7-24-17
At the beginning of tonight’s Chihuahuas/Storm Chasers game, Tim Hagerty explained an odd event from last night’s game. Omaha had announced a new pitcher, but then pulled him before the inning started. The manager had to consult with the umpire, since, by rule, an announced pitcher has to pitch to at least one batter, barring injury or otherwise unable to pitch. In this case, the announced pitcher had just been called up, and the team was told not to use him. His replacement was given extra time to warm up. This story had consequences for tonight’s game.
While the pups and the Chasers traded single runs for about half the game, I found out that the Rockies and the Cardinals were playing on ESPN. I went ahead and started watching it, so I could finally see the Rox play a bit. Unfortunately when I joined the game, it was 6-0 Cardinals in the seventh.
The Cards have a player with one eye. I didn’t catch his name, but I saw him hit a home run. Yadier Molina, Cardinal catcher, hit a double and then stole third. He scored on a Little League play involving Gold Glove/All-Star Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds. It just didn’t seem to be the Rockies’ night, though on the next batter, Arenado caught a shoe-top liner and threw to Reynolds to double off another runner for a double play. 8-2 Cardinals final.
Of course while I was distracted, the Chihuahuas erupted for five runs in the fourth, and the Storm Chasers scored four in the fifth. In the bottom of the seventh with the score 8-6 Chihuahuas, Tim was flabbergasted. The Chasers sent out a catcher to pitch. They were out of pitchers. After three recent extra innings games and some call ups, they got caught short, even with a couple of Low-A call ups. “Omaha is punting on the game,” said Tim.
The Omaha catcher was pitching so slow, it wasn’t registering on the radar gun. He got a strikeout after loading the bases (the Chihuahuas player was furious at himself) and allowing a run, but was taken out after another run. Another position player finished the inning, leaving the bases loaded. He didn’t fare so well the next inning, giving up four runs. 14-6 Chihuahuas was the final.
Meanwhile, the Rangers lost to the Marlins, but Adrian Beltre went four for four. He’s seven away from 3,000, and I think he wants to do it in Arlington.
7-25-17
It was Christmas in July in Philadelphia at today’s game between the Phillies and the Astros. Once again, I was blocked from the MLB free game on their site, but picked it up on Yahoo. This was a good thing, since I got to see a Phillies’ skit between innings. With fake snow falling, the Philly Phanatic was triple-dog dared to put his tongue to a light pole. Two guys in winter coats from the TV production, who’d goaded him into it, ran away when the Liberty Bell at the stadium rang. I laughed out loud.
The seats were about half-filled, though it did look like rain was in the area. I remember their recent history when Philly fans would take over Nationals Park whenever the Phillies were playing there, because they couldn’t get seats for their own home games. Several Astros fans were scattered through the crowd. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see very much of the game. The Astros won 5-0 even with a pair of errors. I did get to see the Phanatic dancing with Santa Claus between innings. There was also a young woman who got a foul ball in the stands. She had her back to the camera, which was why they were showing her. The thin shirt she was wearing was described by the announcers as “Not appropriate for television.”
Aside from work, among other distractions were the Chihuahuas playing the Iowa Cubs. Kyle Schwarber was, unfortunately, no longer on the ICubs, which would have made this a must-listen game. Christian Bethancourt was making his first start for the pups. The experiment of trying to make him proficient at every position may be over. He gave up a two-run homer in his stint, but got one of them back by hitting his own home run in his last at bat.
Meanwhile, I turned on the TV and tuned to the MLB Network for the Rockies and Cardinals game. I’d gotten two e-mails from the MLB Fan Council (or whatever they’re called), asking me to watch the game and take a survey afterward. Surprisingly, the game was on. Normally, the Rockies are a team that gets blacked out here (erroneously I might add, cable in the rest of New Mexico has them on, we get the Diamondbacks’ network).
Matt Vasgersian and John Smoltz did a pretty good job of commentating. The game was a tight, low-scoring affair. It was 2-0 Cardinals for most of the game, until the Rockies scored a run late. In the eighth, the Cardinals brought out a reliever that, as the guys said beforehand, did indeed pitch a lot like Tim Lincecum. It’s tough throwing motion, but it can be duplicated. Unfortunately, he threw like Timmy’s later days and gave up the tying home run to Trevor Story. The Cardinals’ poor bullpen had been a subject of discussion tonight and last night. I think they said Seung-hwan Oh was out. (I love his nickname: The final Buddha.)
Back in the El Paso, the Chihuahuas lost 2-1. Bethancourt directly figured into all of the runs scored. The ICubs’ closer was Matt Carasiti. That name sounded really familiar. Tim Hagerty reminded us that he had been Albuquerque’s closer before being traded, when he blew two saves to the Chihuahuas last month in very dramatic fashion. He got some revenge here. Amazingly, this game, which started an hour after the Rockies/Cards, finished first. It was a two-hour, 12 minute game, a record for this ballpark.
Back in St. Louis, it was the ninth too. The Rockies got two on with two outs, but Trevor Story struck out to end the inning. In the bottom, Harrison Bader, making his Major League debut, hit a double and got moved over to third. On shallow fly ball to right field, Bader slide into home just ahead of a slightly off line throw. His family in the stands were shown going crazy. 3-2 Cardinals. I didn’t get that MLB survey last night, maybe it’ll come today, but I will certainly say here that I enjoyed the broadcast.
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