7-20-25
I talked to dad to see if he was interested in seeing the Free Game between the Brewers and the Dodgers this afternoon, but he wasn’t. I wasn’t either. (This was too bad, because the Brewers won, 6-5, and completed a sweep of the Dodgers.) I said there were two games on the radio this afternoon and amazingly not on at the same time, so I could listen to both.
I enjoyed a great lunch at McAlister’s. I did miss Free Tea Day last week. I’m still upset about that. I came home just in time to start listening to the Rangers and Tigers’ game and got nothing but static. They were off the air. A half hour later, they were on, but just doing network programming and not the game. Shoot.
I was later reminded that the game had actually been rescheduled to the ESPN Sunday Night game. The game wasn’t carried anyway on either local affiliate (ESPN Radio or the Rangers’). I missed a 2-1 Tigers victory with Tarik Skubal going 6 2/3 innings with 11 strikeouts. The game was decided late, too. Like Free Tea Day, I’m a bit upset about this this.
I did get one game. The Chihuahuas played the Rainiers in the mid-afternoon, as part of their short three-game series. The Rainiers were using their alternate identity with a fish logo, whose name I didn’t catch. Probably just as well. Broadcaster Tim Hagerty had his mic left on during a break and was speaking to someone else about having a better connection today. It definitely was.
Early in the game, Chihuahuas’ starter, Jackson Wolf, was dealing with 5 strikeouts over his first 7 outs. Yonthan Perlaza started the scoring with a homer in the third to make it, 1-0 pups. Tim chatted about the big green batter’s eye in center there in Tacoma. Only three home runs had been hit it over it in Triple-A games. Shin Soo-Choo was one. Julio Rodriguez reportedly hit one in practice.
Also in the third, a batted ball hit the Tacoma pitcher on his throwing arm. The crowd immediately went “Oooh!” before the game call explained what happened. He was taken out of game and applauded by crowd. In the fifth, an attempted Rainier double play throw went into the dugout. A Chihuahuas player was awarded home on the overthrow and another run came in on a sac fly. 3-0 Chihuahuas.
In the bottom of the fifth, Wolf issued a walk, who later scored to make it, 3-1. In the sixth, Wolf came out. He left with 9 strikeouts. In the seventh, Brandon Lockridge belted a two-run homer to add to the pup’s lead, 5-1. In the bottom, the Rainiers loaded the bases with two outs. The crowd was into it. Ron Marinaccio came in and gave up a single, which brought in two to make it, 5-3.
In the eighth, the home plate umpire’s call was upheld on a challenge. That was six ump calls upheld in a row going back to yesterday. As Tim said, “The umps are on fire.” In the bottom of the eighth with two outs, a catcher’s interference call (which knocked the catcher’s mitt off) and a hit by pitch put two Rainiers runners on, but they were left stranded. There was also a seventh challenge where the ump was correct. Nice job, umps. In the bottom of the ninth, Eduarniel Nunez came in to close it out. He’s had 9+ innings of work and only allowed two hits. Chihuahuas win, 5-3. And, that’s it for the weekend.
7-22-25
No baseball yesterday for me. Tonight, I made the mistake of trying to listen the Chihuahuas versus the Space Cowboys and the MLB.TV Free Game between the Diamondbacks and the Astros, which was audio-only, at the same time. On the Chihuahuas’ broadcasts, there’s actually quite a bit of dead air and there’s commercials on both. That was my rationalization. Yeah, as you’d expect, though I could hear both games, I could only really pay attention to one and not very well at that. Both games were close, so I could have picked either and gotten a good game.
We had heavy rain here in the Las Cruces. It rained in El Paso, too. It didn’t rain as much at the ballpark there, but it did delay the start of the Chihuahuas game and it rained a bit during the game without stopping it. The pups were hot on their challenges and went four-for-four and jumped out to a lead. The Space Cowboys came back to within a run. Eduarniel Nunez saved it in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning and two strikeouts, 5-4 Chihuahuas. Meanwhile, the Astros scored late to take a 3-1 lead in the ninth. The Dbacks loaded the bases in ninth with no outs, but a strikeout and a double play ended it, 3-1 Astros.
7-24-25
I got see a Cardinals’ game with Aunt Judy! Sort of. We were both watching the Padres at the Cardinals game tonight and exchanging a few e-mails. It was a pleasant 95-degrees with 45% humidity in St. Louis. (That’s 103-degree heat index on the field.) There wasn’t a great crowd there at Busch Stadium. I don’t know if it was the heat or the team’s performance this season (or the last three seasons). I’d heard that they haven’t been drawing well this season.
The scoring began in top of the first. Luis Arraez doubled in Fernando Tatis Jr. Jackson Merrill drove in another. A great play by Nolan Arenado at third ended the inning. (What else is new?) 2-0 Padres. In the bottom, Willson Contreras drove in a runner from first with a double. The throw to home actually beat the runner, but missed the catcher. 2-1 Padres.
I know Chip Caray is the Cardinals’ play-by-play man. I didn’t find out who was the color man, but he was pretty funny. “It’s that high and fast chess game. Well, I don’t know anything about chess. It’s that high and fast checkers game,” he said. In the bottom of the second, the Cards had a big inning. Brendan Donovan hit a three-run homer. A kid made a great catch of it in the outfield stands. The broadcasters replayed it.
Yu Darvish was pitching for the Padres coming off of an injury. His stuff looked great, but was hittable. The pitching coach came out to talk to him. All of the outfielders went down to a knee to rest in the heat during the break. The talk didn’t help. Contreras followed up with another three-run homer. The color guy said, “Home runs are thrown, not hit.” Suddenly, it was 7-2 Cardinals.
We’re not done yet. In the top of the third, Tatis blasted one out. Manny Machado then hit a two-run homer and this was before the Padres’ first out. 7-5 Cardinals. Maybe it’s the heat lifting the balls out. In the bottom of the fourth, the Cards got another run and drove Darvish from the game. He was replaced with another Japanese pitcher, Yuki Matsui. A Cardinal runner thrown out at third trying to steal, 8-5 Cardinals.
In the top of the fifth, the Padres brought in a run via a fielder’s choice. An error by Contreras at first throwing to Sonny Gray covering the base brought in another run, 8-7. (They put Willson there because he couldn’t catch, but the ball still finds him.) In the bottom, the Cards loaded the bases with one out, but the Padres got out of it. Likewise, the Padres left two on in the sixth. The Cards popped out another homer in the bottom and there was another great fan catch. Cardinal fans may actually be the best in the baseball.
The sun had gone down, but it was still plenty hot. Caray mentioned that fans and players used to put cabbage leafs under their hats in hot weather. “It looked like a salad bar after the game.” The Cards loaded the bases again in the eighth with one out. The Padres pulled out a first to second to the pitcher covering first double play. The Cardinals would go ahead and win, 9-7. The color guy said, “That’s a nice way to come off a rocky road trip.” Groan. This was a reference to the Cardinals losing two to the Rockies.
I tuned in late to the Chihuahuas and the Space Cowboys. It was 6-2 Cowboys in the seventh. I was too busy at work to really listen. The only drama came in the ninth. Four Chihuahuas batters came up to give Nate Mondou a chance to continue his 22-game hitting streak. He fought for it with several foul balls, but finally struck out. 7-2 Space Cowboys and the Chihuahuas’ three-game winning streak also came to an end. Late note, the Mariners picked up Josh Naylor from Diamondbacks for prospects. The trade deadline deals have begun.
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