One Game Away From the Title

Season: 81-50; “Magic Number” — 1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The day is late so just a couple of notes before tonight’s game.

Whatever Mike Montgomery’s promise may be, and it is probably substantial, his time as a Bull this year isn’t going to be all that memorable. After three very good innings, he then faced eight batters and gave up three runs in the 4th and another six batters and a run in the 6th. That run was on a bases-loaded wild pitch, one of three last night. After that, Steve Geltz for 2 ⅓, Josh Lueke for 1, and Kirby Yates for 1 kept the Knights in check.

Meanwhile, my new favorite Bull, Kevin Kiermaier, batting in the 9-spot, hit two triples his first two ABs. For the first one, Chris Gimenez was on first and I remember thinking that if he didn’t get a move on Kiermaier was going to run right up his back, because Kiermaier was headed for third base when the ball left his bat.

A home run by Mike Fontenot answered my early note to myself, “Why is Fonteno dh’ing?”. Gimenez, Belnome, and Beckham contributed RBI (Beckham with the games’ third triple). On the worrisome side, Leslie Anderson’s slip below .300 isn’t going to help his chances for a call-up.

Outside the game —

• We’d played a little game in the stands last night: Who’s going where when Brandon Gomes shows up? No consensus. [Update: Craig Albernaz on Inactive List]
• The Bulls could clinch their South Division title tonight with either a win or a Norfolk loss.
• The Chipper Jones number retirement ceremony got some decent coverage. Including the News & Observer, Herald-Sun, and WRAL.