I entered in the sixth inning with runners on 1st and 3rd and two outs. It’s wasn’t ideal, but my change up fooled the first batter enough for an easy grounder to second.

When I entered the dugout, Skip barely glanced in my direction. That meant it was my game until it wasn’t anymore. I sat down and watched the game from the dugout, chatting with my backstop about the batters due up.

It was a relatively quick 1-2-3 inning, both for our offense and my next time out on the mound. Skip gave me the same look, or non-look, as I came off the mound. I wasn’t due to come up for another five batters, so he wanted me to start the eighth inning.

Talking with Travis about the guys I would face brought a smile to my face. The second and third batters were ideal foils for my craft. A couple of kids, one just brought up from AA a week ago, were set to bat.

They had been overpowered by fastballs all evening and with the game tied, there was little reason for the opposing manager to pinch hit for them. Looking at the scouting reports, they both were documented as susceptible to sliders away and inside off-speed.

It couldn’t have been a more ideal situation…

And all I had to do was get past the first batter.