Baseball Journal July 23-26, 2018

7-23-18

The Chihuahuas had the night off, but the MLB.TV free game was a good matchup, the Dodgers versus the Phillies.  This is a pair of first place teams in tight divisions going at it.  It was an overcast, rainy evening in Philadelphia, but as we’ll see, the air was not heavy at all.

In the first, Max Muncy and Yasmani Grandal went back-to-back with solo home runs for a 2-0 Dodger lead.  That was a good benchmark for the rest of the night.  In the second, Chris Taylor homered to make it 3-0.  In the bottom, Maikel Franco solo homered to make it 3-1.  These recaps are going to get real easy to write if all I’m doing is noting home runs.

Also in the second, Chase Utley came up to bat for the Dodgers.  Before the game, he’d held a press conference and announced that he was retiring this year (or maybe this happened earlier, I’m not sure).  This would be his last, at least regular season, appearance in Philadelphia.  As a great former Philly player, he got a standing ovation from the crowd and the PA even played his walkup music.  He tipped his helmet to the crowd.  Chase flied out, but even got a cheer going back to the dugout.  During the press conference, he was asked if he’d recommend playing in Philly, a clear reference to the fans’ reputations there.  He thought it got pretty muggy in the summer, but otherwise he had good things to say about it and the fans.

In the third, after loading the bases with two outs, Philly starter Zach Eflin got a quick hook.  That inning finished without scoring, but next inning, Dodger Joc Pederson hit yet another solo homer to make it 4-1.  I admit that the Philly announcers weren’t doing it for me, but they made a good point in the bottom.  Franco shortened up his swing with two strikes and got a hit, prompting a discussion, “Why can’t everyone do that!”

Away from my desk, I listened to some more Flying Squirrels’ baseball.  I honestly could never figure out who they were playing, but they lost to them.  Ryan Howard was mentioned to be on the team.  “What?” I puzzled, until I looked him up and found out it was new player, not the great Phillies player.  Howard, the veteran, did show up last year in El Paso playing against the Chihuahuas (8-16-17).

The announcer there was excited about a Cardinals’ game in progress.  Daniel Poncedeleon was making his Major League debut and had a no-hitter going through seven innings.  We’ve met him before playing the Chihuahuas (6-16-18) and at the Triple-A All-Star Game (7-11-18).  Unfortunately, he’d thrown well over 100 pitches by that point and came out of the game.  Even more unfortunately, the Cardinals ended up losing the game.

I’d went back to my desk for a minute and noticed Rhys Hoskins was at bat with two runners in scoring position.  I had to stick around and watch.  After a pretty good battle, Rhys pounded a hanging curveball for a three-run homer, which tied the score.  I let out a cheer at that point.  Odubel Herrera then came up and hit a solo home run to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead.  A Philly relief pitcher caught the ball in the bullpen.  Dodger starter Ross Stripling came out at that point, no doubt having flashbacks of the All-Star Game (7-17-18).

In the seventh, while I was out of the room, Muncy hit a sacrifice that tied the score.  Did somebody finally figure out how to score a run without a homer?  Will other teams copy this innovative strategy?  More bad news, Tim Tebow was probably out for the rest of the season with a broken hand.  I’m sorry to hear this.  Yeah, they gave out Double-A player news in an MLB game.  Sean Hannity even talked about it the next day on his show, saying Tebow had drawn in thousands to watch him play.  I guess he is a big deal. 

By the eighth, the overcast skies finally opened up.  There was heavy, but brief rainfall.  The game wasn’t delayed for it.  In the ninth, I was distracted by a beautiful woman, who suddenly showed up behind home plate.  She was having a good time and was really into the game.  Seranthony Dominguez, love that name, came in, but seemed rusty from a lack of use.  He loaded the bases with one out and let in a run on a passed ball that was ruled a wild pitch.  After reloading the bases, Seranthony was out.  The beautiful woman left too.  This was all bad.

A single brought in another run to make it 7-5.  A double play ended the inning, as Muncy got caught in a rundown trying to take home on a grounder.  In the bottom, Franco again hit a solo homer.  A Philly fan holding a baby caught the ball in the stands.  After that, Kenly Jansen shut the door and 7-5 Dodgers was the final.  This game reminded me a lot of the All-Star Game in the way the scoring went, but it felt like a big game, and I enjoyed it, even if I was disappointed by the result.  So, in honor of Philadelphia fans, BOOO!

7-24-18

The MLB.TV free game was the Indians versus the Pirates.  I watched the Indians’ pregame show where they mostly talked about the Yankees.  Last night, catcher Gary Sanchez didn’t run out a ground ball in the ninth which ended up ending the game.  Sports talk commentators were letting him have it, until it was revealed that he had been injured earlier in the game.  Now the Yankees desperately need a catcher, since Sanchez wasn’t that great before the injury.  The Indians’ commentators were overflowing with sympathy for the Yankees’ plight.  Later in the evening, news broke that the Yankees had acquired Orioles’ closer Zach Britton.  Nothing like a little impulse shopping to make yourself feel better when you’re blue.

The Pirates were coming into the game riding a 10-game winning streak, and they’d won last night against the Indians and Corey Kluber.  This streak has still left them barely over .500 and seven games back in their division.  It was a good-looking crowd there in the Cleveland, well the women in the crowd at least.  Shane Bieber, “Bieber Fever,” was pitching.  He didn’t start off well, giving up a two-run homer to Starling Marte in the first.  In the bottom, Francisco Lindor doubled, got moved over on a bunt, and was brought in on a sacrifice to make it 2-1.

Then the wheels came off for Bieber in the second.  The Pirates were tee’ing off on his fastball.  It was 7-1 by the end of the inning and functionally the end of the game.  I missed most of it, but didn’t feel bad about it.  The Indians were able to score a few runs later, but it was never close.  9-4 Pirates final.

The talk around Colorado Springs before the Chihuahuas and Skysox game was the weather.  There was a severe rain threat in the area.  However, the crowd did show up and came prepared.  The big Padres’ news was that their top prospect, Fernando Tatis jr. was out for the rest of the season with an injury.  The Chihuahuas were hoping he’d advance to El Paso this year.  Meanwhile, Francisco Mejia would finally be starting tonight for the pups.

After the game started, Tim Hagerty was mentioning something about a hot tub in right field.  Some background noise distracted me at work and I couldn’t hear him well.  Something about a fielder had once fallen into the hot tub trying to make a catch.  You’d think there’d be a fence there in front of it.  Regardless, Jordan Lyles made another rehab start for the Chihuahuas.  Unfortunately, it ended up about the same as last time (7-19-18).  The Skysox batted around and scored six runs in the first.

In the third, there was a light rain falling, which got heavier.  Hundreds of umbrellas deployed in the crowd.  There was some lightning in the distance and thunder could be heard at the park.  Rain was expected for the next two days, so the umps and the teams really wanted to get this game in.  By the fourth thankfully, the rain lightened up and ceased to be a factor in the game.  Chihuahuas’ pitching also wasn’t a factor.  Lyles came out after three, but the scoring didn’t stop, as the score went to 9-0.

With the game out-of-hand, Tim chatted a bit about Sox the Fox, the Skysox mascot.  This was also when I learned of the Britton trade and nearly lost my dinner.  The Skysox rattled off seven consecutive singles in the fifth.  One of them was a fly ball that three fielders converged on, but never saw as it dropped between them.  The score was now 13-0.  I was sort of hoping for a rainout at this point.

In the sixth, Mejia singled and Shane Peterson brought him in.  I was watching Amourettie on Twitch by this point.  My last recorded highlight was in the eighth with Forrestt Allday making a great catch at the wall.  He’d missed a couple fly balls earlier.  13-1 Skysox was the final.  Mejia went 1 for 4 and let a couple of balls by catching.  They said he was getting over an injury, which was why he hadn’t played the last couple of days.

So much for baseball tonight.  Elsewhere on Twitch, Livibee was playing the final mission of the Enslavers in Starcraft 1.  She’s a Starcraft 2 competitive grandmaster, but I couldn’t help but chuckle as she lasted about as long as I ever did on that level.  This wasn’t even her first attempt at this.  “This is impossible,” she muttered at one point.  I know just how you feel, Liv. 

 

7-25-18

Day game today in Colorado Springs between the Chihuahuas and the Skysox.  Rain was in the forecast, but it held off for the afternoon.  There were lots of kids in crowd from various camps.  The Chihuahuas came out hitting.  Allen Craig doubled and drove in two runs in the first.  His ball seemed to carry in the outfield.  Tim Hagerty noted that the wind was blowing out hard.  He speculated this was going to be a high-scoring game.

In the second, Javy Guerra bunted with Auston Bousfield on second.  The pitcher misplayed it and Bousfield scored with Guerra safe at first.  Craig homered in the third to make it 4-0.  In the sixth, there was play at the plate on an Orlando Arcia double for the Skysox.  Francisco Mejia, catching today, didn’t come up with the ball, but did throw out Arcia trying to take third.  4-1 Chihuahuas.

The seventh was eventful for the pups.  Forrestt Allday tripled.  Luis Urias got hit on the hand in his at bat afterward, but stayed in.  Allday scored on a Mejia sacrifice.  The fly ball went into a corner that Tim couldn’t see and initially called it foul.  He was mortified to have missed the call and apologized repeatedly.  Craig then homered to bring in Urias.  Diego Goris then doubled in a run.  The Skysox manager pulled a double switch for the second time in the game when he went out for his pitcher.  It was 8-1 by the time the Skysox finally retired the side.

Craig got his fifth hit in the eighth.  He went 5 for 5 with two home runs.  I think the wind was blowing out harder for him than the other players.  The pups got a cheap run in the inning off of a dropped fly ball.  By the ninth, the crowd noise had died down considerably as the kids had to leave.  With the two double switches, there were also a bunch of position changes for the Skysox.  One outfielder played all three positions.  Tim joked that AL affiliate games are a lot easier to score and then immediately apologized for saying so.  9-1 Chihuahuas was the final.  Walter Lockett and Chihuahuas’ relief pitching had a good day for the team under hitter-friendly conditions.  That’s it for baseball today for me.  There wasn’t anything on at night.

7-26-18

The MLB.TV free game was the Rangers versus the A’s . . . on audio.  When I’m missing seeing Rangers games, I really get tired of the “local” blackout.  I will say it’s nice to hear a clear radio broadcast of a Rangers’ game, instead of the usual static-y signal I get at home.  The top of the first was eventful with two runs off two weak hits, a hit batter, and two errors.  Joey Gallo got the final out by throwing out a runner at home.  In the bottom, there was some more nervous play as the Rangers loaded the bases on an error.  Adrian Beltre and Gallo drove in a couple of runs to tie it. 

Away from my desk at work, I brought up the Chihuahuas’ game . . . or not.  They were in a delay.  That would later lead to a tweet on their official site, “Mother Nature 1, Baseball game 0.”  “Wet grounds” were the listed cause. 

Fear not, we have Flying Squirrels baseball in the meantime.  (I could probably find another minor league baseball team to listen to with a little effort, but what the heck.)  The first thing I heard them say was that Cole Hamels had been traded by the Rangers to the Cubs.  I put the Rangers’ game on pause, so I’d be able to listen to their take on it later.  Back to the game, the Squirrels’ announcer made an impressive, booming home run call.  Turns out, he was holding the note, because he wasn’t sure if the outfielder was going to rob it at the wall.

Thanks to that home run, the Squirrels had a two run lead going into the ninth.  With one on, they turned a double play.  “The Squirrels are on the doorstep of victory,” the announcer said.  And they did win 3-1 over the Reading Fightin Phils.  Sorry I didn’t get the announcers’ name.  I barely got their opponent’s name.

I may have been an hour behind when I unpaused the Rangers’ game.  The A’s homered in the second to make it 3-2.  In the bottom, Ronald Guzman faced A’s pitcher Trevor Cahill, or as Eric Nadel said, “It’s the Condor versus the Trevor-dactyl,” referring to their nicknames.  Guzman got on and Shin-Soo Choo drove him to tie it again. 

In the fourth, the A’s scored three to make it 6-3.  And . . . I saw the score in the ninth and skipped ahead.  Jurickson Profar tripled in two runs in the fifth.  The A’s scored another run in the eighth and Guzman scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-6 going into the final inning.  Beltre singled and came out for Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who then took second on a passed ball.  Three unproductive outs later, it was over, 7-6 A’s.  Robinson Chirinos’ last out was a heartbreaking liner that should have dropped in, but was caught.  With a four-game sweep, the A’s are in contention for a wild card spot.

   

Actually the reason why I skipped ahead was so I could listen to the Extra Innings show on their Dallas flagship after the game.  They mention it at the end of every game, but I’ve only ever heard it once.  Tonight, they had plenty to talk about with the Cole Hamels trade.  The details haven’t been finalized, but it looks like the Rangers didn’t get much, but Hamels isn’t that great at the moment.  In the recent past, it’s been the Rangers in contention and getting the screwed over by the Cubs for their veteran pitching.  A fan did call in and say his son got Hamels’ autograph at an event and Cole was very nice to him, so that’s great to hear.