Paduch Pitching; Bulls Banging

Game 55, May 31	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Rail Riders (Yankees)	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	4	7	3
Durham Bulls (Rays)	1	0	1	1	2	2	1	0	x	8	14	0

Season: 35-20; Home Stand: 5-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Jim Paduch had by far his best game of the year last night. In fact, if it weren’t for those two pesky home runs by Rail Rider Thomas Neal, Paduch would have had a no-hitter through five innings and 3-hitter through six. The 7th didn’t go so well, with the RRs getting yet another homer and putting three more guys on base before he left the game for new guy Matt Buschmann. So the numbers aren’t great, but after all the criticism we have made of Mr. Paduch, we are happy to say that last night he looked just great. Well-done!

Please, please respect the streak. All the streaks. The team is looking simply superb. Three triples last night, by Jason Bourgeois, Tim Beckham, and Cole Figueroa. Three stolen bases, by Rich Thompson, Jason Bourgeois, and Brandon Guyer. A boomer by Brandon Guyer. And then Tim Beckham channeled Fernando Perez at home plate just to top things off. See the nifty video below.

Outside the game —

• If you don’t get to a game in this home stand, do what you can to get your hands on a program. It has a terrific feature on Charlie Montoyo and his 500 wins. A couple of great quotes and a trivia-lover’s delight.
• I failed to bring a spare battery, so I was without a radio at last night’s game. And then the scoreboard went out. There I was with just my scorebook to follow the game. You get used to those aids: being able to check the pitch count, in game stats, etc. Even glanced up one time and noticed a side-arming RR pitcher. When did he come in the game? (Beginning of the inning as my wife informed me). 
• To be perfectly honest I can’t quite get my head around what they are up to over at Bull City Summer. That’s probably my problem. I sometimes can't figure out what I'm up to here. Essay on Tommy John surgery, with video, a bit creepy, and yet fascinating. Video trailer pretty nifty. There's an oddly self-referential feel to all of it: Watch me watching baseball watching me watching baseball. Is baseball art? Is it only art if artists are watching it? Is the art in the watching the watchers? Worth keeping an eye on or setting your RSS feed to keep up with it. That's what I'm doing.

Enjoy Tim’s dance.