The Long Ball Isn't Enough

Richmond 7, Chillicothe 4

Here's how you can make a summary of this game between the Chillicothe Paints and the Richmond River Rats; the Paints were the team who made the big noise at the start, but the River Rats were the team who made the big noise at the end. Rest assured, the start of this game was very promising for the hometown crowd at the V.A. as the Paints made like gangbusters early, but the gangbusters were gone as it got closer to the end. The middle innings were where the River Rats started to take over momentum-wise.

Blake Mascarello made the start for the Paints. He would go 5 innings deep in his start, giving up a pair of runs off of 6 hits allowed. He would give up three walks and would strike out a pair of batters. Mascarello did a good job for the most part. There were some pitches that were off but they weren't too hazardous for Blake. He began to lose steam when he got closer to the end of his start.

Eric Heckaman was brought in to face the team that has previously given him the most trouble this year. Heckaman did not fare well again when he pitched to Richmond batters. You could say that he was just out there for too long. When you know that your relief pitcher is not up to his tip-top shape in performance, then you have to know what's going on score-wise, and you also have to know if the other team "gets it" against that relief pitcher. It looked as if all of teh above happened, and Heckaman didn't get the support he needed. He pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up 4 runs in total while also giving up two hits and four walks.

Brad Schnitzer and Krist Linster would also see some action in this ballgame, but I believe the main thing that I have to note would be this.

The umpiring.

The strike zone calls, to be more exact.

I have no idea what was going on there, but throughout this game, you could tell that something just wasn't right with the strikes and balls being called for the Paints. Maybe in some cases, the River Rats were getting hurt on these same calls as well, but still, the Paints were really getting shafted on a few calls that could've gotten either way, and also on some pitches that looked good enough to be called strikes. The strike zone was a bit too outside for my liking, and that of course is just my personal opinion, folks. Needless to say, I just wasn't happy with the umpires in this game.

Let's get to the offense, and let's just say that they did provide early fireworks in the form of two big homeruns to center field and to left center field. Credit the fireworks display to two players, catcher Andrew Marshall and Andy Brouse. Marshall went deep for a two-run homerun. Brouse went deep for a solo homerun, and both of those came in the first inning. The last run the Paints would score for this game would come off a bases loaded walk in the third inning. Eian Banks had an infield single and Brandon White had a single coming off the bench as a pinch hitter. Steven Mirizzi had a pair of stolen bases. Tim Krofcheck had one stolen base.

This game was just tough to watch towards the end. It got dicey, and the dice just didn't roll the right way for the Paints. Oh well, we have to look towards the next game, and besides, this day was filled with patriotism since it was Independence Day. I wish all of you people a Happy 4th of July no matter where you are. Stay safe and have fun the best way you know how, and just maybe, you went to a baseball game!