Day Three Hundred and Thirty-Six

The Ninth Game 

Adam pitched a GREAT game tonight. Absolutely outstanding. With a tired arm and more innings in him than he's ever thrown in his entire life, he's continuing to accomplish new things every outing. This evening, he proved that he can get himself out of jams. Twice, he left the inning with a man on third and no harm done to the scoreboard. He's throwing all of his pitches and becoming progressively more comfortable with his slider. Just a bunch of good things! Oh, and I can't leave out the fact that he struck a Tampa Bay Rays big leaguer out twice tonight. Wahoo! 

Usually, when a pitcher finds himself stuck in a jam - or he's just not throwing strikes - the pitching coach will walk out to the mound to discuss the issue. Tonight, Joe Coleman (Adam's pitching coach) did just that. Adam had two outs in the fifth and was looking like he had everything under control. And then the next two hitters found themselves on first and second. So, Joe went out to have a word with my boy. And whatever he said must have worked because Adam ended the threat with a strikeout! 

His line for the night looked like this:

5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and a no-decision. 

His velocity was 90-92 tonight and that's incredible considering the amount of innings he's already pitched this season. If his arm were mine, it would have already fallen off by now.

Ok, it rained all day today. The whole day. And it finally decided to stop this evening around 6. So, you know what that means? HUMIDITY! Oh gosh, humidity like you wouldn't believe. This is what Adam looked like at the end of 5 innings. I've never seen him so sweaty before! Ever! But gosh, he's still so handsome, even with all that wet and greasy hair! 

Cory Hart is the Hammerhead's hitting coach. He's the father to three little boys that run around the ballpark in matching Miami Marlins uniforms (yes, even the little cleats). Ages 3, 4, and 5, they've all got huge personalities and are just the cutest boys around! Naturally, I found myself drawn to them...and Adam and Coach recognized it immediately. After 5 innings, Cory walked over to Adam and said, "You'd better be careful...those boys might just steal her from you." Adam's response? "You'd better be careful, Coach, or she might just steal them from you!" 

I mean, c'mon! Who wouldn't want to steal this little boy away and keep him forever?! And better yet, there's three of them! So stinkin cute! This one, though, took a liking to me (and my camera) immediately. And look, I taught him well! :)

It's our last night here in Port Charlotte and we're both wiped out. Can't wait to sleep in our own bed tomorrow!!