Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Going Pigeon: Phillies at Marlins - 9/14/10: djpigeon@comcast.net





Pre-game:
Cole Hamels (10-10, 3.06) takes the ball for the Fightin Phils against Marlins farmhand Adalberto Mendez.
Mendez has started just one major league game - and it was against the Phils on Labor Day.
In the matinee of a day-night doubleheader, Mendez bamboozed the Phils using only two pitches: an average fastball and a mediocre slider. The rookie allowed just 1 hit in 6 innings.
The Phils owe this punk a beat-down tonight.

Top 1st:
Realizing that Mendez is nothing special, Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco start the game by slamming a pair of meat fastballs for base hits.
Polanco sends his pitch to the warning track in left-center, scoring Victorino easily.
The Phils rally ends there as Chase Utley jams himself on a high-outside fastball, Ryan Howard is robbed on a tremendous play by Dan Uggla and Raul Ibanez dives after an outside sinker and grounds out.

GOING PIGEON PRESENTS: NON-SEQUITR
Tremendous play by Dan Uggla

Bottom 1st: PHI 1 - FLA 0
With two strikes, Marlin leadoff hitter and pest Emilio Bonifacio fights off an outside change-up and is rewarded with a dunk single over 2nd.

As The World's Greatest Hitter in the World, Logan Morrison, brings his .304 batting average to the plate, Chris 'The Naked Emperor' Wheeler dons his Captian Obvious Cape.

Wheeler: "Bonifacio is fast . . .once he gets a good jump it's hard to catch him."
Pigeon: "Ferraris are fast . . .once they get a head start it's hard to catch them."

I haven't ripped the Emperor in over a week. . . it felt good.

Ryan Howard snares Morrison's grounder and makes a nice throw to second to force out Bonifacio.

GOING PIGEON PRESENTS: THE OTHER PLACE


Watching the game on MLB Extra Innings, Satan watches (1) the Phils retire Logan Morrison and (2) Ryan Howard complete a 3-6 force-out on the same play.  Feeling a chill in his apartment, he peeks out the window at the thermometer on the Eternal Lake of Fire National Bank across the street.
34 . . .33 . . .32 degress farenheit.


The Prince of Darkness mutters to himself: 'I hate when this happens!" and grabs a snuggli so he can resume watching the game.

Hanley Ramirez crushes an outside fastball to right.  Cole Hamels paces the mound trying to remember where he left his accruate fastball.  Dan Uggla dinks a 3-0 change-up through the spot Ryan Howard vacated to hold Ramirez on first - resulting in an RBI single and a tie ballgame.

As he mourns the demise of his 25-inning scoreless streak, Cole Hamels begins to have flashbacks of his disasterous 2009 season.  Pacing the mound at Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin/Land Shark/Sun Life Stadium, Hamels suddenly hears a voice from the recent past . . . 8/13/10, to be precise.

"Do, or do not . . .there is no try!"

Unsure where that random piece of wisdom came from, Cole Hamels induces Gaby Sanchez to fly out to right, then freezes Mike Stanton with a 93-mph fastball to end the inning.

Top 2nd: PHI 1 - FLA 1
With one out and his Phils offense slipping back into their inexplicible coma against Adalberto Mendez, Cole Hamels hears the odd voice again as he steps to the plate.

"You must unlearn what you have learned."

As if guided by a presence greater than his own, Cole Hamels closes his eyes as Mendez winds up to throw the 1-1 pitch.  Hamels never sees the 92-mph fastball, but he times his swing perfectly and scolds a single past Uggla for a single.

But Victorino and Polanco refuse to surrender their instincts and are retired to end the inning.

Top 5th: PHI 1 - FLA 1
Inspired by his otherworldly guidance, Cole Hamels begins to dominate the Marlin hitters; striking out 2 in the 2nd inning, 2 in the third and 3 in the fourth.

But the Phillie hitters are again dazed and confused by the pedestrian skill of righthander Adalberto Mendez.

Shane Victorino leads off the fifth by blasting a double that one-hops the wall in right-center.  Polanco follows with a walk.
The numbers on Mendez at this point should be impossible: 37 balls and 38 strikes, 1 run allowed on 4 hits

Once thing helping Mendez tonight is Chase Utley, who interrupts a fine September with a brutal night at the plate.  He sends a can of corn to right for the first out. 
After Ryan Howard draws a walk, Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez decides to pull Mendez in favor of submarine reliever Burke Badenhop.
The strategy works . . . sort of.  Jayson Werth bounces a feeble grounder to Wes Helms at 3rd, but Victorino is too fast to risk a 5-2 force-out, and scores on a fielders choice.

Bottom 7th: PHI 2 - FLA 1
Regarded by many blue-collar Phillies fans fragile and weak-mended, Cole Hamels begins the Marlin seventh with 11 strikeouts on 107 pitches.  The mercurial lefthander outalsts pinch-hitter Hector Luna in a nine-pitch dual that ends with a strikeout, then makes Bonifacio strikeout victim 13.
Hamels gets to a 2-2 count on Logan Morrison, but eventually succumbs to a walk - after all, Morrison is the WGHITW.
Charlie Manuel takes the ball at this point and the gathering (this cannot be honestly called a crowd) made up of 80% Phillies fans gives the lefthander a standing ovation.  Hamels ends the night allowing 1 run on 5 hits, 2 walks and 13 strikouts.
Like Ryan Madson: it would appear the Cole Hamels has 'done growed up'.

Top 9th: PHI 2 - FLA 1
Cole Hamels has given way to the Phils bullpen, and while Chad Durbin and Ryan Madson have (barely) kept the Marlins off the board, two runs does just does not feel like enough to win tonight, especially with Brad Lidge coming off his mysterious elbow injury.

Jayon Werth can make life easier for everyone if he would just get a hit with two outs and runners on first and second . . .but Clay Hensely strikes him out.

GOING PIGEON PRESENTS: MATH AND THE CAVEMAN
Werth's strikeout makes him 6-for-62 on the season with 2 outs and runners in scoring position.

For some perspective: here's Werth's key batting stats:
.288 batting average - 507 at-bats - 146 base hits - 73 walks - .379 on-base percentage

When there are NOT 2 outs and runners in scoring position:
.331 batting average - 445 at-bats - 140 base hits - 65 walks (estimated) - .402 OBP (est.)

All joking aside: Werth might do better closing his eyes with 2 outs and RISP.

Bottom 9th: PHI 2 - FLA 1
Brad Lidge comes in for the first time in 8 days with a one-run lead at Florida.  Not a good scenario, but Lidge is equal to the task as he retires the side in order to seal the win.
As an exclamation point, Lidge gets TWGHIW to send a can-of-corn to Victorino for the final out.

Final score: Phillies 2 - Marlins 1

Final score from Atlanta: Nationals 6 - Braves 0

I am Don Pigeon and I am OUT!!!


Custom Search

No comments:

Post a Comment