Important Series Against Erie. Also: Toys.

The Curve lost a heartbreaker in Richmond today, 2 to 1 in 11 innings, Ronald Uviedo taking a tough loss after six strong innings from Derek Hankins and three innings of shut-down relief from Tony Watson. Even so, they wrap up their road trip 5-2, having swept the woeful Senators (and handing Stephen Strasburg his first professional loss) and earned a four-game split in the road against the second-place Richmond Flying Squirrels.

'Richmond Flying Squirrels' is the greatest team name in professional sports today. There will be no argument about this.

Tomorrow night I'll be at the BCB--and you should be, too--as the boys return home and host the irritating Erie SeaWolves, who are presently four and a half games behind us and have been playing us tough all year. Not two weeks ago, Erie came to the BCB and took three out of four from the Curve. Hopefully, we can take two of three from them this time around, before the user-friendly (and now Strasburg-less) Senators come to town.

Tomorrow night is the Webkinz giveaway; they're giving the damned toys to the first 1,500 kids age 14 and under. I don't know how they determine who's 14 and who's 15, but I presume the interns handing out the toys will give them to whoever looks reasonably young. A fight over whether so-and-so is really only 14 when she looks 18 doesn't really make anybody happy. Kid number 1,501 might wish they'd demanded to see a birth certificate back when suspected 18-year-old 'kid' number 682 came through, but s/he won't be nearly as angry as number 682 and whoever she's with. Public scenes are bad for business.

Of course, though official attendance figures are always in the low 2,000s, I doubt I've been to a game yet where more than 1,000 people were in the park. (I missed Strasburg's pro debut.) Then again, the last time the Curve played at home, game time temperature was about 45 degrees and the wind was blowing hard. Tomorrow night it will be sunny and in the high 60s. Believe you me: 2,000 kids will show up for the damned toys tomorrow night. I would expect around 4,000 people in total. The gates open at 5:20; I will be certain to be there at 5:10. There are few things in life I like less than traffic jams, so I'd rather get to the park very early and commence with my usual routine of writing, reading, watching warmups, and very probably eating a funnel cake. (I have become the master of eating a funnel cake without messing up my black suit. Don't try this at home, kids.)

Justin Wilson is scheduled to pitch tomorrow night. The last time I saw him, Erie chased him in the third inning after he walked six batters and gave up four runs; Wilson has been the weak link on the pitching staff so far, and has especially struggled to find the strike zone. He did pitch a lot better last Sunday, going four innings, three walks, one run as he and Mike Dubee combined to outduel Stephen Strasburg. Of course, that was Harrisburg. This is Erie. Erie can rake.