Top of 3rd: Sox already up 3 -zip, scoring all in this inning, just got the 1st out. Crappity-crap. C'mon, boys, you can do better than this.
Top of 3rd, still: 2nd out, Manny thrown out at home. Yeeha, that feels good, with that whole "I'm safe" gesture of arrogance. Close call but I think the ump got it right. And what is with him tossing off his helmet like that? "Manny being Manny" is just asking to get spiked in the head one of these days.
Top of 3rd, still (sigh): two more runs score. On a hit by the pitcher, who's only had 4 at-bats this season. Are you kidding me? What happened to the dragon-slayer??
Top of 3rd, still still: Corey Sullivan misses a fly ball to center, another run scores. Why isn't one of our regular CF starters out there (Taveras, who would definitely have caught that ball, or Spilborghs)?? And out goes Fogg.
End of 3rd: FINALLY. I'm going back to writing my paper. Maybe when I next look up things will be better.
Top of 5th: Not so much.
Bottom of 5th: YORVIIIIITTTTT! Lead-off guy on, let's go, move the runner! Sullivan singles, all right, let's start something here!
End of 5th: &$^#%
Top of 6th: Finally, they get Ellsbury out; he was 3 for 3 already...3 up, 3 down, strikes out Big Papi. Can we carry forward that momentum?
Bottom 6th: Helton walks. Please God let us start something.
Bottom 6th, still: Atkins walks...crowd is getting loud. Dice-K is out, some guy named Lopez in for the sox. Hawpe up, he has really stunk it up this postseason but NOW HE GETS A BIG HIT! Helton scores from second! C'mon Yorviiiiiiittttt! Yes! Another run on another hit! Yorviiiiiiiitttt! Yorviiiiiiittttt!
All right, people, now you see why we get so excited about this team?
Lopez gone, Timlin in for the sox. Timlin does a big ol' nose swipe n' pick before coming in from the bullpen. Ew.
Aside: Is anyone else grossed out by these Orbitz commercials? And yet, their gum is remarkably refreshing.
Back to the action: A little warmer, and Spilborghs' long fly to the wall would be been long gone instead. Rookie Baker up...my one concern about Rockies hitting, all season long, is their penchant for swinging at the first pitch. My pastor/softball coach in Portland would be apoplectic. Work the pitchers more, guys!
Oh, freaky good catch by Lugo for the 3rd out. Crap. Otherwise we'd have another run.
All right, back to my paper. Oh wait, Mayor Hickenlooper is on the telly talking up how great Denver is. Right. It's his fault, we think, for the police violence and lengthy jail stays at the protest. Don't believe that smarmy smile. I wonder, is this commercial on nationally, or just here? Gotta love the talking animals on the Frontier commercials, though...
(telly...that's for you Tess, if you've gotten this far...if so, congratulations!).
OK, back to writing...
Or not: Top of 7th: Herges strikes out "Manny being Manny." Miraculously, Manny's helmet stays on despite the massive swing. Now Herges Ks Lowell. Sweet. And now Drew goes down on strikes. 3 Ks in a row. Now, how about we try scoring three times in a row in our half of the 7th!
Middle of 7th: And now, for the NOT singing of what should be sung, Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Not that "God Bless America" itself is so bad (although it's not that great, either, really); it's just WRONG. I blame the yankees for this abomination.
Sing it with me: And a one, and a two, and a three:
Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd,
Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack,
I don't care if I never get back.
So it's root, root, root for the ROCKIES,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's ONE, TWO, THREE strikes you're OUT
at the old ball game!
Let's score some runs!!
Aside: Did you know that this song, as it's originally written, is sung by a young woman trying to convince her boyfriend to take her to a ballgame? It's true!
Bottom of 7th: Now we're cooking. Matsui on with a bunt single.
I should point out that it's really hard to concentrate on writing this paper with the ballgame on...
Matsui goes...SAFE AT SECOND! All right, Tulo, live up to your rookie-of-the-year status. YES! First and third, no out. And down goes Timlin. Oh, it's Okajima coming in, with some defensive changes for the sox. Holliday up. Now would be a good time for a Coors Field classic, the bomb to the left field seats.
I SWEAR TO GOD, I TYPED THAT BEFORE HE ACTUALLY DID IT!!!!! I SWEAR!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!!
I hollered so loud I scared the downstairs neighbors' dog. Sorry! Even better than left field, he knocked it over the centerfield wall!
Screw the paper, this is getting too good!!! Another hit, this time by Helton!
First out, Atkins goes down swinging. C'mon Hawpe, let's keep it going. Nope, he Ks again. And Yorvit grounds out. But we're only down by 1 run now!
Top of 8th: Nice play by Tulo. You know, every time I see that clip of Gibson hitting the homer, I can't believe it. Such an un-powerful swing, no strength in the legs -- he was hurt and you could tell -- little weight shift from back to front, just a slap with the arms. Looks like the swing that results in a dink single to right. And yet, it sailed over the fence. Baseball's a funny thing.
Anyway. Fuentes in now to pitch for the Rox. 1st guy down, Lugo walked, now Coco Crisp up. What a name for an adult man. Fuentes has such a strange arm motion, I don't know how the pitches get up there.
Ugh, single up the middle. Short enough that Lugo can only go to 2nd. Ellsbury up. Bloopy weird hit to right, that's Ellsbury's 4th hit...why did Hawpe slide? Could he have caught it standing up? The runners would have moved up a base but not have scored. sox score again. Pedroia to right with a double. Man, these two little guys Ellsbury and Pedroia are pretty good, I have to admit it. Now we're down by 4 runs instead of 1. Crappity-crap crap.
Fuentes is still in. That's nuts. The last three batters he's faced have walked and hit two big hits. What is Clint waiting for?? Usually he is quick with the hook.
Youkilis in for Big Papi, grounds out. "Manny being Manny" is up...popped up, "Holliday has an hour to get there," Joe Buck says, and Ramirez is out. No camera shot to see if he kept his helmet on or not.
Bottom of 8th: Del Carmen in to pitch for the sox. Spilborghs up. Spilborghs out, couldn't quite get that one foul. Taveras in the pitcher's spot, if he gets on he can be trouble because he's so speedy. No such luck.
Matsui's on with a single. Let's see if he can start something again like in the 7th.
Tulo walks, Holliday up...can it happen again? I'm afraid to watch.
Papelbon is coming in to pitch to Holliday, he with the scary game face (which is almost funny, really, like a 5-year old trying to look fierce...that video of him dancing a jig? WTF?).
Aside: When are they going to take that Roger Clemens ad off the airwaves? "Hey guys, I'm back...and I'm gonna suck! I'm gonna take millions of bucks and help the team not one bit!"
And it's a long fly ball from Holliday...caught. *$%^#@
Top of 9th: And we start off with a hit. Grr.
Why use up a pinch hitter if all he's gonna do is bunt? Cora was in for the pitcher; I guess AL pitchers don't know how to bunt.
Nobody's stolen 3rd base in the World Series since 1975? Did I read that right?
Fly ball, that'll score Lowell. $(*%^. @&#($*.
Typical Lugo, grounds to short. He looks so intense at the plate for being a generally sucky hitter (his season average barely cleared the Mendoza line at .237).
Aside: I don't quite get this Lowe's commercial. If you're supposed to be saving money, why is it just spilling out indiscriminately and uncontrollably from everywhere? Appliances spitting money tells me they waste money. Or is it just me overthinking it?
Bottom of 9th: Now Helton is wiping his nose. Must be the cold weather that's causing all the snot problems.
Out one.
Atkins has had a horrible series offensively: After this out, he's now batting .100. What happened to him? His season line was .301 average with 25 homers and 111 RBI, pretty good stuff. He has disappeared. No homers, no RBI.
It's up to Hawpe who, as I mentioned, has fairly stunk as well this series. His season line was .291 average, 29 homers, 116 RBI. The series? No homers, 1 RBI (tonight), batting .167.
Until now! A triple to the rightfield corner! Nice hit! With that hit his average jumps to .231.
C'mon, Yorvit!
It's not gonna happen. *$^#%
Sigh. My boys are down 3 games to none. Sheesh. At least their offense is waking up. Maybe by tomorrow night they'll have all the pieces back together. They'd better, or that's it.
Now let's see if I can finish the intro to that paper before I go to bed...
