Cavalli’s 13 K’s KO the Red Sox

Cade Cavalli is celebrating his best start ever: 7 innings of 1 hit ball with 13 strikeouts and 0

walks. However, his second strikeout victim of the night, Willson Contrerras, evidently

didn’t appreciate something Cade said to him after the K and started walking toward the

Nationals’ pitcher. A bench clearing near-brawl ensued leading to the ejections of

Contreras, Boston’s interim manager Chad Tracy, Boston outfielder Nate Eaton, and

Washington pitcher Miles Mikolas.

Lucky for us, Cavalli remained in the game and pitched a gem. Evidently, this all started in

yesterday’s game when Contrerras flipped his bat about 50 feet in the air after hitting a

three-run home run off the aforementioned Mikolas. His next at bat in that same game led

to him being ejected for tapping his helmet after striking out on a checked swing

call. Something that irked the home plate umpire enough to toss him out of the game.

Getting thrown out again tonight led to him setting a record as the only Boston Red Sox

player in the franchise’s history to be ejected from two consecutive games.

Scoring started in the bottom of the second for the Sox after Anthony Seigler doubled to

left, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a fielding error by Curtis Mead. 1-0

Red Sox.

Washington tied it up in the top of the 5th after James Wood’s single to right drove in Daylen

Lile who had singled to lead off the inning. It’s tied 1-1.

The Nats came to life in the top of the 7th.

After a single by Josse Tena and a walk to Nasim Nunez, Kelbert Ruiz singled to right, driving in Tena. Luis Garcia then doubled off the left field wall driving in Ruiz and Nunez. 4-1 Nationals.

C.J. Abrams homered to right leading off the top of the 8th. His 18th home run and 60th rbi for

the season. Jose Tena then walked and Daylen Lile singled, sending Tena to third.

Nasim Nunez hit into a force play, Tena out at home. Keibert Ruiz later doubled to deep right field, scoring both Nunez and Lile. James Wood doubled to center field, scoring Ruiz. 8-1 good

guys.

And that’s all she wrote…. Washington 8 Red Sox 1. What a game!

Just a reminder…there’s only two days left for us to vote C.J. Abrams into the starting lineup for the All-Star game.

Also, Luis Garcia Jr. was named the National League player of the week for the 22nd thru the

28th of June. He went 10 for 19 at the plate with 6 home runs and 9 RBIs and had an

unbelievable.526 batting average over the six games.

The Nationals have the makings of an excellent team. Only better things to come.

Game three starts tomorrow afternoon at 1:35. Should be a good one!

Dave’s Dime…Road Trip…Part One

I might have mentioned in an earlier column that I was born and raised in Colorado

Springs. A great place to grow up but today is plagued with many problems, like all cities

that grow way too fast with no plan, no guidance, no foresight. Let’s just say I’m glad I left in

2019. But now I’m living 25 miles south of Missoula in Montana, and the exact same thing

is happening here. Missoula is quickly turning into a driver’s nightmare. A quagmire of Kias.

But I digress, as I’m prone to do…

Being a huge baseball fan, and the fact the Colorado Rockies didn’t come into existence

until 1993, I had a big problem before that year if I wanted to see a Major League game.

Fortunately, there were a couple summers where I had the opportunity to hop in the car

and do some long-distance traveling and visit a couple of Major League ballparks. I

remember a couple of times taking my son to visit his aunt in Minnesota.

One time we attended a game in the old Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. It was a trip, and not in the travel sense of the word. Indoor baseball was never mentioned in the Bible, so it

automatically shouldn’t be legal.

I also remember my wife and I stopping on our way to Minnesota at Kauffman Stadium in

Kansas City and catching a Royals game. Nice place, no sinful indoor artificial grass.

It was the summer of 1988. My son was 16 and doing other things. Actually, that might

have been the summer he got into bull riding. I’m not kidding. Bull riding.

So, my wife was kind enough to allow me to take, what I considered, the ultimate baseball

road trip. I kind of wonder why she was letting me go, at least for a minute or two, but I was

leaving on a two-week car ride and seeing Major League Baseball in four different cities. I

later found out my wife was sick of me leaving my clothes all over the floor and wanted to

enjoy a week or two without having to pick them up. And she was serious.

I planned this trip for weeks. I was more than ready to go. In fact, I left home way earlier

than I meant to and ended up at my first stop in Kansas City about four hours before game

time. It was around 590 miles by car, from Colorado Springs to Kansas City, and it took me

8 hours to get there. The pedal was to the metal! I vividly remember being the first car in

the entire parking complex. I walked around the outside of the field for a while, tried to get

a peek at Arrowhead Stadium, and then took a nap under a tree on this huge green hill.

I don’t remember who the Royals' opponent was, but I do remember watching Bo

Jackson. Yes, the one and only. He played baseball for Kansas City from 1986 to

1990. What an athlete. He kind of reminded me of an antelope, the way he ran and jumped

and cavorted. Too bad he didn’t stick with just playing baseball. He’d definitely be in

Cooperstown.

Next morning I was again eager to get back on the road. Yep, I’m a travelin’ man, that’s

me! I was off to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to visit my younger brother, Joe.

Kind of a funny story concerning how he ended up there. He was the ladies’ man out of the

three of us. I was the brains of the family and my youngest brother, Bill, was the brawn. A

few years earlier, Joe had suddenly vanished. He was still living in Colorado Springs, had

his own job, and seemed so happy. Well, we didn’t hear from him for about six weeks. My

mom was, obviously, in a panic.

It turns out he was on the run from the Hells’ Angels because he was, unbeknownst to him,

dating a girl friend of one of the head Angels. Evidently, a fact she had forgotten to

mention. Well, the Angel must have found out and my brother Joe headed out. ASAP. He

wandered around the nation for a while and ended up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Turns out he had an old buddy who was from there and had moved back home. Long story short, my brother still lives there. Made a nice life for himself. But that’s a pretty good tale, huh?

Luckily for the two of us, Grand Rapids is about half-way between Chicago and Detroit.

It’s around 179 miles to the Windy City and 157 miles to the Motor City. Not long at all for two

road warriors like us…me traveling from one Major League baseball stadium to another and

Joe traveling from truck stop to truck stop constantly listening for the sound of a HarleyDavison.

We planned on hitting Tiger Stadium one day and Wrigley Field the next. So, we knew we

had to get a good night’s sleep…

To be continue…

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