The weather is getting cooler so that must mean that baseball season is coming to an end. In a way I’m happy since it will make my life just a bit easier. I think I’ve mentioned this already. Put a lot of miles on the car this summer. I don’t intend to do that next year since it’s almost at 220,000.
Game #142. Up to Harrisburg on Labor Day for a game that I enjoy. It is sad that the minor league season is over but Kipona Fest is going on and I enjoy going to that. Love the Farm Show milkshakes. And there was a Biergarten from Zeroday too. Crammed a lot of yum into one hour since gametime was noon. Kevin McGowan took the hill for the Senators against Sean Brady for the Curve. I was not expecting much out of Brady but Altoona needed to win this game to finish with a .500 record. Could they do it? I was expecting slugfest (or at least what passes for one in the Eastern League nowadays) but it was not to be. Brady took a no-no into the 6th, broken up by his only mistake which Michael Taylor put into the right field seats. McGowan wasn’t exactly better but Altoona just couldn’t get a run across the plate. Their best chance was in the 8th with 2 runners on and 2 outs when Oneil Cruz hit what looked like a gapper but Hunter Jones ran it down. Just not meant to be and the only question at that point was could this game be finished in under 2 hours. Harrisburg’s closer put a few runners on but finished the game off and the game was played in a crisp 2 hours and 2 minutes. Harrisburg wins 1-0.
Game #143. Over to Lancaster to see them take on the Long Island Ducks on Tuesday. Stopped in at Lancaster Brewing before the game. Jonathan Albaladejo took the hill for the Barnstormers against Joe Iorio for the Ducks. It has been a tough year for Albaladejo and the Barnstormers. He is the reigning league pitcher of the year but he’s carrying a 2-10 record this season. Luke Aplin got the Barnstormers on the board with a solo shot in the 2nd. Long Island responded with 2 in the following frame and they should have had more but had some poor baserunning/third base coaching that cost them at least one run and maybe 2. The Ducks tacked on another run but Lancaster came back to tie the game on solo shots from Josh Bell, the team’s player/hitting coach, and Parker Morin off of Iorio’s relief Scott Richmond, a former big leaguer freshly in from the Can-Am League. Could Albaladejo get off the snide at that point? No, he proceeded to give up 3 in the following frame to the Ducks and that was pretty much all she wrote. I don’t feel bad watching the Barnstormers lose and Long Island wins this 6-3.
We also had not one but two Weenie Boy follies. When we came in he went right to his seat and I went to the bathroom. When I came down he was sitting in a seat but I looked at the ticket. He was in the wrong row. E and G look different but not to him. Later then he called the TrackMan system Pac-Man. I spent the rest of the night making Pac-Man sounds and asking where Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde were.
Game #144. It’s playoff time. Up to Reading for Game 1 of the Eastern League division playoffs against the Trenton Thunder. Jordan Montgomery got the ball for the Thunder on a Major League rehab appearance against Spencer Howard for the Fightin’s. I think Reading will have the advantage in this series. At least one regular was moved up to Scranton and since Scranton had a miracle comback to qualify for the AAA playoffs Trenton will be relying on some new players while Reading’s players have been there for most of the year. We’ll see. There is a reason I am buying a ticket for the game and not getting ushered in for free. There really is. Howard in this was dominant. He didn’t give up a hit until the sixth inning and struck out 12 Thunder hitters. He had a 3-1 lead thanks to Montgomery wearing down and some poor defense. But Reading’s bullpen decided to do their best Phillies’ bullpen impression and Jeff Singer not only gave the lead up but allowed Trenton to take the lead. Yep, Reading snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and Trenton steals Game 1 4-3.
Game #145. Team #29 off the board with the Texas Rangers. Kolby Allard took the hill for the Rangers against John Means for the Orioles. First, a funny story. As I was riding down on the Light Rail a kid (he had a school polo shirt on so he was a kid) got on the train and decided to serenade us all with a selection of his favorite music which glorified all kinds of things and talked about what they did with cops. Now playing music without earphones is against the law (it says so on the walls). When we got to the Cultural Center stop a transit cop was waiting and got on. Mr. Tough Guy immediately turned his music off. I guess we got to see who still wears the pants in that relationship.
Now on to the game. Means was in control of this one, at least for the first six innings. He was staked to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Trey Mancini double and a Renato Nunez sac fly whose throw fortunately sailed up the first base line. Unfortunately for Means his lead was short lived as the Rangers plated two on a Nick Solak 2-run shot. At this point it was 8:45, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The game had flown by up to this point. I know I’ve said it before but it can be done. Typical Orioles snatching defeat from the jaws of potential victory. Texas added an insurance run and while there was a brief threat in the 9th this one was over. Texas wins this 3-1. Attendance for this one was about 8,200. Fortunately for them the minor league playoffs don’t draw well so they did manage to outdraw every MiLB team as the best figure as the Amarillo Sod Poodles at 5,400. Some of those minor league totals were pretty bad too. As a result I had the section all to myself. Wonder if I made it onto the telecast at all in a closeup?
Game #146. More playoff time with the Bowie Baysox coming to Harrisburg for Game 3 of the Eastern League division playoffs. Zac Lowther took the hill for the Baysox against Mario Sanchez for the Senators. The series is tied at 1, thanks to a 12 inning win for Harrisburg the previous night. Sanchez got down quickly. The score after 2 innings was Bowie’s Anderson Feliz 5 Harrisburg 0. Feliz had 2 home runs in the first 2 innings, and he had hit 3 all season. Bowie continued to tack on and by the end of the 4th this one seemed over. Lowther was not in control but kept the Senators off of the board except for one run. Harrisburg did have a bit of a late comback plating 4 runs in the 8th but by that point it was too little too late. Bowie wins Game 3 7-5 to take a 2-1 series lead. Trenton also swept Reading so, it appears that barring a Game 5 in the Eastern League finals I will be bidding adieu to the affiliated minor leagues.
Game #147. Finally getting out to Pittsburgh for a game. I don’t expect much out of this one since they have laid down and played dead for much of the second half and St. Louis has beaten them like a rented mule this year. That means I’ll be back home just a little bit earlier since i can leave when I want. Lot of breweries to visit and little time to do so today. Took I-68 out since I don’t feel like paying the exorbitant Turnpike tolls both ways. I’ll do it going back because I like getting home at around 1 AM and not 2 AM. Well, that and there is apparently an awesome Chinese restaurant in La Vale, Maryland that has been recommended. I was planning on hitting it coming back from Morgantown last week but that didn’t work out since I had to change dates. It was good, don’t get me wrong, and I didn’t need to eat anything more the rest of the day, but it was very comparable to the York Buffet here in town. Picked up a Pirates’ Spiderman bobblehead, my last bobblehead of the year since I think I’ll buy the Steve Blass one on eBay. Also visited The Washington Brewing Company in Washington and Southern Tier in Pittsburgh before a game. Thought I would have more time but I didn’t.
Adam Wainwright took the hill for the Cardinals against Steven Brault for the Pirates. Would we get the good Brault or the evil Brault? He can be dominant or he can blow up in the 1st. We wound up getting the regular Brault. He had some scoreless innings, a few 1-2-3 but he had 2 bad innings, both made worse by fielding errors. This is one area where it seems like the Cardinals are head and shoulders above everyone and it seems like the Pirates’ make some really stupid errors when they play the Cardinals. Jose Osuna dropped a ball in right field and Josh Bell made a throwing error. By the point that Clay Holmes relieved Brault this game was over but no one told the Cardinals who continued to tack on. It’s getting so bad for the Pirates that I have never heard of the pitcher that they brought in to pitch the ninth. Who is Parker Markel? Looks like someone that they picked up off of the scrap heap. Anyway St. Louis wins this one 10-1. Yuk.
Game #148. Since Harrisburg was eliminated (in ugly fashion) I was going to go to the Orioles game but I made the executive decision and went down to the Revs to get my autograph pennant updated. I also exchanged my other Sunday ticket for the home finale so I’ve attended my last Sunday Oriole game for the 2019 season. The Revolution have added a few new players since the last time I went thorough the autograph line so it’s time to update. Hope it won’t be too many more, I’m just about out of room (shouldn’t be barring something major). There’s also one signature that I can’t identify on there. I think I can read the number but the player that has that number has a distinctive signature so it’s not him. That will bother me all off season. Wound up getting all of the signatures that I wanted except for the guy who was the starting pitcher. Next time…
Austin Steinfort took the hill for the Revs. I was at least relieved that I would be seeing someone other than Duke von Schamann. Kevin McGovern, fresh from a season with the Winnipeg Goldeneyes in the American Association, started for the Blue Crabs. The Revs got on the board first thanks to a Zach Sullivan triple and Isaias Tejeda sac fly. They tacked 2 more on in the 4th and then Telvin Nash flicked one out. It looked like he barely hit the ball but it just kept carrying. Southern Maryland got a solo shot from former Rev Travis Witherspoon but that was all their offense could muster. It’s not that they didn’t have their chances, Steinfort was in and out of trouble most of the game until he was relieved but he surrendered no runs. That might have worked for the Blue Crabs but will it work against Long Island or Sugar Land? We’ll find out. York wins this one 5-1.
On the docket for next week:
September 9 – no game
September 10 – no game
September 11 – Los Angeles @ Baltimore
September 12 – no game
September 13 – York @ Lancaster
September 14 – Atlanta @ Washington (possibly Trenton @ Bowie for Game 5 of the E.L. finals too if it comes to that)
September 15 – York @ Lancaster
