Very, very fast game. It was a 7:05 start time and I'm pretty sure we were out of the stadium and even onto the freeway by about 10:05.
I hate when really good pitching gets wasted. Steve Sparks pitched a great game, and Mike Koplove pitched very well in relief. It's what came between them that hurt us. When your pitcher (in this case, Jose Valverde) walks 3 of the first 4 batters he faces, it's generally accepted that, on the next play, a throw to the catcher to get the lead runner out at home should be thrown TO the catcher. Unfortunately, I don't think Shea Hillenbrand got the memo. The throw to Robby Hammock was somewhere between trying to bowl a strike and trying to hit a cricket wicket. (Wow, that sounds incredibly silly, but so was the throw, so it all works out.)
So fine, the game's tied at that point, so I'm thinking, "Fine, we'll have a couple more shots at getting some runs." Oscar Villareal was called upon to pitch the top of the 9th, and ... well, since it had been quite a pitcher's duel up to that point, all it took was a couple of timely hits to spoil it for us. And of course, stupid Trevor Hoffman had to be back in his best form tonight too. Figures.
Le sigh. Can't win them all, I suppose. There IS a point when "Can't win them all" just won't work for me anymore, but eh, it's still April.
(BTW, absolutely amazing seats tonight. I hope we can sit near there again. 12 bucks a pop for the best view I've ever had of a ball game.)
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