 |
| quite a night |
Aside from Vladdy's ludicrously towering second-deck homerun (off the bat, I honestly thought it had a shot at the 500s), and the endless-seeming joy of the Blue Jays' seven-run fifth, my favourite thing about Monday night's 11-1 win over the Orioles came in the top of the third, when, with two on and nobody out, Alejandro Kirk threw behind the runner at first, who was so hung up that both he and his pal at second had to just break for the next available base, except it wasn't, because Vladdy fired it across to Espinal at third (Chapman is resting) to start a run down and get the runner who had been at second, but who was now quite simply, and largely through no real fault of his own, "an out guy." It was such a good baseball play. I welcomed this toss-and-catch precision as wholeheartedly as Pat Tabler welcomes a single to the opposite field (watch him keep his hands inside that baseball, Pat Tabler will invite not only Dan Shulman, but indeed us all). Alek Manoah, let us not forget, is awesome, and allowed just a hit and a walk in another six shutout innings, which brings him by the fallible but familiar measures to an 8-1 mark on the season with a 1.67 ERA. Finally, a scoring note: when what looks like a routine 5-3 putout ends up with the runner safe at first because the throw from third rips straight through the pocket of the first baseman's glove, there is really no choice but to score the play a tough-luck E3. Reflect on this and I am sure you will see why (or, if not, perhaps this contemplation will bring you nearer to deeper truths. Could be good either way!).
KS
No comments:
Post a Comment