As we head into the last day of our 7-day roadtrip, we have accumulated a 4-1 record and catapulated ourselves into second place in the division. We left Thursday night from El Paso and arrived in Shreveport, Louisiana a sluggish 13 hours later. The hotel was a good distance from anything worthwhile, which kept many of us away from the casinos. We picked up the victory in the series opener as Dane De La Rosa threw six strong and was virtually unhittable while topping out at 93 mph.
Shreveport's field is much improved since last year. The playing surface was outstanding as was the atmosphere. Fair Grounds Field provided a radar gun in left field, interesting fan promotions, and a huge beer garden in left field. It was a world better from last year.
We went to the outlets in Shreveport on Saturday afternoon and ate lunch at this bomb sushi parlor. The sushi was great as was the japansese food that I ordered. My roomate (Thompson) ordered this sushi roll that was on fire (literally). The weather was pretty bad for the majority of the day but cleared up before the start of the game. Mark Michael got the start for us and followed the suit of the outstanding string of outings by the starting pitching as he went 6 innings and gave up one run. From what I have seen, the Shreveport bats are the weakest of any team we have faced so far. The Shreveport bullpen had a guy closing that sat at 95 mph.
A bunch of the guys went to the casino on Saturday night but I shyed away from this idea as I was the scheduled starter for Sunday's 6:05 game. I felt good going into the game and with the humidity in Shreveport, my offspeed was on. I started the game by putting up blanks in the first two innings but ran into trouble in the third. I gave up two runs in the third but proved to be the only runs that I would give up in the six innings that I threw. It was my first win of the season and I tied my career-high of seven strikeouts. After the game, the team was presented with a full course dinner made by the Captains Booster Club. It had all the southern food you could imagine and capped off our series sweep quite nicely.
The bus trip from Shreveport to Pensacola was close to eight hours and we arrived in Pensacola at around 8 a.m. I do not sleep very well on the bus (never have really!) so I immediately layed down and slept until we had to get on the bus at 3:30. The win streak would continue on this night as Eddy Rodriguez paced a strong offensive attack with five RBIs and two homeruns. The victory was our fifth consecutive win.
In Pensacola, we were fortunate to have some things to do nearby the hotel such as a Cracker Barrell and a Ruby Tuesday. There is also a gas station nearby so if we need anything, we dont have to go far. In last nigh'ts game, we fell 5-4 on a homerun by the Pelicans in the bottom of the eighth. We scored early and jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead but a mixture of strong bullpen pitching and an agressive lineup lead to the score being tied 4-4 by the seventh inning.
We look to close out the road trip with a 5-1 record and two series victories today. It has been pouring rain here the entire day but it looks like we are going to be able to get this game in. Dane De La Rosa is scheduled to start for us tonight and will be making his second start of the road trip. Upon the completetion of the game, we will have probably an hour to get a shower, get our stuff together, eat dinner, and get on the bus before bussing back to El Paso for an approximate 21 hour drive.
Shreveport's field is much improved since last year. The playing surface was outstanding as was the atmosphere. Fair Grounds Field provided a radar gun in left field, interesting fan promotions, and a huge beer garden in left field. It was a world better from last year.
We went to the outlets in Shreveport on Saturday afternoon and ate lunch at this bomb sushi parlor. The sushi was great as was the japansese food that I ordered. My roomate (Thompson) ordered this sushi roll that was on fire (literally). The weather was pretty bad for the majority of the day but cleared up before the start of the game. Mark Michael got the start for us and followed the suit of the outstanding string of outings by the starting pitching as he went 6 innings and gave up one run. From what I have seen, the Shreveport bats are the weakest of any team we have faced so far. The Shreveport bullpen had a guy closing that sat at 95 mph.
A bunch of the guys went to the casino on Saturday night but I shyed away from this idea as I was the scheduled starter for Sunday's 6:05 game. I felt good going into the game and with the humidity in Shreveport, my offspeed was on. I started the game by putting up blanks in the first two innings but ran into trouble in the third. I gave up two runs in the third but proved to be the only runs that I would give up in the six innings that I threw. It was my first win of the season and I tied my career-high of seven strikeouts. After the game, the team was presented with a full course dinner made by the Captains Booster Club. It had all the southern food you could imagine and capped off our series sweep quite nicely.
The bus trip from Shreveport to Pensacola was close to eight hours and we arrived in Pensacola at around 8 a.m. I do not sleep very well on the bus (never have really!) so I immediately layed down and slept until we had to get on the bus at 3:30. The win streak would continue on this night as Eddy Rodriguez paced a strong offensive attack with five RBIs and two homeruns. The victory was our fifth consecutive win.
In Pensacola, we were fortunate to have some things to do nearby the hotel such as a Cracker Barrell and a Ruby Tuesday. There is also a gas station nearby so if we need anything, we dont have to go far. In last nigh'ts game, we fell 5-4 on a homerun by the Pelicans in the bottom of the eighth. We scored early and jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead but a mixture of strong bullpen pitching and an agressive lineup lead to the score being tied 4-4 by the seventh inning.
We look to close out the road trip with a 5-1 record and two series victories today. It has been pouring rain here the entire day but it looks like we are going to be able to get this game in. Dane De La Rosa is scheduled to start for us tonight and will be making his second start of the road trip. Upon the completetion of the game, we will have probably an hour to get a shower, get our stuff together, eat dinner, and get on the bus before bussing back to El Paso for an approximate 21 hour drive.
