Photo Blog (part 2): A Memphis Sunday

On the road, Memphis continued to mow down the Oklahoma City Redhawks today with a 10-3 victory for starting pitcher Tyler Lyons (6.0 IP, 9H, 3R, 2BB, 4SO, 3.46 ERA).  However today’s romp got off to a slower start with the Baby Birds trailing after the 3rd inning and not recovering the lead until the 7th inning when Justin Christian hit in Greg Garcia and Adron Chambers doubled to knock in three (Huffman, Towles and Christian).  In the 8th, Jermaine Curtis collected an rbi and J.R. Towles (catcher) hit a 2 run blast giving Memphis a 9-3 lead.  In the 9th, Greg Garcia singled to score Oscar Taveras to bring the Redbirds to 10.  Memphis leads the series 3-0 with the final game tomorrow (Monday, 7:05pm CT).

Ryan Jackson dazzled at 2B in the afternoon game:

Adron Chambers is so darn friendly… and he made the highlights today too:

Brock Peterson homered in the 2nd inning & played 1B:

Chad Huffman (DH) went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and a strike out.

Eric Fornataro came in to pitch the 8th, hit the first batter, struck out the 2nd and got a double play to end the inning.

… and just a few more shots from the wonderful day at the park:

….So that’s it for me during this Memphis/OKC series.  Tomorrow I’ll be watching my all-time favorite ballplayer on a little league field while Memphis (fingers crossed!) completes the sweep!

Go Baby Birds!!

… and we soon return you to posts about the big boys in St. Louis  😉

Photo Blog: Memphis Redbirds in OKC

Oscar Taveras, Kolten Wong, Ryan Jackson, Adron Chambers, Jamie Romak, Michael Wacha, Barret Browning, Sam Freeman, Victor Marte, Maikel Cleto, John Gast, Seth Maness, Eduardo Sanchez…

If you recognize any of those names, you might be a Memphis Redbirds fan.

Memphis is in town this weekend for the OKC Redhawks Home Opener, and our boys are spoiling all the fun for the Redhawks.  Two games down and Memphis has whupped up on OKC  10-6 on Friday night and 8-7 Saturday night.  Here are some photos from our seats in the stands for those of you who couldn’t make it to Oklahoma to cheer on the baby birds personally.

First up:  Saturday’s starting pitcher, Michael Wacha. (5 IP, 3H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 3SO, 1 HR, 4.0 ERA)

Next: hot prospect OF Oscar Taveras

And here’s a few of another highly anticipated name:  Kolten Wong, IF

Manager Pop Warner at the pregame meeting at the plate:

pitcher Barret Browning pitched the 8th on Friday, gave up a HR, walked 1 & struck out 1

Seth Maness, starting pitcher on Friday, pitched a solid 6 innings, allowing only 1 run, striking out 6 with 2 walks.

Sam Freeman, LH pitcher who saw some time in St. Louis last season, pitched the 6th & part of the 7th on Saturday with 3H, 1 run, no walks, and 1 SO.

and then there was Adron Chambers, who although struggling at the plate, is always smiling.

Today’s game time: 2:05 at the Bricktown Ballpark. Then Monday night the Redbirds finish up the series (and hopefully a sweep??) first pitch at 7:05pm.

Come help us cheer on the Baby Birds!  😉

Kyle Lohse: Closure

You know that point when a good relationship has run its course?

You do still love him but in your heart you know he’s not “the one.”  You’ve given him your best offer, but you both knew you were holding back. He needed more than you could give.  You had a good run together, but you part ways amicably, telling yourself you can still be friends…

That type of breakup is tough.

Some baseball breakups are no different.

Tonight Kyle Lohse will take the mound at Busch Stadium for the first time as a Milwaukee Brewer, and for the first time in 5 years, I will be rooting against him.

My memories of Lohse are good ones:  autographed baseballs and a signed cap, photos, a fun chat after a Spring Training morning practice at Roger Dean Stadium… not to mention the years spent hanging on his every pitch, cheering his comeback from a totally weird surgery and celebrating his success.  In fact, it was three years ago that I hesitantly started blogging about baseball with my first post dedicated to defending (the then struggling) Mr. Lohse.

Watching his return to pitch at Busch today will be bittersweet.

Seeing him in that uniform will be atrocious.

Thanks for the memories, Kyle.

Here’s to the type of closure that the end of every good relationship needs:  beating your ex at a friendly game of baseball.  😉

Go Cards!