A Loss; A Win

Season: 62-55; Home Stand: 1-1; Home Games Remaining: 15
Wrap, Box 1, Box 2, Bisons

We are struggling almost as much as Bulls pitching to find something good to say about the first game last night. How about quirky instead?

In the 2nd inning Ali Solis was up there with one strike on him and the Bisons’ pitcher bounced one in the dirt in front of home plate. The ball hit Solis’ bat, went foul, and Solis had a second strike called on him. He swung at the next pitch, missed, and was out.

Also, good to see Jake Thompson back from the DL. Would have been nice for the Bulls or Rays to let fans know why he was on the DL in the first place, but that’s not what they do. And media apparently never asked either. He pitched just two thirds of an inning and left two runners on base for Doug Mathis, but Mathis kept them from scoring.

But nothing good to say about either Merrill Kelly’s or Brandon Gomes’ evening.

And then it drug on for almost 3 hours. Knowing another game was in the offing, we left and watched the second game on TV.

There we saw a terrific performance by Enny Romero. No secret that Mr. Romero has not been our favorite Bulls pitcher this year, but last night was superb. Six innings of one hit, shutout ball was very impressive.

Also impressive was new guy Nick Franklin. There was his game-winning home run and some very nice play at second base (game 1) and shortstop (game 2). That included his slick beginning of the double play that ended the game. He’s off to a slow start at bat, but the homer helps. And he seems to be a class act. After he was called out for his “star of the game” interview at the end of the game, he went out of his way to acknowledge the fans who had stuck in there (it was about 11:30 by then)

Quirky in Game 2? Well, I don’t recall seeing a pitcher call out an ump as forcefully as Josh Lueke did home ump Seth Buckminster in the last inning. I’d bet he wasn’t ever going to get a called third strike after that, so probably good he got a double play behind him to clear the bases and end the inning and game.

Outside the game —

• Saw Tampa Bay’s Wil Myers in the dugout. The Herald-Sun is reporting that Myers worked out with the team Thursday and will do so again today. Then start playing on a rehab assignment. Possibly for as long as two weeks.