Saturday, July 23, 2005
Atlanta just came from behind . . . Pushed the game to extra innings, but Lost! Nationals are still in first!
and tied the Arizona Diamondbacks in the top of the 9th inning. The Diamondbacks had scored first with 2 runs in the 3rd, then added two more in the 5th, and seemingly put it away with 1 more in the 7th, bringing the score to 5-0 at the beginning of the 8th. The Braves were not content to fade away and scored 1 run in the 8th, kept the Diamondbacks from getting insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th, and have currently scored 4 runs in the top of the ninth to even the scoring to 5-5. There is now one out in the top of the 9th. If Atlanta wins, Washington falls to second place, but if they lose, Washington remains tied for first.
One man on first, 1 out, top of the ninth, is ESPN reloading? Yes, the website just reloaded. Jones is currently batting for Atlanta and has 1 ball and 0 strikes against him.
In other news, while I wait for the Braves game to update again, the Philies won 8-6 against the Padres after scroing 2 runs in the bottom of the 11th. If you care about Baltimore (good/bad), they lost 7-5 against Tampa Bay in Tampa Bay. Boston lost. More importantly, the NY Mets lost 6-5 against the the LA Dodgers. Toronto lost and the New York Yankees are currently losing to the LA Angles 6-3 in the bottom of the 7th. Scrolling down the page and I find that Jones still has 1 ball and 0 strikes. Ok, did it start raining in Arizona, or something? Scrolling down further, I notice that Florida also lost today. So far none of the NL East teams have won today except the Phillies. To bad the Braves had to go and score four runs in the top of the ninth and potentially ruin this trend. Page reloading . . . and Jones now has two balls in his favor, and zero strikes against him. Either Cormier is something of a slow pitcher, or the updates just take a little while to turn up.
Ok, who is it exactly that is pitching for Arizona right now? Oh, I see, strange. Nevermind, the Braves part of the inning is finally over, without any idea of how or what happened, and now the Arizona team is fighting for their team and us in the bottom of the ninth. Ok, now it's updating quickly, 1 quick out for the Diamondbacks. This is very confusing. The Diamondbacks part of the inning just started, then 1 out appeared on the scoreboard, and at the same time one runner appeared on first base. Not exactly sure what is going on. Hope that runner on first is real and not a phantom. Ack, 2 outs now. Come on McCracken! Win it for your team, and the Nationals! 1 ball, 1 strike, 2 outs, some phantom runner on first, Kolb pitching. Now 2 balls . . . 2 strikes . . . And I now the updating has frozen, must mean something has happened, hopefully McCracken just hit a home-run. Nope, just another ball. Why would it freeze up to display a third ball? Full count, 2 outs, runner on first, come on McCracken! Well, there goes that inning. McCracken or the runner got out somehow, and now we move into the 10th inning.
As we take this break to observe nothing seeming to happen, I'll take this opportunity to recommend a great Nationals blog that tracks the Nationals minor leagues. A link to this blog can be find in the links section, right below the link to the Nationals minor leagues. And . . . wait, the 11th inning details have started to appear, and it seems that the Braves already have two out against them. Now Atlanta's Furcal faces Arizona's Cormier. Furcal has gone 2-5 with 1 run and 1 rbi. Corimer has pitched 1.1 innings, and strike-out 1 batter (and given up zero runs). Well, back to that blog that I was mentioning, it is called "Nationals Farm Authority." Check it out, quite interesting. Back to the game, 2 balls, 2 strikes, 2 outs . . . 3 balls . . . waiting . . . and Furcal's on first . . . can't tell, probably a walk. Now it's Johnson's turn at the plate. So far today Johnson has gone 2-5 with 2 runs, 1 double, 1 HR and 3 RBI. He now has 1 strike against him. Now two strikes. What's this "RealTime" like on ESPN's scoreboard, and why does it have that little IN symbol next to it, noting that it is a pay service? Has this Atlanta game already been concluded? Am I wasting time "watching" an already concluded game? Well, whatever is going on, at some point Johnson moved to 1 ball and 2 strikes (maybe hours ago, maybe minutes ago). Ah good, Johnson or Furcal became the third out of this inning. Now it's the Diamondback's chance. Oh, and right next to the little scoreboard saying "Middle of 10th" for many minutes, is the scoreboard that says "6-3 Angels over the Yankees, top of the ninth, 2 balls, 2 strikes, 2 outs, Jeter at the plate" (actually, that is not displayed in those exact words). Still the middle of the 10th. Waiting . . . Angels beat the Yankees . . . And now the Diamondbacks part of the inning finally begins! And Ends! I don't know how, but in about 1 second, the Diamondbacks scored a run, thereby ending the game in there favor, but more importantly, in the Nationals best outcome! Nationals are still in first! Tied, but still in first!
One man on first, 1 out, top of the ninth, is ESPN reloading? Yes, the website just reloaded. Jones is currently batting for Atlanta and has 1 ball and 0 strikes against him.
In other news, while I wait for the Braves game to update again, the Philies won 8-6 against the Padres after scroing 2 runs in the bottom of the 11th. If you care about Baltimore (good/bad), they lost 7-5 against Tampa Bay in Tampa Bay. Boston lost. More importantly, the NY Mets lost 6-5 against the the LA Dodgers. Toronto lost and the New York Yankees are currently losing to the LA Angles 6-3 in the bottom of the 7th. Scrolling down the page and I find that Jones still has 1 ball and 0 strikes. Ok, did it start raining in Arizona, or something? Scrolling down further, I notice that Florida also lost today. So far none of the NL East teams have won today except the Phillies. To bad the Braves had to go and score four runs in the top of the ninth and potentially ruin this trend. Page reloading . . . and Jones now has two balls in his favor, and zero strikes against him. Either Cormier is something of a slow pitcher, or the updates just take a little while to turn up.
Ok, who is it exactly that is pitching for Arizona right now? Oh, I see, strange. Nevermind, the Braves part of the inning is finally over, without any idea of how or what happened, and now the Arizona team is fighting for their team and us in the bottom of the ninth. Ok, now it's updating quickly, 1 quick out for the Diamondbacks. This is very confusing. The Diamondbacks part of the inning just started, then 1 out appeared on the scoreboard, and at the same time one runner appeared on first base. Not exactly sure what is going on. Hope that runner on first is real and not a phantom. Ack, 2 outs now. Come on McCracken! Win it for your team, and the Nationals! 1 ball, 1 strike, 2 outs, some phantom runner on first, Kolb pitching. Now 2 balls . . . 2 strikes . . . And I now the updating has frozen, must mean something has happened, hopefully McCracken just hit a home-run. Nope, just another ball. Why would it freeze up to display a third ball? Full count, 2 outs, runner on first, come on McCracken! Well, there goes that inning. McCracken or the runner got out somehow, and now we move into the 10th inning.
As we take this break to observe nothing seeming to happen, I'll take this opportunity to recommend a great Nationals blog that tracks the Nationals minor leagues. A link to this blog can be find in the links section, right below the link to the Nationals minor leagues. And . . . wait, the 11th inning details have started to appear, and it seems that the Braves already have two out against them. Now Atlanta's Furcal faces Arizona's Cormier. Furcal has gone 2-5 with 1 run and 1 rbi. Corimer has pitched 1.1 innings, and strike-out 1 batter (and given up zero runs). Well, back to that blog that I was mentioning, it is called "Nationals Farm Authority." Check it out, quite interesting. Back to the game, 2 balls, 2 strikes, 2 outs . . . 3 balls . . . waiting . . . and Furcal's on first . . . can't tell, probably a walk. Now it's Johnson's turn at the plate. So far today Johnson has gone 2-5 with 2 runs, 1 double, 1 HR and 3 RBI. He now has 1 strike against him. Now two strikes. What's this "RealTime" like on ESPN's scoreboard, and why does it have that little IN symbol next to it, noting that it is a pay service? Has this Atlanta game already been concluded? Am I wasting time "watching" an already concluded game? Well, whatever is going on, at some point Johnson moved to 1 ball and 2 strikes (maybe hours ago, maybe minutes ago). Ah good, Johnson or Furcal became the third out of this inning. Now it's the Diamondback's chance. Oh, and right next to the little scoreboard saying "Middle of 10th" for many minutes, is the scoreboard that says "6-3 Angels over the Yankees, top of the ninth, 2 balls, 2 strikes, 2 outs, Jeter at the plate" (actually, that is not displayed in those exact words). Still the middle of the 10th. Waiting . . . Angels beat the Yankees . . . And now the Diamondbacks part of the inning finally begins! And Ends! I don't know how, but in about 1 second, the Diamondbacks scored a run, thereby ending the game in there favor, but more importantly, in the Nationals best outcome! Nationals are still in first! Tied, but still in first!
