#223---CIN @ CLE, 4/2/2010

 

There wasn’t anything particularly notable about this late spring training exhibition, but I included it here because it shows the alternate, pictorial way of representing hits that I sometimes use. This allows me to distinguish between left/center/right for location and grounder/line drive/fly ball for trajectory, which is less granular than I typically use for location at least, when numbers and letters allow for more detail to be recorded. It is inspired by, if not exactly adopted from, LL Bean’s scoring system. I think a few examples will make it easy to figure out the code:

Phillips ^2 : HR to left on flyball

Grudzielanek v2: single to right on line drive

Marson v3: single to center on groundball

Gomes ^5: ground-rule double to left on line drive

Phillips ^8: single to left on flyball

#222---CLE @ TB, 5/15/2009

 

Grady Sizemore led off the game with a homer, and the Indians added another tally in the first and three in the third (Eric Wedge thought it should have been at least four – he was run arguing with that Mark DeRosa had scored rather than been gunned out at the plate to end the inning). Shin-Soo Choo added a two-run shot in the fourth, and it was 7-0 Cleveland.

Tampa Bay starting coming back against Anthony Reyes, scoring three in the fourth and two in the fifth. In the seventh they cut it to 7-6 on a Jensen Lewis wild pitch. Ben Zobrist homered off Rafael Betancourt to tie it leading off the eighth. Meanwhile, the Rays bullpen (including Troy Percival) was shutting the Indians down, yielding just one hit and two walks over 5 2/3 innings. In the bottom of the ninth, BJ Upton walked off Luis Vizcaino with a homer to left. From 7-0 Cleveland to 8-7 Tampa Bay, the worst Indians collapse I can remember watching off the top of my head.

Tampa ran wild on Victor Martinez in this one – BJ Upton and Carl Crawford each swiped two bags, Ben Zobrist one, and while Aki Iwamura was caught stealing, they also benefited from two wild pitches.

#221---CLE @ MIN, 8/3/2008

 

I usually can look at a scoresheet and find some kind of angle to comment about here. Sometimes the game itself was interesting, because of the season/series situation or how it played out. Other times there’s an individual feat, or a theme that I enjoy is players in places you don’t expect them/don’t remember them. Since this is primarily a scorekeeping blog, it can often be a technical aspect of the scorekeeping – how I record an unusual play, a new wrinkle I added to my scoring system, etc.

This one is coming up empty on all fronts. This was a run of the mill, dog days game better two teams that would miss the playoffs (the Indians had been a pre-season favorite off their 2007 AL Central title; the Twins would fall just a game short of the White Sox). And so maybe as I write this just over twelve years later, that’s the angle – run of the mill games should be cherished and celebrated just the same. Baseball is great, and March – July 2020 has reminded me never to take it for granted.

#220---SEA @ BOS, 4/11/2007

 

I was surprised that I hadn’t previously posted this scoresheet. Daisuke Matsuzaka was all the rage in 2007, and here he was in just his second start (and first at home) matched up against King Felix. Matsuzaka wasn’t bad – he wound up going seven, allowing three runs, fanning four and walking one – but Felix was spectacular. He set down the first eight before Dustin Pedroia worked a walk, and took a no-hitter into the seventh. In the eighth, JD Drew grounded the first pitch up the middle to end the no-hit bid, but Hernandez set down the last six Red Sox to polish off a one-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks on 111 pitches.

#219---MIL @ STL, 9/30/2006

 The Cardinals entered play with a 1.5 game lead over Houston in the NL Central with three to play (Houston only had two left). This would wind up being their final win, as the Astros would lose out, and the final margin would be 1.5 with a pitiful 83-78 record. Of course, they would go on to win the World Series.

This was a dramatic game to boot. Ben Sheets shut out St. Louis for six frames, fanning six and walking one, while Jeff Suppan cruised through six shutout innings on just 71 pitches. He ran into trouble in the seventh, with Jeff Cirillo delivering a two-out, two-run pinch-hit single to stake Milwaukee to the lead. Jose Capellan retired the Cards in order in the seventh, but surrendered a single to Albert Pujols and a double to Scott Rolen and left with two men in scoring position, one out in the eighth. Brian Shouse was summoned, so Tony LaRussa played the platoon matchup and pinch-hit Juan Encarnacion for Jim Edmonds. Encarnacion was intentionally walked, and Francisco Cordero came in to face Ronnie Belliard, who lined to right.

Two outs, and Scott Spezio hit for Yadier Molina. Down in the count 1-2, he lined a triple to right to clear the bases. Adam Wainwright would yield only a two out walk in the ninth in recording the save, and St. Louis had secured the final victory they would wind up needing to back into a division crown.

I can sense the excitement of the moment from the scoresheet alone, but sometimes it’s fun to watch the video too:

https://youtu.be/TZy3EiPRIWE?t=7393