tied him with Gary Sheffield for most home runs in a season in Marlins history. pic.twitter.com/32VPQg4QUj

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 13, 2017

This is more than just a hot streak. Stanton changed his stance about two months ago, going to more of a closed stance (which was already more closed than it had been in previous years). This has helped him turn better on inside pitches. Check out pitches on the inner third of the zone:

The feeling from pitchers had always been that you could attack Stanton inside and prevent him from getting his arms extended. That strategy suddenly isn’t so simple. If the new stance has indeed created a new level of awesomeness, Stanton is back to being maybe the most feared hitter in the game. Here’s Eddie Matz with more on Stanton’s recent surge.

Dallas Keuchel finally delivers for the Astros. The Astros have been terrible of late, going 2-9 in August, when they handed the ball to Keuchel, who had made three starts since his return from the disabled list, all with poor results (14 runs and 23 hits in 12 innings). They have to be feeling a little better after Keuchel allowed one run in 6&frac23; innings in a 2-1 win over the Rangers.

The Astros also received a bit of a gift in the eighth inning. Chris Devenski walked the first two batters, and A.J. Hinch brought on Ken Giles for a six-out save. For some reason, the Rangers then handed the Astros an out with a sacrifice bunt — with Joey Gallo on deck, the least likely player in the game to hit a two-run single and just about the likeliest to strike out and not get the runner in from third. Anyway, Gallo did make contact, lining into a 3-6 double play.

Bryce Harper, Nolan Arenado injuries. Obviously, Harper’s injury Saturday prompted calls for MLB to address the issue of bases and how to prevent injuries from players slipping on them or sliding into them. It’s amazing that Harper didn’t rip his knee apart, and while he suffered a significant bone bruise, the Washington Nationals expect him back for the team’s playoff push. Dusty Baker references 10 days to two weeks, though you know the Nationals will be as cautious as possible.

Meanwhile, Arenado left Sunday’s game after being hit on his left hand, but X-rays were negative. He said he hopes to be back after a couple days. Obviously, both players are leading MVP candidates. If Harper — probably the current favorite — misses extended time, that could create a wide-open race among Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Corey Seager and Stanton.

Corey Kluber and Chris Sale are good. Kluber fanned nine batters in seven innings in the Indians’ 4-3 win over the Rays, his 14th straight start with eight-plus strikeouts, one short of Randy Johnson’s record of 15 in a row. OK, it’s kind of a made-up record. Why eight strikeouts and not seven or nine or 10? But you get the point: Kluber is in the midst of a dominant stretch of pitching, with a 1.85 ERA since June 1 and 151 strikeouts in 102&frac13; innings.

Meanwhile, Sale fanned 12 and allowed one run in seven innings, earning a no-decision as the Red Sox and Yankees went to extra innings. Sale is 14-4 in 24 starts … and could be even better. In three of his no-decisions, he allowed zero runs. In his four losses, he allowed one, two, three and four runs. He has just one cheap victory, when he allowed six runs against the White Sox on May 30 but won (plus two wins in which he allowed four runs). Sale leads the Cy Young race because Kluber missed a month, and you can also argue that Sale leads the MVP race. But that’s another discussion for another column.

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