Baseball Postseason 2026 Part 1 and Other Sports: Organ Music

9-29-26

The good news was that I could watch a Wild Card series game in the afternoon before going to work.    The bad news is that we were under a flood watch.    It was serious enough as the TV station kept running alerts with a weatherman talking about dams breaking, rivers overflowing, and mudslides in other parts of the state.    I changed my mind about going to work twice before I finally went.    It didn’t seem like it rained that bad here, so I took off when it let up.    The streets were totally flooded and it rained hard after I got to work.

Oh, and there was a game.    It was a great game between the Braves and the Phillies.    The Braves took it, 5-3, mostly off a 3-run homer by Austin Riley in the eighth.  I kind of wanted to relax and not take notes and then there was the weather distraction.    The only thing that really stuck out was the Atlanta organist working in Love Boat theme during an at bat.

That was the best game of the day.    I did get radio coverage of the White Sox beating the Astros, 6-3.    I still wasn’t taking notes.    A one point, a foul ball went into the broadcast booth.    The play-by-play guy tossed the ball to a kid, though I think the former player color analyst actually wanted it.    The Yankees blew out the Red Sox, 9-0.    That one wasn’t broadcast, which was fine by me.    The next game between the Padres and the Cubs was on the radio.    It was another blowout with the Padres beating the Cubs, 8-0.    It was the Fernando Tatis Jr. show.    He homered in the first inning and stole home.    That was quite the play.    He stole second and the throw went into left field.    Tatis didn’t stop running until he dove across the plate.

9-30-26

Take Two with the Phillies at the Braves.    In the top of the first, Bryce Harper drove in a run, but then got caught in a rundown trying to score from third.  In the bottom of the first, Ronald Acuna Jr. took a walk, stole second and third, and was then driven in to tie it at 1.   

The Atlanta organist worked in the Airwolf theme.    I went back and looked on my blog.    I said in 2025, “This guy is giving Dieter Ruehle (of the Dodgers) a run for his money on the organ.”    I was enjoying the commentary.    Joey Votto was really insightful analyzing hitting and pitching.    He wasn’t always right, but he always interesting.  Hey, the Braves have cheerleaders.    That’s a throwback.    They were hovering around in the background with Blooper, the mascot.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Braves loaded the bases with one out, but grounded into a 4-2-4 double play.    In the bottom of the seventh, Christopher Sanchez was still in pitching for the Phillies but didn’t make it out of the inning.  With a runner on first, the Braves tried executing a sac bunt, but a bad fielding choice ended up putting two on with nobody out.    During a break, the crowd sang Country Roads and began doing the Tomahawk chop.  Drake Baldwin doubled over Harper’s head in right field.    This scored a run and a sac fly brought in another.    It was 3-1 Braves and Sanchez came out.    A reliever finished off the inning.   

It wasn’t over.    In the top of the eighth, Kyle Schwarber smashed a Schwar-bomb 447’.    Harper was up next.    Votto called it, “He’s going to want to make up for that misplay in the outfield.”  Harper then smacked a solo home run to tie it.    This sent it to extra innings, as I nervously watched the clock to go to work.    I didn’t have too long to wait.    In the top of the tenth, Alec Bohm hit a solo home run to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead.    In the bottom, JT Realmuto stole a strike with 2 on and 2 out for the final out.    4-3 Phillies.  This one will go to a third game.

The other three series finished up.    I got to hear the White Sox at the Astros.    The Sox went up 4-0 in first, but Astros scratched back into it, 4-3.    In the fifth, the Astros loaded the bases but stranded all of them.    In the sixth, Chase Meidroth hit a 3-run homer for the White Sox for a 7-3 win!  This is quite the turnaround from three-straight 100-loss seasons.    They set the modern record for losses in a season and were booed by their own fans when they didn’t set it on their first opportunity to do so at home.

The Yankees were all over the Red Sox, 9-2.  Those were the only scored 2 runs the Red Sox scored in two games.    They didn’t come to play.    The Cubs were at Padres in the other series.    I was able to get the radio call for this one.    It sounded like there were lots of Cubs fans there in San Diego.    In the second, the Padres scored 2, including an RBI sac fly by Ethan Salas.    In the fourth, the Cubs scored a run and loaded the bases, but didn’t score any more.    In the bottom, Gavin Sheets hit a 2-run homer to cement the win for the Padres, 4-1.

10-1-26

Winner take all!    Only the Phillies and Braves were going to go the distance in this best-of-three Wild Card series.    I got the radio call.    Aaron Nola was starting on short rest for the Phillies.    Michael Harris’ 3-run homer in the first put the Braves up.    By the second inning, the Phillies went to a new pitcher.    In the fourth, Ozzie Albies hit a 2-run homer off of Zack Wheeler to put the Braves up, 5-0.    There was some incessant controversy afterward that Wheeler should have started the game.    

In the sixth, the Phillies scored to make it, 5-1, but Matt Olsen homered in the seventh, 6-1. Chris Sale came out in the eighth after the Phillies scored a run.    He’d volunteered to pitch today if needed.    Sale faced Harper and struck him out.    Sale did finish it off in the ninth for a 6-2 Braves win.

However, I probably made the wrong choice in what to listen to.    Aggie Football was playing a weekday night game against WKU at the same time.    It looked like a better game, but I was afraid to start listening.    Usually, the Aggies start losing when I do so.    I only listened after the baseball game.    The Aggies had a convincing win, 34-13. Broadcaster MJ Newsom called it a “Weekday walloping.”    James Jones ran for 157 yards and a touchdown.    His longest run was 46 yards.    De’Marcus Peters had an interception for a touchdown.    TK King had a touchdown.       The bad news was that only 5,500 were in attendance, including Zanaya, who was working security.

10-3-26

The MLB Division Series began today with four games.    Three of the games, I didn’t get to see or listen to, but I got a good one with the one I did.    The White Sox beat the Indians, 3-0.    The dream continues.    Munetaka Murakami had a 2-run homer.    The Dodgers beat the Braves, 5-3.    Dad invited me out to Bubba’s for lunch with Donna.    (I was invited to pay for the meal, as well.)    This game came on there just as we were finishing.    Tarik Skubal started for Dodgers.    I made a whole rant at the table about this.    The Padres played the Brewers late.    Jackson Chourio homered on the first pitch and William Contreras homered in the seventh for a 3-2 Brewers’ win.    Fernando Tatis Jr. struck out in the eighth with the bases loaded and 2 outs.    The Padres apparently lost a home run in the game off a ball that hit a roof wire and was caught on field for an out.   

   

I happened to catch the Yankees versus the Rays on a Mexican station in the afternoon.    Gerrit Cole started for the Yankees and Drew Rasmussen was pitching for the Rays.    Jonathan Aranda homered in the third to give the Rays the lead.    That was all Cole gave up and he came out after the fifth.    In the sixth, the Yankees attempted to bunt for a hit.    This is significant because Rasmussen was pitching no-hitter.    That’s against the unwritten rules of baseball.    (Maybe.    It was a 1-run playoff game.)

The no-hitter was broken up with 2 outs in the eighth, though there still wasn’t a baserunner.    Catcher Austin Wells had a double, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to triple.    It wasn’t even close.    Bryan Baker closed it out in the ninth with 2 strikeouts and a groundout.    DJ Kitty was behind home plate for the inning and really into it.    1-0 Rays.

   

Meanwhile, UTEP lost to the Lobos in college football, 61-7.    Snicker, snicker, snicker.    The Miners’ 5 turnovers might have been a contributing factor.    I suspected a blowout game, so I was listening to some of it.    One of the postgame hosts began with, “I’m already over football season and waiting for basketball season to start.”    (Spoilers boys, basketball isn’t going to go any better.)    That 42-18 Aggie loss to the Lobos a couple of weeks ago suddenly doesn’t look so bad.    UTEP’s next two games are home games.    They are giving are giving away a free ticket to the second game, if you buy a ticket to the first game.   

What a race at Las Vegas in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series!    Corey Day and Carson Kvapil battled for the win with 4 lead changes in the final ten laps.    Kvapil was running on the bottom and Day was running against the wall.    They touched each other on the final lap.    Day bounced off the wall twice, ala Ross Chastain at Martinsville, but still managed to win it.    It was like that classic Kurt Busch/Rickey Craven Darlington race.   

I had no intention of writing about the CW’s late game between Texas State Bobcats and San Diego State Aztecs (the PAC-12, such as it is), but the last two-or-so minutes of this game were unreal.    Texas State was down 4 and stopped on the SDSU 1 on a fourth and goal.    Then, the Aztecs’ running back was tackled in the endzone for a near safety.    It was ruled he’d gotten the ball past the line.    On the next play, their quarterback dropped the ball on the snap.    Fortunately, this was called a safety, because otherwise, he fumbled the ball to a defender.

Now down by 2, the Bobcats got the ball back and on the first play from scrimmage, a pass was batted into the air.    A defender intercepted it and ran it in for a touchdown.    Now down by 9, Texas State got the ball back again.    In spite of two false start penalties, the Bobcats went right down field in four or five plays to score a touchdown.    Back down by 2, the Bobcats tried an on-side kick.    The Aztecs recovered around midfield.   

SDSU got within 3 yards of making a first down, but a false start set them back and forced a punt.    Now out of timeouts, the Bobcats took over.    They managed to work it to midfield.    On the final play, the TS quarterback had to throw it away.    However, the referees invoked the “Michigan rule.”    This allows them to add an extra second on the clock after time has expired.    (Football nerd: “I don’t see this rule in my rulebook.”    Trust me, bro.)    The second chance on the Hail Mary did not go well.    The Bobcats only managed to get one receiver into the endzone and he was quadruple-covered.    Finally, the game ended with the Aztecs winning, 31-29.    This whole thing took like 20 minutes and held me up from going to bed, but there’s no way I could have gone to sleep without knowing who had won (or who stopped losing first).    

10-4-26

The two NL series played out today.    I got zero coverage and was lucky to even find out who won.    (It’s hard to get baseball scores on TV these days.)    The Brewers beat the Padres in the early game, 4-3.    Jackson Chourio got the walkoff hit with 2 outs and 2 strikes off of Mason Miller in a comeback win.    If the Brewers win the World Series, that at bat will be the defining moment.    Meanwhile, the Dodgers lost to the Braves later, 3-2.    I have no other information on that one.    The Brewers go up 2-0 in their series and the Dodgers and Braves are at 1-1.     

Baseball Journal September: Radio Silence and MLB Postseason Preview

9-22-26

It was an unexpectedly epic first game of the PCL Championship between the OKC Comets and the Las Vegas Aviators.    There was a decent crowd of 5,400 in Vegas to see their team going for their second PCL championship in a row.    There was even a squishy cube giveaway for the fans at the game.    Playoff games do not usually have a fan giveaway, but since LV clinched in the first half and knew they’d be hosting the games, maybe they ordered something.    Russ Langer was back on the call for the game with a co-host.

   

“Darrel barrels one into the gap,” Russ’ co-host announced in the first inning as the Aviators took the lead on a Darrel Hernaiz double.    A bases loaded sac fly made it, 2-0.    In the second, the Aviators followed with a two-run homer!    Err . . . Except, no.    It was caught at the tall left field wall and fooled the cameraman, Langer, the runner on first, and me.    I don’t know how we all got that wrong.    It sure looked like a home run.    In the third, “Lava” drove in a run for LV.    (That’s Bryan Lavastida.)    Luke Mann then dropped in a Texas Leaguer to drive in 2 more to make it, 5-0 LV.

OKC’s James Tibbs III homered to begin the fourth inning to make it, 5-1.    Judging by the cheers, there were a bunch of Dodger fans there.    (You could see them in the crowd later on.)    In the bottom of the fourth, Joey Meneses drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, but what a choice!    Hyeseong Kim at second laid out to get the liner and made a backhand flip to second for the out.    6-1 LV.

In the fifth, OKC scored a run, and then another single went between the legs of the left fielder and scored another.    After an odd pitch clock violation for a walk, the LV starter was chased from the game.    The reliever, Taylor Rashi, walked the bases full with no outs.    After giving up a single for two runs, Rashi struck out three in a row, but now it was a ballgame at 6-5 LV.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Aviators loaded the bases and poured it on with the runs.    Russ almost lost his voice cheering on the scoring.    It was a 6-run inning and 12-5 Aviators.    It wasn’t over yet.    In the top of the eighth, OKC got runs off of a bases loaded walk, a wild pitch, an infield error, a fielder’s choice, and another infield error.    The Comets had scored 5 runs when the dust settled, 13-10.   

The top of the ninth, started with another error (the sixth of the game, LV had 4).    LV turned a double play next, but then gave up a solo home run.    Lucky they turned that DP.    A strikeout finally ended it.    Las Vegas got a hard-earned (or at least stopped choking first) win, 13-11.

9-23-26

The two Triple-A Championship games were available as free games tonight.    Unfortunately, I wasn’t in to it and both games were blowouts.    I also discovered that the lower level playoffs have also been on this whole time and I wasn’t paying any attention.    I thought their seasons were over by now.   

   

The International League Championship series was between the Rochester Red Wings at the Memphis Redbirds.    It looked like a light crowd of diehards in Memphis.    I started watching, but got distracted away.    I looked back in the second and Memphis had suddenly scored 4.    I got distracted again and looked back in in the third and it was 11-0 Redbirds.    I checked back in the fifth and it was 15-0.    When do they run rule?    I watched the end.    Rochester had scored a few runs and the final out proved elusive.    The announcer said, “Match Point #3” after Rochester had been down to their final strike three times.    15-4 Redbirds win and split the series.

In the PCL Championship later, OKC took an early lead over Las Vegas.    In the fifth, down 3-0, OKC’s James Tibbs III hit a 3-run homer into the pool to make it, 6-0 OKC.    The final was 7-2 OKC and splits their series.    This sets up two finales tomorrow in Triple-A.

9-24-26

Our final weekday day game with the Rangers and Mets was a Rangers’ victory, but a loss for myself as the radio affiliate did not carry the game.    I’m still sad and disappointed about getting stiffed.    The Rangers lost the first two games of the series and lost the lead of the AL West.    However, the Astros have not been able to really capitalize.    This may come down to the final game of the season.

My final MiLB Free Games were a pair of decisive Championship games.    (The Triple-A Championship game will be a free game, but I won’t be able to see it.)    The International League Championship series was between the Rochester Red Wings at the Memphis Redbirds.    I think the crowd was bigger than yesterday.    It sounded bigger.    Memphis has a pretty nice modern stadium with a cool right field club section.   

Rochester took a 1-0 lead in the first.    In the fifth, it was still 1-0.    Rochester lost a runner at third trying to steal home. In the bottom, a solo homer tied it up. Memphis began the seventh leadoff double.    Young men in the club section and kids in the stands went “tarps off” waving their shirts. Another double brought in the runner and set the crowd roaring.    The batter on second was celebrating as it was 2-1 Memphis.    In the eighth, Rochester hit a double with 2 outs.    There was a pitching change, but another double and a single, gave Rochester back the lead.    3-2 Red Wings was the final score.    The key stat was Rochester being up 12 to 3 in hits.

Meanwhile, the PCL finale in Las Vegas began with OKC doubling in the game’s first run.    In the third, OKC loaded the bases with no outs.    They drove in 2 to make it, 3-0.    In the sixth, OKC walked the bases full of Aviators with 2 outs, but a ground out to first ended it.

In the eighth, two errors, including a flyball that clanked on the fielder’s mitt, brought in two runs for OKC to make it, 5-0.    LV scored 2 in the bottom when I wasn’t watching.    In the ninth, the Aviators threw out OKC runners at second and home in the inning.    A catcher’s interference call prolonged the inning with 2 outs, but a runner picked off second ended the inning.   

In the bottom of the ninth, a guy with a .000 batting average came in to pinch hit.    The manager was playing a hunch. Even with a dropped popup by the catcher, it was still a strikeout, though it was a long at bat. OKC wins it, 5-2, and will face Rochester in the Triple-A Championship on Saturday.    (OKC won it, 5-3, in 10 innings.    Sounded like a good game.    I wonder if anybody was there for it in Las Vegas.)

9-26-26

Today’s post is going to be mostly college football.    My Rangers’ affiliate did not broadcast today’s game.    Maybe they didn’t plan to and also, there was a rain delay before the game started.    They did beat the Twins to keep their playoff hopes alive.    However, the Astros also won, so it’ll come down to tomorrow’s games, along with Philly and the Diamondbacks deciding their fates.

The main event of the day was the 116-th Aggie/Lobo Football game.    I wasn’t hopeful about an Aggie victory after seeing last week’s score between Oklahoma and UNM.    OK won, 14-6.    I literally gasped when I saw that and so did a couple of other people I told.  It was only a 21-point spread to begin with.    I think the Lobos will be going to another bowl game at the end of the season.   

It was only an 11-point spread against the Aggies.    This assumed a rivalry game would be close.    I’d thought about asking Zanaya to the game, but she was already going to work security there. We did not want a repeat of the incident from October 2022, which caused the downfall of the Aggie Men’s Basketball team (1-7-23), so by all means, increase security.

I resolved to just listen on the radio.    Aggie hero quarterback, Diego Pavia, was interviewed in the pregame.    He was enthusiastic about being at the game today.    Interviewer MJ Newsom tactfully did not ask what Diego was doing currently, since he didn’t make it into the NFL.    (The guy did actually change college sports by suing for an extra year of eligibility.)    However the game would turn out, a lot of people would see it.    Attendance was listed at 25k.    That’s only 3k off of a full house.   

Sigh.    I gonna have to report on this other side story.    Football and Volleyball were crossed up in scheduling.    I’m not sure there was much they could do about it.    They were both going to have to play in the afternoon.    Volleyball was playing C-USA powerhouse, WKU.    They might not have been expecting a long match that might finish before the football game.    Instead, it went 5 sets and extra points (20-18) in the fifth.    The Aggies took the first two sets and they were all close, but the Hilltoppers prevailed, 3-2.    Tess Fuqua (13 kills) and Mia Fox (11 kills) were the standouts and the team out-blocked WKU.   

I was following along with the match and was pretty disappointed for the girls in real time.    I was more disappointed in the attendance, which was 320, well below normal, especially for a big game.    All of those Aggie fans outside tailgating for football and they couldn’t gone to volleyball if they’d wanted see the whole football game.    Given the price of tickets (I looked), you couldn’t even fault the decision.     

The first quarter, the Lobos got the ball first and converted with a long bomb and a touchdown to make it, 7-0.    The Aggies came right back. James Jones made a huge rush for 54 yards to make it first and goal.    The Aggies were kept out of the endzone and the team’s new kicker missed an easy field goal.    The next Aggie possession, they were pushed back in their own end.    It was a short field for the Lobos after a good return and they turned it into another touchdown, 14-0.

In the second quarter, the Aggies marched downfield, including a fourth and inches play.    The previous kicker was brought back out for a field goal and it was 14-3 Lobos.    UNM marched downfield themselves.    A penalty wiped out a touchdown and they missed a field goal.    The Lobos picked an interception late, but punted on the possession.    Both teams had some really sloppy play before halftime.

During the break, I went over to Dollartree for a couple of things.    Some people there were talking about the game.    There was a guy there in a Lobos shirt.    Zenaya did report there were a lot of Lobo fans there.    (There were four sections tagged for the visitors.)    I went next door to the Paleta Bar for a dessert and the girl making my paleta saw my Aggie shirt and asked about the game.    This game is a big deal here.   

I missed a bit of the third quarter.    In that time, Aggie quarterback, Trey Hedden, threw another interception, which was converted into a Lobo touchdown, 21-3.    I started listening just as Hedden fumbled.    The Lobos recovered and scored again, 28-3.    Backup, Adam Damante, came in as the Aggie quarterback.    He led a nice drive, but it ended on a turnover on downs.    The Lobos threw another bomb and that resulted in a third touchdown in the quarter, 35-3.

Damante led a touchdown drive with a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter to make it, 35-11 Lobos.    The Lobo put up a late touchdown, 42-11.    The Aggies got the ball back with under two minutes and Damante quickly took the ball downfield for a touchdown before the end.    The broadcasters had already given Damante the starting quarterback job after the last series.    He was passing the ball well, though I don’t know if it was against the starters.    42-18 Lobos final.    This wasn’t a surprising result.

I hate to say this at this time, but Aggie Football is going to be playing on the weekdays next month, and I’m not going to covering those games and likely the rest of the season.    There’s a possibility I might go to a game.    I’ll write it up, if it happens.   

I wasn’t totally shutout on baseball.    I picked up the Rockies’ game after the sun went down.    They were up 5-3 over the White Sox in the eighth.    The Rox added on in the top of the ninth with a Hunter Goodman 3-run homer, 9-3.    That was his 41-st of the season and his second of the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Andrew Benintendi hit a 3-run homer for the Sox with no outs.    The crowd in Chicago went crazy. However, Rockies’ pitching did finish it off, 9-6.    The White Sox were scoreboard watching, as the Indians won their game and won the AL Central.

It was late and I needed good laugh.    I tuned into Oregon State versus UTEP on the radio.    It was 20-0 Beavers at the half and 33-7 final. Broadcaster John Tischer said the 15k fans there likely enjoyed the large drone show afterward more than the game.    That’s a pretty good crowd for such a lousy team.    I watched this betting show in the morning.    They were talking about how bad UTEP was, but at least they’re getting some national attention.    

The heartwarming story of the day was Iowa beating Michigan on a last second touchdown.    A couple of weeks ago, lowly Central Michigan had beaten Michigan at Ann Arbor, but the refs added a second to an expired clock to give Michigan a second chance at a Hail Mary, which they converted on and won.    That was egregious meddling, so it was nice to see some payback.

9-27-26 MLB Postseason Preview

The Astros definitively punched their ticket with 9-0 win over the A’s.    The Rangers lost 6-4 to the Twins, but it didn’t matter either way.    My Rangers’ affiliate didn’t carry the game anyway.    Philadelphia also won to finally set the playoff field.

If you want a good laugh, go read my predictions in my Baseball Preview for this season.    I correctly predicted the Dodgers’ success and getting Tarik Skubal, but so did everyone else.    Just about everything else was hysterically wrong.    I owe an apology to the Rays.    Apparently playing fundamentals is a path to winning baseball.    Who saw the White Sox being good this season?    The Indians may have caught them to win the division in the end, but going to playoffs seemed so unlikely.    Then again, it was a terrible AL Central and a mostly terrible AL altogether.    (How is the AL Central sending two teams to the playoffs?    The Astros only won the AL West with a .500, 81-81, record.)   

Our playoff field is set:

AL: Rays (bye), Indians (bye), Yankees, White Sox, Red Sox, Astros

NL: Brewers (bye), Dodgers (bye), Braves, Cubs, Padres, Phillies    

I suppose I should say something here other than I feel like I barely saw any of these teams play.    (Thanks for ending the daily Free Game, MLB.TV.)    The Dodgers have the pitching and should win.    I’m hoping the Brewers, the only 100-win team, wins it.    Go Joey Ortiz (though he may be injured)!    (And speaking former Aggie greats, Nick Gonzales finished batting .300 for the Pirates.  He's one of only 7 .300 hitters in the league.)   

Beyond those two teams, I think you have to make a more involved case for the others.    The Braves are a good all-around team.    The Cubs have a great offense and field defense.    I’d like to see the Phillies win just to give Bryce Harper a ring, and I’ve just liked the Padres for the last few years.    I wouldn’t put a bet on either team.    

Can the Rays really do it?    They came out on top in the AL East that sent three teams to the playoffs.    They must be doing something right.    The Yankees certainly have great pitching.    If only Aaron Judge could run, you might take them seriously.    (If he just hits home runs, he won’t even have to do that.)    I could see the Red Sox suddenly getting hot and running the table.    I wouldn’t even entertain the thought of the other three teams, though watching Munetaka Murakami party with a White Sox World Series win would be awesome. 

Baseball Journal September: So Long Pups

 

9-15-26

The Chihuahuas were starting their final series tonight.    They were playing OKC, who are expecting to be playing next week in the PCL Championship.    Their magic number was down to two, so there would be some out-of-town scoreboard watching.    The pups were not cooperating with the Comets clinching tonight.    In the second, Mason McCoy hit a 3-run double as part of a 4-run inning.    By the sixth, Las Vegas beat Sugar Land, which helped OKC.    However, the Chihuahuas were up 10-1 after 5-run inning.    El Paso’s starter, Ian Koenig, went 6 innings and only allowed 1 run off of a solo homer.    OKC did score 4 in the ninth.    The pitcher that started the inning came out with an injury after allowing a couple of runs.    His replacement gave up a 2-run homer, but the Chihuahuas won it, 11-5.

9-16-26

Today was overcast and 83-degrees after a rain shower last night.    It certainly would have been pleasant conditions to take in a day game in El Paso.    The Chihuahuas were facing the Comets again.    OKC’s magic number to advance to the PCL Championship was down to one.    You’d think they’d want to win it rather than having it handed to them.    El Paso, meanwhile, has a firm lock on last place in the league.     

The Comets got some traffic on in the first, but they were left stranded.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty was talking about the playoff and the split season formats.    In the International League with 20 teams, he mentioned that Rochester has an overall record over .600, but may not win either half of the season and will get shut out of the playoffs.    The players were making ABS challenges early in the game and were being correct.    Challenge strategy, at least in Triple-A, may come down to who is behind the plate.   

In the fourth inning, the Comets had runners on first and second with nobody out.    On a hit-and-run, the hit was a liner to first.    That was out #1.    The first baseman, Marcos Castañon, stepped on first for out #2.    He then threw to second for out #3.    Triple play!    Yes!    Yes!    Tim was fairly stunned as he reported this was the first time the pups had turned one in their 12-year history (1,760 games).  The team is leading the league in double plays, so this happening isn’t a total surprise.    He did say that the Chihuahuas have had three triple plays turned against them.    I wonder if I had heard any of them, though I probably wouldn’t have been cheering over them.

In the fifth, the Comets finally broke through with a sac fly.    The outfielder’s throw made it close.    1-0 OKC.    Meanwhile after five innings, Tim finally acknowledged that the Chihuahuas had not yet had a baserunner in the game.    He commented on the improbability of a scorecard with a perfect game and a triple play.    Comet starter, Jackson Ferris, completed the sixth inning with his tenth strikeout and still no baserunners.   

 

In the seventh, the sun came out and interfered with a flyball catch, which lead to a Comets run.    They scored three more before a pitching change.    With two on and nobody out this time, the Comets only had one of their runners take off for a stolen base.    The Comets then loaded the bases, still with nobody out, and their big home run hitter up.    He hit a liner to center that McCoy made a great play on, though it resulted in a sac fly run.    The next hit just got past him for another run.    Meanwhile, Ferris was pacing the OKC dugout.    It was an 11-batter, 6-run inning for a 7-0 Comets’ lead.

Miguel Andujar finally broke up the perfect game in the bottom of the seventh.    It was a slow dribbler to the third base side.    Ferris desperately ran after it and made a panic throw to first, but it was wide.    After a 5-run eighth, Tim was telling the clubhouse staff to get the champagne ready, as it was 12-0 Comets.    In the bottom of the eighth, Ferris came back out and went 7 2/3 innings, allowing 0 runs, 1 hit, and 1 walk with 13 strikeouts.    He was over 100 pitches when he came out.   

Edwin Diaz on rehab pitched the bottom of the ninth.    Andujar would get another hit in the inning.    He’d finish with 2 hits; the rest of the team had 0.    Comets win 12-0 and clinch.    A 14-game winning streak earlier this month got them in. It was a two-and-a-half hour game for 5,000 fans in attendance.    It was nice and short drubbing at least, so I could listen to all of it before going to work.   

The Las Vegas and Sugar Land game in the evening was now irrelevant, but I was listening, though Russ Langer not doing the game. The game was scoreless for four innings, but LV broke through on a bases loaded error for 2 runs with 2 outs. A double brought in 2 more runs to make it, 4-0. The Aviators went on to win 5-0 and only gave up 1 hit.

9-17-26

“Las Vegas is going to the playoffs; Sugar Land is playing for pride.”    I tuned into the Aviators versus the Space Cowboys, though there wasn’t anything at stake, as the broadcaster said at the beginning of the game.    Sugar Land scored in the first inning.    It was the first time they’d scored in 14 innings.    They had a giveaway tonight of college football team hats featuring Texas or A&M colors.    Not a bad promotion.

The Chihuahuas versus the OKC Comets came on a little later.    The UTEP Choir performed a powerful Anthem for UTEP Night at the park.    OKC took an early 2-run lead, but 4 doubles in the second put the pups up, 3-2. The Comets come right back in the third with 3 runs including a 2-run homer, 5-3.    This game was looking interesting.

Yesterday, former Chihuahua, Ethan Salas, hit his first and second home runs in a game for the Padres.    Lookin’ good.    In the fourth, the pups loaded the bases with 2 bunt singles and a walk.    The good news was that an error brought in one run and a sac fly tied the score, 5-5.    The bad news was that the game was stopped for rain and suspended until tomorrow.    (It was a pretty good shower here.)

Back to Sugar Land then.    It was 6-5 LV in the eighth.    They added an insurance run and won, 7-5.    Las Vegas now has the most franchise wins in a season going into the PCL Championship.

9-18-26

The suspended Chihuahuas/OKC game resumed play in the early evening. In the sixth, OKC took the lead on a run scored on a double play (no RBI) 6-5 and scored another, 7-5.    In the seventh, a solo home run and a 2-RBI triple made it, 10-5.    In the ninth, a 3-run homer made it, 14-6 OKC.    In the bottom, Nick Pratto tripled in a final Chihuahuas’ run to end it, 14-7 Comets.    The game had started so promisingly.

Our last MiLB Free Game was the Durham Bulls at the Worcester Red Sox.    I joined it in progress in the fifth with the game basically over at 12-1 Woo Sox.    They were playing as the Pawtucket “Hot Wieners” tonight.    Minor League teams have no shame. It was a full house there and a beautiful stadium. However, I didn’t watch much given the score.    16-1 Hot Wieners.    Bring on the Friday night fireworks!

Game 2 for the Chihuahuas and the Comets would be 7 innings.    It started about an hour late, but 7,900 still came out.    It was 1-1 in the third. Mason McCoy was hit on the hand trying to bunt.    He stayed in, wasn’t even given first, but got a hit anyway. There was some bad blood after another pitch came inside on another batter bunting. In the top of the fifth, OKC took the lead on a wild pitch, but another runner on base thrown out while stealing and trying to get to third. A double drove in two walked batters to make it 4-1 OKC.    In the bottom of the fifth, a Chihuahua single drove in a run.    McCoy made a headfirst dive to score on a passed ball.    Good thing he didn’t come out of the game, 4-3.

Top of the seventh, Bryce Johnson played the wall perfectly on a line drive and threw out the batter at second trying for a double.    The near full house crowd was going crazy and it sounded like there were lot of kids were there.    In the bottom of the seventh, McCoy led off with his third hit of the day and stole second and third.    The next batter walked with nobody out. Bryce then stole second, but reliever came in and intentionally loaded the bases.    It was a good move, as he finished off the inning and the game, 4-3 OKC final.

9-19-26

I was happy my Rangers’ radio affiliate was carrying the day game today, though the reception was lousy.    The Rangers were playing the Blue Jays with the Rangers and Astros tied atop the AL West.    Josh Jung homered in the first to give the Rangers a quick lead.    They added another in the second on an error and another on a wild pitch to make it, 3-0 Rangers.

Through the fifth the Rangers had used two pitchers and a no-hitter alert was declared, but the Jays broke it up and scored in the next inning, 3-1.    In the bottom of the sixth, Wyatt Langford doubled in 2 runs.    With the bases loaded, a hit by pitch made it 5-1.    On a shallow sac fly to center, Langford came in from third.    The throw beat him there, but passed the catcher.    Langford leapt over the covering pitcher, missed the bag, but leapt back and touched it for the run, 6-1 Rangers and they’d win it, 6-2.

Zanaya and I were invited to tonight’s Chihuahuas/OKC game by my co-worker Toni.    Unfortunately, Zanaya would be working at a mud volleyball tournament (and there were some sore losers there and a near fight), so I declined as well.    Toni ended up not going.   

I tuned in to the game in time to hear a 3-run homer by OKC in the third to start the scoring. They ran it up to 5-0, before the Chihuahuas sac’d in a run in the third.    In the fourth, the pups scored 4 more runs, one at a time, and took a 6-5 lead.    The inning nearly ended prematurely, but the final out was instead ruled a foul ball.    With that new life, the pups scored another run to take the lead.   

Broadcaster Tim Hagerty reported there were dueling fan cheers for the teams.    Were those Dodger fans cheering?    OKC tied it right back up in the fifth.    In the bottom of the sixth, a sac bunt with 2 on and an error by pitcher, scored 2 to give the Chihuahuas back the lead, 8-6.

I noticed the Rockies were playing Seattle late.    I don’t notice that was scheduled, but I tuned right in when I found out.    I arrived just as the Rockies took the lead, 5-3, after a 4-run seventh. 34k were there at Coors Field and they were fully into it in the ninth as the Rockies held the lead and won it.

I turned back to the Chihuahuas.    It was now 13-6 Chihuahuas!    Holy Cow!    I missed a 12-batter, 7-run inning in the sixth.    Nick Solak made all 3 outs in the right field in the ninth for a 14-8 Chihuahuas’ win in front of 8,900 fans.    Oops.    I feel like I owe Toni an apology for not going to this game.   

9-20-26

It was the final Chihuahuas’ game of the season today.    It was 1-1 early against the OKC.    The Comets scratched out a run in the eighth and that was the ballgame, 2-1 OKC.    After the game, the players and the coaches brought out a banner thanking the 6k in attendance. It was our final sad goodbye to our old friend Tim Hagerty doing the broadcast.    He was already looking forward to next season.

The Rangers were playing the Blue Jays.    They had already taken the first two games of the series and taken the lead in the AL West over the Astros.    The Jays took a 2-run lead, but in the fourth, Jake Burger tied it with a 2-run homer.    Unfortunately, Jacob deGrom, the Ranger starter, gave back the lead in the fifth and worse, he came out of the game hurting.    From there, the Jays poured it on and won 7-2.    Luckily, the Astros lost as well, so the Rangers are one game up with six left to play.

On TV, there was a College Volleyball match with Louisville at Kentucky. (This was great counter-programming to the NFL.)    Kentucky dropped their first set at home this season, but came back to win the next 3 sets to take the match.    The Student Section took “Tarps off” to a new level.    The Men’s Swim team came to support the girls just wearing their Speedos.    It was quite the sight.