Spring may finally be getting here. Ok it didn’t feel like it to start the week but oh what a finish (for the most part). Finally. You know the worst start to baseball season that I can remember was 2 years ago when there was still snow on the ground when I went to my first game. No snow this year but it sure has been cold enough. I have been to a few games in the past where it has flurried as well so in a way this cold start is par for the course. It’s a good thing I have a lot of insulation.

Game #6 Portland @ Reading. A sparse crowd on a cold night for this one. Not quite as cold as other nights but still cold. Ranger Suarez pitched for Reading and was better certainly than opening night but his line was better than his performance. James McAvoy for Portland was about the same. Portland jumped out to an early lead, McAvoy and the Sea Dogs’ bullpen couldn’t hold it in the 6th and the game wound up going 13 innings. I was long gone by then but Portland had a big 13th inning and won their first game of the year. If it was warmer out I would have stayed simply to see the new extra innings rules and in this case I don’t think it worked as intended. With a sparse crowd (they closed off the left field grandstand and the party deck) of about 500 people in the seats I got a foul ball and got my ugly mug on the jumbotron. I gave the ball to a kid.

Game #7 Toronto @ Baltimore. Finally starting to feel a bit like spring, but not quite there yet. At least the Orioles finally got over 10,000 fans in. I knew it was going to be a sparse crowd but I walked up and got a front row seat in the upper deck. Kevin Gausman started for the Orioles and he was good enough. He got into some trouble but considering that the Jays are hot right now he did well. Marco Estrada started for the Blue Jays and dominated through the first few innings but in the 5th he couldn’t get anyone out. The Orioles got up and never looked back though the Jays kept it close. Big appearance from Jays reliever Daniel Barnes who came into a bases loaded no out situation and struck out Adam Jones and Pedro Alvarez before getting Chris Davis to fly out with no further damage done. Those are opportunities that the Orioles cannot let go. Also that was also one heck of a play from Manny Machado!

Game #8 Potomac @ Frederick. Opening night in Frederick and they were playing their hated rivals in the P-Nats. Joan Baez (not the singer) started for Potomac and was not good. I’ve seen him pitch several times and he has not been good in any of them. Frederick got up 7-0 and never really looked back. Christian Alvarado for Frederick did not give up a hit until the 5th inning but Potomac did put some runs on the board late highlighted by a Jake Noll homerun that went out of the park. Frederick wins 11-6. Stopped at the Battlefield Brew Works on the way down for dinner. It was also nice to finally go to a game where it wasn’t 40 degrees. 70 degrees never felt so good. Halfway home on the Birdland passport as well but I won’t be getting it back out again until June when I head down to Aberdeen.

Game #9 Colorado @ DC First trip to DC for a Nats game. Got a Sean Doolittle bobblehead, which was already selling on eBay for over $30 before the game started. Sean Doolittle, a decent relief pitcher? Anyway to say that the Nationals bats are cool is an understatement. Colorado’s Kyle Freeland limited the damage and the Rockies bullpen kept Washington off the board. Tanner Roark was good but gave up a monster homerun to Carlos Gonzalez and a fielding error by Trea Turner allowed the winning run to get on base and eventually score. Final was 2-1 Colorado. Hopefully the Nats continue to slump until after the Pirates come to town at the end of the month.

Game #10 Bowie @ Harrisburg First trip to Harrisburg for my first nine inning island vacation. I was did stop at Spring Gate Brewing beforehand for a brew but the place was packed and I didn’t feel like waiting in line for 20 minutes for a beer. It was Luis Reyes for Harrisburg and the Orioles’ #4 prospect Hunter Harvey for Bowie, who was making his first appearance of the season. Neither pitcher was sharp and by the time Reyes left after the fifth the game was 5-5. Harrisburg scored a late run to put them up but closer Dakota Bacus blew the lead in the 9th and then imploded in the 10th with Harrisburg giving up 9 runs in the inning. For Bowie Corban Joseph and Cedric Mullins had huge games and also as an aside Bowie manager Gary Kendall was managing his 1,000th career game.

I was going to head down to Hagerstown on Sunday but with rain in the forecast and a return to late winter I decided to stay home. Hagerstown was PPD anyway since their field does not handle rain well at all. The decision to not go was made easier since I am heading there on Wednesday anyway. Cold is one thing, cold and wet is another.

Next week on the docket (weather permitting of course). I get to see my Pirates up close.

Monday Reading @ Harrisburg
Tuesday Carolina @ Wilmington
Wednesday Delmarva @ Hagerstown
Thursday Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia
Friday Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia
Saturday Richmond @ Altoona for an Andrew McCutchen bobblehead
Sunday Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia

Site Updates: Image of Chesapeake Brewing added to the Brewery list and images of Prince George’s Stadium have been replaced with newer images.