Schooled on Education Day (Lehr vs. McAllister)

Justin Lehr on the mound

Moosic, PA (Thursday, April 29, 2010) - This was an "education day" at PNC Field, meaning the game started at 11am.  Last year, kids filled the entire upper deck, while the lower deck was almost empty.  This year, they put the kids in the lower deck, in the outfield sections, closed off the upper deck, and forced everyone else to buy the more expensive lower deck infield tickets.  That made it seem more crowded in the lower deck, but a lot of retirees were cranky, because they had to pay more for the tickets.  (Most of the adults there were retirees, since it was a day game.)

The SWB Yankees are still having trouble selling tickets. A couple of years ago, you couldn't walk up and get seats in the lower deck.  Now, they routinely close the upper deck, except on weekends. 

It was a lovely day for a ballgame.  A good 20-30F warmer than the previous game, partly because it was daytime, partly because a warm front was moving through.  (It would be 90F by Saturday.)

The kids didn't seem very interested in the game.  They mostly hung out on the concourse and in the gift shop, buying food and souvenirs.  The concessions looked like hordes of locusts had attacked them.  People were complaining there was no food left by the third inning.  "Education day" must be pretty profitable, even if they give the tickets away.

Justin Lehr started for the Bats.

Zach McAllister took the mound for the SWB Yanks.

Zack Cozart's sunglasses reflect the dugout.

Chris Heisey, since called up, warming up before the game.

Wladimir Balentien

Todd Frazier

Who is that masked man?

It's former Red Chad Moeller.  (Whom the announcer called "Muller.")

The Bats were running at will on him, prompting yells of "Rag arm!" from the crowd.

This is the guy the fans wanted to see catching: stud prospect Jesus Montero.

It was a day game after a night game, though, so he DH'd.

Chris Burke walked, then stole 2B.

The throw to Reegie Corona is too late. Safe!

Burke stole 3B as well, but was stranded when Juan Francisco grounded out.

El Nino Destructor had a bad day at the plate.

He went 0 for 4, and was struggling to stay on the Interstate.

He played 3B.

No errors, but, well, there were some "Janish would have gotten that" moments.

Kevin Russo hit a double.

And scored on a Greg Golson single.

Both Russo and Golson have since been called up to the big club, then sent back down. Golson was called up again today.  (The Yankees have suffered a lot of injuries, and have a revolving door on the Scranton Shuttle these days.)

Juan Miranda (also called up today) hit a pop fly.

It looked like an easy out.  Cozart, Francisco, and Frazier converged on it.  Cozart set up underneath it...but the ball dropped behind him.

Maybe the wind caught it.  It was a very windy day.

Cozart made a valiant effort, but it dropped in.

Left fielder Todd Frazier picked up the ball.  It was ruled a single.

It didn't hurt them, though.  Lehr got a force out and a strike out to end the threat.

Valaika singled in the second inning.

They tried to keep him close.

But he took 2B on a wild pitch.

Safe!

Alas, he was stranded.

Chad Moeller singled in the 2nd.

He ended up being caught in a rundown.

Wilkin Castillo and Juan Francisco chased him down and got him out.

Speedy Greg Golson tried to take 2B while they were busy with Moeller, but they ran him down too.

Inning over.

Heisey singled in the 3rd, then stole 2B.

He ended up stranded.  

Eduardo Nunez singled and stole 2B in the bottom of the 3rd.

(A grandmother and her granddaughter were sitting in front of me.  The little girl asked, "How do you spell 'Eduardo'?"  Grandma replied, "E-d-w-a-r-d-o.")

Wladimir Balentien homered in the 5th.

Danny Dorn hit a broken-bat single...

But was stranded when Francisco popped out to SS.  Dorn was 1 for 4.

Valaika had a pretty good day: 1 for 2 with 2 walks.

Justin Lehr:

His line for the day: 6.0 IP, 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 ER, 1 walk, 2 Ks, 0 HR,     6.64 ERA.

Cozart was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

Maybe there's something to Dusty's theory. Todd Frazier had a fine day, playing in front of a (sort of) hometown crowd.

The inscription on his bat says, Handcrafted for Todd Frazier. CB15-M Pro Model.

He was 2 for 4 with a double.

The double came in the 7th.

He scored on a Chris Burke single, tying the game 2-2.

Chris Heisey was 1 for 5 with two strikeouts.

Logan Ondrusek pitched the 7th and 8th.

He gave up two hits, but no runs.

The game was still tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 9th.  With the bottom of the Yankees order coming up, the fans were expecting extra innings.

Chad Reineke came in to pitch.  He would throw two pitches to light-hitting Chad Huffman.  A ball, and this one:

He wouldn't get it back.  Huffman sent it over the left field fence, leaving the fans stunned, then ecstatic.

Reineke leaves the field after giving up the walkoff homer.

The SWB Yankees waited at the plate to clobber Huffman.

Final score: Louisville 2, SWB 3.