Doing the salami trot at Reading this afternoon after Phils' catcher Lou Marson hits his first grand slam of the season.It started with a rain delay that lasted two hours and four minutes and almost sent us home. The game was a present to my mother, who after 45 minutes had had enough, but I convinced her to drive up to the Reading Pagoda, the city's most famous and bizarre landmark situated atop Mt. Penn. Picture a Japanese-style pagoda built of concrete and tile. In fact, the history of the structure is even more bizarre than its appearance. But the drive up the wooded mountain in the spring rain was lushly beautiful. Just as we left the Pagoda parking lot, the R-Phils' station announced that the game would start in 20 minutes. So it was back to the ballpark and what turned out to be a most entertaining game under slow-clearing skies.
Starter Antonio Bastardo was solid through six, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks, while K'ing 5. I had picked the game to see Bastardo, recently promoted from single A Clearwater, but it was the offense that dominated. The R-Phils loaded the bases in the 1st but got only one run from it. By the end of the 3rd, though, they had put the game away, batting around in the 2nd to the tune of five runs, then repeating that in a 3rd inning which featured a grand slam by catching prospect Lou Marson. In the 8th, Greg Golson capped off his 5 for 6 day with a 3-run homer in the runaway victory over the Akron Aeros. Five guys had two hits each and Joey Hammond, with one, was on base 4 times. Too bad that fewer than 1,000 of the announced paid-attendance of 4500+ hung around for the start of the game.
