June 28-29

It was much warmer on Thursday, the forecast was calling for ninety-degree days for most of the weekend. Jenny was in town for a morning appointment, I took her home from there and we did our usual lunch date. From there we went into Willow Street where she had an afternoon commitment, the access van took her home afterward. In the evening at the ballpark it was 89 degrees at 7:00 game time (compare that to 78 at noon on Wednesday). On this night the R-Phils lost to Richmond 5-2 as the Squirrels took an early 3-0 lead and were never headed. The only ribbie came on a Leandro Castro sacrifice fly, the other run scored on a Richmond error. Scheduled starting pitcher Jonathan Pettibone was a late scratch due to injury, Jordan Whatcott made the spot start and took the loss. On Friday the blast furnace was still open for business, it was 93 degrees at game time. The R-Phils got back on the winning side with a come-from-behind 4-3 win. Darin Ruf hit a two-run home run, Troy Hanzawa had a base hit and two RBI. Ryan Duke (newly promoted from Clearwater) won it in relief of Austin Hyatt, Colby Shreve worked two ininngs for the save. Both Thursday and Friday were fireworks nights, all the better for me to hit the road before the rush. As I made my way south on 222 on Friday night I saw lightning in the distance, shortly after I arrived home it opened up and poured. The homestand continues through Tuesday as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats visit. Take care, thanks for reading.