Well, it was only a matter of time before a game annoyed me enough so as to require and immediate post-game blog...let the record show that the inspirational game was against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit on May 7th...
It was right there set up for us...this had the potential to be one of those thrilling games that keeps a win streak alive and takes one level of momentum to another...this could have been a game that saw a great comeback give the boys a hard-earned W and put us one win away from a road sweep against a tough AL opponent...not a make or break series or even a game, but a nice feather for the cap early in a long season...instead, our loss may pump a little life into our less-than-worthy opponents, who thus far have underachieved...I call it our loss because after battling back all night, the Red Sox and the baseball gods GAVE this one back to the Tigers...truthfully, it might have been theirs all along...they beat up on Clay and held the Sox bats at bay with their terrible bullpen for a while...but their major (and maybe fatal) flaw finally got them...Mikey Lowell tied the game up with the 3 run bomb in the 7th...love having him back...then in the next inning the boys took the lead on a great pinch-hit by Dusty...coming in cold he worked the count to 3-0 against Horrible Tiger reliever X and then got hooked on two strikes looking to make it a 3-2 count...he finally busts a single just through the hole on the left side, a gritty typical Dusty at-bat, and he deserved to be the hero in this one...
But this 9th inning knew nothing about "deserved"...this 9th inning was just plain absurd...there was NOTHING right about it...our half went pretty normally...with a 1-run lead and Pap available who cares about a wasted insurance run...not a biggie, right...so we begin the bottom of the 9th...first batter is some kid names Joyce...apparently he really plays for the Tigers...he gets up there and looks overmatched, because, well, he was...but he somehow hits an "oh crap" roller towards Lugo...here's where the irony begins...Lugo makes a great play on the ball but it's hit too slowly and Joyce beats it out...Tigers insert a pinch runner and Pap falls behind to Renteria but makes a tough pitch and gets the grounder to Lugo...WHO BOOTS IT...and it gave him a room service hop too! He tried to rush the throw to maybe turn 2 and he just flat out muffed it...that gives him 10 errors on the season, and while he's hitting this season, if this keeps up I might be willing to sacrifice that .290, 2, 25 and 30 SB for a little defense...on the only legit play of the inning, Pudge-Rod bunts the guys over, Tek making the play to 1st for the out, correctly so...we now need Pap to get a K...which we all know he's capable of, especially against Curtis Granderson who'd already struck out like 47 times in this game...but Grander-suck makes contact and rolls one to 2nd...making an out but tying the game...up next, Placido Polanco with Renteria on 3rd waiting to stick it to us one more time (he was our crap-tastic SS for the 2005 season...very forgettable)...Pap starts overthrowing, I should say overthrowing more because he was a little over the top all night, even for him...but anyway...he overthrows three straight heaters, the first of which almost ties the game by going to the backstop on the fly...the count is 3-0 and here's where the irony continues...the next pitch is another heater, and it's high...there's no debate...it's high...ball 4...take your base...harmless enough, especially since the guy at the plate had 4 hits already on the night...except the stupid-ass ump who has already been pissy with Youk tonight, calls it a strike...you know, the obligatory 3-0 strike that umps give to respected pitchers even if it's clearly a ball...love that...how about you trained monkeys just call the damn game as it happens, not as you want to call it...so that gives Placido a 3-1 pitch...luckily, we get teased for a second (I'm not blowing the outcome here...if you haven't figured it out already you're just not too perceptive) and Pap throws a 3-1 splitter that Placido chases...3-2...the 3-2 pitch is a nasty fastball that tails in...it's a pitcher's pitch...it's usually either missed completely or grounded harmlessly somewhere...but Placido is obviously Superman today and the Sox are obviously not supposed to win this game, because this time that pitch hits his bat, which SHATTERS, and the ball lofts juuuuuust over...who else...LUGO, into left field for the walkoff loss...ARE YOU FRIGGING KIDDING ME???? It didn't matter what we would have done...the baseball gods weren't going to let us steal this one...I feel cheated after they worked so hard to pull that game even and scrape into the lead...but baseball is a funny game that way...to recap the inning check swing dribbler, error, bunt, groundout, broken-bat floater...and that's how you lose a major league baseball game...awesome...
Awful loss...and it kills any fun I would have had rooting for tomorrow's game...now it's just Beckett versus Verlander...it could have been for a 4-game sweep and a 7-game win streak...now it's just an early May, mostly meaningless game...nice that we battled back in this one and that we have a shot at 3 of 4, still pretty good, but that 9th inning SUCKED to watch...hopefully the baseball gods are watching another game tomorrow...
GO SAWX!!!
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formal request for a future blog about the "trained monkeys".
if they can also be winged and wicked, that would be cool too.
and to your point, i see the nba monkeys do the same thing late in games when the team that's behind should be automatically fouling but instead go for the steal. more times than not you'll see the foul called mostly out of anticipation than because an actual foul took place...
not cool.
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