Lots of giveaway pink hats were in the stands yesterday at the IronPigs' game and the players too wore pink jerseys for Mother's Day and Breast Cancer Awareness.Most of the 8800 fans in attendance stayed till the end and were treated to a thrilling bottom of the 9th. Early on the game was a seesaw affair but in the 6th starter Brian Mazone gave up a 2-run homer to give the visiting Clippers a 5-3 lead. Steven Randolph, the new lefty in the 'pen, and John Ennis combined to hold the Clippers there through the 9th. In the 8th, the 'Pigs added a run. I then asked my mother, always a fan of getting out of the stands before the crowds, if she wanted to go up to the concourse. "No, no, I want to watch this here," was her reply. "I think they're going to do it."
With the 'Pigs down 1, Oscar Robles worked a walk to lead off the 9th and Brandon Watson sacrificed him over. Mike Rouse then hit a fly ball to center. With 2 outs, Mike Cervenak hit a wind-aided double to left to score the tying run. Next up: John Knott, who had hit the walk-off homer in Friday's 10-inning game. And Knott came through, with another ball over the leftfielder's head, which scored the winning run. Great stuff! The fans loved it, the players loved it. And the hapless IronPigs, at 8-30, now have the first 3-game winning streak in their short history.
Meanwhile, the Phillies were out in San Francisco losing to the ragtag Giants. Ugh. The offense has been brutal for much of this road trip. Taking 2 of 4 from the Diamondbacks was a good start, but dropping 2 of 3 to the Giants is a downer.
