THE SEC REPORT
The SEC Report: A&M gets destroyed as LSU asserts dominance over the SEC and Auburn wins a heavyweight battle of an Iron Bowl
Dec 3, 2019, 8:52 am
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
LAST WEEKEND
LSU obliterated A&M as Joe Burrow and the Tigers came out to make a statement about their place nationally this season. An inappropriate gesture helped cost Ole Miss the Egg Bowl and Alabama just lost the most important Iron Bowl in a long, long time. Alabama hasn't come into an Iron Bowl lately with their season in more trouble than they did this year, with a back up quarterback, a better team in their own division and already out of the SEC title game a wounded Crimson Tide lost a huge Iron Bowl to Auburn.
THE THREE STARS OF LAST WEEKEND
Jake Fromm, Quarterback of Georgia: This season has been the Swift show but this week we actually had a Fromm sighting and it was prolific. Four touchdowns on just fourteen completions, Fromm picked a great week to come alive as their next game is against LSU for the SEC title and having to worry about both the run and the pass means play calling just got a little easier for The Bulldogs.
Auburn as a team: The young quarterback Bo Nix played well enough in a huge back and forth game. The defense contributed with two pick sixes that kept the pressure on Alabama and back up quarterback Mac Jones. Auburn came in and did exactly what it needed to do to win a close and hard fought game.
Kyle Trask, Quarterback of Florida: Threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns on 30 completions. Florida finished their season in a great place in comparison to how they started it and the leadership and performance of Trask has a lot to do with it and this week is no exception to that.
THIS WEEKEND
This weekend is the big one, everything has been building for this. This week Georgia plays LSU in what has worked out to be a road game for the higher ranked Tigers. Georgia is playing in their third SEC championship game in a row and they have to think the world is playing a cruel joke on them as they've traded one buzz saw for another. While they aren't playing the most successful college program in recent history they are still playing a program on fire with a Heisman hopeful at quarterback. 3pm this Saturday on CBS, we'll see who wins the SEC The Bulldogs or The Tigers.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Jake Fromm, Quarterback of Georgia: For the Bulldogs to have a chance to win Fromm needs to have a great game, complete over half of his passes, be efficient and play mistake free football. There's always a chance a team can win but usually it means their quarterback plays good football.
Joe Burrow, Quarterback of LSU: This guy has been crushing the game all season and needs just one more game to make his case for a Heisman, to win an SEC championship and to secure a shot at the National Championship. After all of the football these next few weeks are so important for Burrow and company to get as much as they can from all of this success this season.
D'Andre Swift, Runningback of Georgia: He didn't finish the Tech game due to a shoulder injury and The Bulldogs will need all hands on deck. One of the best rushers in the SEC this season is a heck of a guy to be missing or to have but not at full strength. Hopefully Georgia can keep everything going just one more game but they'll need Swift to make that happen.Feel free to check out my brand-new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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Left-hander Mitchell Parker threw seven shutout innings, and Luis Garcia Jr. had three singles and two RBIs and the Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros 6-0 on Sunday.
The Nationals have won three of their past four series after starting the season 2-6.
After allowing two runs over five innings last Monday in his major league debut, a 6-4 win over the L.A. Dodgers, Parker (2-0) was even more effective in his second major league start, allowing three hits, striking out eight and walking none, throwing 57 of his 73 pitches for strikes.
“He has so much poise," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "He’s ready. He gets the ball, ready to get back on the mound. I watched him today. He threw a ground ball. The play was made and he got right on the mound and was holding his glove up as if, ‘hey, come on, give me the ball, like I’m ready to get back on there’. It was cool to watch. He understands what he wants to do.”
Parker mixed his 85-87 mph splitter, 81-82 mph curveball and 92 mph four-seam fastball. He struck out Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña a combined four times. Dylan Floro and Matt Barnes each added a scoreless inning for Washington.
Parker was thrilled to be able to throw the splitter for strikes, something that did not come as easy against the Dodgers.
“100 percent, yeah," Parker said. "We were able to get in there for more swings and misses. They were more competitive pitches. Going to keep working on it, seeing if we can keep it where it is at.”
Astros right-hander Hunter Brown replaced scheduled starter Cristian Javier, who was scratched from Sunday’s series finale with neck discomfort. Javier was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to April 14, and right-hander Spencer Arrighetti was called up from Triple-A Sugar Land.
Manager Joe Espada said they have not decided yet on an MRI for Javier.
“Neck discomfort, started a few days ago,” Espada said. “He tried to work through it but just couldn’t happen. This kind of just came out of nowhere. So, we are going to see what happens here.”
Brown allowed three runs and three hits and a walk in the first but then settled down, lasting four innings when his pitch count reached 84.
“Even in the first I felt like made some good pitches," Brown said. "Came to the outing prepared. Kind of did what I wanted to and it just didn’t fall our way there.”
García Jr.’s two-run single to center field highlighted the three-run first inning for the Nationals.
“We try to score every inning,' Garcia Jr. said through a translator. "But definitely when we score the first inning it gives you a different kind of sense of confidence throughout the game and it carries on through the games a different feeling.”
Joey Meneses had a bases-loaded two-run single to right field off Shawn Dubin in the fifth to make it 5-0. Nick Senzel hit his first home run of the season in the sixth to close out the scoring.
The Astros' tailspin continues, having lost five of their past six and nine of their past 12.
“It is not ideal in the situation that we are in but we are in this situation,” Espada said. “And we got to fight through this. We have guys in there who are capable of giving us innings and some of them are doing that. We are going back to playing the style of baseball that everyone sees the Astros play. We feel pretty good about the guys that we have in there to get us some good innings."
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros left-hander Framber Valdez threw again Sunday and has a chance of starting one of the games in Chicago his week. “We will see how he feels,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Once we see how he feels, we will start talking about the possibilities if he can pitch in Chicago or not.”
Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz said he is about “90 percent” recovered from the flu that placed him on the 10-day injured list on April 12. Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Ruiz will go on a rehab assignment this week to play a couple of games before returning to the club.
UP NEXT
Houston travels to Chicago to begin a three-game series against the Cubs on Tuesday. Espada confirmed JP France and Justin Verlander will start two of the games, but did not specify the order. Spencer Arrighetti, who was called up for Javier, is an option for the opener.
Washington has a day off before hosting the L.A. Dodgers on Tuesday night. Left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-3, 8.06 ERA) faces the Dodgers for the second consecutive start.