Down-stairs we came out through the first-floor dining-room to the street. A waiter went for a taxi. It was hot and bright. Up the street was a little square with trees and grass where there were taxis parked. A taxi came up the street, the waiter hanging out at the side. I tipped him and told the driver where to drive, and got in beside Brett. The driver started up the street. I settled back. Brett moved close to me. We sat close against each other. I put my arm around her and she rested against me comfortably. It was very hot and bright, and the houses looked sharply white. We turned out onto the Gran Via.

“Oh, Jake,” Brett said, “we could have had such a darned good time together.”

Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly pressing Brett against me.

“Yes,” I said. “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”

Today, Memphis players faced ML pitching (TWICE!)

St. Louis 3, Astros 4

• Shane Robinson hit a 2 RBI single off of Geoff Geary in the big boys game, briefly tying our heroes with the Astros.  It has seemed that late in games, Robinson has come up big (pun intended) for the Cardinals.

Memphis 5, New Orleans 7

• Andrew Miller (Marlins) took on the vaunted Redbirds lineup a day after Trey Hearne proved not strong enough to slay this giant. Miller was sent to the showers after 4 innings, trailing 3-1.
• Adam Ottavino > Andrew Miller (clearly). In his 4 innings of work, he yielded 2 hits, 1 ER and struck out 4.
• Charlie Manning used his left-handedness to twirl 2 innings of 2-hit ball. NOLA scored 1 run off of him and struck out.
• Matt Scherer struck out 2, gave up 2 runs (1 ER) and 2 hits in his lone inning.
• Tyler Norrick, was a snake’s-third-eye with 1 K, 1BB in 1 IP.
• Tyler Greene was productive on both sides of the ball. Vuch tells of an unleashing of a throw from deep in the hole to retire the batter by a wide margin. Greene also went 1-for-3 with a walk and swiped a bag.
• Shane Peterson 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI
• Nick Stavinoha, who since the loss of Aaron Miles has been looking eerily similar to Mark Shorey*, managed to go 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI. Coincidentally, Mark Shorey also went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a nice diving catch in RF.

*Not true.

Springfield 3, Jacksonville 0

• Justin Fiske struck out a batter an inning in his 4 innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

• Kyle Mura was perfect in his two innings of work, while Ken Maiques was also perfect in his single inning. Both recorded a K.
• Coo-Coo-Ca-Choo was 2-for-4.
• Daniel Descalso blasted a solo HR.
• Pete Kozma was the hero offensively today, knocking in 2 runs with a single in the 8th. The game was deadlocked at zero until that point.
• Defense was the theme today for the organization as Antonio DeJesus made a nice running catch of his own in RF. He also reached base twice, on a single and walk.
• Donovan Solano, not wanting to add another ‘o’ to his name went 1-for-2.

Palm Beach 5, Jupiter 9.

• Lance Lynn, some worried about his decreased velocity, pitched 3 innings while scattering 4 hits and only giving up 1 ER. He also struck out 3.
• Palm Beach led 5-1 until David Kopp took the mound. Over 2 innings, he gave up 7 hits, accounting for 5 runs on the scoreboard.
• Not to be outdone, Matt Spade and Eduardo Perez (not that Eduardo Perez {Azru edit: no seriously, it’s not that Eduardo Perez because it turns out it was Eduardo Sanchez. Mixup on my part not HLs} ) each gave up 2 ERs. Spade (0.2 IP) was tagged with 2 Hits, 2 BBs and a strikeout. Perez’s (1 IP) line had 3 hits, 1 BB and 1 K on it.
• For all you Nick Additions out there, I know that 1+5+2+2=10 but I only go by what I’m told.
• Casey Mulligan didn’t need a do-over of his 1 inning, with a 1BB: 1K ratio.
• Jermaine Curtis went 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored.
• Wooden shoe sportin’ Curt Smith knocked a double for one of his 2 hits in 5 appearances, driving in 2 runs.
• Oliver Marmol and Jon Edwards (not that Jon Edwards….or the other Jon Edwards) both went 2-for-4.
• Tommy Pham accounted for 3 runs, driving in 2 with a single and then coming around to score in his lone appearance.

Quad Cities (Squad 1) 6, Greensboro 5

• Arquimedes Nieto wasn’t mechanically precise (in principle) over 2.2 innnings. He struck out 4, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 BBs.

• Gary Daley‘s line: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K’s
• Adam Veres went 2 innings. He gave up a run on 3 H, 1 BB with 4 K’s.
• Zachary Pitts threw up a series of 1′s: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
• Osvaldo Morales was 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs.
• Also hitting doubles, Chris Swauger tagged a 2-bagger while Xavier Scruggs did as well going 2-for-3 with a run scored.
• Alex Castellanos (the 3B one) had a two-run single and scored a run.

Quad Cities (Squad 2) 4, Marlins 5th team 3

• Miguel Tapia was perfect in two innings of work, recording 4 strikeouts.
• Michael Blazek and Kevin Siegrist made a pact to not make each other look bad and settled on identical lines (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K). Some thought it suspicious but none dare commented.
• Jose Mateo, in a roundabout way, struckout the side in his inning. Four hits and 3 ERs, however, interrupted those strikeouts.
• Beau Riportella and Yunior “My Name is Yndiana!” Castillo were both 2-for-4. Castillo made a “big league play” deep in the hole.
• Ivan Castro was 1-for-3 with an RBI and unleashed and ICBM on a basestealer.
• Travis Mitchell saved the day defensively in the 7th on a sinking line drive. Offensively he had a single and walked.
• Edgar Lara doubled with 2 RBIs.

None of this post, sans sardonic editorializing, would have been possible without John Vuch.  The rest?  A certain expatriate helped me with.

I don’t know if it has been said yet but John Vuch made mention that there have been strong winds gusting at 15-20 mph.  What effect this has had on play, I don’t know…although I’m sure it has slowed the game way down having to chase Brian Barton’s helmet all over the complex.

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