Ashley deGrom and the Eighth Commandment

It turns out the 8th Commandment isn’t great for winning baseball games.

Don’t get me wrong, of all the commandments, it’s one of the easiest to get behind. Not stealing is good.

Except when you’re on a baseball field. Then it’s not such a good idea, especially if your team has less power than the Green Party. That was the case for our Melonheads, who tried to obey the commandment as sinners in the hands of an angry god and came out of it with a loss.

After winning the opener against the Marlins with crazy baserunning but without the use of a single RBI, I decided the perfect obstacle to throw into Game 2 against Montreal was to try to win without stealing any bases. It bit us from the start, with Ricky Johnson leading off the game with an infield hit but failing to make it past second. The Expos would take the lead in the top of the third as Lara Nunez reached on a Reese Worthington error, stole second and scored on pitcher Walter Hall’s ground-rule double, a ball Gretchen Hasselhoff should’ve caught.

Reese has been a major disappointment defensively, and I decided to move him from third base to shortstop after another misplay let Nunez reach on an infield hit in the fifth. He’d go on to make another error, his second of the game and third of the season, in the sixth.

Ashley Webber followed up Lisa Crocket’s gem with what was arguably an even better performance, allowing just that one unearned run and striking out 16 over nine innings, scattering just one walk and three hits in the process. Unfortunately, that was all it took to give Montreal (2-0) the win. We’d get two on with one out in the fifth on a Billy Jean Blackwood single and Worthington infield hit, but Gretchen Hasselhoff struck out and Johnson bounced into a fielder’s choice.

Gretchen’s been absolutely horrendous so far, with poor instincts and a godawful arm in the outfield compounded by her absolutely miserable showing at the plate. She’d come up again with two on and one out in the seventh after Blackwood reached on an error and Reese made his way aboard with another infield tapper, but would strike out again. Ricky would line out to third to end the threat. Getting the leadoff man on would do us no use in the eighth, and Hall pitched a perfect ninth to finish off his 102-pitch complete game, allowing six hits, walking one and striking out nine.

WP: Walter Hall (1-0) LP: Ashley Webber (0-1)

Through two games, we’ve yet to collect a single extra-base hit, and that desperately needs to change if we’re going to be a serious contender. We’ll look to improve matters for ourselves tomorrow when we host the Atlanta Braves (1-1). The Crocket Rocket will be on the mound once again. Follow me on Twitch to stay updated!