8-28-17
Chihuahuas versus Grizzlies. Carlos Correa was supposed to be on the Grizzlies tonight, rehabbing from the Astros, but he never showed up in the game. I didn’t even hear an update about him. Good for the Chihuahuas then. An opera singer beautifully rendered the anthem before the game. The Chihuahuas went up by two in the first. Somehow I missed hearing it. This set the tone for the evening. Franchy Cordero tripled in a run, and Hunter Renfroe drove in the other.
Former Chihuahua, Rico Noel, came up in the third for the Grizzlies to a nice round of applause. That’s nice, but he’s not Carlos Correa. Tim Hagerty had time to talk about Tony Cruz’s walk off hit yesterday. Cruz told him that it wasn’t his first. He’d hit two when he was with the Cardinals.
The fifth inning was contentious. Jordan Lyles for the pups gave up two consecutive walks. There was some kind of confusion with the umpire on the count for the second one. Lyles then gave up a wild pitch which moved up both runners as a prelude to them both scoring on a hit, two all. The batter was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. This started the Grizzlies arguing. It carried over to the next batter, who struck out to end the inning on a strikeout. He then got ejecting for continuing to argue. The on deck batter almost joined him in the clubhouse for doing the same.
Adding to the general irritation, my connection with the radio station’s site kept dropping. I finally brought up Gameday and found out I’d missed quite a bit. Franchy had driven in a run, Renfroe had hit a two-run homer, and Christian Villanueva hit a solo home run. It’s 7-2 Chihuahuas. I completely missed the pups scoring another run on an error in the sixth, 8-2.
I finally tried the radio button on the Chihuahuas’ website and got the call back. Tim was in a great mood. In the seventh, Nick Buss tripled in a run and scored on an error. Tim called it a “Little League home run,” 10-2. In the eighth, another Grizzlies player got into it with the ump. Either he was doing a bad job, or the Grizz just didn’t like him. 10-2 Chihuahuas was the final. I checked the late game with Salt Lake. No change in the standings.
8-29-17
All of the Chihuahuas’ games are important at this point. Still, I had to listen to Adam Young’s Aggie Coaches show. I wanted to hear about the Soccer and Volleyball teams, since I’m planning on going out to see them, hopefully starting this weekend. From Steve Kaplowitz’s remote from the ballpark, I did know that Carlos Correa would be playing today for the Grizzlies, this time for sure. I missed most of the top of the first, but did tune in for his first at bat. It was a fly out in the middle of four walks in the inning, which forced in a run. An error gave them another run for a 2-0 Grizz lead.
The Chihuahuas reeled off three straight singles in their half of the inning. A Hunter Renfroe fielder’s choice drove in their first run, 2-1. In the top of the second, catcher Tony Cruz, had a catcher’s interference call against him. Tim Hagerty, without missing a beat, said that was the second time that had been called against the team this year. It’s a rare call or should be. Correa got a hit after nearly being hit by a pitch near his injured thumb. I’m sure the Astros loved that news. On that note, this Triple-A game had more than twice the crowd that the Astros and Rangers had playing their hurricane-moved game in Tampa Bay. I’m hearing bad things about the Rangers refusing to switch home series with the Astros, thus forcing this poor move. In the bottom, Cruz hit a two-run homer to give the pups the lead, 3-2, and make up for the interference.
In the third, the home plate umpire got hit by a foul ball for the third inning in a row. The umps aren’t doing well this series. In the bottom, the Chihuahuas loaded the bases and scored on a single, 4-2. After this, there was a strikeout and a popup, which invoked the infield fly rule. (Rules geeks must have loved this game). From this point on, hold on to your hats. Tony Cruz came up with the bases loaded and two outs. Boom! Grand slam home run! Tony, you just keep interfering all you want. 8-2 Chihuahuas.
Wow! What a great inning! I . . . Oh, it’s still going on. The Chihuahuas batted around. They chased the Grizz starter out of the game. The bases were loaded again. Renfroe came up with a chance for a second grand slam of the inning. A wild pitch scored a run. Then a single scored a run. Then a double scored two more runs. The inning finally ended after 14 batters and a 12-2 Chihuahuas lead.
We’re not even close to done. Unfortunately, I got busy and flat out couldn’t keep up. (Actually, I couldn’t keep up with the previous inning and had to look at the official recap.) In the fourth, the Grizzlies had an eight batter inning. They scored four, the first run off of an error, to make it 12-6. In the fifth, a Grizzlies player was hit in the head with a pitch and had to leave the game. The Chihuahua’s pitcher came out shortly after. He gave up a run on a passed ball, seemingly a bit shaken. A fielder’s choice and another error brought in another run, 12-7. In the bottom, Franchy Cordero made the final out, trying to stretch a double into a triple.
Tim was having a good time, calling this an “old fashion PCL slug match.” The Grizz got solo homers in the next two innings, 12-9. In the eighth, Franchy tripled and made it this time. He scored on a dropped sacrifice fly, 13-9. It was scored as a sacrifice and an error. The top of the ninth started with another Grizz solo home run. The game ended on a double play for the second inning in a row. 13-10 Chihuahuas was the final. I think the fans at the park got their money’s worth. I forgot to check the results of the Salt Lake game afterward. Here’s a quick explanation for how the Chihuahuas nearly blew a 10-run lead: four errors and a few other gaffes. Manager Rod Barajas probably lit the team up after this win. Expect some extra fielding drills tomorrow guys.
8-30-17
Crap. Tonight’s Diablos/Grizzlies game was really the one game I wanted to go to this season, since they were giving away team card sets. I couldn’t find any when I was there earlier this season. Since this was also going to be the last appearance of the Diablos this season, their jerseys were going to be auctioned off after the game. Hmm. I wonder that worked out, given how the game went. Carlos Correa was sent to Double-A, ostensibly to get him closer to the big league team, but maybe because he almost got re-injured last night. Opera singer, Maria Sandoval, sang a great anthem. They should use her every night (when the opera isn’t performing, of course).
Things started off quietly enough compared to yesterday. In the first, Franchy Cordero launched his bat into shallow right field and into a wall on a bad swing. What’s with these guys losing their bats lately? The Diablos loaded the bases in the second, but didn’t get any runs. In the third, the Grizzlies got their first baserunners and ended up leaving two on.
In the bottom of the third, Tim Hagerty was joined by one of the sponsors in the booth. He’s a season ticket holder and a big fan of the team. Franchy tossed another bat. This one went into the stands. However, him and then Hunter Renfroe both got on with two outs. Christian Villanueva (whose name I’ve inexplicably been getting wrong for the last couple of weeks, sorry, I've corrected it where I could) drove them both in on a double, 2-0 Diablos. The sponsor, a long time El Paso baseball fan, reminded everyone of what Paul Strelzin would say, “Who scores more runs with two outs?” I actually heard that in person once. Tim, again, really wished he could have heard Paul call a game at the Dudley Dome. (The place probably exists more pleasantly in your imagination than in reality, Tim. Trust me.)
In the fourth, the Grizz got three on with no outs. They came away with a run on a double play, but that was all, 2-1. In the bottom, the Diablos scored on a double and a single with two outs, 3-1. Then the wheels came off in the fifth. The Grizz got their first run of the inning after an 11 pitch at bat drove in a run. That was the first of six runs in the inning, 7-3 Grizzlies. At this point, I got busy with work and, given the score, I kind of mentally tuned out. The teams would trade runs in the sixth and seventh to make the score 8-4.
I completely missed the eighth when Diego Goris hit a two-run homer to make the score 8-6. He did it off of a pitcher who hadn’t given up a run in his time in Triple-A. (I think. I wasn’t taking notes at the time.) The bottom of the ninth had my full attention. Jumbo Diaz came in to close out the game for the Grizz. According to Tim, he’s one of the largest individuals to have ever played professional baseball. “Jumbo” likely isn’t his given name, but it is the actual listed name he goes by. Now I’m really sorry I missed this game. The crowd got into it. On one big foul ball, a nearby fan in the stands tried to wave it fair. Tim was amused. Hunter Renfroe came to the plate with a runner on. He’s only hitting over .500 since being sent down, but Jumbo hadn’t given up a home run all year. . . until tonight. Renfroe’s two-run homer tied the game, 8-8. Tim and the crowd went nuts. We went to extras.
From here, both teams would have their chances as the game went on, but nobody scored for the next four innings. By this time, Salt Lake’s game, which had started an hour after this one started, had finished. They came from behind and won, thus making the outcome of this game even more important.
Finally, we got to the bottom of the fourteenth. Tim reported that the crowd had thinned out, but it still sounded like a good, lively bunch. You could even hear kids cheering, though it was a school night. There was even a great fan catch that got the attention of the dugouts and the rest of the crowd. Tony Cruz had come into the game and got a hit in his first at bat. Travis Jankowski followed that with another hit. Cruz went from first to third, in a heads up play that may have made all the difference. Chase d’Arnaud came to the plate and rapped a single. Tony Cruz trotted home for the win, 9-8. That was the longest game in park history at 14 innings and 4 hours 33 minutes. (They’d played another 14 inning game this season in Albuquerque, but I can’t remember when.) Great job by the Diablos' relief core. No change in the standings for another day.
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