Hot week this week. Started the week with my niece’s birthday party. I wasn’t going to a game anyway on Monday so that worked out well.
Game #98. This is normally a game I would skip as I see the Nationals in DC and I see enough of the Orioles. Originally I was going to go up to Binghamton to get the Tim Tebow bobblehead but when push came to shove I really didn’t feel like driving 3+ hours on a Tuesday to get the bobblehead of a player who is hitting .161 in AAA. So to Baltimore I went to get the bobblehead of perhaps the most popular player in franchise history, Brooks Robinson. Left plenty early, not because I thought there would be a crowd but because of the sinkhole and I am glad I did. You expect heavy traffic downtown, especially with 2 of the major streets closed but when we got to Lexington Market it was not moving at all. Something was going on in the subway station and it took at lest 15 minutes to go one block. Not wanting to sit anymore I got out there and walked the rest of the way and I am glad I did. It might have taken another hour to get to the staidum had I stayed on the bus.
Asher Wojciechowski (I dare you to try and spell that, it took me 5 looks at the name just to get it in here) started for the Orioles against Austin Voth for the Nationals. The Orioles did at least avoid Max Scherzer, that would have been ugly and the Nats are bumping back Stephen Strasburg one start so he can go against Atlanta and not the Orioles. Now, I’ll put it this way, the highlight of the Orioles night was a solo homerun from Hanser Alberto that just cleared the wall. The Nats got 3 off of Wojciechowski (including a bomb from Matt Adams that hit the warehouse on the bounce) and then the Oriole bullpen did what it did best, pour gas on the fire. The game went from a manageable 3-1 (the Nats bullpen is almost as bad as the Orioles so you never know….) to ugly by the end of the game. Poor Brandon Hyde is going to take 10 years off of his life this year. I remember driving down lisening to 105.7 and hearing the host talk about how much better Sean Armstrong was than Mike Wright (Wright was traded to Seattle and the Orioles subsequently picked Armstrong up off of waivers from Seattle) and I’m not hearing that anymore as Armstrong has shown that he is the pitcher who wasn’t good enough for the Mariners. I think from now on I’m leaving as soon as the starter is yanked, the Oriole bullpen is just that bad. Washington wins this 8-1.
No game on Wednesday, just sat around the house and enjoyed a nice evening off of the baseball circuit.
Game #99 Haven’t been up to Harrisburg in awhile so I went up. Since it was Thursday a clothing donation would pay for my parking. Mario Sanchez started for the struggling Senators against Denyi Reyes for the Sea Dogs. These are not the Senators of the first half, this team looks less than ordinary and their second half record (along with near first half collapse) spells that out. Now granted it really doesn’t matter what their record is in the second half since they won the first half and an automatic playoff berth but if they play like this in the playoffs their run will be short. Reyes was dominant holding the Senators scoreless through 7. Sanchez wasn’t bad but Portland did get to him and a comedy of errors in the 6th did him in. Portland wins 4-0. I did not stay for the Human Cannonball. I saw him in York a few years ago and it was hot. My undershirt was soaked through with sweat.
Game #100 The Eastern League is now complete as I get the Hartford Yard Goats off of the board and picked up a Justus Sheffield bobblehead while I was at it. First of 3 visits to Trenton this season. It’s not really a bad drive there but getting around on I-276 can be trouble. First a stop at River Horse for a cold one. It was a hot one and I am glad the Thunder have a third entrance along the side that is in the shade. It’s right along the Delaware too so you get some scenery, much better than watching traffic on Route 29. Heath Holder started for the Yard Goats against Brian Keller for the Thunder. It was also Pork Roll Friday so dinner was a nice and cheap pork roll sandwich. Holder was dominant and a Myles Jones knocked a solo shot off of the top of the left field foul pole. Don’t know if I’ve ever seen a ball hit off of the top of the pole. I’ve seen it hit off of the pole but not the top. Anyway Holder took a no-no into the 6th when his brother-from-another-mother Kyle Holder broke it up with a single. That would be the only hit the Thunder got. So close and yet so far away. Hartford wins this one 2-0.
Game #101 Back down into Virginia to the worst ballpark in the pros, G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium the home of the Potomac Nationals to watch them take on the Fayetteville Woodpeckers and pick up a Juan Soto bobblehead. This is the kind of game I dread here. Hot, hotter and even hotter and there is no shade in this park at all. The waterfountains are hotter than the air outside too. The new park in Fredericksburg can’t get here too soon. Made stops at Fair Winds Brewing in Lorton as well as Brew Republic and Water’s End in Woodbridge for some pregame fortification.
At least there was shade to stand in while waiting for the bobblehead. J.P. France went in game one for the Woodpeckers against Kyle Johnston. I saw both of these pitchers on my Big Baseball Trip and France was the better of the two, in fact Johnston was probably the worst pitcher I saw on the trip. Not today. Potomac struck for 3 off of France in the 2nd and Johnston, while giving up a lot of singles kept the Woodpeckers off of the board. Until the 5th that is when Scott Manea hit a 2-run shot. No biggie, I wanted to get this one over with ASAP, it was almost 100 degrees outside with a heat index around 110. But Fayetteville tied the game in the 6th and the game headed into extras. Potomac capitalized on a poor outing by Cesar Rosado and wins 4-3.
Game #102 Now for the second game. Didn’t stay for much of this one. Shawn Dubin went for Fayetteville against Ryan Tapani for Potomac. Dubin didn’t make it through the 1st while Tapani was dominant. Not that it mattered, I was on the road and enjoying the air conditioning in my car. Potomac wasted Tapani’s effort as their bullpen blew up with Fayetteville plating 4 runs in the 7th to win the second game 5-4.
Game #103 To Baltimore I go to watch the Orioles take on the Red Sox. I was hoping that this would not be a repeat of the last time I was down where the game took nearly 5 hours to play. The garage I park in was closed but I found a nice spot on Pratt St. even closer to the stadium, I guess there is one good thing that has come out of the sink hole. Gametime temperature was 96 degrees and it was certainly hotter on the field. You know, the Orioles take a beating but on days like today one cannot complain. Not only do they give out free ice but they gave out free towels too to anyone who wanted one. Since my seat was in the shade I was good shape for this one.
Asher Wojciechowski went for the Birds (just copied and pasted from earlier in the week) against former Oriole Andrew Cashner. I’ve now seen Cashner start as many games for the Red Sox as I did for the Orioles this season. Trey Mancini got the Orioles on the board first with a shot into the Eutaw Street bleachers and the Orioles got another in the following inning. That was all Wojciechowski needed. He took a no hitter into the 7th (stupid Rafael Devers!) and Mancini added a second homer and the Orioles were on the brink of a victory. Now Jimmy Yacabonis would not be pitching today and the Oriole bullpen (ie Paul Fry and Mychal Givens) kept the Sox off of the board for an Baltimore 5-0 win. One more win from my 200th Oriole win at Camden Yards of alltime.
On the docket for next week:
July 22 – Binghamton @ Reading (Ryan Howard bobblehead)
July 23 – Akron @ Trenton (Gleyber Torres bobblehead)
July 24 – Myrtle Beach @ Frederick
July 25 – Colorado @ Washington
July 26 – Potomac @ Frederick (Nick Markakis bobblehead)
July 27 – Richmond @ Altoona (Kevin Kramer and Kevin Newman bobblehead)
July 28 – Los Angeles @ Washington
