Wow, what a great day for a game. I figured to be freezing my ass off the whole time, but instead we got sun and plenty of it. We also managed to have an exciting game, though it was not close for much of the contest.
Sonny started for the homers and was pretty lights out after the first inning. We scored 3 runs in the top of the first and thought we were on our way to a rout. Sonny was cool, calm and collected the whole game and didn't do much other than get us to hit balls right to his defense, which is always a winning recipe. He wasn't overpowering, and he didn't throw many breaking balls, but it was the most effective pitching I have seen in a while.
Satch started for the visitors and ended for the visitors. I haven't been able to throw long in a while, and it sure felt good. So there I was, cruising through the innings, until the homers came to bat for the second time, and then suddenly, they got wise and I got vulnerable. Our 3-1 lead turned into 4-3 deficit in the blink of an eye (and the crack of the bat and the flub of the glove). They scored 2 more in the later innings, with Chris Powell doing what he does best, hit and score.
The score stood 6-3 for the bulk of the game.
At first I think we didn't realize how morose we had gotten, we had a good team and strong bats, and just kept coming up with nothing. The homers were a lot of speed and they took every opportunity to steal bases, or get the advantage on a slow play. They also laced balls down the line to both sides, and dinked in hits between defenders. And ultimately, that was the difference.
Tony gave us a rousing pep talk that consisted of "What the Fuck, can we stop hitting like shit?" That seemed to do the trick, along with Sonny giving way to Daniel (who is leaving for Portland soon) for the 9th inning. We scrapped a run, stole a base, and then scored another, and had the tying run on 2nd base. Too little too late, as they say, and down we went with a final of 6-5.
A truly strange incident was captured by Abe as he was filming an at-bat to check out his phone's slo-mo technology. A close play at 1st -that no one had a really good look at- was captured by the phone, and the first ever MBC Instant Reply was viewed and the call reversed (somewhere in the Costa Rican jungle, Greg Snyder feels a piercing dagger penetrate his heart).
I will post the video once Abe sends it to me, along with some more pictures.
Highlights:
* The homers played better than us, and they deserved to win.
* Josh (in the midst of a frustrating defensive day) managed to turn a 6-3 double play
* John McGrath came up with one of the biggest hits of the game, down the right field line
* We were out of position it seemed, for every ground ball. We played up the middle, they pulled, etc.
* Everything was working, struck out about 6 or 7, had some 1-2-3 innings, just laid a couple of fat pitches in at the wrong time.
* Bob, playing center field, had to chase balls to both alleys, after which he yelled something to the effect that we should heed the warning that "... Mike Trout isn't playing out here..."
* This was a game that exemplified why I try to live by the Chris Powell rule: allow for the fact that he will score but try not to let anyone else do so.
* We got out of a bases loaded jam at one point that gave us a sliver of hope
* Got my first and possibly second legitimate hit with the Carter bat.
* Don and I finally got a good pitching rhythm going
* The homers refused to nibble on some very close pitches
* Sonny also came up with a crucial hit, in addition to his masterful pitching
* Richie laid down a great bunt, and made some nice plays at 3rd
* We did manage to successfully get an out at the plate on a '1 out, infielders in' situation.
* Bob had the big hit to score the 2nd run and put himself in scoring position as the tying run.
* James moved on to a new, lighter bat from the War Hammer I had loaned him. He broke the new bat.
* Thanks to John, Bob, Don for doing the catching
S. Paige
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