Bottom of the Ninth

It's hard to believe our trip has already come to a close. We've seen a lot of incredible games the past few weeks, and tonight was no different. We made our way back to Kansas City, Missouri bright and early this morning to make a 7:10 pm game, the St. Louis Cardinals were facing the KC Royals. This game was the one that I had been looking forward to since day one of the trip. A face off between the Royals, my hometown team, and the Cardinals my favorite team of all time, what could be better?

As we walked into the stadium I couldn't believe the number of fellow Cardinals fans that I saw. As I looked out into the crowd, I saw the stadium flooded with Cardinal red, I couldn't wait to watch the game unfold! This game was by far the most exciting and energetic game that we experienced throughout the entire trip. Because there were so many fans present for both teams, there was applause for every play. You don't really realize how quiet a typical crowd at a baseball game is until you experience a 'rivalry' game like the one we saw tonight.

Michael Wacha was pitching for the Cardinals and Yordano Ventura was the starter for the Royals. Cardinals started off strong in the second inning when Peter Bourjos tripled and sent Jon Jay home to put the Cardinals ahead 1-0. In the top of the fourth the Cardinals scored their second and final run of the evening when Matt Carpenter singled on a sharp ground ball and allowed Jay to score again.

The Royals remained scoreless through most of the game, but in the bottom of the 6th, they came back with a vengeance. Nori Aoki, the Royals lead off batter, doubled on a ground ball to left field and allowed Escobar to score. Eric Hosmer then singled, allowing Aoki to come home. The game was now tied and the crowd went wild. We finally had ourselves a game! Salvador Perez singled on a ground ball to center field, sending Hosmer home for the winning run of the game. Royals defeated the Cardinals in a 3-2 victory, clenching the series.

I was sad my Redbirds lost, but I couldn't have asked for a better final game! We are spending the last evening of our adventure at the historic Muehlebach Hotel in downtown Kansas City, another perfect ending to our trip (thanks Dr. Bob!). In the morning we will have a final breakfast and get on the road to make our way back to Cedar Rapids. What an incredible journey!

Kaylie

Photos from Dbacks v. Reds

Photos by Rachel!
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Back at Chase Field (in less than 24 hours)

During our second day in Arizona, the group headed back to Chase Field in downtown Phoenix to watch an afternoon game of the Diamondbacks vs. the Reds. While it was a warm 100 degrees outside, the dome took the temperature down to a comfortable 75 degrees.

Our seats for this game were on the first base line just beyond the dire infield, on the concourse (level one). What was different about Chase Field than other ballparks we had been to, our seats were actually angled towards home plate. Instead of looking out at the field, you were already positioned towards the main "action" aka the batter. These were probably the best seats for the group for this particular game because earlier in the day we had agreed to all keep score. Our class requirement is that someone scores for each game in the official class scorebook and then people like myself also keep score. We wanted to know what would happen if we all kept a record, comparing them at a later point.

Our seats

While the Diamondbacks don't have the best record, we were hoping for some more offense from the home team after their lost the previous day. The Diamondbacks started off strong, their pitcher Wade Miley, striking out nine during the six innings he pitched. As the Diamondback's recap says on their MLB website, Miley threw four bad pitches, which they cite turned the momentum of the ballgame (but more on that later). 

In the second, the Diamondbacks executed a beautiful caught stealing play. Runners on first (Brayan Pena) and third (Devin Mesoraco). Pena started for second as the Diamondback's catcher (Miguel Montero) threw to second base. After a few tosses between the first and second baseman, Mesoraco decided it was his time to steal home. However, the Diamondback's first baseman noticed Mesoraco, throwing the ball to Montero in hopes of tagging Mesoraco out. Another pickle situation ensued until Montero finally tagged out Mesoraco. The Jumbotron told us the official scoring was CS (caught stealing) 2-6-4-3-2. If you're interested in seeing the play, click here to be taken to the MLB website with the thirty second video clip (it is really worth the watch).  

However, even that great play in the second wasn't enough to deter the Reds. In the third inning, Miley threw two pitches (one to Zack Cozart and another to Todd Frazier) that both resulted in solo home runs. The Reds were then able to tack on two more runs (one in the third and another in the fourth), once again off solo home runs (from Ryan Ludwick [3rd] and Chris Heisey [4th]). 

Now down four to nothing, the Diamondbacks had to really put their batting into high gear. The bottom of the fourth became the D-backs best chance at scoring. After an initial strikeout, Reds' pitcher Alfredo Simon walked Paul Goldschmidt and then gave up a double (Montero) which brought in Goldschmidt and then a single (Prado) which put runners on first and third. Chavez's sacrifice fly then brought in Montero and Peralta's single moved Prado around the bases and finally, Inciarte's single brought in Prado. The score was now 4-3 and it looked good for the Diamondbacks. In the fourth inning, they had four hits, three runs, and went through eight batters. 

Unfortunately, this offensive run was not enough to put the D-backs ahead. By the bottom of the ninth, the D-backs were relying on the bottom of the order batters to get a rally going and these batters were up against the infamous closer, Aroldis Chapman. We had seen Chapman before when the Reds played the Dodgers and his 100 mph fastball is incredible. And after those four home runs, the Reds couldn't put together any more runs, leaving up to three men on base in the ninth. 

The game lasted 2 hours and 59 minutes and the group sure had a good game to score. Lots of action, although not all concentrated in simply one inning. Our seats were ideal in the fact that we had a good view of the field and the jumbotron, which gave us the official scoring after each play.   

Stretch Time! - Chase Field

Another Sunday game means another round of singing "God Bless America." Instead of having a soloist perform like we saw at Oakland, the Diamondbacks' organist accompanied the fans as patriotic images flashed across the big screen. Then it was time again for "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," the sixteenth time we've sung it this trip. It was fun to see the organist interact with fans as he started up the familiar tune.

Today was the fourteenth birthday celebration of D. Baxter the Bobcat, which meant that all the mascots from other teams and colleges in the area were there to celebrate with him and the fans. After the first two songs of the stretch were over, the mascots led the crowd in the chicken dance, accompanied by a recording. Watching a giant gorilla, cardinal, sundevil, snake, and more was definitely a highlight of the non-baseball aspects of the experience at Chase Field.

Photos from the Dodgers v. Reds and Pirates

Photos by Rachel!
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