The homestand got off to a shaky start. Gavin Floyd's second outing was diametrically opposed to his first, unfortunately. Floyd walked four in the first and one in the third, all of whom scored, and his evening was done after three and a third torturous innings. The Braves continued teeing off against alleged major leaguer Pedro Liriano and others to record an 11-4 rout. My wife and I were eating Mexican food while Floyd was struggling, and the radio was clicked off about the time "our" Pedro entered.
Saturday's game was a sterling matchup of aces, Jon Lieber vs. John Smoltz. We spent Saturday morning volunteering at Quest For Tech, an organization that refurbishes old computers and gives them away, along with training, to needy people. If you have any hardware or want to volunteer, click on http://questfortech.org. I awoke from a nap after we got home with the game in the second inning and still scoreless. The two righties matched zeroes up to the fifth, when catcher Johnny Estrada, who the Phils are kicking themselves for letting get away, doubled and then scored on Brian Jordan's single. Jordan was a Phillies killer for years in his last stint with Atlanta, and nothing appears to have changed. The Braves have Jordan and another aging former all-star, Raul Mondesi, hitting seventh and eighth, which could be a disaster or a tremendous advantage. Knowing the Braves, it'll probably work out brilliantly.
Jimmy Rollins, who may or may not have overcome his propensity to swing for the fences a bit too much last year, swung for the fences appropriately here and parked one off Smoltz to tie the game in the sixth. Smoltz then uncharacteristically walked Kenny Lofton and Bob Abreu, and just when the inning looked over after Burrell and Thome struck out, today's hero, Chase Utley hit a line single that scored Lofton with the go-ahead run. I missed it, because I was cleaning the bathroom. You don't understand. Our bathroom had been invaded by a civilization of about 400 quadrillion paramecium, and today's cleaning has only made them angry.
The Braves didn't threaten in the seventh and eighth, and Billy Wagner came on to start the ninth. My fears about Billy's hittability were not assuaged much today. Chipper (I Hate You) Jones lined a hard single in the hole to left field, and then Andruw Jones flied deep to left, just missing on a fast ball. That man, Johnny Estrada, who even Wags can't strike out, then hit a massive shot to dead center that Kenny Lofton tracked down at the base of the fence. Billy had to hold his breath as Lofton retreated, and let out a big sigh as our new center fielder gloved it. That brought up pinch hitter Julio Franco, who Harry Kalas said was pinch hitting for "Dave La Roche". He probably did pinch hit for Dave La Roche once, but today he was pinch hitting for Dave's son, Adam La Roche. Julio is so old, he started playing when AstroTurf was still new. Of course, he spanked a hit to right field, and after a 2-2 wild pitch to Mr. Jordan, Billy was now officially in trouble. Enter Chase Utley, playing the role of the Flash. On 3-2, Jordan fisted a low liner that looked destined for center field and at least a tie game when Utley dove head-long to his right and speared it backhanded for the final out. What a play! A game-saver to be sure, and boy did we need it. The spectacular play by Utley preserved the 2-1 win for Lieber, who is now 3-0. Tomas Perez christened Lieber with a shaving cream pie as he was being interviewed by Harry Kalas on the post game show. Welcome to Philadelphia, Jon.
The win puts us back in a last-place tie, this time with Florida, at 5-6. Nobody is running away with it, though, and the Nationals will have to come back to earth eventually. We've got an ESPN Sunday Night game tomorrow, with Mike Hampton facing Brett Myers. My wife and I will be at, incredibly, a pro hockey game. Yes, they still have that, at least minor league style. Quest For Tech is taking all the volunteers on an outing. Volunteer today, and you can go! There are actually 10 tickets left, so I'm not kidding. Send me an e-mail, and I'll get you hooked up.
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