Game 41 Recap: Fireworks!
“Bang! Zoom!” -Charlie Slowes
By Roberto Santiago
I always loved Charlie Slowes’s calls of Nationals games. Especially his exclamation of “Bang! Zoom!” which doubled as a home run call and as the antecedent to, “A curly W is in the books,” when the Nats won. And why not harken back to our nation’s capitol on this day? The Ballers got the fireworks going early this July Fourth playing a day game that had originally been scheduled as a night game, beating Modesto 8-4.
Fans hoping to see fireworks later in the evening were treated to an early show by the Oakland offense. All-World shortstop Tremayne Cobb led off the game with a 418-foot blast that announced his presence with authority (Bang!). C.J. Blowers was strong on the mound again, going 5.1 innings and allowing 4 runs. Blowers’s outing was not without some theatrics, which would be a theme for Oakland pitching on the day. Blowers worked around a two-out walk and a single in the first to escape with no runs for Modesto. Harry Owen scored the equalizer for the Roadsters in the second inning on a groundout by Michael Mugan. In the third, it was walks that caused trouble for Blowers, as they have all season. The first two batters in the frame reached by way of the free pass. A Tyler Williams single scored the first. Blowers came back to strike out the next two Roadsters, but Dom Rodriguez singled to bring in a second run. Cobb proved himself as a two-way threat with a diving catch for the third out on a line drive ticketed for right field, saving a run (Zoom!).
The Ballers offense answered the call, tying the score at 3-3 in the top of the fourth. Slugger Jeter Ybarra doubled to lead off the frame (Bang!). Nick Leehey was hit by a pitch up and in that hit his hand and nearly hit him in the noggin. Paul Winland continued his hot start to his Ballers career with a single that scored Ybarra. Noah Blythe followed with a double that brought home Leehey (Zoom!), who then left the game with swelling in his hand. Modesto retook the lead with three singles in the bottom of the inning, but Oakland had an answer once again in the fifth. The newest Baller, Myles Beale, led off the inning with a single and came around to score on a single by Winland.
Blowers got one out in the sixth and stayed in to face Modesto lefty Max Handron having thrown over 100 pitches in the game already. Handron drew a walk, inducing manager Aaron Miles to pull Blowers in favor of Valek Cisneros (4-0). Cisneros was superb in relief throwing 2.2 scoreless innings that gave the B’s time to break the game open. It was the usual suspects making things happen for the Ballers in the top of the eighth, with some help from the rookie. Beale singled at the top of the frame and Cobb drove him home with a booming(!) double to dead center. Two batters later, Ybarra singled home Cobb.
“We have the best player in the league,” said Miles in reference to Cobb. “When you have the best player in the league and you can put the right pieces around him, you can play winning ball.” Indeed. Cobb was a one-man offensive explosion in this game hitting another bottle-rocket to center in the ninth to plate Beale and Blythe and give Oakland an 8-4 advantage (Zoom!).
The bottom of the ninth brought a bit of a surprise when Langston Burkett came out of the pen to close it out. Burkett had been the only person warming up in the B’s bullpen, so it would have been him even if the lead had stayed at two runs. Burkett has some of the best stuff coming out of the pen but can struggle with command. He came into the game leading the team in walks (26) and second in strikeouts (32) despite pitching only 19.2 innings. Matthew Maloney, who was the presumptive closer as of last Sunday, was available, but Miles went to Burkett because, “Burkett threw well last time in Long Beach. I liked how the ball was coming out of his hand. He’s had issues with walks, but batters are only hitting .200 against him.”
Burkett faced a bizarre situation leading off. With a 3-1 count, home plate umpire Dale Gardner called a strike on the next pitch. Modesto batter Justin Boyd challenged and then things got weird. The stadium announcer declared, “the pitch is confirmed a ball” which is not what the challenge was. B’s announcer Gareth Kwok was confused, Miles was confused, Burkett was confused, the fans were confused. In the end, Boyd was given what seemed to be a correct base-on-balls.
Burkett didn’t let the odd start hamper him. He struck out the next batter and got a subsequent foul pop for an out. That brought up a showdown with his former teammate from the Padres organization, Byungyong Choi. Burkett fell behind 3-0 before rallying to 3-2. After Choi fought one off for a foul, Burkett came back with a nasty pitch that seemed to traverse the corners of the plate inside out. Of the last pitch, Burkett wrote, “It was great. I played with that guy in the Padres organization so [it] definitely had a little extra on it.” Choi challenged, to no avail, and the Ballers had their first win of the road trip.
Odds and Ends:
The Ballers have now won Blowers’s last five starts.
Esai Santos started the game in center field before moving to second base when Leehey was injured. If Leehey can’t go tomorrow and Jake Allgeyer is still limited, Oakland will be down to one available position player on the bench.
Manager Miles indicated after the game that Santos is likely to play more in center. That, along with the acquisition of the switch hitting Beale, contributed to the decision to trade 2025 playoff hero T.J. McKenzie to the Red Pocket Mobiles for a player to be named later. Miles called it a very tough decision, “The job is tough. It would be great to have him on the bench like last year, but with Esai moving to center and Beale, who played a lot of center field, T.J.’s playing time was going to diminish.” Miles weighed the benefit to the team with the benefit to the person. In true Ballers fashion, the person won out. “I want to do what’s right for the player,” Miles continued, “Now he’ll play everyday.”
Cobb had a successful steal of second in the third inning breaking a 13-game drought. “The league is paying attention,” said Miles of the gap. He continued to note that game situations have dictated the decision to send Cobb, “When you’re at Raimondi and you’re in scoring position at first base with that left field wall, you don’t want to give up outs.” Cobb’s prowess with the bat has played a part, “He’s also been hitting a lot of doubles and home runs,” Miles offered.
Photos from Big Black Service Dogs.
Roberto Santiago is a third generation Berkeley boy currently raising the fourth generation. Roberto’s writing has appeared in Latina, Parents, and various online outlets. A lifelong baseball fan, Roberto worked briefly with the Boston Red Sox and once hit an RBI single off Spaceman Lee on a 2-2 changeup. It was his only at bat ever in a real baseball game. Find him on Instagram.
