The baseball gods have apparently listened to my prayers about more offense earlier in the game by the Tampa Bay Rays. They managed to score four runs by the end of the fourth inning, in contrast to the relatively slow starts they’ve had in close games recently. It allowed me to enjoy relatively low blood pressure for most of the game, for which I am most grateful.

Speaking of intensity, Matt Garza got the start for TB. Reflecting on his last performance in Oriole Park at Camden Yards, in which he yielded seven runs on ten hits – including three consecutive home runs to lead off the second inning, Garza said he was going to “go in there, hair on fire like I have been and go after them and say, 'Hey, you got me the first time, well I'm going to shove it down your throat this time.”

Question: how can you not be inspired by that? Another question: is the hair on fire thing a metaphor or did he stock up on Aqua Net the night before? (I realize it’s a metaphor, it’s just such an interesting one that I have to be snarky to fully appreciate it).

This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2010.