Reggio vs Modena

I was told that this weeks games were very important. I'm not one to put stress on games this early in the season, so I didn't buy into the hype. I was excited, however, to play a real good quality team. We were set to play Modena at their home field. We were currently tied for first place. Modena is a team built on strong pitching. Our team is mostly built on a strong offense. Let the battle begin.

In game one, we knocked out their starting pitcher in the first inning. He was grooving mid 80's fastballs right down the middle, and we weren't missing them. We scored 4 runs in the first. I was the last hitter he faced, hitting another double off the wall. I have been working out everyday, but I guess it's not enough. I should probably start lifting harder. The pitcher they brought in after was a crafty lefty. I have learned that our team struggles against these slow pitching lefties.

After a couple times through the lineup, the offense picked up again. We ended up beating them in game one 10-0. Our starter, Fillo, took a no hitter into the 7th. It was his best start of the year. I ended up going 1-3 with an rbi. We were excited about the win, but we anticipated the next game. Their foreign pitcher, Angel Marquez, is tops in the league. He leads the league in all major pitching categories. From Venezuela, he throws low to mid 90's with a 12 to 6 breaking curveball. He also mixes in a split changeup.

From the first inning, he was locked in. He was striking out everybody. Not only did he throw hard, but he was able to locate his fastball. In my first at bat, I took him to 3-2 and hit a hard ground ball to the thirdbasemen. It was the best at bat I would have against him, as he would strike me out the next 2 times. I wasn't all that upset about my at bats. My second at bat, I again took him to a full count. He threw a fastball on the outside black, and I swung threw it. It was a good pitch. In my final at bat, he struck me out on a fastball about 5 feet outside. One of the main themes of this game was terrible umpiring.

When a pitcher of this caliber is on the mound, umpires have a hard time not calling strikes, in fear that he will get upset. He was giving fastballs about 3-5 inches off the plate, a pitch Luis wasn't receiving. I really try hard not to get on the umpires, given that I have to be near them all game, but I let him know about my displeasure with the call. Plus, I'm the only thing stopping him from getting hit with a 90 mph fastball in the gut. He should take that into consideration.

The field umpire was no better. In game 1, I threw out there shortstop who leads the league in stolen bases. In game two, he tried again. I threw a perfect ball that tailed right into the baseline. Chris, my roomate and shortstop, made the tag. The umpire called him safe, and he ended up scoring. The next runner tried to steal, and I threw him out by 10 feet. I went to the mound and told the umpire that run was on him and that he should get his f**king act together. He may not speak english, be he understood that. He proceeded to try to get my attention, possibly to eject me, but I just turned around and ignored him, running off the field.

Marquez had a no hitter going into the 8th. Luckily, we were able to scrap a couple of hits against him in the 8th and 9th. Nothing worse than getting no hit, especially when your supposively the best offense in the league. Luis threw a great game as well, but after some stupid fielding mistakes and timely hitting, we ended up losing the game 4-0. Although I had a poor game, I tried not to get down on myself. I am excited for when he comes to Reggio. I'll be waiting for him.

So now, the race draws closer. The split between us and Modena allowed other teams to join the race. This week, we play Sala-Baganza, who are right on our tails. It should make for some interesting series, and a true test of our merit.

Tomorrow, my roomates and I will be traveling to Siena and Pizza. We are going to take the Red Panda out instead of the train. I have heard Siena is beautiful, and I am very excited to see the leaning tower. So expect pictures soon! I hope everybody had a great weekend and talk to you soon!