7:38 p.m. The man once dubbed "Twitchy McXanax" by the late, lamented BatGirl (she's not dead -- just her blog is) takes the hill for the AL. Man, I knew Nathan was awesome, but I didn't realize that among all pitchers with at least 200 saves, he has the second-best save percentage all-time. That's ridiculous. It also explains why I feel so different when he enters the game, compared to how I felt when Eddie Guardado's High-Wire Act or even Rick Aguilera's Beard were the Twins' closers.7:41 p.m. Josh Groban just strolled onto the field to sing "God Bless America." It says something about my interest in popular music that I asked my wife, "Who's this?" She said, "Josh Groban," and I was momentarily stunned until I realized his name was on the screen at the time. That was a pretty prissy rendition of the song, by the way. I'd rather have Ronan Tynan and his massive ears -- we're at Yankee Stadium, for crying out loud.
7:48 p.m. OK, things are starting to heat up now. Morneau just scalded a double to right and McCarver told us it was off Edinson Volquez's changeup, which has become "the pitch of the islands." He didn't specify if he meant the Canary Islands, or the Bahamas or what. Now he tells us he got it from a Wall Street Journal article. Sometimes these blogs just write themselves.
7:53 p.m. J.D. Drew just did the only thing that could earn a Boston athlete cheers from a New York crowd -- he tied the game with a two-run homer. It was a line drive to right field that was flatter than the brim on Volquez's cap. And it's a whole new ballgame.
8:03 p.m. Well, that lead lasted all of 10 minutes, as Miguel Tejada singled, stole second, moved to third on a throwing error and scored on a sac fly by Adrian Gonzalez. All of this against Jonathan Papelbon, who was just defended by the FOX broadcast crew who were truly offended by the New York Daily News story about Papelbon's comments regarding who should pitch the 9th inning tonight. Gee, you guys are surprised that a New York tabloid would manufacture a controversy involving a rival team? Fellas, the turnip truck you fell off is leaving soon ...
8:19 p.m. Evan (I'm already sick of the "Desperate Houswives" jokes) Longoria ties it back up with a ground-rule double off Billy Wagner, scoring Grady Sizemore shortly after he stole second base to get into scoring position. But the Big Canadian couldn't bloop a single to get the go-ahead run home, so we head to the 9th tied at 3.
8:35 p.m. Well, Dempster is in and this shouldn't take long. He's a good pitcher, but his home/road splits are shocking. And as we all know, tonight's game is not being played at Wrigley Field.
8:42 p.m. ... and Dempster strikes out the side to send us to extra innings. Go figure.
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2 comments:
Do you think Nathan was confused he was being called upon to enter a game in a non-save situation???
Did Josh Groban find his shirt in the Alyssa Milano line of MLB wear???
Did you hear McCarver call Dominicans, "Dominican Republicans"? Almost as good as Bert's "Venezueleans."
I missed that, but strange things happen when old, white men try to talk about anything involving minority cultures.
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