The longest game of the year – even without psychoactive help!
Today is April 20th, unless you’re new here, you should already know on the Snakepit that means me stepping into recapping the game, while reviewing miscellaneous cannabis products. To start things off, the game was delayed due to rain by about an hour. So let’s pretend it’s currently a rain delay and jump right into the first two products. Camino Sours Orchard Peach Balance and Blackberry Dream Deep Sleep.
C. W. Baier
The ‘Pits own James Attwood had highly recommended these to me well over a year ago, but I’m just now getting a chance to try them for the first time. The Orchard Peach is a 1:1 THC:CBD gummy, that come in 10×10/10MG packages. The former are a great beginner edible that I find helpful for pain and anxiety relief. I started off my morning with a piece and it definitely did alleviate the chronic pain I regularly experience, without making me feel high and zonked out. They have a pleasant gummy texture and excellent peach flavor. The Blackberry Dream ones also have 10mg THC and 10mg of CBD, but have the addition of 10mgs of CBN.
The combination of these three cannabinoids are supposed to be helpful as a sleep aide. These also tasted amazing, with a very nice texture, though I wouldn’t really call it blackberry, it’s more of a generic berry flavor. As a daily medical cannabis user with a somewhat higher tolerance, I can’t attest to its efficacy as a sleep aide at that dose, but most people new to cannabis and aren’t daily consumers should benefit from a piece or two as an occasional sleep aide. The only downside is to these is the $18 price tag, since there are comparable products out there at a lower price. Overall 9/10.
The game finally got under way at noon, with James Taillon starting for the Cubs. Taillon made quick work of the top of the Dbacks lineup in the first, getting Corbin Carroll to ground out to short, then striking out Geraldo Perdomo and Pavin Smith. In the bottom of the first inning, Ian Happ singled to right off of Merrill Kelly to lead off the game. Kyle Tucker walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. Seiya Suzuki struck out for the first out, but then the game was delayed again due to rain and lightning in the area nearby.
A minute short of an hour later, the game resumed, Michael Busch hit a checked-swing single to right, scoring Happ to make the score 1-0 Cubs. With Tucker now on second, Kelly got Dansby Swanson to ground out for the second out of the inning, advancing Tucker to third, but Nico Hoerner also ground out to end the inning.
In the top of the second inning, Josh Naylor grounded out to third, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. flew out to right field, and Alek Thomas grounded to short to send it to the bottom of the inning. There, Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a soft bunt hit to 3rd, but Garrett Hampson made an incredible throw to first to get the first out of the inning. Carson Kelly then flew out for the second out, and Jon Berti struck out to end the inning.
For the third inning, Tim Tawa led off with a walk. While José Herrera was striking out for the first out of the inning, Tawa stole second, for his second stolen base of the year (and his career). Unfortunately, Garrett Hampson and Corbin Carroll both struck out, sending it to the bottom of the inning. Merrill Kelly made quick work of the top of the Cubs lineup, getting Ian Happ out on a check swing popup for the first out, Kyle Tucker on a lineout to short, and Seiya Suzuki to fly out to right.
Arizona tied things up in the fourth. Geraldo Perdomo lined out to short for the first out, but Pavin Smith hit a ground rule double down the left field line, then scored on a Josh Naylor line drive single to right which leveled the score at one. Naylor advanced to third on Lourdes Gurriel’s line drive double to left. Alek Thomas hit a ball right at the second baseman Nico Hoerner, who threw Naylor out at home for the second out, and Tim Tawa then lined out to left field to end the inning. Kelly continued to roll, getting Michael Busch to ground out, then striking out both Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner.
The next product we’ll take a look at is a CAKE Designer Distillate Disposable Vaporizer. These are very discrete, have no offensive smell, taste great, and work quite well. The specific one I got is a hybrid strain called ‘White Raspberry’ with 90.87% THC. That sounds like a lot but that’s actually fairly standard for one of these Concentrate Vaporizer/Cartridges. It does taste vaguely berry flavored and mildly floral, but it is pleasant. I think these are appropriate for people who are both new to cannabis products and those who experienced. If you’re not a fan of the smell of Marijuana smoke, or just want something discrete and easy to to use, these are a great option. The only downside I’d give is once again the price point, as there are much more affordable quality brands on the market in Arizona.
C.W. Baier
The fifth began promisingly for Arizona, with José Herrera leading off with his second walk of the inning. But the D-backs could not take advantage. Garrett Hampson struck out a missed bunt, Corbin Carroll popped out in foul territory to third baseman Jon Berti, and Geraldo Perdomo flew out to left to end the inning. However, Merrill continued rolling in the bottom of the fifth, retiring the Cubs in order. He got Pete Crow-Armstrong to fly out to right, Carson Kelly to ground to short, and Jon Berti to line out to center.
Arizona were now into the Cubs bullpen, Julian Merriweather having relieved SP Jameson Taillon. After Pavin Smith grounded out, Josh Naylor singled to put a runner on first. Lourdes Gurriel also singled down the line, nearly getting thrown out at first by the third baseman Jon Berti, and was just barely safe. None of that ended up mattering though, as the D-backs couldn’t get them home. Alek Thomas struck out and Tim Tawa hit another line drive right at Nico Hoerner for the second and third outs, respectively.
Despite continuing to dominate the Cubs lineup, Kelly would not survive the bottom of the sixth inning. He got Ian Happ to line out and Kyle Tucker called out on strikes, but then had to leave the game due to a cramping issue. Entering the game on short notice, Ryan Thompson got plenty of time to warm up before getting Seiya Suzuki to groundout to first to end the inning.
Despite Friday’s struggles, both sets of relievers were much more effective this afternoon, neither side being able to score in regulation. The D-backs offense was shut down by a trio of Cubs relievers, Ethan Roberts, Porter Hodge, and Ryan Pressly. Each pitched an inning and faced the minimum. Their counterparts in the D-backs bullpen, Ryan Thompson, Jalen Beeks, and Shelby Miller, weren’t quite as dominant. Still, all three kept the Cubs scoreless, in spite of having runners in scoring position. Thompson walked a batter to lead off the seventh, who then promptly stole second. Jalen Beeks allowed a one out single in the 8th inning, the runner reaching second thanks to a throwing error by Tim Tawa. Both men stranded the runner, and Shelby Miller’s scoreless 9th sent the game into extra innings.
For our final cannabis product, we’re going to go with something that is definitely not for the inexperienced or those with a very low tolerance. Space Rocks brand moonrocks/Infused Flower, in the strain ‘Grape Ape’.
Don’t let the strain name fool you, this does not taste like anything remotely grape flavored. There *are* products on the market that are actually sprayed with a flavoring, which I would not recommend. These however are coated in concentrates, allowing the flower to reach a THC% that’s physically impossible. This was actually really good, very relaxing. With products like these with super high percentages of cannabinoids, they all the taste the same. They are not cheap, so I don’t recommend getting these unless they are on sale, and only as an occasional treat.
In the top of the tenth, ghostrunner Tim Tawa scored on a José Herrera bunt, who advanced to second on a missed catch error by Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. Despite giving up a single to Eugenio Suarez, Cubs pitcher Jordan Wicks was able to get out of the inning without further damage. Shelby Miller stayed in to pitch the tenth as well. Cubs autorunner Dansby Swanson managed to score n the first AB of the inning as well, after Nico Hoerner singled on a groundball that deflected off Tim Tawa. But Miller got out of the inning without further damage, despite Pete Crow-Armstrong reaching on a force out and stealing a base.
The eleventh proved decisive, Arizona again scoring on their first AB, Josh Naylor’s single scoring Geraldo Perdomo. He advanced to 2nd on a Gurriel groundout, then to third on an Alek Thomas single. Tim Tawa K’d for the second out, and Gabriel Moreno pinch hit for Herrera. Naylor decided attempting to steal home was a good idea, but was caught stealing for the third out. Drey Jameson relieved Miller to try and secure his second career save. With the ghost runner Jon Berti at 2nd, Ian Happ lined out to Geraldo Perdomo at short, who then proceeded to get a very easy, unassisted double play. With the bases now empty Kyle Tucker lined out to Alek Thomas in center to end the game.
Bells and whistles, by Jim
Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
The Big Lebowski: Drey Jameson, +43.2%
Up In Smoke: Naylor, +28.5%; Herrera, +21.9%; Kelly, +20.1%; Beeks, +16.6%
Requiem for a Dream: Tawa, -21.6%
Trainspotting: Perdomo, -21.1%; Carroll, -19.3%; Thomas, -14.8%; Hampson, -11.2%
A quiet Gameday Thread, probably not helped by the stop-start-stop nature of proceedings in the early going. Those who stuck around were rewarded with a very tense game, culminating in a D-backs win, which sealed a winning road-trip. And that was as noted by AZNailGal in the Comment of the Thread
It’s an off-day for the D-backs tomorrow, before starting a homestand with a series against their expansion siblings, the Rays. First pitch Tuesday is 6:40 pm at Chase, with Brandon Pfaadt the scheduled starter for Arizona.