Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Opening Night...Walk this Way

I never witnessed a walk off walk before.

In fact, I don't think I have ever witnessed a game that had both teams walking in runs...3 of the 7 runs last night were scored on a walk.  Considering how strong the wind was, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that this was the most effective method for scoring last night. 

One thing that I found really funny last night was Nyjer Morgan going back on the flyball by Ramirez early in the game...he looked like Soriano getting all turned around on that line drive.  I'm guessing Morgan had a hard time judging that ball because it was, first, hit straight at him, and two, being a line drive, was surprised it carried that far with the wind blowing in so hard.

Another observation...the shift put on for Adam Dunn was really big...I've seen shifts put on for other players, but Baker was play almost 100 feet behind the infield dirt.  I don't think I've ever seen a second baseman play that deep.  And in the end, it didn't help as Dunn got a ball past him.

I'm not sure if this came through on the television, but the crowd was really stoked when Zambrano came into the game in the 8th inning.  That was the first time I had ever heard a "Z! Z! Z!" chant go on during a game.

And in the 8th, Ramirez and Lee hit two balls that looked to be absolutely crushed and should have been certain home runs...only to be knocked down by the wind...it was brutal out there last night.  

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Carlos Silva was impressive last night.  This was the first time I got to see him pitch in person...he handles himself very well and seem extremely confident out on the mound right now.  Watching him warm-up in the bullpen before the game, well, he was extremely accurate with every warm-up toss out there.  Really cool.  I really hope he has turned it all around now. 

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And two last observations from last night...first, Theriot was so out on the little grounder in front of the plate in the fifth inning.  Give me a break...what a whiny little snot he is.

And finally, on that bunt by Koyie in the bottom of the ninth inning (with Soriano on first)...the ump so horribly blew that call...it wasn't even close, Soriano was safe at second, and even if the ball beat him, the throw was so far off the bag, it was completely obvious that Ian Desmond's foot was off the bag.  BOO!!!

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Tonight, Gorzelanny goes up against Livan Hernandez.  This is the third straight game that Gorzelanny has had to go up against the other team's ace.  And while pitching well in each of those starts, the other team's pitcher has been better...last week it was Johan Santana, and the week before it was Roy Oswalt.

We might see the normal line-up for the first time in a while tonight...we'll see.  I'm guessing it will be another cold and windy night.  Not going to tonight's game.  Two night games in a row takes its toll when you live 3 hours from the ballpark.