2 weeks left in the minor league season and only 3 major road trips left to go. One of them is taken care of this week and the next is next week and the final one is the week after that. I am starting to look forward to the end of the season but I see that hockey season starts almost immediately afterwards, but then that is pretty much for weekends only. I am sure the car is looking forward to a break.
Game #130 Cut grass on Monday so I wanted to just stay local for this one. Since I can get a free ticket with a canned food donation on a Monday I figured why not? Pregame stop at Gift Horse for a brew on a hot August evening. I do mean hot, my shirt was wet from sweat when I got home. It should also be noted that the shirt I wore when I cut grass was still damp the next morning. Anyway, Mitch Atkins took the hill for the Revs against John Hayes for the Blue Crabs. Outside of a long first inning Atkins was on point throwing 7 shutout innings and quite possibly cementing a Kevy for Best Indy Pitcher. Hayes was not as good surrendering 3 in the first, 2 on an Isaias Tejeda 2-run shot that just got over the Arch Nemesis. They added 4 in the 5th, chasing Hayes and putting this one out of reach. The rest of the game went on cruise control and York wins this one 8-1.
Game #131 Team #28 off the board with the Kansas City Royals. Only the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners to go. Also picked up my season ticket holder gift, a special Oriole Bird bobblehead. Sweet. Brad Keller started for the Royals against Dylan Bundy. As a bonus Light Rail service has been fully restored! When i got to Camden Yards the skies were darkening and the groundscrew was unrolling the tarp. Just what I wanted to see, but when I got to my seat they had not put the tarp on the field. They wound up rolling it back up and the game was delayed by only 10 minutes. Those are the rain delays that I like.
Now the last time I saw Bundy face the Royals he won himself a Kevy for worst Major League effort and it was so bad I named it the Dylan Bundy award. He couldn’t get one out and gave up 7 runs. Couldn’t do much worse than that and fortunately for him Alex Cobb probably has this award wrapped up for this season. Bundy tonight was much better, he got the leadoff hitter out and he got plenty more after that. Now don’t get me wrong, no one is going to mistake the ’19 Royals for the ’27 Yankees but outside of surrendering one run in the 2nd he pitched pretty darn well. The problem was that Keller was better. This game moved very quickly. I left at stretch time and it wasn’t even 9:00 yet. It can be done! By the time I got back to my car the game was over but the Orioles had tied it in the 7th (I heard cheering waiting for the Light Rail, that must have been it) and took the lead in the 8th on a Hanser Alberto 3-run shot. As a bonus that made a winner out of Hunter Harvey, his first big league win. I’ll hold onto that ticket in anticipation of his Hall of Fame induction. Baltimore wins 4-1.
Game #132 Last of two trips down to Salisbury, this time to pick up a Lou Taylor bobblehead. Who is Lou Taylor you ask? He is the superintendent of the Worcester County Schools (that’s Ocean City folks), certainly a bobblehead that will be worth millions in years to come! After sitting through traffic on the Bay Bridge because of a wreck I hit Eastern Shore in St. Michaels, RAR in Cambridge, Backshore Bay in Ocean City, Burley Oak in Berlin, Tall Tales in Parsonburg and Evolution in Salisbury before the game. As a bonus the Shorebirds were playing the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Pirates’ affiliate and the Orioles promoted their top draft pick Adley Rutschman to the Shorebirds the game before. I didn’t think I would get to see him since Aberdeen didn’t work the last time I was down.
Delmarva had handled the Grasshoppers so far this series and the pitching match up in this favored Delmarva. Drew Rom and his sub-3 ERA went for Delmarva against Steven Jennings and hit 5-plus ERA for Greensboro. There is a reason that you play the game and this was the Ji-Hwan Bae show. He had a 4-hit game, 5 RBIs, 2 doubles (including a bases clearing double) and scored 3 runs. He’s had a heck of a second half. His double in the second (that cleared the bases) broke the camels back. Delmarva right fielder Johnny Rizer appeared to catch the third out. But the Greensboro manager didn’t think so, asked the home plate ump to review it and after consultation he ruled it a no-catch and a single. I had though it was the third out and on a hot and muggy night went to get a drink of water only to come back to see the Delmarva manager go ballistic and get ejected.
This game went really slowly. Partly because Rom struggled and he was eventually and mercifully relieved. Jennings was much better and Greensboro wins this one 11-3. Rutschman went 0-3 but did have an RBI groundout. Not the best performance but his first Sally League RBI. I doubt this ticket will be worth anything in the future.
Game #133 Next to least regular season game in Harrisburg for me. It was also Harry Potter Night. You know I have never seen more than about 2 seconds of a Harry Potter movie. I’m not bragging, it’s just a fact. On this night the Seantors were taking on the surging Erie Seawolves. Kevin McGowan took the hill for the Senators against Tarik Skubal for the Seawolves. First off, what a difference a day makes. Gametime was about 70 degrees and very nice after a rainy day. Even wore my light jacket for this one and long pants. Things started well for Erie plating one run in the opening frame on a Josh Lester RBI double. McGowan settled down and put up blanks from there. Harrisburg came back to tie it after a Luis Garcia triple and RBI single by Adrian Sanchez in which Garcia would have been out at the plate had the catcher held onto the ball. They took the lead on another RBI single from Sanchez. The Senators pen put up blanks highlighted by Jordan Mills wiggling out of a bases loaded jam to pick up a 2-1 win in what could be a playoff matchup.
Game #134 Almost let this bobblehead slip by but I noticed it in time and picked up a Mike Mussina HOF bobblehead from Hagerstown. It was supposed to be given away about a month ago but it wasn’t ready yet apparently and the giveaway was postponed. Worked out for me. For the record, Hagerstown was the Orioles’ AA team when Mussina entered the pro ranks. I expected a good crowd for this one since they were playing Delmarva and there was. That is good for the Suns, they need the attendance. Brewery stop beforehand at Aldus and Warehouse in Hanover and Monocacy in Frederick beforehand. As a bonus Friday’s game was rained out so this turned into a doubleheader. In Game 1 Grayson Rodriguez took the hill for the Shorebirds against Tomas Alastre for the Suns. On paper this looked like it should be a run-away Shorebirds win but just like on Thursday it was not the case. Got a foul ball also early in the game when most people were not in the park yet. Hagerstown got on the board first on a Jacob Rhinesmith solo shot. I was in line for food, should have stayed. Got the worst chicken tenders and fries I ever had. Both seemed to be stale and even Old Bay couldn’t make the fries taste better. That’s hard to do. Anyway the Suns piled onto Rodriguez eventually chasing him in the 5th. Alastre surrendered only one run and went the distance as Hagerstown wins 5-1.
Game #135 On to Game 2 which featured Ryan Wilson for the Shorebirds against Jackson Stoeckinger for the Suns. This one was a pitcher’s duel (doesn’t the second game of a doubleheader always seem to be?). Both pitchers put up blanks and it went into extras when Delmarva plated a run in the 8th and held on for a 1-0 win. I was gone by then, probably stuck behind a person named Chuck on Route 30 at that point, maybe it was the Chuck in a Truck driving 10 miles under the speed limit by then. Anyway Adley Rutschman caught the first game and DH’d in the second game and went hitless for both games. Still hasn’t gotten a hit in the Sally League yet.
Game #136 Last trip down to Bowie (in all probability, unless they make the playoffs and make the championship round). Team autograph day and my dad’s financial people have a client picinic so free food too! Pregame stop at Chesapeake Brewing in Annapolis which meant I missed team autographs. Didn’t realize the gates opened at 12 and not 12:30. Beau Sulser took the hill for the Curve against Tyler Herb for the Baysox, who are fighting for a playoff spot with Erie. Altoona was poised to strike first but had a runner thrown out at the plate to end the first. Was it close? I have no idea, I was in line for food. After that Herb had little issue until he got deep into the game. The Baysox got to Sulser in the first and second and his relief in the 4th. That seemed like all that Bowie needed as Herb was dominant but they left him in into the 8th and he finally wore down. Altoona plated 3 in that frame but that was all they got and all that meant was that Bowie’s closer would finish the game and not some middling reliever. Bowie wins a big game (for them) 4-3.
On tap for next week:
August 26 – Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia
August 27 – Sugar Land @ York
August 28 – TBD
August 29 – Batavia @ West Virginia
August 30 – Myrtle Beach @ Wilmington
August 31 – Buffalo @ SWB
September 1 – No game
