Nats vs. Phillies: Jonny Gomes takes one for team to - 棒球

※ 引述《xiemark (aisinjuro)》之銘言：
: Nats vs. Phillies: Jonny Gomes takes one for team to drive in winning
: run in 10th inning
: By James Wagner, Monday, August 22, 6:24 AM

國民對費城人：高米茲在第十局吃了一球，為球隊拿下勝利。


: In Jonny Gomes’ mind, there’s a rule of thumb when batting that
: harkens back to his days at Santa Rosa Junior College in his native
: Northern California. The inner half of the plate is his, the outer
: half of the plate is the pitcher’s. And if a pitch dares come inside
: and close to your arm or body, well, quite simply, you hang in there
: — or as Gomes described it, “hard-nosed dirt-bag baseball. That’s
: how we played.”

回到高米茲小時候在北卡勝塔羅殺學院打棒球時，他的心裡總是有個最高原則：
本壘板靠打者的那一半是他的，靠外側的那一半則是投手的。
如果投手膽敢投出內側靠近打者手臂或身體的球，哼哼，相當簡單，痛一下就好。
套句高米茲說的話：「你不能示弱，一定要挨這一下。那就是我們的打法。」

: So when Phillies reliever Brad Lidge’s slider came in high in the
: bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded and only one out,
: Gomes did what he had always done before: stood there, braced himself
: and took the pitch off his arm. And with it, a game filled with
: dramatic moments ended in the most unusual of fashions: a walk-off
: hit-by-pitch that scored Ryan Zimmerman for a 5-4 win over the
: Phillies before an announced crowd of 41,727.

所以，當費城人後援投手李奇在第十局下半，面對一人出局滿壘的情況，投出一顆高起來的滑球時，
高米茲做出一如往常的反應：他站著不動，硬著頭皮，讓球砸在自己的手臂上。
也因為如此，這場比賽以再見觸身球這種最不常見的方式，戲劇性的結束了。
齊墨曼跑回本來得到第五分，國民隊也以這一分，在全場41727人的面前氣走費城人。

: “Getting hit was last on my to-do list in that at-bat,” Gomes said
: with a chuckle.

高米茲偷笑著說：「挨那一下，當然是我那個打席裡的最後選項。」

: Sunday’s wild game against the Phillies (81-44), baseball’s best
: team, was anything but normal. The Nationals pestered starter Roy
: Halladay enough to trail 3-2 in the sixth inning, but found a
: blessing in disguise in the form of a 71-minute rain delay that drove
: the ace out of the game. The third-place Nationals (61-64) twice tied
: the game late on solo home runs by slumping players.

國民隊星期天這場對上聯盟最佳球隊費城人（81-44）的球賽，本來其實再平常也不過了。
國民隊與費城人先發好樂迪糾纏到第六局，仍然以三比二落後一分。
不過，球賽因為下雨而暫停了七十一分鐘。
這場雨，也成為國民隊的另一種好運，因為好樂迪並沒有在球賽恢復時，繼續登版投球。
戰績排於第三的國民隊（61-64），雖然球員表現不好，但是兩度以陽春炮追平比數。

: “That’s what we’ve been doing all year,” said shortstop Ian
: Desmond, who hit one of those late-inning home runs. “We’ve been
: grinding all year.”

游擊手戴斯蒙說：「我們一整年都是這樣，我們已經撐了一整年了。」
戴斯蒙在這場球賽快要在九局結束時，打出了一發陽春炮。

: Desmond’s home run in the bottom of the ninth inning came in a
: dramatic of situation: The Phillies led 4-3, reliever Antonio
: Bastardo had notched two outs and had a 1-2 count on Desmond.
: But Desmond, a .230 hitter this season who was familiar with Bastardo
: from the upper minor leagues, drove the fourth pitch of the at-bat
: just over left field fence.

九局下半局勢其實相當戲劇化：費城人後援投手貝斯塔多已經解決兩名打者，
對戴斯蒙也投到一壞兩好的球數。但是本季打擊率只有二成三的戴斯蒙卻一棒打出陽春炮。
原來戴斯蒙在高階小聯盟的時候，就已經很熟悉貝斯塔多的球路，
所以他看準了第四球時，打出剛好越過左外野牆的全壘打。

: It was the second time the Nationals had clawed back to tie the game.
: Three innings before, with the Phillies leading 3-2, second baseman
: Danny Espinosa welcomed Halladay’s rain-delay replacement, reliever
: Michael Schwimer, a St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes graduate who was making
: his major league debut. Espinosa smashed the second pitch from the
: 6-foot-8 reliever nearly 440 feet into deep center field and tied the
: game at 3.

這是國民隊第二次以蠶食方式追平比數。
就在三局之前，當時費城人還以三比二領先，
二壘手愛斯皮諾殺以一發陽春炮歡迎接替好樂迪上場的蘇威姆。
蘇威姆才剛從學校畢業不久，這是他第一場大聯盟球賽。
當這個身高六尺八的後援投手投出第二球時，愛斯皮諾殺把球擊出440尺外的中外野，
一棒為國民隊得到第三分，並追平了比數。

: For five innings before that, Nationals starter Chien-Ming Wang had
: admiraly dueled Halladay, one of the game’s best pitchers.
: Wang — who has been slowly building his strength and consistency
: since a major shoulder injury forced him out of baseball for more
: than two years — showed improvement, throwing 89 pitches, 59 for
: strikes, over 52 / 3 innings, allowing three runs and striking out
: four batters. If it weren’t for the rain delay in the sixth inning,
: “I’d have given him 100 pitches,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “
: Easy.”

在這發全壘打之前，國民隊投手小王的表現與全聯盟最佳投手之一的好樂迪不相上下，相當令人讚賞。
雖然小王因為肩傷而離開大聯盟兩年多，但逐漸恢復力量與穩定性的小王確實有所進步。
小王共投了89球，其中有59顆是好球。在五又三分之二局的投球中，小王共三振四名打者，只丟了三分。
總教練強森說：「如果第六局沒有因為下雨而暫停，我會讓小王投到一百球。那對他應該很容易。」


: At times, Wang’s trademark sinker worked. The tailing, dipping pitch
: induced 10 groundouts.

在球賽中，小王的招牌伸卡球不時發威，製造了十個滾地球出局。

: At other times, it failed. A sinker that wasn’t low enough to Chase
: Utley in the third inning was hammered to right-center field for a
: home run and a 3-2 lead. An inning earlier, Carlos Ruiz hit a two-run
: home run, albeit on a much better sinker than the one to Utley, into
: left field for a two-run home run.
不過，有時候小王的伸卡球投不到位。
就像他在第三局對阿特力投出的那顆球，因為下沉的幅度不夠低，
結果被打出右外野陽春全壘打，讓費城人取得三比二的領先。
在第二局裡，小王對盧義斯雖然投出一顆比較猛的伸卡球，但是仍然被敲出左外野的兩分全壘打。

: From the start, the Nationals looked poised against Halladay, as they
: had the last time they faced him. On May 30, Halladay gave up 10
: hits, four earned runs and three home runs — his most in one game
: all season.

打從一開始，國民隊就一點都不畏懼好樂迪。
國民隊上次在五月三十日面對好樂迪時，一共打出了十支安打，其中包括三支全壘打，一共掉了四分。
這是好樂迪本季被打全壘打最多的一場比賽。

: On Sunday, the Nationals scored two runs in the first inning, led by
: Desmond’s leadoff single, and forced Halladay to throw 27 pitches.
: After Wang’s exit, Johnson used a combination of Tom Gorzelanny, Todd
: Coffey and Tyler Clippard to get to the ninth inning without allowing
: the Phillies to score again. But in the top of the ninth, closer Drew
: Storen seemingly gave it away. He walked Raul Ibanez and gave up
: back-to-back singles. Rookie Michael Martinez smacked Storen’s first
: pitch up the middle to score Ibanez for a 4-3 lead.

到了星期天，國民隊在首棒打者戴斯蒙的一壘安打帶領下，第一局就拿下兩分，
同時也讓好樂迪在第一局就投了27球。
在小王退場之後，強森接連派了葛斯蘭尼、可非，以及克李帕德三位投手。
這三個投手沒有再讓費城人攻下任何分數，使國民隊與費城人纏鬥到第九局。
但是終結者史多倫好像有點不夠力，他先保送了依把鎳資，然後又連續被費城人敲出兩支一壘安打。
結果最後費城人馬丁泥資抓住史多倫的第一球，敲出了中間方向安打，打回了依把鎳資，
費城人就以四比三領先國民隊。


: But this would set the stage for Desmond’s dramatic, two-out home run
: in the bottom of the inning and for Gomes’ walk-off heroics. Sean
: Burnett pitched a scoreless 10th inning for the win and in the bottom
: of the frame, a furious rally began. Zimmerman led off with a double,
: followed by an intentional walk to Michael Morse and single by Jayson
: Werth. And after Espinosa struck out, Gomes strode to the plate,
: ready to play his brand of baseball.

不過這些發展，也幫戴斯蒙九局下在二出局時擊出戲劇性的陽春炮，以及高米茲挨打的英雄表現埋下伏筆。
伯耐特接著以完美的表現結束第十局，為球隊取得獲勝機會。
接著比賽出現巨變，國民隊展開大反攻。
齊墨曼率先敲出一支二壘安打，接著伯耐特故意保送摩斯，但是後來又被沃斯打出一壘安打。
雖然愛斯皮諾殺被三振，但是高米茲卻站上打擊區，準備展現他的標準棒球規則。

: It was a long, winding and unusual game, enough to prompt Johnson to
: sit down before reporters following the win and immediately utter to
: a room full of chuckles: “That was fun.”

這是一場漫長、曲折，且不尋常的比賽。
國民隊獲勝後，總教練強森也立刻在充滿笑聲的採訪室對著記者說：「這場球賽真好玩。」


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