Baseball Review // Record-Journal Expos 6, Rainbow Graphics 1 [7/23/20 @ Mount Nebo Park, Manchester, CT]

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Going into this game I knew the weather was going to be an issue.  The way it had seemed- prior to this Thursday- was that it would be thunderstorms throughout the day.   Thursday has also been the day this summer when Quentin and I have gone swimming at my mom's house, so there was also this idea that the weather might prevent that from happening.   But we were able to swim in the afternoon with no signs of storms.  As it got later in the day, I had decided to leave the decision up to my dad because if he wanted to chance driving up there and having the game rained out then it was his call to make.  He felt the rain would hold off, so both he, my uncle and Quentin all went up to this game. 

I know Manchester is a fancy type of place, but I really do enjoy Mount Nebo Park.   We found bleachers in the shade and the field itself is just nice.   They have a defined outfield and there aren't a lot of things around which seem like they shouldn't be there- the way a lot of these fields are near houses, which causes the foul balls to go into backyards.    They have porto-pottys as well, which people seemed fine setting up chairs next to, but hey, I'd rather sit behind a fence and watch the game that way on bleachers than sit that close to the bathroom.

The Record-Journal Expos actually opened their season against the Rainbow Graphics (at home) so this was their on the road game.   There were fans here for the Graphics as well, which was nice, as I feel like if the Graphics were a solid team it'd be such a good place to see baseball regularly.    Nick Foell was pitching for the Expos and it seemed like he got off to a rocky start because he gave up one run in the first inning, but that would be the only run he gave up through three innings. 

For the first two innings, the Expos were held scoreless by Graphics pitcher Jack Molloy.   My uncle asked me why the Rainbow Graphics were such a bad team- what made them so bad- when after two innings they were up 1-0 and were looking pretty good.  I told him (and this is no secret) that the Rainbow Graphics would be a solid team if they had the fundamentals down, or as Keith Hernandez likes to say, the fundies.   It's the little plays of not catching a fly ball or stumbling with picking up a ground ball that gives the other team the advantage when the Graphics should have an easy out.

This all showed true in the third inning as the Expos managed to explode and put five runs on the board.    This included a huge homerun by Mike Gulino to left field.    At that point, it all started making sense for my uncle, as the Expos found their groove and the Graphics began falling apart at the hinges.   In the top of the 4th, the Expos had another rally going, scoring one run, before the Graphics decided to make a pitching change.   During the pitching change, some lightning flashed out in right field and the umpires decided to put a hold on the game for thirty minutes, a rain delay I suppose.

As we were walking to the car, one umpire said something to the other to the effect that since the Graphics were changing pitchers maybe that would have sped up that inning and they should have let it try and go the full four so they didn't have to make it up.   As we sat in the car, waiting to see what would happen, the tarp coming out to cover the field, the sky opened up and the rain came down.   A pure downpour with thunder and lightning added in.   We did the math and realized if this game resumed, it wouldn't be until at least 10pm so by the time it was done- we might have been there until midnight.

The umpires must have realized something similar because they ended up calling the game off completely.   I'm not sure when this will be made up as of right now, but it was definitely a fun game until the weather put it on a pause.