“In sports, Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Bob Prince coined the term “hidden vigorish” to describe an underdog’s ability to beat the odds in a given situation.”
-Wikipedia
About Last Night
The Red Wings arrived in Allentown sporting a massive losing streak as the team clearly in last place in the entire International League. Easy win? Nope. They were due. IronPigs got thrown out on the base-paths a number of times and couldn’t get any hard contact all night in the 3-1 loss. Credit to AC though. The skipper had the lineup optimized for the lefty starter, and didn’t hesitate to substitute-in left-handed bats later in the game when a right-handed relief pitcher was on the mound. It’s basic baseball managerial stuff, of course, but here in the minors sometimes playing time is not assigned based on trying to win the game.
Again With The Numbers
At least Jacksonville was losing 3-1 at the same time we were. Nope. They scored 4 in the top of the ninth to come back and beat the fake Mets.
So, the Magic Number stays at 4. Four wins or four Jacksonville losses or any combination thereof. Five games to go. The hidden vigorish is going to come for that Jacksonville team eventually, too. Let’s just hope it is before Sunday.
Notebook, Transactions, Resources
No flurry of roster moves yesterday as the team remains at home for a second week in a row. Reading made some moves to get some guys healthy and off rehab, but that mostly involved cars back and forth from Lakewood, New Jersey. Prospect Aidan Miller has been out for a week or so with a skin condition that was pointedly referred to as “non-baseball related.” He is expected back today for Reading, who are also home this week for Hartford (AA-COL).
Rochester got a pitcher from Harrisburg to add to two optioned players they got from Washington. They also lost a player or two. It didn’t look like anything that moved the needle very much.
Yesterday’s column to preview the series remains mostly intact. Some of the promotions need to be clarified, which will happen in the daily columns.
Game Day!
First Pitch: 6:45PM
Main Gates: 5:30PM
Club Gate: 5:15PM
Promotions:
- Tacos & Tallboys: Taco specials in the plaza (made an attempt last week but the line was unbelieveable) as well as 16oz can specials throughout the park.
- Soccer Night
- On-Field PK competition pre-game
- Pre-game parade
Weather: 78° with a 15% chance of showers at game time. Rain and thunderstorms may move through the area before the game, so bring a towel to wipe off your seat.
Pitching:
IronPigs: RHP Gabe Mosser (2-1, 5.08) I’ll set aside my disdain for all things Parkland so that we can get a win tonight.
Red Wings: RHP Adrian Sampson (1-2, 5.97) A fifth-round pick of the Pirates back in 2012, he made his MLB debut in 2016. Was signed in May by the Nationals, as a minor league free agent. Scouting: An above-average slider that generates an extreme number of ground balls but does not miss bats. Below-average velocity.
See you at the park,
@Kram207
Featured Image by Jack Mitroka, edited to fit the space
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