We'll have a full recap in a little while, including photos, but here are the directions to follow if you want to blow a six-run lead to a team that started play at 20-52:
- Stop hitting after you have accumulated six runs.
- Yank your starter after 4 1/3 innings and 80 pitches when all he's doing is his job.
- Have your middle infielders commit two errors apiece.
- Have three different relievers face just one batter apiece.
- Allow your most effective reliever, on a night when he walked his first batter on five pitches, to throw 35 pitches in the eighth to tie the game, then come back out and put two more runners on in the ninth.
- Again, make sure your middle infielders commit two errors apiece.
- For good measure, make sure you let the opposing No. 9 hitter, hitting less than .230 to start the day, to go 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Yep, that ought to let you surrender a six-run lead to the worst team in baseball.
And yet, they are our team.