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There was a moment in the Wednesday ballgame that really took me aback.
The Mariners had taken an early 2-0 lead in the game, and Noesi coughed it right back up in the bottom of the second inning. For good measure he added two earnies to his baseball card in the bottom of the third, so Angels up 4-2. This is in LA, now: had this been 2011, never mind 2010, the game was over right there.
Fortunately for you and me, Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager have rather more thirst for battle in 2012 than did their 2010 counterparts, Figgins and Lopez. Ackley and Seager threw down consecutive doubles and we had a new game, 4-4.
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Hector Noesi's thirst for battle, on the other hand, does not (yet) exceed that of his 2010 counterpart (Luke French). In the very bottom of that inning, he gave up the lead yet again and we were down 6-4. The Angels' season ticket holders were basking in the beforeglow...
6-4 Angels, their house. Middle innings in the rear view mirror. Of course it's over. We've blown two leads and two comebacks. Hey, we swung the bats. We'll get 'em next time.
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Except that Michael Saunders ripped a single to lead off the sixth, Ichiro knocked him in. A few hitters later it's 6-5, Angels, with the bases loaded... and the Mariners' pennant-class RBI man, Kyle Seager, coming to the plate.
Heeeeeere's the moment.
The Angels' reliever, Bobby Cassevah, had walked Dustin Ackley in front of Seager and, in a surrealistic Angels-Mariners moment, Cassevah looked .... well, not scared. Unsettled? Unsure of himself? Too cautious? Pick a term. The guy didn't look like he thought he had a right to retire the Mariner at the plate. Huh? Doesn't make sense.
Seager was standing there MORE RELAXED than usual, MORE relaxed, shoulders and back actually kind of slumping. He raised the bat and readied himself. This is the moment that we couldn't process. We readied the SSI shtick about it, win or lose. We figured lose. Dr. D doesn't yet have the swagger that Kyle Seager does.
Cassevah steered a fastball out onto the black. Seager smirked, and maliciously smoked it into center field. Two runs. Mariners lead!
The crowd made a weird noise, some boos, some cheering that sounded like "whaaaaaa?" and the confusion in the stadium was palpable even over TV. You know what we're talkin' about. You know the confusion you feel when Felix Hernandez has given up five runs by the third and now two more guys are on base. Whaaaaaaa? I mean, whaaaa? I don't get it.
Something odd was going on, Dr. D couldn't quite put his cyber-finger on it, and it took a while to triangulate exactly what.
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