Beer #1: Imperator Black IPA by Abita Brewing
- Black IPA's are one of my favorite styles: big hop and big malt meet as one. Apparently this style was a mistake; some junior brewer added roasted barley to a batch made for an IPA. Thus the Cascadian Dark Ale/ Black IPA was born!!!!!!
- Unlike my previous recap I got to Papago a little early. More time to set up and more time to ramble.
- Dback's have finally shown some signs of life. Still feels like this season is donezo, but perhaps they have a miracle up their sleeves. Yeah, and perhaps I'm a Chinese jet pilot.
- Corbin bobble-head day. Very very very depressing. Fox Sports keeps up the Corbin coverage despite the depressing fact our "ace" wont be pitching at all this year.
- Arroyo vs. Lee: not too confident about this match up. I know Arroyo had a disjointed spring, but damn his numbers so far are god-awful! 9.5 ERA just wont cut it.....ever.....anywhere.
- Arroyo must have heard me, first batter goes down on strikes. Followed by a nice diving stop by Goldy. Followed by........a single. Guess he isn't perfect after all.
- A very drunk college kid lurks near me. His garb of a dress vest, flip-flops and basketball shorts confuses me. It's 5:15 and already his speech is garbled and slurred.
- One pitch, one single. I like. Followed by a steal that should never have become a steal. Do you even catch bro?
- 1-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Words cannot properly describe how much better Monte's swing looks this year. He's a changed catcher.
- This is Cliff Lee.........right? 2-0!!!!!!!
President Teddy Roosevelt approves of this game so far.
Beer #2: Red's Rye PA by Founders
- Rye beers are kinda cool. They add a bit of spiciness, and with an IPA that a perfect compliment. Apparently brewing with rye instead of barley is pretty damn hard. One of these days I'm going to have to give it a try.
- Top of the 2nd right now and already on beer 2. God help us all.
- Some long outs to make me nervous, but overall just another bloodless inning. Huzzah.
- Getting those base runners going early and often today. This I could get used to. 3-0!!!!!
- debating getting something to snack on. Very tough decision. While doing so the hit and run fails HORRIBLY!!!!!!!!!!
- Chris Owings........not such a good play right there. Now two on and no outs.
- Then he redeems himself with a fly-out double play!!!!!!!! Was this the kind of BS luck we were missing the first few weeks?
- Bottom of the 3rd: More base runners!?!?!?!?!??! What is this madness??!?!?!?!?!
- 2nd and 3rd, no outs. Not sure if this team has woken up or if Cliff is just having a bad night.
- 5-0!!!!! This calls for another beer!!!!!!!!!!!!!
An age old argument solved: Pirates win
Beer #3: Big Swell IPA by Maui Brewing
- Not sure how Maui Brewing does it with the deviously expensive real estate prices in Maui, but I'll be damned if they're not one of the best brewers in this nation.
- In case anyone wondered or cared: Hummus was my choice of snackage
- 4 innings solid pitching. Doppelgangers must have taken over Arroyo.
- The 4th ends with no runs scored by the Dbacks. Kinda shocked, which is kinda weird considering this season so far.
- Another easy Arroyo inning, truly this is a crazy day.
- Top 6th: Where was this Arroyo earlier!??!?!!?!?!?!?!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Beer #4: Grapefruit IPA by Abita Brewing
- Once upon a time I had an IPA made with locally grown citrus. Citrus really does work well with an IPA since many of the prominent hop strains are very citrusy. This beer is certainly one such example, as the fruit blends perfectly with the beer.
- Back to the game: Top of the 7th and a 5-0 lead. Waiting for the wheels to fall off, but perhaps all will go well.
- Starting to think Arroyo looks like that axe guy from The Last Action Hero. Kinda a stretch I know, but ........
- Pollack is really tearing it up these last two games. Hopefully a preview of things to come.
- So....it's come to this. Intentionally walking Monte...he's reached that point already huh?
- 7th ends with the bases juiced. Still feeling good about this game, but damn, that strike zone the ump is calling is goofy.
Beer #5 Spring IPA by Abita Brewing.
- Unlike the prior beer this is bit more malty and not quite as citrusy. A really solid IPA with a great hop bite complimented by a robust maltyness.
- Cahill is kinda pissing me off right now. Three men on and no out. Sigh.........
- Cahill is really pissing me off..........A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Game over man!!!
- Yup, this game is falling apart. Cahill failing at life. 5-6!!?!!?!!?!?!
- I say again, Cahill is killing this game...............................
- Bottom of the 8th, trying to undo Cahill's failure................No dice.
- Cahill kills this game without even starting......
- Putz doing his damnedest to keep the deficit to 1 run in the 9th, and does so.
- Bottom of the 9th: Not much hope left, but Prado keeps things interesting with a lead-off single.
- God Emperor Goldy approaches..............but replay kills.
- Also strikeouts hurt too, Goldy's promise of hope is gone.
- No hope. Thanks Cahill
Beers and (wet your) whistles
[Click to enlarge, at fangraphs.com]
Frosty beverage: Bronson Arroyo, +16.3%
Mine's a pint: Cody Ross, +12.6%
Drainage water: Trevor Cahill, -60.9%
Warm Budweiser: Martin Prado, -15.9%
asteroid was at the game, and led all commenters too, ahead of JoeCB1991 and preston.salisbury. Also present: Backin'the'Backs, BulldogsNotZags, DeadmanG, Diamondhacks, Edwong81, GODSCHMIDT, GuruB, Jim McLennan, Makakilo, MrMrrbi, SenSurround, Turambar, Zavada's Moustache, azshadowwalker, benhat, blank_38, cheese1213, cole8865, hotclaws, luckycc, porty99, shoewizard and txzona. BulldogsNotZags gets comment of the night for this, which has a certain poignancy in retrospect...
Rubber game tomorrow afternoon. A.J. Burnett faces our own Brandon McCarthy there, with a 1:10pm first pitch.
This just in
Breaking News at this hour: Bronson Arroyo is not being terrible. Dback Fans in a state of shock. Tune in tonight at 11 for more on this shocking turn of events
"Because you're a prince among men and you're Yertle The Turtle"