Blood, Sweat, Orange Slices Not Enough

Was it the early hour of the game? The unseasonably warm temperatures? The distraction of Ruben's lady Angels? A truly quality opponent? The untimeliest of defensive lapses by the Empty Pitchers? Julie ending her Iron Woman streak of coed softball attendance? Perhaps the hatching and subsequent swarming of Canadian soldiers?

Whatever it was, the unsettling end result was the Pitchers dropping two games to the undefeated Ruben's Angels on Sunday -- falling again via the Mercy Rule in the first game, by a score of 15-3, and dropping the time-crunched second game by the score of 8-4. The Pitchers' record now stands at 7-3 on the season.

In the early game, Pat and Matt (2 hits each) were the only Pitchers with multiple hits, while Rachel also walked her way aboard the bases twice and Val had a key hit in the fourth to drive in a pair of runs. The Pitchers' bats looked more lively in the late game, with Nicole, David, Alicia and Greg (2 RBIs) all contributing a pair of hits, and Kate snapping out of a slump with her first hit of the season. Though that game was called on account of time, the Pitchers were able to stage a rally, bouncing back after an ugly defensive half of the fifth to load the bases in the top of the sixth. The team was ultimately only able to push one run across the plate, but the Pitchers achieved a moral victory of sorts, ending their three-game run of only scoring three runs a game.

Next week is the playoffs. If Dane Cook were here, I'm sure he'd share with us a cliché-ridden promo for the likely Hot Cousins at Pitchers match up.

Poor Pat (left), bloodying his knees at least paid off with an out; Jorge (center) fights pests the only way he knows how; poor David (right), dirtying his uniform did not pay off. Luckily, who doesn't appreciate an excuse to get, that, dirt off your shoulder?