5-18-25
Both teams were swinging away early in the count in today’s Rangers and Astros game. It was like they had an early tee time. Balls and strikes calls were inconsistent enough to where you might as well swing. For a moment in the third, it seemed like both teams were about to rush the field at the ump. The Rangers broke through in the fourth for three runs to start the scoring.
By the end of the top of the fifth, announcer Eric Nadel pointedly mentioned that the Astros had no hits. Jack Leiter was in unknown territory in the seventh, his longest ever outing, but still with a low pitch count. With two outs and a full count, Yainer Diaz broke up the no-no with a home run. Leiter came out in the eighth after giving up back-to-back hits. The Arlington crowd gave him a big cheer. The next reliever threw one pitch and had to come out of the game with an arm problem. The next replacement gave up a three-run homer to give the Astros the lead and a 4-3 win. Disappointing to say the least.
5-19-25
One game on tap for me tonight, but it was a good one. The Royals were playing the Giants and it was 0-0 going into the eighth. Royals’ pitcher, Kris Bubic, was riding a no-hitter into the sixth. The Giants’ broadcasters were not talking about it. The MLB.TV site had flagged it, which was how I found out about it. There was a grounder to second that the fielder slipped trying to get that was initially ruled an error, but I knew they’d change it and that happened.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Giants had runners on second and third with one out. A line drive caught at third doubled off the runner there to suddenly end the inning. In the top of the eighth, after a double by Jonathan India, Vinnie Pasquantino slapped a two-run homer to right. That’s not a cheap home run, folks. In the bottom, Jung Hoo Lee thrilled his legion of fans in the stands by driving in a run. Also in the inning, Royal catcher and captain, Salvador Perez, was scolded by the home plate ump for wiping the plate. You’d think he’d know better. The Royals added one in the ninth and went on to win, 3-1. And I got to watch Laura Britt on the Giants’ postgame, which was a bonus.
5-21-25
Yesterday, the Chihuahuas were up by 4 in the eighth before the Rainiers erupted for 7 runs and won the game. They played a day game to today that I only listened to bits and pieces of while the Aggies’ conference tournament game was on. The Chihuahuas won 7-6 in a back-and-forth game. They’d had the lead, lost it, came back late, and had to hold on in the ninth. Of more serious concern, the Chihuahuas’ closer, Reese Knehr, came in in the ninth, made one pitch, and then walked straight off the mound. As judging to what happened yesterday, the pups can hardly afford to lose a good reliever.
5-22-25
I heard the end of the Aggies getting eliminated from the C-USA tournament just in time to hear the Rangers play the Yankees. It was a cold and rainy day in New York and nobody was hitting. The final was 1-0 Yankees. A rookie hit his first home run to the short porch in right for the win. The Rangers wasted a great pitching performance from Nathan Evoldi. Even hiring a new batting coach hasn’t helped Texas. What a disappointing morning.
At least things went better in the evening. I watched the Nationals beat the Braves in ten innings, 8-7. It was a good close game with some back-and-forth scoring. The Nat’s third baseman made an error in the ninth that led to the Braves tying the score. On the next play, a go-ahead run for the Braves was thrown out at the plate.
“Why am I rooting for the Nat’s?” I asked myself. There was graphic shown in the broadcast that explained it to me. It showed the results of that massive trade a couple of years ago between the Padres and the Nationals. The Padres basically rented Juan Soto for a season. In turn, the Nationals raided their cupboard of all of the Padres’ best prospects, included a guy who got called up today. He got his first hit in front of his family there, and they were thrilled. Anyway, most of those prospects were former Chihuahuas. On that note, the pups won, 6-2, tonight over the Rainiers. They had a thrilling five-run inning that sent ten batters to the plate.
5-29-25
Today’s MLB.TV Free Game was brutal. The Blue Jays beat the A’s, 12-0, which included an eight-run second. The A’s actually played pretty well when the season started, but the wheels have completely come off, especially with their pitching.
The Chihuahuas beat the Rivercats, 8-5. Mike Brousseau hit a grand slam after three walks loaded the bases. In the other dugout, former Aggie, Daniel Johnson, left the bases loaded in his first at bat, but came back in the third with a three-run homer.
5-30-25
I had to skip over tonight’s Chihuahuas game as the MLB.TV Free Game was audio-only between the Diamondbacks and the Nationals. I wanted to listen because retired play-by-play guy, Greg Schulte, was back filling in. It was a little awkward given that the Dbacks had named the booth after him. I was really busy with month end processing, but what I heard was a good back-and-forth game though it didn’t go Arizona’s way in a 9-7 loss. Greg seemed so disappointed, if not bitter. He’s still a diehard fan.
Meanwhile on the scoreboard, the Rangers finally figured out which end of the bat to hold and had an 11-1 over the Cardinals. Sorry, Aunt Judy. (She was unhappy.)
5-31-25
And the actual Rangers showed up the next day in a 2-0 loss to Cardinals. I had some kind of trouble with my portable radio while at dad’s apartment and only got to listen to the final two innings when I went back home. Maybe that was just as well.
I was over my dad’s watching a Softball College World Series game between Oklahoma and Texas. It was a very tight game, but Texas got their first win over Oklahoma in CWS game, 4-2. Maybe they’ll meet again in the finals for a rematch. The game did feature two pretty starters for the teams, so it was an easy watch. The Texas starter had lost her beloved grandma this morning and still got the complete game win. Bless her heart.
Okay, the big news: I got a shout out on Chihuahuas baseball tonight. I’d sent broadcaster Tim Hagerty a couple of e-mails about former Aggie, Daniel Johnson, last night. Tim mentioned me by name and what I’d sent about Daniel. What a thrill!
DJ was also thrilled. He hit a home run tonight for the Rivercats. That’s the third game in a row he’s homered. (I missed him doing it last night.) The Chihuahuas’ first batter of the game homered and that held up until the fifth, when they brought in some relievers and got hammered, 8-1. It was Dino Night in Sacramento. I don’t know what that means other than some music from Jurassic Park.
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