I Love a Pitchers' Duel

I grew up in a time when baseball was dominated by pitching and defense. I still love to watch a 1-0, 2-1, or 3-2 game more than a 10-7 home run hitting contest. I got to see one last night at Minute Maid Park. Ian Snell of the Pirates and Alberto Arias were the starters. Snell had command of his slider and was throwing his fastball as high as 96 miles per hour. He really handcuffed the Astros for most of the night. Alberto Arias was making his first Major League appearance for Houston and was really hot for the first few innnings. He struck out five of the first six hitters and had another K in the third. He seemed be on the verge of running out of gas in the fifth, so he was pinch hit for by another September call-up from the the minor leagues. Mark Saccamanno was the pinch hitter, his first big league at bat, for Arias in the bottom of the fifth with one out. He drove the ball over the fence into the Astros bullpen in right center field. The 'Stros added two more runs in the inning and made them stand up for a 3-2 victory for Arias.

Arias and Saccamanno had memorable nights and I got to see a terrific pitchers' duel!