Friday Means Fireworks

Another lovely evening at Alliance Bank Stadium.

The score was 1-0 Chiefs when we arrived. Gwynett scored in the top of the 2nd, tying the game.

Hoffpauir's sacrifice in 3rd brought Bynum home. 2-1 Chiefs

The top of the seventh inning, Sandee mentioned the game was a little boring. That's all it took.

In the 7th, pinch-hitter Jim Negrych hit a home rum that also brought Rivero home.
Score now 4-1 Chiefs.

The Gwynett Braves scored off Jeff Mandell to the scent of fresh skunk (we wondered if it was a coincidence) in the top of the 8th.

Syracuse continued their late-inning ways in the bottom of the 8th: Carroll hit a triple with 1 RBI, then Rivero hit a single that brought Carroll home. Final score: 6-2 Chiefs.

Seth wore his socks on the outside tonight. We liked it. We wonder if he thought the change would help him increase his bat power. Players are very superstitious, you know.

Fun moment of the game: Pops and a bunch of men stood in front of us to have a photo taken. We couldn't see the field. So Sandee and I grabbed our bats and stood up so that we're in the pictures, too.

We needed a little fun.

And the lights in the sky after the game weren't the only fireworks at the stadium tonight.

Curse of the Catcher's Gear

The calendar may say it's still spring, but it felt like summer today, and I'm loving it.

It was warm and breezy at the ball park tonight. I arrived early -- alone -- and bought a chicken sandwich and a Molson's Canadian. Yesterday's Player of the Game: Mark Teahen. The Jersey being raffled -- Brian Bixler's Throwback Thursday from last season.

Pappi (Poppy) was sitting in the row behind Sandee, spitting sunflower seeds into the aisle. Blech! Last night he  was parked next to us and gave us the peace sign as he was leaving.

There's a guy who sits in Section 105. Tonight I noticed his hat for the first time. This probably means nothing to most of you, but this hat is a WTVH "Fish" Hat. Too funny.

Gio Gonzalez, one of the Washington  Nationals top pitchers, was tweeting for a date for some gala. A second tweet requested that they be 21 or older.

The grounds crew plays basketball in the old bull pen during the games.

James Skelton was injured in a play at the plate in the 4th inning and taken out of the game. Kyle Hudson: SHAME ON YOU!  Maven told me Skelton may have a concussion. A former co-worker, who happens to be a true Nats fan, told me he believes the Nats Catchers gear is cursed this season. I believe it.

A foul ball slammed into a seat only a couple of down from Sandee then bounced onto the field.

A Dunkin' Donuts t-shirt toss t-shirt landed at my feet, but before I could get it, XGMan's guest picked it up and handed it off to some kid walking by.

In the 6th inning, Yuneski Maya hurt himself in a play at 1st first. We were leading 1-0 at the time. Speculation is that it's a groin injury. He left the game. Jeff Mandel came in and proceeded to give up 4 singles before getting an out,. Then he gave up a double. And the damage was done. The Chiefs lost 4-1. Not pretty.

For the second day in a row, Carlos Rivero would snag a grounder then stand there and look around. Carlos? You're supposed to throw it!

Scoreboard fun with Tug Hulett. Thanks for pointing it out, Pete.

Tug!

Seth Bynum was first base coach in the later innings. He waved to us.

Around the 7th inning, we noticed Corey Brown had a fan. She was sitting in the handicapped area behind Section 205. She agreed to have her photo taken.

Corey!

I won the Brian Bixler Throwback Thursday jersey!!!

Molly in her new jersey

While I was at Stadium Guest Services collecting my jersey, some little kid climbed up on the roof of the dug out to dance with Pops. When the good people in Section 207 pointed this out to Uber Usher -- it's against International League regulations -- Uber Usher  . . . did nothing. The head of security told us it's about a 12-foot drop from the roof of the dugout to the concrete floor, with railings and other obstacles. What kind of moron parents let a toddler do that? And don't get me started on Uber Usher -- the same guy who had smoke blown at his head on Saturday and didn't notice it.

Anthony took our Player of the Game ballots (James Skelton) up to the ballot box and ran into Paul, who said no more raffle tickets for the first row of 207. We've won three this year and it's early June. But how many didn't we win last year? I really wanted one of the pink ones. 

Since arriving home, I've read that Roger Bernadina pulled a hamstring, so Corey Brown will likely be called back to the mothership.

Wow. More than enough to make up for last night.

Gull-able

Briefly. John Lannan pitched all 9 innings and gave up only 4 hits.

Corey Brown has hit 7HR in 8 of his last games with the Chiefs -- and 6 HR in each of his last 6 games at Alliance Bank Stadium.

Tyler Moore hit a homer tonight, too.

Eric Komatsu -- in his first game at ABS this season -- hit a grand slam.

Cory Van Allen and Rafael Martin are both in Harrisburg and Martin is on the restricted list.

Chris Marrero is rehabbing in Hagerstown.

Jeff Mandel is back in Syracuse.

Odd moment of the game (and I couldn't get to my camera on time):

A sea gull kept swooping around our area, then landed on the back of a seat about 4 rows from us. He looked around carefully, then hopped off the back of the seat to the ground. A minute or two later he zoomed up from the seats with a hotdog in his mouth. He took the hotdog to center field, where he proceeded to eat it.

Louisville Bats' 2nd Baseman watching gull eat hot dog.