Decided against "Percy Poops The Nest" for the title of this blog. Such restraint. Arrived home late this morning at peace with the world after PTownJunior's productive day at the ballpark. The first pitching lesson of the fall season paid off and the kid threw a dynamite inning in middle-relief and was 2 for 3 at the plate. The team had a big win and the scorebook was a pleasure to keep with crisp defense and darned good pitching today. PTownPrincess even joined us at the ballpark... in a delightful mood... a lovely surprise. 22nd wedding anniversary to boot. All in all, a perfectly pleasant morning in PTown. Then the mercury began its march to 100 degrees for the third day in a row.
I bagged the outdoor to do list in favor of game two of the Rays/Jays series. Important roadtrip. Big month. Division Title or Wild Card. Sox close, Jays closing and Yanks not quite out of it yet. No TV for today's game so I was delighted to find my internet buddies online "watching" the game in our OnLine Forum (no honey, it is N-O-T a chatroom). Thanks to Al Gore inventing the internet and some convenient enhancements by Microsoft and Apple, we don't need no stinkin' TV to enjoy the game.
Early one today so I missed the first 8 innings but still managed to catch most of the game. The Rays tied it at 3-3 in the 9th on Rocco's two run homer and a clutch RBI single by Navi . The Jays couldn't push across the winning run so we were on to extras. Both teams had chances, but couldn't score until All-Star catcher Dioner Navarro knocked a clutch two out single to score the speedy new outfielder, Fernando Perez, in the top of the 13th. An insurance run or two would have been nice in that situation, but Ben Zobrist, who has been frequent hero this year, came to the plate and K'd. With a thud.
The bottom of the 13th brought Troy Percival to the mound. Percy's been on the DL a few times this year and was shaky in his return against the Yanks a few days ago. He wasn't shaky today. He stunk. Pena fielded a tough popup foul for the first out. Wells and Wilkerson followed with singles. Overbay forced Wilkerson for the second out with runners at the corners, the disaster unfolded. Percy walked Rolen, perhaps semi-intentionally, and Gregg Zaun drove a first pitch 92 mph fastball over the right field wall for a walk off Grand Slam. Hello Sports Center.
I think I'll go mop now. Maybe lavender scented soap will restore the calm I felt this morning. Maybe not.
Great blog. I still can't get over the fact that percy blew it in THE 13TH INNING.
ReplyDeleteRF13
Thanks RF13. Thanks for checking it out.
ReplyDeleteI hear you about Percy. I was trying to recall his last return from the DL. First game back didn't he walk three or four in a row? I can't remember whether he pulled that one out or not. I just remember I couldn't breathe for about 20 minutes. I gotta think even Jo Jo is worried given how critical the closer role is going to be in the next several weeks.