The Saturday games are always so much more enjoyable. No time limits, more people around, the sun rather than the encroaching fog. The newly re-formed SQ Giants looked resplendent in their new uniforms, courtesy of Murph, also known as Mike Murphy, the recently retired SF Giants equipment manager. There are also a lot of new faces on the team, especially in the pitching department, and man oh man, do we miss the days when Kool-Aid when come in and walk in 4 runs. Every pitcher we face now throws gas, along with a variety of off speed and breaking balls, and throws them all for strikes.
This game was no different, though it stayed closer than most for a bit. I got the start, and it is always a pleasure to throw on the SQ mound, it is perfectly manicured, and they got the good dirt. The same umpire was behind the dish, Ol' Shorty Low Ball. Seriously, this guy calls low strikes like he is paid to do it. No one is exempt, including me, who's knees are about 6 inches higher than everyone else. Not that it mattered too much, the young lefty that we have seen before was on fire. He hammered us with fastballs for the first 4 innings and then switched to the off speed stuff and hammered us some more. Then he started mixing in a forkball that was devastating.
The game got off to a good start, they scored one, and we answered back. 1-1 for a few innings, then 2-1, then 4-1. Even then, it still felt like we were playing good ball. Our defense made some great plays, including a play at the plate to get a tagging up runner. Not surprisingly, the throw was courtesy of Gabriel, a SQ player we borrowed to make up our sub-9 numbers.
I finished after 6 and handed off to Mike N, who was pitching well, but his strikes were jumped on by the SQ team, and they racked up 6 runs on us. HR came in for the 8th, and also threw well.
At least everyone knew that the Giants were going to win, so they could relax, right? Nope, they put in another gas-throwing lefty to finish us off in the 9th; this guy threw harder than the first. We folded like a 7-2 off suit in the 9th and that was it.
Final, 11-1, SQ Giants.
Highlights:
* Congrats to the pitcher of the Giants, he has got everything.
* Powell and I combined for 6 strikeouts on the day, but also combined for the only run that our team scored.
* The play at the plate was awesome, the throw, Greg perfectly placed, the tag, it was a thing of beauty.
* There were remarkably few error filled innings
* The tactic of the Giants is that every single will become a triple. They steal 2nd and 3rd as soon as possible. We tried pitchouts and still didn't get them.
* Steve, the coach of the Giants, played 1st for us, but opted out of hitting
* Nick W made at least 2 dynamite catches in the outfield, as did HR
* John McG was responsible for at least 5 outs at 2nd, he was the defensive anchor.
* Shorty Low Ball stopped calling low strikes for an inning, and then went back to it
* HR got picked off, after we told him to be careful about getting picked off
* Mike N had the defensive play of the game, catching a line drive that would have taken his head off had he not caught it.
A few more games left in the prison season, hope we can at least score more than 1 run.
S Paige
No comments:
Post a Comment