You know I start to understand the life of the pro baseball player about this time of year. Going to all of these games is a grind and while I have a major advantage getting to not only pick and choose what games I go to and that I can leave a game early. But it does start to become a grind. There are benefits of course. My bobblehead collection continues to grow (and we are entering prime bobblehead time) and I get out all around the region. It’s nice to see other places and still sleep in your own bed. Considering that I do not sleep overly well during the summer it is hard to get my usual number hours of sleep. The cats want to get fed and become very bothersome as the sun comes up over the building across the street from me (around 6 AM in the summertime) and take turns walking all over my back. Yeah, they seem to at times not to be able to stand each other but at that point they work together to get their morning treats. Anyway onto the games:
Game #84 New York at Baltimore. Gotta love the doubleheader. 2 games for the price of 1, especially when it is against a prime team like the Yankees. This does somewhat make up for the rainout from a few weeks ago and since this was a Monday the Orioles couldn’t do a separate admission doubleheader. In a way this works just as well for the Orioles since I actually bought something from the concession stand rather than eating outside at one of the stands by of Pickles. The Yankees are team #19 for the year so I continue to make progress. Admittedly I did not expect either of these games to go well for the Orioles. The immortal Jimmy Yacabonis started for the Orioles against C.C. Sabathia for the Bombers. The O’s have hit C.C. in the past (after years of C.C. dominating them) but this is not the Orioles of recent years. The Yankees pounced on Yacabonis getting a 3-0 lead and I expected the Orioles to just curl up and play out the rest of the game. They didn’t. Mark Trumbo though responded with a 2-run shot. The Yankees came back going up 4-2 in the 6th off of Mike Wright (I like you Mike but you haven’t done well when I show up, but thanks for that ball in Syracuse!) but then Danny Valencia hit a 3-run shot to center. Who would’ve thunk? Danny Valencia? Mychal Givens (the future Oriole closer) mowed the Yanks down in the 8th and Zach Britton allowed the tying run to reach 3rd but pitched a scoreless inning for a 5-4 win.
Game #85 New York at Baltimore. Game 2 of the doubleheader and this one went more like I expected. This game was the Brett Gardner/Luis Cessa show. Cessa started for the Yankees and mowed down the Orioles. Yefry Ramirez started for the Orioles and was not up to the task giving 4 runs through 4 innings. Ryan Meisinger, fresh up from the minors and the latest as we keep track of them (and a local from Owings), pitched 3 scoreless innings but Brad Brach (boy has he been bad this year) imploded giving up 4 more runs. Tanner Scott allowed 2 more runs later. That is the Orioles I have come to expect this year but somehow they are 6-6 in games that I attend. Peter Angelos, are you reading this? How ’bout helping out a season ticket holder, eh? I might be one of the few that has a .500 record or better this year! The Orioles got 2 runs on a Tim Beckham 2-run shot late in the game but this one was all Yankees. Gardner got 4 hits including a 2-run shot and made some great catches in centerfield to help cement a 10-2 Yankee win. I left after the 4th, it was getting late. Note that I managed to not mention Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton in either recap.
Game #86 Brooklyn at Aberdeen. I had considered going back down to Baltimore on Tuesday since I wanted to see Masihiro Tanaka but it is nice to sit at home in the air conditioning once in awhile. I considered taking this one on Wednesday as well off but my traveling companion was hot to go to this one. He has not made it to Aberdeen yet and did not know if he could make it this year, so off we went so he could get his passport stamped. It is nice that Aberdeen is about an hour away. After seeing Brooklyn a few weeks ago in Brooklyn I thought they were pretty good, they started the season out on fire. They’ve come back to Earth since then having a nearly identical under .500 record as Aberdeen. Jordan Kipper started for Aberdeen on a rehab assignment followed by Gray Fenter. Brooklyn got nothing other than a Chris Sharp homerun off these guys and the rest of the bullpen. Cyclone starter Briam (that is not a typo) Campusano was not good. He was pulled in the first inning giving up 4 runs in an inning that took nearly 40 minutes to play. His replacements pitched well other than 2 runs in the 7th that came about as a result of 2 Cyclone errors. This game though will be memorable for another reason: The lights went out in the top of the 7th inning. I’ve been to two games before when the lights went out, both at Nationals Park. One wound up being suspended when they couldn’t get the lights back on but the crew at Ripken Stadium got the lights back on in about 20 minutes and play resumed. Aberdeen wins 6-1.
Game #87 Buffalo at Lehigh Valley. Dylan Cozzens bobblehead day (no gobblehead since they were celebrating Thanksgiving) and my next to last trip to the Lehigh Valley to see the Iron Pigs. I’ll be back to see the Indianapolis Indians, the Pirates AAA team, next month. It was a pleasant drive to Allentown, even at near rush hour. It took a little less than 2 hours to make it to Coca-Cola Field. Jacob Waugespack started for the Iron Pigs and despite his 0-5 record he pitched well in his six innings giving up only one run. His opponent Sean Reid-Foley was better though, taking a no-hitter into the 6th. That is when it all fell apart for him. He lost the no-no to the immortal Dean Anna (this might be the only page on the Internet that has him and Yacabonis mentioned on it). He was thrown out a few pitches later but then the Pigs got some more base runners on two walks who came around to score on Mitch Walding’s home run. Bison right fielder Anthony Alford knew it was gone, Walding crushed it. With things looking up the Iron Pig pen proceeded to lose the lead. Actually it was the defense which committed 3 errors in the 7th inning. Sure were a lot of ex-Phillies pitching, which I guess epitomizes the Phillies pen issues. I do feel bad for Waugespack, he pitched in the last game I attended here and was not horrible there either but is still winless for the year. The game went into the 10th and Buffalo won the game 4-3.
Game #88 Richmond at Trenton. Back across the Delaware River to get a Brett Gardner bobblehead. Again I didn’t really want to go to this but my traveling companion (we’ll call him Weenie Boy from here on out) was hot to go. It was an easy drive here until I got onto 276 which had an approximately 5 mile backup thanks to rubbernecking from a crash. Still I made it in time to get the bobblehead. Ryan Bollinger started for Trenton and was hardly good, giving up 3 runs through 6 innings. It looked like that would be enough for ex-big leaguer Taylor Hill and Richmond but there just does not seem to be a lot of major league talent on that team. Trenton tied the game at 3 but Richmond came back to win 7-6 in 10 with a total of 5 runs being scored in the extra frame. I stuck around for about half of the game since I had to be up early the next day to head to Pittsburgh. I will say that I have not been impressed with Trenton at all and they have the best record in the Eastern League. I’m guessing some of their better players have been promoted already.
Game #89 Milwaukee at Pittsburgh. Off for my first trip of three to the Steel City. I do enjoy watching my favorite team play at PNC Park, it is in my opinion the best ballpark in the bigs. I also needed a new hat, my old hat has finally bit the dust after multiple trips through the washing machine. I thought this was a 7:00 game but imagine my surprise when I looked and not only was this an afternoon game but a doubleheader. I’m glad I looked online, thanks Weenie Boy for that! See I’m not perfect. That precluded visiting any breweries in the Steel City but I’ll be back for two more games this year so I will get them off the docket then. Had an easy drive on the Turnpike but hit a snag with a wreck near the Squirrel Hill Tunnel on the Parkway. Still arrived in time to get a Josh Bell bobblehead, well, nearly everyone got one. Ivan Nova started for Pittsburgh against Chase Anderson for Milwaukee. This was a low scoring affair. Anderson gave up back to back solo shots to Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco and that was it for the Pirate scoring. Fortunately for the good guys the scuffling Brewers got only one run off of the Pirates pitchers. Nova was yanked in the 5th but the Pirate pen held the division leading Brewers scoreless. Raise the Jolly Roger, Pittsburgh wins 2-1.
Game #90 Milwaukee at Pittsburgh. Game number 2 now. I was not expecting much good news in this one but there is a reason that the game is played. Clay Holmes (who I have never seen have a good start) pitched for the Bucs against Brent Suter. The first 6 innings were played pretty darn fast. I was only intending to stay for about an hour and a half since it is a long drive back home and I got to the middle of the fifth before leaving. Both pitchers were getting quick outs and Suter’s only mistake was put into the left field seats by Max Moroff. Then things slowed down, which didn’t bother me too much since I was in the car and heading home. The Pirates bats exploded with 4 more homeruns, Jordan Luplow (just up from the minors) hit 2 and Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco added another set of back to back jacks. That is the first time since 1968 that two teammates have hit back to back homeruns in both ends of a doubleheader. Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando were the last to accomplish the feat with the Oakland A’s. The Pirates pen was shaky, Tyler Glasnow needed to be bailed out by Michael Feliz who needed to be bailed out by Felipe Vasquez after giving up 2 runs but the lead was just too much to overcome. Pittsburgh wins 6-2. It is hard to sweep both ends of a doubleheader and considering the Pirates’ recent history against Milwaukee I do not feel bad in the least for the Brewers. Clay Holmes earned his first major league win! I saw him for the first time as a member of the West Virginia Power back in 2014 and he at least has come a long way since then.
Game #91 Texas at Baltimore. Admittedly I did not intend to stay long for this game. My niece’s birthday party was today and being Mean Uncle Kevin I of course needed to show up. Yep, I have a reputation to uphold with her. You don’t really know what to expect in the game before the All Star Break. When I arrived at Camden Yards the tarp was on the field and after a brief rain storm moved through it was removed. The Orioles starter was listed as TBD so I was wondering who would emerge from the dugout. It turned out to be Miguel Castro. The Rangers countered with Mike Minor. This was not a pitcher’s duel as neither pitcher made it through the 3rd inning. Castro gave up a grand slam to Ronald Guzman and normally that would be enough to beat the Orioles. But no, these Rangers are not very good either. The Orioles clawed their way back in thanks to a based clearing double from Adam Jones and some bad defense from the Rangers. The Orioles took a 6-4 lead when another rain storm hit in the 4th. With a birthday party to get to I headed for the exit once the rain slowed a bit. This wound up being a short rain delay and it seemed like both teams wanted to get the game over with so they could get out of Dodge. Of course the big news was that Manny Machado was pulled after the rain delay. The conspiracy theorists were probably out in full force when that happened. Baltimore wins 6-5.
On the docket for next week
July 16 – Akron at Harrisburg
July 17 – York at Lancaster
July 18 – off
July 19 – Altoona at Reading
July 20 – Greensboro at Delmarva for a Mike Seidel bobblehead
July 21 – West Virginia at Williamsport
July 22 – Erie at Bowie for a Jonathan Schoop bobblehead
Also I have been remiss posting pictures of some of these games. I have them, I just haven’t downloaded them from the camera and resized them. I’ll get that soon, so check back as well as the last few weeks for pictures added. OK, it’s mostly baseball games but still…
