The Giants got some lucky bounces and came away wth an 8-6 come-from-behind victory over the Blue Thunder in a 45+ Division game Sunday at the Satellite field.
To give you an idea what it took for the Giants to come back from 4-1 and 6-3 deficits, consider the second inning for the Blue thunder defense: Wicked hop at SS that I thought would leave a hole in Tim Brown's chest. The ball rolled away from him and we had a runner. The next batter hit a routine grounder up the 3rd-baseline that Ron Massaroni was ready to grab when the ball hit the bag and jumped over Ron's shoulder. A two-out, high pop-up to Brown at SS looked like the end of the inning, but that stinkin' bright sun blinded him and the ball fell to allow two runs to score. We didn't win that game, yet we did. The Blue Thunder didn't lose that game, yet that's what shows in the standings.
Some credit to the Giants, too. Ron Smaka lined a key two-out, two-run double in the 6th that enabled the Giants to come back from a 6-4 deficit and tie it at 6.
Tony Nardacci goes 4-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBIs and two stolen bases. Joe Careccia had two hits, a stolen base, scored a run and drove in another. Mikey Lannon doubled, singled and scored a run, and Chris Abrams, who gutted out five innings, had a big two-out RBI single in the second inning to get the Giants within 4-2 and set up Nardacci's 2nd hit of the game, which cut the deficit to 4-3.
The 6th inning for the Blue Thunder was quite opposite of the luck the Giants had in getting hits. Matt Kelly led off with a single for the Thunder and promptly stole 2nd base. Mike Eplite then smacked one right on the screws, but the liner fell into SS Ron Smaka's glove. After a routine fly to left, Donnie Ball also crushed a liner, and again right at Smaka for the final out of the inning. Baseball, like life, is just not fair sometimes.
Then comes the BT 7th inning and we had the luxury of bringing in Bobby Bolt or Steve Lounello to try and close it out. Bolt went to CF and Stevie took the ball, struck out the side in order to end it.
With 4 games left, Giants magic number to clinch the top seed is one. A win or Dodgers' loss gives the Giants the top seed and a bye all the way to the semi-final round. And we know all to well that it means nothing to earn the top seed. Last year, the hard luck Thunder went 15-1 to get the top seed, but lost in the semis to the A's, not only because the A's were a very talented team, but also because the Thunder went nearly three weeks without playing.
Tuesday night: Giants vs. Marlins at New Scotland. Uggggh! Who came up with this unbalanced schedule anyway?
In closing, congrats to the 55+ Division Damn Yankees, who won the title yet again wth a 2-game sweep of the Jimmy Porter-led Whiz Kids. Yanks are a great group of guys whose bats are relentless top to bottom. And for anyone who hasn't played for Porter, there's no one better. The team reflects his personality and it is a privilege to call every one of those guys teammates.
