Astros 7 Pirates 6 (in 15!)

That was, without a doubt, the longest baseball game I've ever attended in person. It seemed a lot longer than it was because the Pirates didn't score at all after the fifth and the Astros only scored twice after the sixth. I think the Pirates did some good things early, but every inning blended together after a while. We swore that Sanchez should've been leading off the inning since Jack Wilson made the third out, on the logic that Duffy had gotten on and stolen a base. We wore close, we'd just kind of confused the 11th and 12th innings. It's much easier to do than you'd think, especially without a scorecard (which would've been useless by then).

Anyways, early on Doumit crushed a no-doubter and the Pirates were hitting the ball all over the park. Chacon looked pretty good through 5 and the Pirates had built a 6-1 lead. Jose Bautista also made a nice little diving catch of a diving quail Berkman hit to him at third. The Astros fans one section over were looking kind of despondent and the guys behind had "made Aubrey Huff their bitch." That was their words, and they were probably right. The best part came when Huff came up and the PA announces, "Now batting for the Astros, Aubrey Huff." There was a short pause, then with perfect comedic timing the guys came through with a "BOO!" I should explain that we were in Section 4, one row behind the handicapped seats down the right field line. The seats were nice. And free, which made them more awesome. Anyways, the Astros fans were glancing over at the out of town scoreboard hoping that the Padres could pull ahead in what was a 1-1 game at that point when the sixth inning started. It was immediately obvious when the sixth started that Chacon had lost it. He walked Taveras (a huge red flag), then gave up a double to Lamb. We were screaming from our seats that Chacon was done, but Tracy apparently needed a Lance Berkman bomb and a beaned Aubrey Huff to prove it for him.

Once it got to 6-5, the rest of the game was filled with that sinking sense that the Pirates were going to blow it. They did in the 9th, as a Bucco closer finally blew a save when Sully allowed a run to make things 6-6. From there on, everything kind of blurs together. I know Duffy made a great catch in center, but I'm not sure when. I think it may have been before the 9th actually. More people were intentionally walked than I'd ever seen before. Garner even walked both Sanchez and Bay to load the bases for Nady, which worked out quite well for him. Jim Tracy, meanwhile, pretended that Lance Berkman was the '01 Barry Bonds and that he was, well, still Jim Tracy. At some point the Astros fans started to become urgent, the Pads/Cards score had gone from 2-1 San Diego to 4-2 St. Louis with that little "F" next to it. When someone asked what happened I responded, "I dunno, it was probably that freaking Poo-holes. He ruins everything." Never have fans from another city (and these people really were from Houston) agreed with me so readily. Some time around the 11th inning, the attendance dwindled dangerously towards the triple digits. This only meant one thing, everyone in the park could hear everyone else. The park was full of disjointed "Fred-dy! Fred-dy!" chants. I was particularly proud of my "JONAH! YOU'VE GOT YOURSELF IN A WHALE OF A SITUATION!" scream that got chuckles from somewhere on the other side of the Astros dugout, a good three or four sections over and will certainly win awards for Cheesiest Joke of the Year and Best Biblical Reference at a Sporting Event. There was a 14th inning stretch. There was an agreement that the Pirates should tell the vendors when this was going to happen so that they could keep selling beer past the 7th (not that anyone wanted to pay $6.75 for more beer, but man, that game needed something). Myself and two friends started a three man wave that finally realized the goal of getting my Irate Fans shirt prominently displayed front and center on the JumboTron. College kids made idiots of themselves everywhere all over the park (because college kids and Astros fans probably made up 90% of the crowd at the conclusion of the game). At some point it occured to me that Shawn Chacon, Shane Youman, and Brian Rodgers had all taken the mound and we still hadn't lost the game (even though we did lose, making it to the 15th in a game that all three of them appeared in is damn impressive). Eventually the dam burst, mostly because it had to. I mean Jonah Bayliss was on for his 3rd inning (the guy was a closer at Indy most of the year, I doubt he pitched three innings very often) and our only other options were Juan Perez and Victor Santos. With Bay and Nady not hitting, Sanchez being avoided, and Duffy and Jack Wilson slumping since the fifth inning (it was long enough that we can call it a slump), we all knew the Pirates were going to lose. We congratulated the Astros fans (because really, I am rooting for them and I think most Pirate fans are) and wished them luck, then left. Still, games like this are why I can't bring myself to go on an all-out boycott of the Nuttings' product. I just like baseball way too damn much.