8-31-17
Here was the last Chihuahuas’ home game of the regular season as they played the Grizzlies, hopefully not their last home game though. The game started off well in the top of the first with a double play on a strikeout and a runner thrown out at second by catcher, Tony Cruz. Tim Hagerty spoke with last night’s hero, Chase d’Arnaud. He said he’d had three walk off hits in the Majors. This is a good thing that the team has all these clutch hitters.
Nick Buss got the scoring started with a home run in the second, 1-0 Chihuahuas. Tim was also informed by the visiting broadcaster that the Grizz catcher was being mis-identified. They guy listed on today’s lineup wasn’t able to make the flight. The Grizzlies tied it in the third on a sacrifice. In the bottom, I walked away for a minute to make dinner (which was an uncharacteristically terrible Marie Calendar frozen fish meal) and the Chihuahuas scored two runs on a couple of doubles, 3-1.
In the fourth, the Chihuahuas had a great chance with bases loaded and no outs. Cruz came up, but struckout. A fielder’s choice and another strikeout ended the inning. Not bad work for the Grizzlies’ pitcher, who’d been injured on a liner during the inning and had two injury visits by the coach. In the sixth, Hunter Renfroe had the defensive play of the game as he robbed AJ Reed of a home run (or at least close to one). Reed leads all of Triple-A in home runs and has popped several in this series. Inspired, Christian Villanueva made a great play on a foul near the bullpen mounds to end the inning. In the bottom, Diego Goris was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on a double.
I checked in on the MLB free game. It was late in the game, but it was the Brewers versus the Nationals in Milwaukee. I immediately switched to audio feed to hear Bob Uecker call the action. Sorry, Tim. I’m not passing up listening to Uecker for a bit. We don’t know how much longer we’re going to have him after all. It was the bottom of the eighth. The Brewers were up by a couple and ended up scoring more this inning. They won 6-3. I got busy and missed the ninth, but it was good to hear Bob.
On the video, I saw that Front Row Amy was back. I admit that she fascinates me, probably because she reminds me of someone I know. She’s still there keeping a scorecard. Next to her was a kid who was a Nationals’ fan and he was fairly into it. A guy that was a Brewers’ fan on her other side chatted with her briefly about her scoring. If I was sitting next to her, I might ask for help with my scorecard too. (She’s married, no point in asking her out.)
Things started to get busy with work. It was month end and I couldn’t afford to fall behind, so I wasn’t able to listen much. In the seventh, the Chihuahuas loaded the bases and Rafael Ortega doubled in two runs for a 5-1 lead. Renfroe was given an intentional walk to bring up Ortega. Renfroe was also thrown out at the plate trying to score on that double. Certainly the guys were being aggressive on the bases (or misjudging the arms on the Grizzlies’ outfielders). 5-1 Chihuahuas was the final. I checked the PCL scores later. Tacoma won it in the ninth over Salt Lake. The Bees finally lost. El Paso is in first place.
Meanwhile, the New Mexico State football team played Arizona State tonight. I got to listen to a good deal of it, though I didn’t take notes. The Aggies played pretty well in a 37-31 loss. They went down early, 14-0. There were three interceptions (one might have been on a two-point conversion), but the Aggies actually lead in most of the offensive categories. They even scored a touchdown on the last play of the game. The defense had one bad breakdown in the second half on a first play bomb, but otherwise wasn’t bad. I’m taking this game as a tentative good sign.
If I’d realized that the Aggie Volleyball team was also playing tonight and I might have been able to watch or listen, I would have really been busy. Jack Nixon, on the football broadcast, mentioned them. They lost in five sets to North Dakota. They’d won the first two, but lost the rest. North Dakota must have a made a really good adjustment at halftime. I didn’t have time to look at any stats. I’m still looking forward to seeing the girls on Saturday.
So, that’s it for August. The Chihuahuas have been so compelling, I haven’t been following the big leagues much. Not to mention, most of the divisions seem pretty settled, and I’m not a big fan most of the teams who are winning. My coverage may be slacking after the Labor Day weekend.
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