Well, damned Erie blew our doors off again, 10 to 7, on another blustery, windy, cold day. The ladies did not turn up, sadly. About 1,000 people were in the park at game time, and maybe 200 people that weren't being paid to be there remained by the ninth inning. God alone knows what they're going to do with all the pink handbags. They'll probably be shooting them out of that air bazooka Steamer carries around in 2014.
Speaking of pink, the Curve used pink bats; then, at the end of the game, they switched back to normally colored bats and started scoring runs. Coincidence? I mean, come on, Andy Oliver is supposed to be afraid of a guy with a pink bat?
Erie was big on the Three True Outcomes yesterday. Curve pitchers struck out a team record 16 batters*, but also walked more than a few and gave up three home runs. Starter Rudy Owens looked dominating at times, but walks and home runs proved his undoing in the 4th and 5th frames. He left after five innings trailing 5 to 2, and took his first loss as a... what do you call a person who plays for the Curve, anyway? A Curve, I guess, but it's pretty weird. Not like someone who plays for Richmond. He can proudly impress women by telling them, 'I'm a Flying Squirrel.'
* The Curve struck out 16 opponents in 'one' game before, but come on, that game was 19 innings long.
Mike Dubee and Ronald Uviedo finished things out for the Curve, but didn't fare any better than Owens, giving up a couple runs each. That proved costly, as the Curve staged a late comeback in the 8th and 9th.
Random tidbits:
In the 2nd inning, struggling Erie shortstop Cale Iorg suffered the first of his four strikeouts--in a row--when Rudy Owens broke his back with a sweeping, 63 MPH curveball, a Bert Blyleven special. I asked Owens about it last night and he didn't know what the hell I was talking about. Maybe it was just a slower than usual curve; he didn't throw anything else quite like it. It was terrific fun to watch. Rudy's also refreshingly honest; his comment on Curve-slaying Erie catcher Max St. Pierre (Five home runs on the season now, four of them at the BCB) was, 'That guy owns me.'
No worries, Rudy. Dustin Molleken's got your back.
In the 7th inning, play was held up for 30 seconds because, as Alex Presley came to bat, his walkup ditty (typically about 6-8 seconds) was left on all the way through the first verse of 'Fight for Your Right to Party' while plate umpire Joe Hannigan gestured at the booth and Presley and Max St. Pierre stared on. Apparently someone up there is a Beastie Boys fan.
Alex Presley is turning out to be this year's fan favorite. Is this because:
(a) he's on fire with the bat and hitting like .750?
(b) of his name?
(c) of his Beastie Boys walkup music?
It's some of all of the above, certainly, but I'm leaning toward (c) as the primary factor here.
By the way, I did end up attending the bowling event for the Make A Wish Foundation, along with almost all of the Curve players and staff. You missed out. I'll post a trip report on that tomorrow, I hope.
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