Looks like we got Good Mulder on Monday.
Marky Mark was his usual Mulderiffic self, coaxing 14 groundball outs against five flyballs while striking out five and allowing only one walk in eight-plus innings and 97 pitches (my goodness, what a horrible sentence). The Funky Bunch turned three double plays behind him, and Mulder got burned on only one mistake.
That’s the kind of baseball I like seeing; quick, efficient groundouts with a few rally-stifling double-play balls sprinkled to and fro. It may not make for compelling television, but this is America, and groundball outs are more democratic.
He even went all Skip Schumacher on us and took Jose Capellan (like our boy Adam Wainwright, a discarded Braves prospect) deep for his first career dinger.
This was a superlative Mulder effort, one we should appreciate and treasure. Not just because it was Opening Day, but because he actually seemed to be paying attention and interested in the outcome of the game. Part of my irrational bias against Mulder is that at times he acts like (or I perceive that) a pitching mound is the last place on Earth he wants to be.
He strings together a few more outings like Monday’s, and I might just take back what I said about him. Congratulations, Mark… a 26-gun salute in your general direction.
