A Tale of Two Games

It was a close game; it was a blowout. It was a defensive struggle; it was an offensive explosion. It was the summer of our of our enjoyment, and the winter of Hanet’s discontent. The Storm-Hanet game told a familiar story for this season. It was very close through the first three innings. By the end of 3, it was 6-4. Storm was able to put up 8 in the top of the 4^th. That inning, plus the umpire, caused a lot of yelling on Hanet’s side, and the second half of the game was a completely different story.  Storm scored 6 runs in innings 1-3. In innings 4-6 Storm scored 22 runs.

Two outs in an inning watch:

Dave managed to avoid being the 1st and 3^rd out in the   4^th inning by hitting a slow ground ball to 2^nd base that his blazing speed beat out. Of course, this set up Brian for the even rarer feat of being the 2^nd and 3^rd out in the inning.

Cycle Watch:

Both Joey and Bob were a triple short of the cycle.

Notable Boxscores:

Joey – 4/6, HR, 5RBI, 4 runs

Jeff – 6/6, 4 runs, 2 RBI

Bob – 4/6, HR, 3 runs, 2RBI

Al – 4/4, 2 runs, 2 RBI

Brad – ¾, 3 RBI, 2 runs

Kevin 4/5, 2 runs, RBI

Mike 4/5, 3RBI, 2 runs

Kenny – 4/5, 4 runs, RBI

Injury watch:

Lance was able to recover from a glancing nut shot and finished the double-header.

Brad suffered a calf injury and was not able to play game 2 of the double-header. He’ll be heading in for some tests to see if he will remain on the active roster or whether he will be placed on the 10, 30, or 60 game disabled list.

HR's: Bob, Joey

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	2	1	3	8	11	3	x	28
Hanet	0	0	5	5	2	1	x	12

Time change for the Monday Aug. 27th game

Please note the new start time of our game Monday August 27th. it is now an 8:00pm game. It used to be a 9:30pm game.

Storm holds of Rebels

Storm struggled offensively against the Rebels. The Rebels played solid defense, with three outfielders covering a lot of ground, and a couple of really nice plays at 3^rd and by their borrowed short stop. Luckily, Storm was also playing some solid defense with some great catches by Greg in right, a nice 3^rd to 1^st double-play, and near the end of the game a key catch by Lance.

It’s a good thing Storm’s defense was strong, because the offense was virtually non-existent. It wasn’t until the 6^th inning, that Storm was able to get 3 runs across in the same inning, and they were able to do it in the 6^th and 7^th to put some distance between them and the Rebels and to hold on to an 11-6 win.

Moments that Mattered:

Joey hit a 2-run home run in the 1^st.

Duran hit a 2 out RBI triple in the 7^th

Joey hit a 2 run homer in the 7^th to put the game out of reach.

  

Streak Watch:

- Duran has increased his record extra base hit streak to 33 games. He also has a 21 consecutive game RBI streak and has reached base in 131 straight.

- Joey has scored in 34 consecutive games and has hit in 131 consecutive games

- Bob has reached base in 218 consecutive games.

Notable Boxscores:

Joey ¾, 2 HR, 4 RBI

Duran – 2/4 2 triples

Al – ¾, 2 runs

HR's: Joey (2)

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	2	0	1	2	0	3	3	11
Rebels	3	1	0	2	0	0	0	6

Storm rains down runs in 3rd

The game started close. Storm blanked Sports Illustrated in the top of the 1^st and then scored 3 in the bottom of the 1^st on a 3-run homer by Joey. Sports Illustrated found their bats in the 2^nd, and scored four runs to take the lead. In the bottom of the 2^nd, Storm scored 5 to win the inning and take an 8-4 lead. Sports Illustrated were not going to give in easily, however, and they scored 6 in the top of the 3^rd including two home runs to take a 10-8 lead. The two home runs might have been a mistake, however, as that gave Storm some home runs to use, and they used them in the bottom of the 3^rd.

After Kevin led off with an out, Storm strung together 12 consecutive baserunners reaching base, meaning every player in the order reached base, in order. That string of 12 runners produced 12 runs and two home runs (Duran, and Joey with a selfish solo just because he can). After Sports Illustrated broke the streak with the 2^nd out of the inning, Storm loaded the bases, and with two strikes, Jeff knocked a grand slam capping off a 16 run inning. The inning ended with Duran hitting his 2^nd home run of the inning, but this time it was a home run out thanks to Joey’s earlier selfish solo.

That inning seemed to take the wind out of Sports Illustrated’s sails, as they only scored four more runs across the next three innings.

Notable Boxscores:

Duran – 4/5, HR, 3 RBI, three runs, three doubles (his only out was a home run out)

Jeff – 3/5, grand slam, 7 RBI, 2 runs, double

Bob – ¾ - 3 runs, 2 RBI

Joey – 4/4, 2 home runs, 4 RBI, 4 runs

Al – 4/4, 3 RBI, 2 runs

Brian – 3/3, 4 runs, 2 RBI

HR's: Joey (2), Duran, Jeff

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
SI Play	0	4	6	0	0	4	x	14
Storm	3	5	16	2	2	x	x	28

Storm brews up a victory

The game was close after the first inning. Storm had started well in the top of the 1^st with 4 runs led by a Duran homer.  But then, in the bottom of the 1^st with a costly two out error, Storm gave the four runs back. The defense tightened up after that, and the offense kept running scoring in every inning, with a five run 4^th putting some distance between Storm and the Brew Crew.

Cycle Watch:

Many players were in cycle hunts in this game, but only one was able to actually pull it off. Bob managed to get his double in his final at bat to hit for the cycle.

Unsuccessful cycles:

Duran had too much power, and hit two home runs instead of the needed triple for his cycle.

Jeff also missed the triple, and hit two doubles instead.

Kevin got the single, double, and triple, but his new bat hasn’t made it to 50 hits yet, so it didn’t quite have the pop to get the ball over the fence, but it did have the pop to fly out to the warning track, so maybe in a few games…

No Jo(e)y in Stormville

Joey had an uncharacteristically weak night at the plate. Things were seen that will likely never be seen again. It started off pretty normally, with Joey hitting a triple making people think that HE might be the one getting the cycle, but after that, things were very un-Joeylike.

In the fourth inning, Joey was the 1^st and 3^rd out. Not a normal occurrence for anybody, but for a player of his caliber, it was downright shocking. He also nearly popped out to the catcher, had two strikes on him multiple times (but never struck out), and hit a home run out. This home run out was made even more painful, because directly before him, Duran hit a solo home run. Earlier this season Duran did the writeup for a game in which he called out Joey for hitting solo home runs. This is irony, or poetic justice, or something, but it’s the summer and I’m trying to keep that part of my brain off.

Notable Boxscores:

Duran – 4/5, 2 home runs, 5 RBI, 2 3uns

Bob – 5/6, HR, triple, double, 4 RBI, 4 runs

Jeff – 4/6, HR, 2 doubles, 4 RBI, 3 runs

HR's: Duran (2), Bob, Jeff

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	4	1	3	5	1	1	2	17
Brew Crew	4	0	2	0	2	0	3	11