Game 54 Recap: Winning Is More Fun
Sunny Sunday Goes Glum as Ballers Are Swept by Roadsters
by Joe Horton
WEST OAKLAND—It was not another 9-5 loss to the Modesto Roadsters. After identical scores on Friday and Saturday in games that for long stretches felt competitive, Sunday’s 12-3 loss was not that. The Ballers (22-32) remain winless in the second half reset of the season, and the road gets no easier—traffic on 5 notwithstanding—with another midweek road trip down to Long Beach on tap.
Starter Charlie Hurley was chased from the game after only 2.0, having given up five runs, four earned, and walking five. Modesto scored in each of the first five innings, with C Jacob Lojewski leading the way with two homers and three RBI. All but one Roadster recorded at least one hit. Oakland and Modesto each used six pitchers with the Pioneer League’s usual off day tomorrow.
A bright spot was SS Brendan O’Sullivan’s first professional home run in the ninth, which landed on Campbell beyond the fence and bounced into the Oakland Fire engine that was parked there taking in the end of the game. O’Sullivan finished 2-for-3 with a walk. Paul Winland added a 3-for-4 effort.
Said O’Sullivan about his milestone, “Feels good to get that one off my back, took long enough. I think I’m finally settling in at the plate and overall. Hoping there’s more homers to come; maybe I need the fire fighters and truck out there always as a target.”
Three teams have started the second half 6-0, including Modesto. Three teams, including the Ballers, have started 0-6. The B’s opponent for the next homestand is the Boise Hawks, off to a 5-1 reset. The Oakland schedule gets no relief until the last week of July when the team starts a 12-game run against the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds (0-6 2nd half) and RedPocket Mobiles (1-5).
It was a light Sunday crowd with regular fans reporting absences due to World Cup final watch parties and the Mosswood Meltdown. The listless result on the field thankfully did not seep into Mayor Mike’s hotdoggery, the kids’ running the bases after the game, or the players’ traditional Sunday autograph session, which featured a full bald head of autos.
There was a shake of the head after the final out from one of our founders behind the dugout. “Winning is more fun.”
Odds & Ends
On Rickey Henderson Day, the B’s master-of-arts Ben Verhoek’s painting of the Man of Steal sold in a silent auction to benefit the charity of the Henderson family’s choice.
Ice Cold Kenny’s reign as undefeated knockerball king got a scare from a terrific effort from B’s photographer and Dispatches contributor Terence Tee, who knocked Kenny down in round one before falling 2-1. Kenny is now 10-0 in the big bubbles.
Joe Horton is the editor of Dispatches from Raimondi.
