This wasn’t the most upsetting loss of the year. This wasn’t the saddest loss of the year. The game was frustrating, yes, but we’ve all become accustomed to that the past couple months. Frustration is old hat.
I’m hard pressed to find a game this season that’s felt more deflating than this one, though.
It’s not like there weren’t things to cheer for tonight. Marco Gonzales made his first start in nearly three weeks tonight, and looked quite good. Operating on a conservative pitch count, Marco looked crisp through five innings, and his changeup and cutter looked sharper as he went on - this sequence to get Manuel Margot in the fifth was outstanding.