Walker and McCutchen LIVEBLOG!!!

The cable guy finally made his way to my apartment this afternoon. This is fantastic news for a couple reasons. First off, I no longer have to rely on X-Files DVD as my prime source of entertainment (I've been on a meandering fifteen month quest to watch the entire series but man, Season 7 is a drag). Secondly, the Durham Bulls are actually on TV for about half of their games this year. And included in that half is tonight's game against an Indianapolis lineup featuring Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Steven Pearce (and Don Kelly and Brad Eldred!!). I would like to tell you I'm not too bored to liveblog this game, but I am. At the very least I'll focus on the at-bats of the players that matter and make fun of the players that don't.

Pregame- Don Kelly is batting leadoff for Indy!!! Who let Jim Tracy into the Indians clubhouse?!? Kelly is playing short while Bixler is playing second. I'm already pissed and the first pitch hasn't even been thrown yet. Pearce is in the outfield tonight in favor of Eldred. This should be interesting.

Top 1- Jae Seo is pitching for Durham tonight. Nice to see he's still alive. Kelly leads off with a single, then gets picked off after Bixler whiffs on a bunt attempt (I know, I'm surprised, too). Bixler pops up to center. Mike Ryan strikes out looking. I don't like Katatafish that much, but am not heart-broken that Ryan isn't in Pittsburgh.

Bottom 1- No commercials, instead we got to watch mascots dance around for three minutes. That was fun. Looking at Durham's lineup, I definitely wish I was here last year when Dukes and Young and co. were in town. Evan Longoria is the only terribly interesting name on their team (that I recognize, I could certainly be more familiar with the D-Rays system). John Van Benschoten is on the mound tonight. I can't escape him. No gun on him so it's hard to say how he's throwing. He gives up a single, but looks far from he disaster that we're used to seeing.

Top 2- Pearce leads off. He is not a big guy. He actually looks pretty skinny. He rips a ball into left field that is hit right at the left fielder, who promptly drops the ball (which hits him in the glove). Pearce hit the ball hard, but it's still an error. Walker is up next and he's much bigger than Pearce. He's got a nice swing on the left side of the plate. Unfortunately, he also strikes out looking. McCutchen follows Walker. He looks like a Little Leaguer. Seo works him almost exclusively low and away (in the Jason Bay strikeout zone) and he grounds into a double play. Trip one through prospect alley tonight is a dud.

Bottom 2- Van Benschoten gets the highly touted but unfortunately named Evan Longoria to ground out on one pitch. He gets the next two guys out, but they're Raul Casanova and Wes Bankston, so I don't care.

Top 3- Brad Eldred is up first here in the third. He hits a monstrous flyball that is caught by the left-fielder. At least that's what I'm told because the minor league camera crew completely loses the ball. Luis Ordaz singles on the first pitch and I'm wracking my brain to decide if I've ever even heard of him before. David Parrish flies out while the announces try to decide if he's Lance Parrish's son or not. He is. Donny Kelly weakly grounds out to first. This is as boring as it sounds.

Bottom 3- Among the three outs recorded by JVB, one is a flyout to McCutchen which he easily handles and another is a little chopper between the mound, short, and third which Walker bare hands and makes a really nice play on. I know he's made a lot of errors there, but it's easy to see why people think he could play third. There is also a pop-up that Don Kelly tries and fails to catch with a hilarious flailing dive in center.

Top 4- Brian Bixler is thrown out on a nubber in front of the plate. Mike Ryan swings at the first pitch and grounds out. Pearce pops up to the first baseman.

Bottom 4- McCutchen makes a nice play on a liner to center. JVB also gets a pop-up and walks Longoria, and Casanova hits a ball into the right center gap that neither McCutchen nor Pearce get to terribly quickly. They don't show Pearce's throw to Kelly for the relay, but it couldn't have been very good because Longoria scores on a hit that he definitely shouldn't have scored on. Van Benschoten then walks another hitter before ending the inning with a long at-bat against a guy that had no concept of how to hit against him, eventually culminating in a strikeout. He took 40some pitches to get out of an inning in which he only gave up one run. I am having terrible, terrible flashbacks.

Top 5- Walker falls behind, but manages to stay alive and get hit by the pitch. McCutchen does a nice job of going with the pitch and blooping a single to right field, I think. Again the camera man loses the ball. Eldred hits a home run in an elevator shaft that barely lands over second base for the first out. Luis Ordaz singles through the infield. Neil Walker is stupidly sent home and thrown out, despite an awful throw from left. David Parrish strikes out and the threat is averted.

Bottom 5- Van Benschoten is running out of gas. After a lead-off strikeout he gives up a well-hit single and double, but bears down and gets out of the inning with no damage. In a major pet peeve of mine, Pearce catches a pop-up in foul territory for the third out, then fires a throw to the plate, clearly forgetting how many outs there are.

Top 6- Jae Seo starts off Don Kelly with an eephus pitch. If this play didn't involve Jae Seo and Don Kelly, I would love it. Kelly singles. Bixler bunts straight to Seo, who throws Kelly out at second. Bixler is a bad bunter. Jim Tracy wouldn't like him very much. Mike Ryan swings at the first pitch (again) and flies out. Walker Pearce hits a grounder into the hole but Longoria makes a great play and robs him of a hit. Still no runs for Indy.

Bottom 6- JVB gets a K, then gives up back to back homers. Willingly watching him pitch is kind of like stepping into a bed of nails. It's going to end badly. He's done for the night and Dave Davidson is brought in to pitch for him. Fun fact, he's Canadian! He looks pretty good getting the necessary two outs quickly. He does give up a single, but it's a weak grounder up the middle, so no big deal there.

Top 7- Walker strikes out looking. Jae Seo seems to have his number tonight. I know this is only his AAA debut, but that is a depressing sentence. McCutchen flies out to center on a pretty sharply hit ball. Eldred ends the inning with his third monstrous pop-up of the night.

Bottom 7- Davidson looks pretty good. He struck out the side here (admittedly on a bunch of pitches). He also let a runner on base. I kind of forget how. This game is not holding my attention terribly well.

Top 8- Ordaz, Parrish, and Kelly go down in order. What an inspiring stretch of AAA line-up. I guess the bright spot is that Seo is done for the night, as he comes out between Parrish and Kelly to get Jay Witasick some rehab time.

Bottom 8- Ugh, Jonah Bayliss is in the game. First JVB, now this. This is like a bad recurring nightmare. To my surprise, he puts Durham down 1-2-3. Walker nearly boots a ball at third, but quickly recovers and makes the play at first.

Top 9- Bixler strikes out looking. He has been wholly unremarkable tonight. Ryan and Pearce ground out. Game over, Indy loses 3-0.