7-4-18
Happy
Independence Day! There were three games
on the radio today that I might have been able to listen to. (My affiliate wasn’t carrying an ESPN Radio day game, if there was
one.) Unfortunately, all the games
basically started at the same time in the evening. Also, I would have only been able to hear the
Rangers’ and Rockies’ games after dark and probably would have only gotten to
hear an inning or two, if at all, so I didn’t really try. (I heard the Astros beat the Rangers
in a tight extra innings game.) However,
the one game I heard more than made up for missing any of the other games
today.
The Chihuahuas were in Salt Lake City
tonight to play the Bees. They’re tied for first in their division. I came into game in the second with the Bees
up 2-0. I went to see Deadpool 2 in the afternoon and then
went for dinner afterward, so I came in late.
(And with some degree of indigestion.
I used my last Aggie What-a-burger
ticket coupon and the meal was good. But
for dessert at Caliches, I
inadvertently ordered a huge brownie, hot fudge, frozen custard concoction that
was great, but gut-busting. I didn’t
entirely get over it until noon the next day.)
Picking up
the action in the fifth, Forrestt Allday
homered for the Chihuahuas to make it 3-2 Bees.
The pups then loaded the bases and tied the score on a sacrifice. Allen
Craig then doubled in a pair of runs to give the Chihuahuas a 5-3
lead. The Bees used three pitchers in
the inning. In the sixth, Walter Lockett was chased from the game
after letting two Bees on with no outs.
They tied it and then Ben Revere
hit a three-run homer to give them an 8-5 lead.
(Salt Lake news apparently loved reporting that Revere homered on
Independence Day.)
In the
seventh, Franmil Reyes drove in two
to make it 8-7. In the bottom, it got a
bit contentious as a Bees batter took offense to a close pitch. The batter and catcher, Brett Nicholas, exchanged words before the ump intervened. Allday made a great catch to end the
inning. He came up in the eighth and
doubled. He scored on a hit by Auston Bousfield, where the ball went
in and out of the fielder’s diving glove.
(Which was ruled an error at the time, but properly re-scored as a
hit.) The inning ended on a deep fly
ball that the fielder collided with the wall catching, 8-8.
I could
hear the city fireworks going on outside, but I wasn’t missing a tie game in
the ninth. (I ducked outside for a
couple of minutes between innings. I
could just see it from the parking lot, but was obscured by a big tree across
the street.) There were fireworks in the
Salt Lake too. The city display was going
off nearby and might have been distracting the players. No one scored the ninth. Brad
Wieck struck out the side for the Chihuahuas. In the tenth (with the free runner at
second), Allday got an RBI on a fielder’s choice. Javy
Guerra just made it home on a play at the plate, 9-8 Chihuahuas.
In the
bottom, a leadoff double by Taylor Ward
(who went 4 for 4 in the game) immediately scored the tying run. The Bees then loaded the bases with no
outs. Wieck wiggled out of it without
giving up another run. Even after
listening, I’m still not sure how he did it.
In the eleventh, Luis Urias
drove in the free runner with a triple (he went 4 for 5 in the game). Raffy
Lopez drove him in on a fielder’s choice, and that was the ballgame. Chihuahuas
win 11-9.
The 14,500
attendance in attendance actually cheered the end of the game. It had gone four and a half hours and they
wanted their fireworks. Team officials
were actually getting a little nervous as Salt Lake has a curfew for setting
off fireworks. Tim Hagerty, calling the
game, had a great time. The game
highlights went for five minutes, which he thought might have been a
record. He also thought this might have
been the largest crowd the Chihuahuas had ever played in front of.
I had a
good day, but I didn’t have a Dodger Dog.
Mike and his girlfriend went to the Los Angeles for the Fourth (like
last year) to see a game and the fireworks. I told him to send me a picture of a hot dog,
but never received one. I assume they
went, but I’ll find out for sure later.
The Dodgers beat the Pirates 6-4 in a close game. For my
part, I stayed up late trying to find a station to get the score. I missed the TV news and had a terrible time
getting a result on the radio. They were
mostly talking about the hot dog eating contest at Coney Island.
7-5-18
Back to
work. The Chihuahuas were set to square off against the Bees for their second game in a five-game series. In the first, Tim Hagerty quickly had to adjust the crowd microphone. It was too close to some chatty fans. He recalled an extra innings game in Colorado
Springs where some rowdy fans sat next to mic and he had to apologize to the
FCC and politely ask the fans to tone it down.
He doubted this would be a problem in Salt Lake, but didn’t want to be
eavesdropping anyway. Actually, the huge
crowd from last night was amazingly quiet for its size and the excitement of
the game itself. Props to the Bees for
their cool walkup music, by the way.
I started
listening to the Chihuahuas, but my attention got held by another game. I’d forgotten to check the MLB.TV free game, but quickly brought
it up as soon as I saw the headline on the website about it. The Marlins
had a 9-0 lead in the fourth over the Nationals. In the sixth, Trea Turner had just hit a grand slam which gave the Nats an 11-9
lead. The Marlins might have some
pitching issues. I joined the game in
the seventh as Trea was up again with the bases loaded. The Washington crowd was on their feet,
cheering for him. He doubled in two
runs.
It wasn’t
over yet. In the eighth, Brian Anderson hit a three-run homer
for the Marlins to make it 14-12. In the
bottom, Bryce Harper dodged a tag on
a double play ball. The Marlins got the
out at first and threw to second. Harper
ran back in a rundown and almost made it.
It was an impressive effort.
In the
ninth, the Marlins rallied again. Starlin Castro almost decapitated Nats’
closer Sean Doolittle on a
comebacker, which would have made my night since I don’t like him. Doolittle managed to put out the fire anyway
and the Nats won 14-12. The team was fired up as Turner finished the
comeback. Their coaches looked pretty
nervous there in the ninth. The
disappointing Nationals had had a team meeting yesterday after being swept by
the Red Sox. This was certainly a good
win for the team, kind of, against a really bad team.
In the
meantime, there wasn’t much to report from Salt Lake. The Bees
and Chihuahuas were knotted at 0-0. The Chihuahuas had left the bases loaded in
the sixth. In the seventh, Javy Guerra tripled in a runner that
had got on via an error. Luis Urias scored him on a fielder’s
choice. Franmil Reyes then singled and got an RBI. The pups went up 3-0 with all the runs
unearned. On the mound, Brett Kennedy finished seven strong
innings.
The ninth
became eventful. Ben Revere tripled in two runs for the Bees after a misplay in the
outfield. Phil Maton was pulled with two on and one out. Brad
Wieck came in. Diego Goris threw out Revere at the plate on a squeeze play, and a
popup ended the game. Chihuahuas won 3-2. Clutch.
7-6-18
I only saw
the ninth in the MLB.TV free game between the Mets and Rays. It was tied at one. Jacob
DeGrom had pitched well for the Mets, but wasn’t in line for a
decision. Everyone’s wondering when him
and Noah Syndergaard are going to be dealt.
The Rays loaded the bases in the top of the ninth the hard way, as Daniel Robertson was hit square in the
nuts in his at bat. There was a poor
throw to the plate on a grounder and the runner almost made home, but the Rays
didn’t score. Jose Bautista ended the game in the bottom on a walkoff grand slam
for a 5-1 win. The Rays had intentionally walked the
preceding batter to face him, and Bautista sent the first pitch into the second
deck.
It’s Game 3
of a five-game series between the Chihuahuas
and the Bees in Salt Lake City. The Chihuahuas are wearing their third
different uniform in three days. Allen Craig got the pups going in the
first with a fielder’s choice RBI, 1-0. The
Bees took the lead in the second, 2-1.
There was a play at the plate where the runner was out by a mile, but
avoided the tag in a rundown long enough to get Ben Revere to third, where he scored on a sacrifice fly.
The
Chihuahuas loaded the bases on three walks, but left them there on an
inning-ending strikeout. Brett Nicholas made a great play at
home to tag a runner to end the bottom of the inning. It was 3-1 Bees in the seventh, but a
throwing error on a rundown which allowed two runs to score and tie it. The bases were loaded on a couple more
walks. Then Craig hit a grand slam to
put the Chihuahuas up 7-3, which was
the final. Even the Salt Lake crowd
applauded Craig’s homer. The Bees were a
great team at the beginning of the season, but Major League injuries have hurt
their roster. As they say, “It’s not who
you play, it’s when you play them.”
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