And on Saturday, the Empty Pitchers lost to him.
The Pitchers were bounced in the third round of the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year, losing a 7-4 match to Ruben's Angels. If nothing else, the Pitchers present on that fateful day should find solace in knowing they at least played a well-contested game on a beautiful, unseasonably warm day.
The visiting Angels - who won the fall-season pennant race from 2007-09, back-to-back league championships in '07 and '08, and fell just short in the finals a year ago - jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first, quickly posting 2 runs on a number of hard-hit balls. With no outs, the Pitchers looked karma straight in the face, and capitalized on Angels' base-running blunders, picking off two runners trying for extra bases in a single play and thankfully managing to get out of the inning a batter later, before the game got away.
The Pitchers would load the bases in the bottom of the first, and Sam would nearly kill himself attempting to score from second in the bottom of the second, but the team was unable to break through and score their first run until the third inning, at which point they found themselves jn a 6-1 hole. After blanking the Angels in the fifth and sixth, the Pitchers were down just two runs entering the seventh, but unable to muster a rally.
They've carried the team all season, and Greg and Alex didn't disappoint with the pressure on. Greg held his ground on the mound, and helped his cause with a team-leading 4-for-4 day at the plate. Alex also stayed in stellar batting form, contributing three hits.
The Pitchers certainly had their offensive chances (besides leaving the bases loaded in the first, they also left them loaded in the fourth and fifth), and stranded an unseemly 15 ducks on base over the course of the game. Don't get too down though, we'll get 'em next season.
Next game: The games don't count, but the stats do. We'll play the NY Dirt Dogs again on Saturday, at 2 p.m.
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