Game # 8 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Lehigh. Alright, the first bobblehead of the year. This honor almost always seems to go to an Iron Pig, or is at least at an Iron Pigs game, and in this case it is outfielder Roman Quinn. They like to do their bobbleheads early in the year and I do appreciate that guys. There is almost no conflict with these games and that makes it easy for me. I also love coming to Coca-Cola Park. This is my favorite stop on the regular circuit though People’s Natural Gas Field in Altoona is pretty darn nice too. Stopped at Golden Avalanche Brewing in Kutztown for a beer. I leave for Allentown early, especially at this time of year, so I can avoid all of the school buses. By leaving early I also arrive early and beat the parking attendant in.
Drew Anderson started for the Pigs against Drew Hutchinson for Scranton. It took half an hour to play the first inning which ended with Scranton up 3-1. The Railriders added another in the top of the second and it just looked like this one was going to drag on to midnight. In the bottom of the second Dylan Cozens hit a no doubt grand slam putting Lehigh up. And that was it for the scoring. Neither starter made it through 5 but the bullpens mowed ’em down and the game wound up being played in less than 3 hours. Lehigh wins 5-4. Also on a side not the Iron Pigs nearly outdrew the Orioles on this night.
Game #9 Oakland @ Baltimore. First a pregame beer at BC Brewing. While the A’s are not the Yankees I think I will be making more stops at local breweries to fortify myself before Oriole games. With BC being near the Light Rail station that I use (and I used to work just down the street) it is situated perfectly and they serve food too. Brett Anderson started for the A’s against John Means for the Orioles in his first big league start. I’m sure that this will go well. The A’s come in as team #5 for the year. Of course the big question was would Chris Davis 1) play and 2) get a hit to break his now record breaking hitless streak? With the Oriole bats exploding the night before I was expecting them to be shutout.
No he wouldn’t. Davis didn’t play in this one though Oakland has Khris Davis and he did get a hit. OK, for this game we’ll do the compliment sandwich. For 5 of the first 6 innings the Oriole pitching was competent though a five run second ended the game. Evan Phillips looked like a major league pitcher throwing 3 scoreless innings. But the game was already over and the Oriole bullpen imploded in the last two innings. To end on a positive note, the game moved relatively quickly, at least until the Oriole pen hit the skids but I was gone by then. My compliments to both teams. Oakland wins 13-2.
The paid attendance for this game was 7,700, a full thousand more than yesterday’s game. So, how many minor league teams outdrew the Orioles? 3 AAA teams did, Iowa, Round Rock and Las Vegas and 1 AA team did, the Tulsa Drillers. Getting outdrawn by 4 minor league teams, not good.
Game #10 Fayetteville @ Frederick. Made a stop at the new Rockwell Brewing in Frederick before the game. Michael Baumann started for the Keys against Parker Mushinski for the Woodpeckers. Baumann was pretty good, tossing 5 scoreless innings. Mushinski was not so good and he worked slowly, going 3-2 on almost every hitter. Frederick’s batters were on, Ryan Ripken hit a 2-run shot as did big Jomar Reyes. They were in control until the Key bullpen came in and melted down in a fashion that the Orioles would be proud of. An 8-0 lead was whittled down to one in that inning and then they gave it all up and then some the next inning for Fayetteville to win 11-8. That means that my new favorite baseball player Seth Beer emerged a winner!
Game # 11 Asheville @ Hagerstown. First it was out to McConnellsburg to visit my aunt and set up her lawn furniture. After that a stop in Chambersburg to Gearhouse and Roy Pitz to get stickers for my Cumberland Valley Beer Passport. This might be the last time I’m in Chambersburg for the year. Then down to Hagerstown to Antietam Brewing for a pregame beer before heading over to Municipal Staidum for some Suns baseball. This was the home opener, which I didn’t realize, not like that matters here where the Suns are lucky to draw 1,000 fans in a game. Jake Irvin started for the Suns against Shelby Lackey for the Tourists. It was a bit chilly but Irvin was out there with just short sleeves. I looked it up, he’s from Minnesota, so he’s good. Hagerstown held a 5-1 lead after the first and for the most part just went on cruise control to win 8-2.
Game # 12 Pittsburgh @ Washington. Now is my first chance to see my beloved Pirates. As a bonus the Nationals were giving away a Juan Soto bobblehead. Sweet! Left early, traffic in Baltimore and DC can be bad at any time, and stopped in at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe. And traffic was bad, rain hit and it was slowdown after slowdown after slowdown. Wreck after wreck after wreck. Do Marylanders know how to drive in the rain? The Pirates have not had a good record in DC lately so my expectations were tempered to begin with. Of course last year it was 20 degrees out when I saw the Pirates first, so the weather is at least a marked improvement. The Pirates are team #6 for the year with the Nationals being team #7.
Trevor Williams went for the Bucs against Patrick Corbin for the Nats. Corbin was on, whiffing 12 Bucs but Williams kept the Nats offense in check giving up only 2 runs. The problem was that Corbin only gave up Josh Bell’s solo shot in the 2nd. That changed when the Nats bullpen came in and did what they have been doing a lot of and that is cough up the lead when Starling Marte got a 2-run single. Unfortunately the Bucs gave the advantage right back. Fortunately that changed in the 10th when Colin Moran hit a 3-run shot to win it for the Bucs. I think someone does not want to be on the short list for a Kevy for Worst Major League Hitter. Pittsburgh wins 6-3.
Game #13 Harrisburg @ Bowie. Had the opportunity for a bonus game and I took it, granted it was for only a few innings. Tyler Mapes started for Harrisburg against Dillon Tate for Bowie. The first 2 innings went smooth enough but in the 3rd Tate gave up a grand slam to Drew Ward and his relief gave up 2-run shots to Rhett Wiseman and Zach Collier putting them up 8-0. Bowie rallied for 3 in the bottom of the fourth and at that point I left. Harrisburg wins 10-4. I figured that one hour to get from Bowie to Nats Park would be more than enough. HA! US 50 was stop and go. The BW Parkway was stop and go. I walked into Nats park about 5 minutes before first pitch. Fortunately Nats fans were either busy watching the Caps or just did the typical late arrival.
Game # 14 Pittsburgh @ Washington. Chris Archer pitched for the Bucs against Anibal Sanchez for the Nats. The Bucs got on the board first when Josh Bell hit a triple (Juan Soto tried to dive to catch it and whiffed so the super-slow Bell got 3) and Colin Moran doubled him in. The Bucs gave the run right back in typical Pirate fashion but retook the lead on a Melky Cabrera home run. Victory was at hand but Richard Rodriguez gave up back to back jacks to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Washington wins 3-2. It made all of the traffic on the way back much less unbearable.
Game # 15 Pittsburgh @ Washington. Jameson Taillon for the Bucs took on Max Scherzer for the Nats. Scherzer’s no-no a few years ago is still fresh in my mind and fortunately for me Pirates’ lead-off hitter Adam Frazier singled to start the game. Josh Bell had a big day, driving in two with two RBI doubles but every time the Nats came back and would tie the game. Scherzer was good, but not great today. One has to wonder if he is still hurting from whatever it was that pushed him back a day. In the 9th the Bucs took the lead when Jason Martin doubled in Bell. Felipe Vazquez had been brought in for the 8th and was left in for the 9th. He came close to giving up runs in both frames but managed to emerge unscathed. Pittsburgh wins 4-3, their first series win in DC since 2013.
I also decided to start a new segment in homage to Straight Cash Homey. I will be on the lookout for all of those oddball jerseys or T-shirts that people like to wear to prove their super fandom. In this game I observed a Nationals fan wearing the jersey for former Nats pitching coaches Mike Maddux and Tom Filer. Those guys must be either super fans or they won the jersey-off-their-back contest. Also spotted was a fan wearing a Vinny Castilla shirt jersey. That one goes back to the first year the Nats were in DC. Castilla was a very good player but he was most known for his time in Colorado. Also spotted was a Pirates fan wearing a Pedro Alvarez jersey. That fan must have spent his hard-earned money on it and refuses to stop wearing it. For the record, Pedro is unemployed at this point of the season.
On the docket for next week (weather permitting)
April 15 – Portland @ Reading
April 16 – San Francisco @ Washington
April 17 – TBD (probably an off night)
April 18 – Rochester @ Lehigh (Pedro Beato Bobblehead)
April 19 – Lexington @ Lakewood (Seranthony Dominguez Bobblehead)
April 20 – Revolution Fan Fest (getting my autograph pennant started, not sticking around for the game)
April 20 – Reading @ Harrisburg (a nice 1:00 start time)
April 20 – Minnesota @ Baltimore
April 21 – It’s Easter Sunday, no baseball for me.
