Ridge sneaks past Pburg in Extras

My apologies for the late recap but this one was hard to swallow for the Phillipsburg faithful and left this author very sad and therefore difficult to write up. There's an old saying play better than the umps ump and Pburg did not do that. While one may say the theme of the game was the hate crimes against curveballs from the man in blue we won't speak of that theme from here on out. On yet another cold super windy day, Stan S. Berry led off the game with a shot to right into the teeth of the wind that looked like sure extra bases until mother nature knocked it down into the right fielder's glove. This would certainly be a theme of the day. Liners hitting liners that wouldn't result in hits. After a quiet top half of the first, Diefen-K took the mound for Pburg and did Diefen-K things striking out two, but Ridge did manage to push a run across for the early 1-0 lead. Pburg would return the favor in the second by tying the game on a Nice Guy Nick walk, two stolen bases by Farmer Ray and Sunshine, and zero hits in the inning. In the top of the third, a one out single by our hero 1-0 followed by a double by the Landshark gave runners at third for red hot Billy Billy! Dolla Bill smoked a line drive to center, the hardest hit ball by either team all day, but it would be right at the center fielder. The Liners happily took the sac fly to go up 2-1, but it could have been more with a bit more luck. The top of the 4th inning featured the return of the ballplayer formerly known as Blue Donut, Big Mike, Salmon, but now known as Walmart Kramer. It was a great sign for Pburg fans to see a vintage Kramer at bat. Several foul balls and a full count worked, Walmart Kramer stroked a single to left. After all the bad luck and injuries it was great to see Mike back in the box doing his thing. Eggy would come on to run for Kramer and a bloop single by Farmer Ray put runners on first and second for Buff the Magic Dragon, who layed down a sacrifice bunt to put the Liners in business. Machado then hit an RBI grounder to short. The ball temporarily got away from the Ridge first baseman and in the typical brazen Liner baserunning strategy, Farmer Ray tried to score but was gunned down at the plate. In a bizarre turn of events, Diefen-K only logged one K in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th inning. There are theories as to why but this author is contractually obligated to not mention them anywhere past the third sentence of this recap. Ridge would score another cheesy run as a hit by pitch, wild pitch, and a miscommunication in the OF put Ridge's second run on the board. Diefen-shove struck out the first batter in the bottom of the fifth but Major League Prospect Brandon Hylton beat out an infield single. After another K, Ridge's Lusardi stroked a line drive to right for the tying run. With pitch count concerns and a depleted bullpen after Wednesday's 10 inning affair, tensions were running high in Basking Ridge. Diefen-gas stepped up and struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth on 10 pitches in one of the most impressive displays we've seen a long time. Machado bombed a one out double to deep left (probably gone in normal conditions) followed by an incredible 27 pitch walk by Stan S. Berry (okay, it was more like 8 or 9, but seemed like a lot more). Staggy Bear dribbled a ball to the left side of the pitcher's mound and was barely thrown out at first but now Pburg had runners at 2nd and 3rd with none other than Big Game Sean at the plate. El Morro smashed the first pitch (second hardest ball of the day) on a one hopper just into the grass in right. Ridge's second basemen, Devin Steiglitz, made the play of the year as he knocked it down, rolled over on his back and threw a strike to first to get the Landshark by a hair. Search @Court_Rutgers for the video. Just like that, Ridge went to the bottom of the 7th with all the momentum. The pitch count took Diefen-stud out of the game and the righty Chris Sale came in. Faced with a 2nd and 3rd, one out situation, Machado exorcised his 7th inning demons and struck out back to back runners to send the game to the 8th. A Pburg rally would fall short and a in the bottom half an injury pulled Machado off the mound and all you need to know is a swinging bunt resulted in the 3rd walk off against Pburg this year. Pburg has lost 4 games by a total of 5 runs through ten games. That's all for today as this author is getting that sick feeling again. Baby Rick will get the ball on Monday against Skyland foe Bridgewater on Monday. AND IT'S ACTUALLY AT HOME. I REPEAT, PHILLIPSBURG BASEBALL IS PLAYING A GAME AT THE PAC. See you there...