Saturday I drove down the Turnpike to the beautiful Citizens Bank Park to watch the Braves take on the Phillies. I had read stories and heard whispers that Mike Hampton may actually take the mound for the Braves but I had adopted an I’ll believe it when I see it policy with Mikey. Not only did he have to warm-up, which could be dangerous for him (see-April’s peck muscle injury) then there was that long flight of stairs from the Braves bullpen to the outfield grass, that long walk from the bullpen to the dugout, those dugout stairs (see-Jair Jurrjens Wrigley Incident) and then some more warm-up throws. But Mr. Hampton made me eat a massive slice of humble pie as he pitched into the fifth inning before being relieved of his duties. Admittedly, not an amazing start for your average pitcher, but a solid one for a guy who hasn’t taken the mound in a major league game in oh about three years.
The Braves tacked on nine runs in the fourth inning chasing Phillies phenom Cole Hamels out, but it wasn’t enough as the Phillies struck back with 7 runs of their own in the fifth, in their 10-9 win. The fourth inning was such a mess for the Phillies between Hamels’ errant throw to nowhere, the dropped pop between Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Hamels, Mark Teixeira’s big three run homer, I figured things would have to go the Braves way, but it was not meant to be. I learned a valuable lesson on that day, nine runs means nothing if the other teams got 10!
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