Unicorns 4, Challengers 10

I'M GONNA MISS THIS GUYS: Challengers thrash Unicorns again; Azuma flirts with No-No

Sometimes the toughest challenges a baseball team will face comes before the game itself. Such was the case this weekend as this writer at least faced his harshest foe well before the first pitch against the Unicorns: A gaseous emission from the bowels of Thomas Burger that was so foul, I lack the linguistic capacity to describe its full horror (Gregg Zingg can back me up). After surviving such a criminal act, beating the Unicorns posed no challenge.

As per usual, the Challengers fell behind early, as the visitors put up 2 runs with the help of 2 defensive errors. The damage could've been worse, but Oli Christen got a key strike out with runners on second and third. Having somewhat embarrassed themselves in the field (not a lot, just a bit), the Challengers got to work at the dish: Kurt Kovac led off with a walk, then promptly stole second and third. Alex Gordon followed with a walk of his own, then - ticked off that coach Rob refused to give him the steal sign - took off for second, and kept right on going to third on an RBI single from Juan de la Rosa. A single by Carlos Nepomuceno scored Gordon, and de la Rosa came around on an RBI ground-out by Daiki Sato. An RBI single by Gregg Zingg - who is getting dangerously close to being required to pee in a cup after these games - brought Carlos around and closed out the first inning scoring.

After a 1-2-3 top of the second, highlighted by de la Rosa nailing yet another runner attempting to steal, the Challengers took up where they left off: With three Swiss pitchers available, Andreas Ruedsuehli pinch hit for Christen, and got things started with a solid single to right. When the Unicorn third baseman botched Kovac's grounder for an error, Ruedsuehli never stopped running until he reached third (it wasn't the best decision, but it worked out so we'll take it), with Kovac pulling in to second.. That brought Gordon to the plate with runners in scoring position - typically not a great situation for him this season. After three pitches, the count was 1-2, and Sedin was starting to regret his decision to bat A-DAD so high up in the line-up. After barely fouling off a pitch that was just about eye level, Rob yelled out you gotta be good here (or something like that). That may have been what he said out loud, but from the batters' box I could basically read his thoughts, and they were saying dear lord, why have you cursed me with this bastard?! Whether it was divine intervention, the extra batting practice on Thursday, or perhaps the lingering effects of Burger's life-altering flatulence, Gordon laced the next pitch down the left-field line for a 2-run double (and boy was he happy about it, let me tell you). Consecutive fly-outs brought Gordon around to score, making it 7-2 Challengers.

After that, the game got a little dull, to be honest. Nick Lehmann came on in relief and pitched two scoreless innings, and the Challenger bats went silent until the 5th, when they pushed another 3 runs across to extend the lead to 10-2. Things got a little dicey in the 6th, as Burger, who had come on in relief of Lehmann in the 5th, momentarily forgot that he was facing the freaking Unicorns and not, you know, the Red Sox, tried throwing every pitch 100 mph and started walking people. Sato bailed out his pitcher in the 6th, starting a 5-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the inning with only one run allowed. Burger was also a bit wild in the top of the 7th, allowing a run to sore on a wild pitch, but managed to close the door on a 10-4 Challenger victory.

One amusing story on that 7th inning: With a 7 run lead, one might assume that little attention would be paid to base-runners as opposed to, you know, the hitters. One might think so, but one would be wrong. With one run in and a runner on first, de la Rosa sprang from his crouch in anticipation of a pitch-out. Unfortunately, he had failed to adequately communicate his intentions to Burger, who sent a pitch sailing over the plate, and all the way to the backstop. After the game, I asked Juan why in god's name he called for a pitch-out with a 6 run lead. To quote the man himself, The runner...he is my colleague and I want to kill him heh heh heh heh. Well then.

by Alex Gordon