What’s that saying about a blind squirrel finding a nut every now and then? Maybe that’s the best explanation for Jack Bauer Squared actually winning a series. Until we make a habit of it, that’s all we deserve.
JBS hosted Tigers of the Ontario Peninsula, and the opener featured a not-awful start by Mike Cuellar, one of the few times we’ve able to say that. Cuellar allowed 3 runs in 8 innings, and we actually won one of those 1-run games, 4-3.
It’s been a long time since we won two games in a row, and so it’s no surprise we reverted to old form in losing a 1-run game right after winning one. The tiebreaking run scored in the 6th inning when catcher Gene Tenace tried to pick a runner off third base and threw it away. We twice couldn’t get a runner home from third over the final four innings and it finished up 6-5.
The rubber game of the series featured an accomplishment we’d yet to achieve in the first 44 games. We didn’t give up any runs. And I’m pretty sure even the most casual of fans can tell you that you can’t lose if you do that.
Teddy Higuera went 8 innings, allowing 5 hits, to even his record at 5-5 and drop his ERA to 3.72. We didn’t score much, but we didn’t need to, taking the final game 2-0.
If a sim could possibly comprehend momentum, maybe a win like that could propel us in a good direction. At 17-28 we are only 8 games behind in the NL West and still playing way below expected win percentage (.378 to .466). Granted, .466 still isn’t good enough to win, but it would be a lot more competitive.
Next up we face Todd Helton???, which is tied with Tigers of the Ontario Peninsula at 20-25 pulling up the rear of the NL East. Another series win wouldn’t be too much to ask for, I’d think.
We’ll be playing in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, where I once had the, uh, privilege to see a game. The ‘Stick was not a great place to play baseball, largely because of wind. And compared with the beautiful park the Giants replaced it with, there’s no reason to have much nostalgia for it.
