Welcome to the “I-Wanna-See-Byrnesie-Hit-No.-20-While-The-D’Backs-Beat-L.A.- Liveblog

It’s the L.A. Dodgers, currently leading in the NL West, versus the Arizona Diamondbacks in the middle game of a three-game series at Chase Field In Phoenix.

A few words about this liveblog:

1) MSIE has been cranky lately, and already threw me out of the Mets game once. So If I miss something, it’s because that has happened again.

2) I am not a fast typist and in fact have a slight impairment of the right hand that mean I make typos with that hand more. So I apologize in advance for typos and will correct them tomorrow.

3) I will save after each half inning. I tend to me more of a play-by-play blogger than a color blogger.

4) I’m not a geek, so I might not be able to spend too much time in the comments section, but please comment to each other.

The D’Backs won the first game 9-7 in 15 innings thanks to a walk-off 2 run homer by Orlando Hudson. Tonight, it is right-hander Miguel Batista (10-5 4.52) against right hander Derek Lowe (11-8 3.84).

The Mets have just beaten the Phillies 11-5 (YEAH!) The Mets had a 7-run 7th, featuring a two-run double by former Dodger and D’Back Shawn Green. Both Carlos also homered for the Mets! For Beltran it was number 200 of his career.

Eric Byrnes, who is 8-12 lifetime v. Lowe is leading off and playing RF. Young is in CF and Counsell is back as SS.

6:40 Furcal is leading off for LA. He ground out to Batista. BTW, Tony Clark is playing 1B for the Snakes.

6:42 Lofton is up, he’s playing CF for LA. Counsell to Clark is out No. 2.

6:43 Nomar is up. He pops up to Byrnes in shallow right. This is a great start for the D’Backs,  who’s p;itchers are infamous for giving up runs in the first.

Byrnesie, who stole a personal best 18th base last night, leads off.

6:47 C’mon Byrnesie…My heart is pounding. First pitch is a strike.*****! He popped up to the pitcher. Too much early uppercut. Maybe he;s too anxious to get that No. 20. I don’t think he was swinging well when I saw him in S.F.

6:47 O-Dawg batting second. Ethier tried the sliding catch on a blooper but dropped the ball. A single for Hudson!

6:50 Gonzo up. He’s got 45 doubles. But he’s just hit into a 1-4-3 DP. Catching Rogers Hornsby on the all-time 2B list will have to wait for another AB.

Hi To Kaylee. Lowe has to lose. He pitched game 5 of the 2003 ALDS in Oakland. I was there. GRRR!

6:53 J.D. Drew is  up. He’s playing RF. Drew singles to Right Center. The ball is cut off by Byrnesie and returned to the infield.

6:54 Jeff Kent the 2B is up. Oh, he fouled one off and Miguel was lucky it wasn’t fair. It would have been two. Caught too much of the plate. Kent flies to center. Young makes a two-handed catch. I lilke two handed catches, but then, I’m old fashioned that way.

6:56 Andre Ethier is up. He’s playing LF. Hudson to Counsell to Clark. DP!

6:59 Chad Tracy is up. He gets an infield hit on a high hopper Lowe couldn’t get. Today is Chad’s bobblehead night.

7:00 Estrada the catcher up. He’s the only D’Back regular still batting over .300. And he hits into a 5-4-3 DP.

7:01 Clark up. He’s at 1B tonight. He grounds out to 3rd. He PH’d last night. This is is his first start since coming off the DL.

7:05 Wilson Betemit, the LA 3B, starts the inning with a double to center.

7:05 Russell Martin, who caught all of the 15 innings for LA last night is up. The Giants won tonight. Will Bronson Arroyo ever win another game? Mike, you know I am also rooting for the Mets, so I was glad Green got that hit… Martin walks

7:08 Pitcher Lowe is up. But I think the D’Backs did not get anything back for Green that could hellp them now and that tells me that they aren’t really serious about winning this year. They are looking to 2007 and their young prospects. They did a salary dump. Expect that Gonzo will not be kept and that maybe Byrnesie will be traded. Depends on that later one. They might want the one vet in the outfield.

7:10 YES. Lowe Bunted and Batista threw to thrid to get the lead runner. (Yes, Tracy did NOT make an error).

7:10 Furcal up with catcher at 2B and Lowe at 1B. Tracy took a chopper behind the mound and got the out at first. Runners move up to 3B and 2B.

7:11 Lofton up, two outs, but Tracy is up on the grass at 3B. Lofton is hitting .408 in August. I look forward to the day we can do this like an IM so that the typing is immediately seen. 2-2 on Lofton. The D’back are wearing the basic home whites. and the Dodgers are wearing the basic road greys. ACK. Lofton walks!

7:15. Bases loaded. Two Out. Nomar up. First pitch was almost wild. Estrada made a good backhand stop. Ball Two. Ball Three. Puhleeze don’t walk hoem a run. Nomar takes. Strike One. Strike two. Fouled off the 3-2 pitch. Opposite field single brings in two runs for LA. GRRR! But Nomar was smart to take the pitch to the opposite field. Certain stubborn guys try to pull.

7:19 Drew up. runners at 1 and 3. still two out. 2-0 to Drew. matt Williams is saying that Batista doesn’t look comfortable from the stretch. Fine. Then he should abandon the stretch and go back to throwing strikes. Drew 1-3.

2-0 L.A.

Dodgers up.

7:22 Counsell leads off the inning. He’s batting 7th. He bounces to the pitcher.

7:23 Young is up. They’re talking about how Couns will now play various infield positions because Stephen drew, called up when Couns was injured, has done so well. He just fouled off a pitch that looked outside. 2-2. He’s fouling a bunch off Lowe. WOW! Furcal stopped the pitch, but was sprawled all over and couldn’t make a play. Young has an infield hit.

7:27 Batista shows bunt. He finally gets one down 1-4. Young to second.

7:28. C’Mon Byrnesie. RISP with 2 out. Clutch time. PUHLEEZE!!! Takes a strike. Ball. Byrnesie is batting .327 with 2 oout RISP. Count is 2-1. Fouled an outside pitch. 2-2 . The root rattles are going. RATS Byrnesie flies to center. GRRRR!

Hi to Arielle

7:33 Clark to Batista gets Jeff Kent out.

7:34 Ethier up. And hits a double off the left field wall. Why again did the A’s trade this guy???

7:35 The announcers are interviewing an AZ Lottery guy. Betemit is up. Hudso to Clark gets him. But now the Dodgers have a runner at 3rd.

7:37 IBB to the 8 hitter Martin to bring up Lowe with two out. Counsell throws to Hudson but it’s not in time the runner is safe and the run scores.

7:38 3-0 Dodgers. Furcal up. Runners on 1st and 2nd. Yak, Yak Yak about the Lottery. Snooze. No interruptions of the talk to give the count. Chopper to Clark thrown to Batista gets Furcal out.

3-0 Dodgers.

Still 2-0 LA.

7:43 Hudson hits a double! He’s 2-2 after going 4-4 last night!

7:44 Gonzo up. Now would be a good time for a double, Gonzo. ACK. Gonzo hit a fly to the CF warning track. But Hudson was too far away to tag up. Baserunning mistake by Hudson. That deep fly should have moved Hudson to third. Hudson tried to make up for it by attempting a steal of third, but he’s out on a perfect throw by Martin to Betemit. $*#@&!$^@$!!

7:47 Tracy up and upended by a pitch. Tracy hit a line drive off Lowe. OUCH. Caught him on the glove hand and Low gets pulled immediately. Joe Biemel is coming in.

7:55 Estrada up. MSIE is givng me a hassle, but I am going to see if I can hang in through the inning. Two out. Runner on 1st. Estrada gets a single to the right side. Shoot! If O-Dawg had stayed put, the D’Backs would have a run by now.

7:57 Clark up. Like Estrada he’s a switch and they are now righties against the lefty Biemel. Clark singles to center. RBI Clark, Estrada to 3b as the throw goes into 2nd.

7:59 Counsell up. Martin makes a great block. Takes Called Strike Three. two LOB.

8:03 Top of the 5th. LA 3 AZ 1. Lofton pops up to Young in CF.

8:04 Npmar up. Hits long foul to left. Then he pops to short.

8:06 Drew up. Pops out to Young in shallow center. The D’Backs pitching  held after the offense scored. AWWRIGHT!

8:09 Young tries to bunt for a hit but it’s foul. Strike One. He’s a 6-3.

8:10 Batista up. Batista down swinging.

8:12 C’Mon Byrnesie!!!! Takes a ball. He’s a 6-3. HMMM. This is the kind of thing that makes me think I shouldn’t watch Byrnes in real time. He was 0-for me watching him against the Giants live and when the TV accidently let me watch his first 3 ABs in the thrid game instead of blacking me out. Now he’s 0-3. He got two hits yesterday and SB No. 18 when  i could not watch.

8:15. Kent 6-3. Att. 40,358.

8:16 Ethier up. Top of the 6th. LA 3, AZ 1. He K’s on a foul tip. Miggy’s first K of the night.

8:17 Betemit swngs and misses at strike one and walks around. The next pitch goes to the back stop. He fouls the next pitch. and HE strikes out swinging.

Hamalack, a lefty called up from AAA, started the bottom of the 6th for the Dodgers.

8:21 Hudson is a swinging K.

8:22 Gonzo grounds out 4-3

8:24 Tracy is a called K.

I had to bail from the balky browser.

8:27 Martin out 6-3

8:28 Hudson makes diving stop to his right that robs PH Julio Lugo of a hit. 4-3

8:29 Furcal takes a ball. Fan catches pop foul ball with his hat. Counsell gets Furcal. Batista has retired the last 7 in a row.

Still 3 -1 LA, however,

8:34 Brett Tomko, formerly with the Giants, is now in for the Dodgers. He’s a righty so Estrada is back to batting lefty. YES. Estrada gets a double. I think he wold be a little faster if he did not spend so much time watching what the outfielder doing .

8:36. Estrada tags and goes to third on a deep fly by Clark to right.

8:37 Counsell up. Too Bad Clark did not HR. It looked for a second as if it would go out. C’Mon Couns! Gotta Get this run in! Estrada tags and scores on Sac Fly by Counsell!!!! 3- 2 LA.

8:39 Chris Young up. Now would be a nice time for Young to hit MLB HR No. 2. Tomko just threw 96 MPH. Young fouled it and poped foul to the catcher on the next pitch.

8:43 Batista out for inning No. 8. He walks Lofton.

8:44 Nomar up. Vizcaino up in D’Back Bullpen. Batista trying to hold Lofton at first. Nomar shows bunt the first time. But not the second time. Yes! Estrada nails Lofton trying to steal second. Tried to avoid tag and that is how he was tagged out. 2-4. Argument ensues. But no one is ejected. Lofton would have made it if he had gone in with the lead hand instead of trying to avoid the tag.

Count is 2-2 on Nomar. Tracy gets the Nomar grounder. Out 5-3.

8:49 Drew up. Drew fouls one off his foot. OUCH. Crowd again chanting Beat LA. that’s the 4th time. This time with the assistance of organ chords. Byrnes takes the looper to right.

3-2 LA going into the bottom of the 8th.

8:53 Drew PH for Batista. MSIE is having problems again, even though I did nto hear anything that would indicate that. Drew singles up the middle

8:54 C’Mon Byrnesie!!!  Now is the time for HR No. 20. The announcers are talking about him bunting. But he’s not a good bunter. Showing bunt. Looks at ball 1.

Oh, he layed down th e bunt but Nomar did in fact think about throwing to second.

8:56 Hudson batting lefty. 6 lefties up and no lefties left in the LA bull pen. Hudson hits a single up the middle. Drew scores. The game is tied. Hudson is 3-3!

Crowd shouting Beat LA.

8:59 Gonzo up. He’s .455 with 3 HR v Tomko. This time he walks. 2 on, 1 out.

9:01 Tracy up. Honeycutt, the pitching coach, visits the mound.

9:02 Hudson reps the go-ahead run. Gonzo the insurance. One out. (The Sac Bunt) bottom of the 8th. 2-1 count. Tracy fouls it off. Count even. Full Count. Rooter rattles going. Tracy fouls it again. Estrada on deck. Tracy is a swinging K. That’s two tonight! It was a ball.

9:06 Dodger pitching change. Jonathan Broxton is in.

9:08 Estrada up. The D’Backs Mr. Clutch. ACK,. He lines out to short!

3-3 going to the top of the 9th.

Vizcaino in. PUHLEEZE, No Runs.

9:12  Kent leads off 9th. He’s .125 v. Vizcaino. Padres and Giants won. Rockies lost to Pads. Giants playing out of division with Reds. Full Count to Kent. Kent homers. Thanks for nothing. 4-3 L.A. :+( Matt WIlliams predicted that he would not miss a fastball. He didn’t miss that one.

9:15. Ethier out 4-3.

9:16 Betemit up. There’s a big shift to right, a la Ortiz and Bonds. Out to the shifted over Counsell. 6-3.

9:17 Martin up. Martin K’s

Clark, Counsell and Young due up.

9:22 Saito in. Clark out via pop to third.

9:24 Counsell grounds out.

9:25 Young up. Out 6-3. Broxton wins. Vizcaino loses. Saito gets the save.

AZ bullpen gives it up again.

K.R.