Clouds, helium balloons, ecstasy, unicorns, Nintendo 64…these are words that come close to describing how high I felt seeing Mark Teahen fly around the bases on what was a few inches away from being a harmless foul ball, but instead was a three-run inside-the-park home run. I screamed with glee, not caring that my entire block may have heard. Did that really just happen?
The words to describe how losing in spite of that hit…those words are not publishable here. How in hell can a team lose after getting THAT to tie things up? Especially when the next pitcher they face is Dennys “The Sphere” Reyes? Come on, Royals. Seriously. Now it’s official: Kansas City really is never going to win another game.
On a lighter note, Carlos Rosa picked up win #2 here in Omaha tonight.
PROS: He struck out seven batters in his five innings, walked only* two, kept the ball in the park, and worked his way out of a heck of a jam in the 5th inning. The two hits he gave up in the first four innings were barely hits – a couple of inches lower, and one might have been caught, etc. – and one of those batters was wiped out on a double play.
*Two might be high for a guy like Rosa, but would be a decent number for anyone else. I’m keeping it as a pro, especially given the 7 Ks. The fact that both came in one inning almost put them under the cons list.
CONS: That fifth inning. When Rosa is doing well, he exudes control. Every move he makes, every pitch he throws, everything about him on the mound screams “I own this game.” He did not look like that in part of the fifth tonight. After allowing a single to John Mayberry, he struck out the next two batters. Up to this point in the game, Rosa had only had to throw more than 5 pitches to any Oklahoma batter one time. But when RedHawk Travis Metcalf came up to bat, something happened with Rosa’s control. He threw a wild pitch that allowed Mayberry to advance to 2nd, and never quite recovered.
Metcalf worked a full count, then singled. Casey Benjamin singled on the 2nd pitch he saw. Jason Ellison worked a full count, then walked. The bases were now loaded, which brought up Ryan Roberts. He, too, worked a full count and then walked to score a run and bring Nelson Cruz to the plate. He worked a full count as well, then struck out.
So Rosa really had to work for his outs when he got to about the third time through the Oklahoma lineup – 39 of his 91 pitches came in that inning. Did the Hawks figure him out? Did he get tired? Did he tweak a muscle when he threw the wild pitch? I don’t know. He was good enough to get a win, but I’ll be interested to see how he handles the third time through other batting orders the rest of the season.
On the offensive side of things, Mike Aviles pretty much screamed “CALL ME UP ALREADY” by bashing another two home runs, which coordinated nicely with taters from Angel Berroa and Brian Buchanan. It was cold out and a little rainy, but the few who stayed long enough for the victory pigs were a heck of a crowd. Matt Wright will take the mound tomorrow in pursuit of his 2nd win on the season. If last season was any indication, this will be about the time Wright really gets into a groove and starts making everyone look silly. I hope that’s how it goes; that was really fun to watch.
Speaking of this time last year, Sunday marked one year since I fell/jumped/awkwarded (yes, “awkward” can be used as a verb, especially by me) off the dugout and sprained my ankle. Good times.
Labels: baseball, life in general, Omaha Royals, Royals
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