Royalty w/o 7/2 in review

Monday night after work I came home and I did my laundry. After I was done, I was able to rest and relax for a short time.

Tuesday I got out of work early which worked out because that morning I got an unexpected e-mail from Steve Cirvello. He works with my pal Rick Morris from the FDH Lounge. He asked me if I had any free time this week. I wrote him back instantly and I told him I'm available this afternoon since I was getting out of work early. It's not easy for me to find free time with my schedule and/or the lifestyle I live. This turned to be a perfect opportunity. I wound up meeting Steve in Midtown Manhattan to discuss a possible documentary plan for the near future. It was a very productive conversation we had. I hope things materialize going forward. For the time being, he wanted to get the ball rolling he said.

After I finished chatting with Steve, I made my way out to Citi Field to see the Mets play the Philadelphia Phillies in the first game of their three game set. In addition, it was fireworks night. It turned to be a fun night that included a record crowd that gradually showed up at Citi Field. They announced there were 42,516 people on hand. Amongst those who joined us was our pal Manny Bonilla. It was nice to see him again. He always enjoys our company.

As for the game we saw, the Mets' bats did the talking as the fireworks started early as the Mets built a 6-1 lead after four innings. In the sixth inning, Mets All-Star third baseman David Wright hit a three run homer to make it 9-1. Daniel Murphy added a two run double in the eighth inning to round out the scoring as the Mets took game one, 11-1. The crowd was so into the game all night which made for a very festive atmosphere. It was great to be apart of it.

After the game, the King and I decided to stick around with Manny Bonilla to see the fireworks show that they were having. It was an entertaining display. They showed highlights and they played brief musical clips that spanned the five different decades of the Mets franchise history which began 50 years ago in 1962.
Wednesday I was off from work as America celebrated Independence Day. I spent my afternoon back at Citi Field with the King, Bryan Gilligan and Vincent Ascanio.

As for the game we saw, the Mets lead the Phillies and Cliff Lee who was looking for his first win of the season, 2-0 after six innings. Mets starter Chris Young was pitching well similar to his start a few weeks ago against the Yankees. Just like the Yankees did, the Phillies struck back in a hurry. After Juan Pierre lead off the seventh inning with a single, Chase Utley followed him with a two run homer that tied the game at two. All-Star catcher Carlos Ruiz followed by hitting a solo home run to give the Phillies the lead for good. They added three more runs in the eighth and ninth innings to even the series at a game a piece as they beat the Mets, 9-2. As for Cliff Lee, he finally picked up his first win of the season. He pitched well as he struck out nine and allowed only two runs in eight innings of work.

After the game, Bryan drove us all to Coney Island where we got to see the Brooklyn Cyclones play the Williamsport Crosscutters at MCU Park.

As for the game we saw, the Cyclones scored four runs in the first inning. The Crosscutters came back with a run in the second inning and they took a brief lead in the top of the fifth inning as they scored four more runs. The Cyclones responded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth which included a three run home run to right field by Brandon Nimmo. That's the way the game ended as the Cyclones won, 9-5.

Thursday I went back to work after having a day off in the middle of the week which seemed rather odd.
After work I went to Checker's for dinner with the King on our way to Citi Field for the rubber game or grudge match if you will since the Mets' R.A. Dickey was facing the Phillies' Cole Hamels.

As for the game we saw, the pitching match up didn't exactly live up to billing as I had hoped it would. R.A. Dickey wound up going seven innings but he gave eleven hits and five runs. Cole Hamels did slightly better. He allowed seven hits and four runs in his seven innings of work. The Mets' bullpen kept it a one run game as they headed to the bottom of the ninth inning. The Phillies' brought in their closer Jonathan Papelbon to try and seal the deal. He allowed a lead off double to pinch hitter Ronny Cedeno. After Josh Thole bunted him to third, Papelbon struck out Kirk Nieuwenhuis for the second out. He proceeded to hit pinch hitter Jordany Valdespin who won a game for the Mets in Philadelphia earlier this year in Philadelphia by hitting a game winning home run off Papelbon. Ruben Tejada battled and worked out a walk to load the bases. Daniel Murphy followed with a smash up the middle that hit off of Papelbon. He tried to recover but he fell down, Murphy beat the throw to first base as the Mets tied the game at five. All-Star David Wright became the hero when he delivered the game winning hit as the Mets beat the Phillies, 6-5. As a result, Citi Field was sent into a frenzy. It was quite a scene.

Friday night after work I met up with the King for some pizza at Taste of Dolly's on our way back to Citi Field to see the Mets who were hosting the Chicago Cubs to begin a three game weekend series.
As for the game we saw, the Cubs drew first blood as they took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Johan Santana who gave up a lead off home run to Reed Johnson. In the bottom of the second inning, Lucas Duda answered back with a solo home run of his own. The Mets went back ahead 2-1 in the third. The Cubs evened the score again in the fourth. Then they exploded for a five run outburst in the fifth which proved to be too much to overcome as the Cubs hung on for a 8-7 win. Cubs closer Carlos Marmol escaped by getting a double play to end the game.

After the game, we went to Donovan's Pub for a post game meal.

Saturday afternoon the King and I went back to Citi Field for game two of the weekend series. This time the Mets won, 3-1 behind a solid pitching performance by Dillon Gee who pitched eight strong innings to earn the victory.

Sunday afternoon we went back for more hoping the Mets could go into the All-Star Break on a high note.
Unfortunately the Mets fell behind 4-0 before they came up to bat. Jonathon Niese got roughed up then he settled down until the seventh inning when he served up a three run homer to All-Star shortstop Starlin Castro to make it 7-0. That's the way it ended as the Mets couldn't get anything going.

Hopefully they just had a bad day and they can continue their winning ways in the second half of the season.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman