After the Rain ...

Season: 45-55; Home Stand: 2-2; Bulls v. Iron Pigs: 4-4; Standings

Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun

I was at the game with a bunch of friends last night. Among them were a couple of Phillies fans. They had a good time and I was, I think, happy for them. 

Otherwise, I don't think I can improve on Steve Wiseman’s lead in this morning’s Herald-Sun:

As has happened many times this season, the International League’s worst pitching staff put the Durham Bulls in a hole they couldn’t climb out of on Thursday night.

Alexander Torres really is not improving as the season goes on. The Iron Pigs jumped on him early and often, driving Torres off the mound after just three innings with five runs on five hits, three walks, two stolen bases, and a wild pitch. 

Josh Lueke kept things in check for a while and there was occasional glimmers of hope. But the Bulls left most of the hope standing on the bases (9 of them). Die hard fans got to see a couple of nifty plays in the 8th (I wasn’t one of them. I was home watching on TV). An Allen to O’Malley to Gimenez play prevented a run; a catch of a line drive by O’Malley led to a double play to end that inning. Things really came apart in the 9th, however, and Montoya was not going to waste a pitcher on a lost cause. Romulo Sanchez let four more runs across, including a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. No help was going to come in to save him.

Nevertheless, we should not take anything away from the Iron Pigs. They are a very good team. They lead in what appears to be the tough division of the IL this year. If their pitching can be a bit shaky, they are a heck of a lot better than the Bulls and their bats are not shaky at all. No reason to think that they couldn’t be in the Governors’ Cup this year (unless the Phillies strip them out in September). The Bulls can be modestly proud of a season 4-4 split with them.

Outside the game —

• Kudos to the video board guys at the DBAP. An early evening lightning strike messed up the only electronic stuff on the old-fashioned manual board: the ball, strikes, outs, hits, and error lights. Within a inning or so, somebody figured out (or already knew) how to modify the video board to display the balls, strikes, and outs and kept us informed through the rest of the game. Great job!
• In fact, the information on the video board has been impressive all year. Almost every home stand has seen some tweaks and improvements. 
• There was more bike rack controversy last night, this time from the top of the Blue Monster. From my seat, however, the ball seemed to hit that plexiglass in front of the railing and simply bounce back, a live ball by DBAP ground rules.