8-1-17
The main product of the Rangers’ Yu Darvish trade, Willie Calhoun, got the start today for the Express versus the Chihuahuas. At the other end of the spectrum, the Jurickson Profar story was more interesting than I first heard. Angry that he hadn’t been traded yesterday, Profar walked out on the team. Does he think he’s an NBA player? The Rangers then put him on the DL, but I’m sure this won’t be the end of the tale.
After losing the first three games of the series, the Chihuahuas finally rallied. They went up by four by the fifth inning, but today belonged to pitcher Brian Rodriguez. With the bullpen depleted, he was called on for a good outing, and he gave the team a nine-inning shutout. Rod Barajas let him go the full distance at 106 pitches. If the team can somehow come back and win the division, this was the game that turned them around. It was another quick game at two hours and 18 minutes. Unfortunately, no ground was gained with this win. Tim Hagerty was so pleased with the win, when announcing the upcoming series in New Orleans, he got their new name wrong. He chuckled and chastised himself, “I’d better get this right before we get there.”
The Yahoo free game (I’ve just about given up on sorting out my MLB password) was a great matchup between the Astros and Rays. The crowd was just okay in Houston. They haven’t fully gotten on board with the team yet. The Rays went up 5-0, but in the fifth, Chris Archer gave up a pair of solo home runs, 5-2. Next inning, Orbit was sitting behind home plate with the fans. Him and Archer are now officially enemies. There’s a “Declaration of Unfriendliness” document and everything. Hijinks may ensue during this series.
In the seventh, the Astros got the score to 6-4 and had two more on, but failed to score them. In the ninth, Evan Longoria stroked a double to complete a cycle. (Though he was initially ruled out, he was called safe on the appeal.) The Rays would go on to win 6-5. Unfortunately what’s going to be the main “highlight” of the game was Rays’ catcher, Jesus Sucure, taking a pitch on a bounce into his junk. He dropped right over. The trainers had to attend to him for several minutes while he got his breath back.
FS1 was showing a game on TV. Wow, I didn’t know they were still on the air. We get FS1 on local cable, but not the CW. In any case, the matchup was the Twins versus the Padres. That’s a marquee event right there. Actually, in my case, I was quite pleased to finally see some former Chihuahuas in Major League action. The MLB website headline said that Twins pitcher, Jose Berrios, was mowing down the Padres. When I tuned in, the score was actually 1-0 Padres in the seventh. Berrios was having a good game, but Jhoulys Chacin was matching him on the other side. I hadn’t seen Chacin in a while, I didn’t even recognize him.
The one run was courtesy of Manuel Margot sac’ing in Hunter Renfroe. He’d got on via defensive miscue. In the eighth, Austin Hedges homered in Renfroe for a 3-0 lead. Brad Hand, who was not traded at the deadline as expected, but decided not to walk out on the team because of it, closed out the game with his little hop step throwing motion. The Padre mascot rang the bell for the win.
8-3-17
Yep, Wednesday I had no baseball. The Chihuahuas were off, and I’d missed everything on the TV and the Internet. Things didn’t fare much better on Thursday. My MLB login finally worked, and I got the free game. Unfortunately, it was the Pirates and the Reds, not a matchup I was really into. I missed just about all of it while doing work, except for the top of the ninth. It was 6-0 Pirates in any case. I did enjoy the crowd shots of all the kids there having a good time. Bring back “Fan cam!”
I was looking forward to the Chihuahuas’ first meeting with the New Orleans . . . Babycakes. I think I heard Tim Hagerty still tripping over their name. When you’re calling games for a team named “The Chihuahuas,” you certainly don’t expect to run into a more embarrassing team name. The Babycakes have played up to their nom de plume with their “Tragic number” sitting at three in early August.
More tragic was a rain shower that broke out during the pre-game, delaying the game. I actually moaned out a disappointed, “Ahhh . . .” out loud in a room full of people when I heard that. Tim had previously called Double-A games on the Gulf Coast, so he wasn’t surprised by the sudden shower. 45-minutes later, Tim came back on and announced that another shower had just driven the players off the field during their warmup. The game was called shortly thereafter. So much for baseball tonight.
While waiting on the game, I was highly entertained by ESPN Radio. Some Social Justice Warrior chick hosts their evening shift. She was bitching up a storm about the injustice of Colin Kaepernick not having a job in the NFL. Yes, the sports media thinks that the who guy who single-handedly drove down the league’s ratings last year deserves, nay, it is mandated that he be reinstated as a quarterback somewhere.
Even these precious media snowflakes recognize that Colin is no better than a backup quarterback, but somehow think that the bad publicity would be totally worth it for a clipboard holder. After all the people who have been given a media “execution” and had their jobs and careers ruined over something they’ve said, this is high comedy. And this chick opinionated on this story right after the previous shift hosts had pronounced that some other malefactor didn’t deserve a second chance in sports after screwing up. That guy had actually committed a crime, but the effects of said crime likely pale in comparison to the economic impact and national societal chaos of Kaepernick’s actions. Keep his ass out.
How about some baseball news, since I don’t have any actual live reporting? Yu Darvish took out a full-page ad in Dallas, thanking the fans. That was a classy gesture. Joey Gallo on Tuesday and Wednesday nights hit home runs OVER Greene’s Hill in center field. That’s an almost incomprehensible accomplishment. On the first one, the kids running out to get the ball, stood and watched it fly over their heads. On the second, the pitcher covered his mouth with his mitt as he watched the ball fly out, his eyes bulging. And, Adrian Beltre is unhappy that the Rangers were selling at the deadline. As well as he’s playing and as much as the fans love him, I could see him being dealt in the off-season, at his request.
I neglected to mention what was called the “Game of the year” on Tuesday. The Indians and the Red Sox had an epic game at Fenway. I did see the highlights on FS1’s baseball recap show. There were enough highlights and dramatic moments for three games. The lead changed hands a couple of times. Austin Jackson went airborne to rob a home run at the wall. The game ended in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off home run. 12-10 Red Sox. If they go at it in the playoffs, it might be anti-climatic in comparison. Another epic battle happened on Wednesday. Astro’s mascot, Orbit, and Tampa Bay Rays’ pitcher, Chris Archer, went at it in a water balloon fight. What’s next between these two?
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