5.6.09 Pawtucket Red Sox v Toledo Mud Hens - stranglehold

Dontrelle Willis in MY neighborhood? Nuh-uh! But yeah, there he was! And it was like a beautiful flamingo flying past a beautiful sunset carrying a beautiful painting with its feet.

Dontrelle Willis got himself into the eighth inning, which is pretty decent for a rehab start. Except I guess he's not really injured or in physical pain. Willis gave up two runs on five hits, and any major dude will tell you Angel Chavez' solo home run was the most imp.

Willis struck out four PawSox kids and also walked four. He is rather animated on the mound, let me tell you. It was terrific.

On the flip side, M. Bowden had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning. No one was talking to him. Then, er, with two outs in the seventh... Mike Hessman's at bat and he's crazy dangerous and overdue for a blast... he pops it up! High pop-up behind the batter's box! Bowden, catcher Dusty Brown and first-baseman Paul McAnulty all converge... who will catch it?? NOBODY, that's who!

So Hessman walks and Ryan Roberson's up next and he doubles a run home. Nighty-night, no-no. Bowden was SO MAD, you should have seen it. The defense was making all those balls-out plays (vis: Danielson, Velazquez, Ambres) that tend to go down during a no-hitter. I thank the Great and Powerful Tim Wakefield for pointing that out... during a no-hitter, there will always be that one crazy play that makes it almost a sure thing.

Almost, M. Bowden.

Marcus McBeth and Bard provided excellent relief as usual. No further runs were scored.

Thanks for 2003, Willis and Beckett:
1. Dontrelle Willis was kind of a jerk to catcher Max St. Pierre. After Willis gave up a double to Chip Ambres, he said, "HEY! HEY! Good call!" very sarcastically. And then when the inning ended, on the way back to the dugout Willis said to St Pierre: "That call? Come on, man." Dude. He's a minor league catcher from Quebec. Get over it.
2. I generally don't have much to say about Bowden, but his performance was remarkable and it was neat to see him take it so seriously. I hope he's not too hard on McAnulty.
3. Bowden crash landed by first base when McAnulty crap-tossed a ground ball over to him in the fifth inning to get Will Rhymes out.
4. Angel Chavez hit his first home run of the season! I think everyone likes Angel Chavez.
5. Sandy Madera is back. How sweet it is.

This could be the greatest game I'll go to all year. Special thanks go to myself for making all the arrangements, to ME for getting some potentially deadly photos, and to I for all transportation/catering.

MARLINS!!!!!