-this recap created by kindred, smuggled to you by dr. howl
Last night was fun! Burly walked it off into the “we will see you tomorrow night” lawn. Let’s
maintain the energy. For a supposedly-good pitcher Keller isn’t very intimidating, and we’ve got
our most ambush-capable lineup tonight. Gorman and Burly are good complements: Burly has
contact but no walks, Gorman has walks but less contact, both are flashing some power… too
bad neither can field.
The questions about Pallante’s viability persist. My view is that he needs a strong defense
behind him, that is the lesson of his entire career. Tonight’s defense is just about the worst we
could put out there (without Pages at 2B): Noot in CF, Burly in LF, Pozo at C, everybody else in
their normal spots with Herrera DHing. So we’ll see. Willson gets a 6-game suspension for
throwing Hi-Chew onto the field in animated fashion, but he’s appealing the decision and is in
the lineup tonight. Last night’s home plate ump is at 1B tonight, all bets are off.
McGreevy overcame a slow start to provide some length last night, it would be great if Pallante
could tag team with a strong 6 against a weak lineup. We need to save the bullpen for when the
veterans take their turn, and Andre needs a convincing start.
First
Pallante BABIPed right away, Triolo rolls one past Saggese. Horwitz does too, 1st and 3rd.
Reynolds doinks one accidentally, 1-0 Buccos, 2nd & 3rd, no outs. Cruz falls behind but works a
walk. Cutch dribbles another past Saggese, 3-0. Bippity BABIPity Boo. Even Suwinski makes
contact, oppo ground-rule double. JFC. 4-0. 20 pitches in, no outs. No whiffs yet either, I don’t
think. There’s the first one, against Henry Davis, who also fouls a few off before serving one into
RF for a sac RBI. 5-0. Peguero makes Walker run deep into the corner, but he snags it for the
2nd out. Kiner-Falefa is the 9th batter, and he nibbles one back to Pallante.
Home side comes to bat with work to do. Noot has no BABIP luck, but Herrera slices one into
short center for a single. Burly hacks a single into CF too, but Willson chops into a DP.
Second
Andre gets Triolo quickly but Horwitz doinks another the other way. Lot of pitches are up, and
he’s not exactly painting the corners. Haha Chip just said the same thing. This is like watching
Jason Marquis. Reynolds doubles to Noot, then advances to 3rd on an error. 6-0. Cruz chops
one to Winn, 7-0. Cutch pops out, 3 outs.
Gorman strikes out swinging, so does Masyn, Saggese is up with positive WAR for the first time
this year (AFAIK) and strikes out swinging. Grr.
Third
Gorman with a very nice play moving to his left in the hole. Spins and throws for out #1. But
Davis yanks one, 8-0. Reminder that this is not a good lineup. Peguero Ks and Kiner-Falefa
lines out.
Walker grounds out, Pozo strikes out, so does Noot.
Fourth
Ozzie Smith is jacked, wow.
Pallante is gonna eat as much as he can. Gets Triolo to line out quickly, Horwitz to ground out
meekly. 75 pitches. Reynolds strikes out.
Keller at 41 pitches, don’t think he’s broken a sweat. Herrera strikes out. Willson gets plunked
again. Gorman takes a big rip on one down and in, but whiffs. Fortunately that was just strike 1,
he gets another big rip on a similar pitch and hits a MAJESTIC home run deep into RF stands.
415 feet apparently. More of that please, Nolan! Winn grounds out while Ozzie is talking. 8-2.
Fifth
Pallante gets Cruz to ground out. Cutch watches strike 3. Suwinski pops out. Pallante is at 90
pitches, my guess is he comes out for another.
Still a lot of game left. Saggs gets screwed by the ump. Walker strikes out on a sweeper in the
other batter’s box. It’s a wild pitch that goes all the way back to the wall, but Walker took a poor
route to first and is thrown out. Bad bad bad. Pozo keeps swinging until he finally strikes out.
Sixth
Graceffo is in, slinging 96. I wish he could get some starts down the stretch. They say he
doesn’t have length, but neither do our vets lately and lots of teams use openers and
piggybacks. Strikes out Davis. Peguero flies out to Burly. IKF grounds sharply, Masyn makes a
great catch but his throw pulls Willson off the bag and he can’t apply the tag. GG left one up and
Triolo slapped it to right, but Horwitz pops out weakly.
Noot walks, Herrera gets plunked on the fingers but seems okay. We got a big inning in us the
third time thru against Keller? Burly taps one and moves the runners one, 1 out. Willson
grounds out but Noot scores, 8-3. Gorman bats with a wRC+ of 113, what a turnaround for him
this year. Keller is attacking Gorman with tough changeups, Gorman lines one but off the end of
the bat and the second baseman fields it on a bounce and throws him out.
Seventh
Graceffo back out, as expected. I wonder how many pitches he’ll throw? He’s been a trooper
this year. Strikes out Reynolds and Cruz. Cutch walks, but Suwinski flies out so softly even Noot
can get to it.
Bottom of the order, someone called Nicolas is in to pitch. Winn strikes out again. Can we
please get him a few days off? IL him and call up JJ! Can of corn off the bat of Saggese. Walker
has the hardest-hit ball tonight, but it was a groundout. He takes a big swing for strike one.
Takes another big cut and fouls it off. Then waves at a slider, another K.
Eighth
Alcala in. This guy has been decent in the past, maybe we can straighten him out. Chip and
Brad are talking about puppy yoga. Alcala overpowers Davis. Alcala buries Peguero. IKF gets
jammed but bloops it into CF. Chip and Brad are talking about toilet paper. Alcala strikes out the
side, getting Triolo on a tight slider.
Pozo grounds out unconvincingly, to SS. Noot gets under one to LF, it dies just in front of track.
Herrera takes a walk, he’s on for the third time, but Burly takes strike three.
Ninth
We’ve reached the Ryan Fernandez part of the evening. Backwards K of Horwitz. Backwards K
of Reynolds. Fernandez is painting the corners tonight. Cruz lines out to Walker.
Mattson strikes out Willson. Gorman fouls off a few before flying out to LF. The sound is going
haywire again, this happened last night too. Winn pops up on the infield.
WE SUCK