Night game

… Another tough loss tonight. But it was a fun one, if that makes any difference. We were loose and having fun in the dugout. We were as cohesive a group tonight as we’ve been all season …

Still, I can’t keep from thinking how things might have turned had the balls drifted a little more my way …

We had a rough first couple innings to start tonight’s game. And I got beat up in left field. Plain and simple … The Javs were hitting Garre hard, and nearly every ball came my way …

Making it even worse, most of the balls were tailing shots close to the left field line. I wasn’t seeing the ball very well off the bats tonight. As a result my footwork was awful and balls that I should’ve gotten to were dropping … Finally, the one ball I did get to was a towering shot in the deepest corner of left field, just beyond the bullpen, which is treacherous ground at old Simmons. I’ve had my share of tough balls there, but this one I tracked down for a welcome out …

I can say I’m a little prouder of my plate appearances tonight … I got my first at-bat with an out and no one on in the third, and I went to plate confident. I usually have hit the Javs pretty good … Tonight’s hurler had a good combination of heat and slow stuff, and I was staying aggressive. I swung and fouled off the first pitch, took a ball outside, swung and missed again, and then took a ball high to work the count to 2-2. … I was thinking off-speed for the next pitch and I got one down and inside. I roped it down the third base side, the left fielder made a nice play on it, and I rounded the bag at first with a pretty single … But after advancing on a fielder’s choice, I was left stranded on second base …

I came up once more in the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on first base … I got a pitch right in my wheelhouse to start the at-bat, but I fouled it off on the first base side. Then I swung and missed the second pitch before blooping a shot toward the right side on the third pitch … Off the bat, I thought for sure it was going to drop over the second baseman’s head for a single, but he made a good catch running back on it to end the inning …

And that was it for me. I was pulled for the rest of the game -- a decision that had been made before the game started, not because of my unfortunate playing in the field …

In the meantime, our guys put on a pretty good rally in the later innings, thanks in part to some great base-running by our center fielder Timmy -- the guy has a knack for rattling pitchers and he did it again tonight by stealing second and then taking third and home on passed balls …

Unfortunately we couldn’t come all the way back and lost it, 6-4.