I’m taking a bit of a lunch break now, and thought I’d put up a long-overdue post. My apologies for being so delinquent in writing any posts this week. As I mentioned earlier, I went to Washington last weekend for the Nats/Reds series, which was, in a word, awesome. What a wonderful ballpark! On Sunday, I had field-level seats behind home plate, complete with full service (they bring free beer and food to your seat!) and access to the PNC Lounge with its free beer and free beautiful buffet lunch. This was an amazing experience, to say the least.

While I was enjoying the view in Nats Park, though, my spouse ended up taking a rescue squad ride to a hospital up in Fredericksburg. We just returned home yesterday from that adventure. Ergo, the absence this week. Things are returning to normal, though, so it’s time to turn my attention back to baseball, at least a little bit.

Okay, so, about those Tides: what a team! What a week to be missing in action! Or perhaps the superstitious among you would prefer that I go back into seclusion from where I came. We are looking at a seven-game winning streak, most recently with an 8-2 win over Syracuse last night. And, our Tides are tied with Durham for first place in the IL South. Valencia, Pridie, and Navarro continue to roll, and Trayvon Robinson hit two homers last night.

While I was off-line, I saw a rumor that Freddy Garcia was going to be called up to the Orioles for a Saturday start against the Angels. He’s still on the Tides’ roster, however, as of about five minutes ago. Zach Clark got the call on May 1 and had a bit of a rough outing against Seattle. He pitched a little over an inning and gave up three earned runs.

Tonight will be a chilly night up in Section 309. Jurrjens will face Rosenbaum. Look for a well-pitched battle between the two teams. Don’t bother taking a blanket tonight, despite the cold weather. The Tides are having a free blanket promotion. They look nice! Tomorrow is another fireworks night at Harbor Park, so there is another reason to head out for a game, as if you needed one.

That’s all for today. Again, my apologies for my delinquency here. – RR