SECTION 331

We swept the Diamondbacks and are above .500, something that I was certainly not expecting as the outcome of the series, but something that I was nonetheless glad to be  witness to. Before Saturday’s game, my friend Jenny and I went down to Pyramid, had a round and chatted and people-watched, then wandered over to the stadium and got our Griffey t-shirts. I wish they’d do the promos on something other than white, because I ruin white faster than anything; but beggars can’t be choosers, can they? Bullpen Pub for a round, then Bullpen Market for a round, and watching a little of BP. I was going to attempt to snag a photo of Dan Haren in the outfield, but just as I was trying to get my camera out of my bag, BP was called, and all the DBacks went running towards the dugout. 

We decided we were both hungry and should probably snag something to eat with our beer, so wandered up in the elevator to get some vittles and our seats. Kidd Valley burger for me, dog and garlic fries for Jenny – neither item lasted very long, we were both starving. I offered up bits of SafeCo/Mariners trivia to Jenny as we had our dinner and the pre-game show occurred, just  random stuff about players and parts of the field, and stuff I’d seen there so far this year. Her husband Scott is a Steeler’s fan, and while Jenny isn’t into baseball like I am, she was willing to listen to me yap about it for the 4+ hours we were there. 

The bullpen has taken on a decidedly new National Anthem look, standing in a formation rather than just a line. Spurred by Lowe? Most likely:

Beltre and Yuni standing for the anthem:

Aardsma collects his helmet before the walk to the pen:

I still need to work on the photos. The distortion from the telephoto is what causes the bleeding, not fuzz as I had originally thought (I talk sports, Jenny talks photography), and I’m starting to wonder if I need glasses, since the photos look fine in the viewer, but when I download them some of them are very blurry. A project to work on, I guess. I should probably upgrade my camera body, but I’m not a photographer, and I really don’t make that kind of money, so it will have to be on the cheap for now.

Vargas was great for the 6 or so innings he was in the game, keeping Arizona from scoring anything other than one run in the first inning. Our first run was a homer hit by Mike Sweeney. When he came up to the plate, I said something to the effect of ‘well, nothing’s going to happen here’, and then Sweeney hit it over the wall. It seems that my reverse psychology/pessimism is working pretty well lately. I plan to continue it. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, Mariners; if anything, it means I love you MORE.

Justin Upton smacked a homer in the 7th inning to tie the game 2-2, but we weren’t interested in leaving it like that, and began to shell the DBacks pitching, getting 2 runs in the 7th and 3 more in the 8th. Sean White provided some relief for us before Aardsma came in, and then Wladimir Balentien made a jumping catch into the stands for the final out on a ball hit foul. I always kick myself for not having the video turned on the camera, but unfortunately, you never know when the cool stuff is going to happen before it does, and I’m already using a significant amount of battery power due to Canon’s poor design on the S5 iS.

Chris Woodward did an excellent job of filling in for Jose Lopez, and worked well with Yuni in the infield. I’m glad they called him up.

Balentien, right before hitting the home run that would even up the score, the scene at first after Branyan got hit by a pitch.

The Diamondbacks conferring on the mound before changing pitching:

Ichiro, waiting around on third so he can score, because that’s how he rolls, and me trying to be artsy with the sunset:

Sweeney and Branyan congratulate each other one Branyan’s run coming in:

Me and Jenny, hopped up on beer and dogs, and WINNING! I desperately need to dye my hair.

Because the Griffey shirts were all over the place, we were encouraged by the readerboards to wave them. I practiced being at soccer games by waving my Sounders scarf, instead (brought with me because I thought it was going to get cold. Thankfully, I was wrong). Meanwhile, Aardsma’s jersey gets freaky in my lens. I will be curious to see what the alternate unis do, and whether or not the diffusion is as much of an issue with darker colors.

Anyway, it was a good game, and I’m always happy when I take someone there who either isn’t into baseball or isn’t as familiar with the team as I am, and they pull out a win. Especially with something like that last Balentien catch to end the game, it’s all the more memorable and special for me.

Will work on photos and eye exam. Sheesh!